I've had Telstra ADSL on for a couple of weeks now, and every now and again the internet will stop, then start again. Usually only for a couple of seconds, but it's annoying when downloading things.

For example i will click on a link and it will just stop then say, page cannot be displayed. if i hit refresh after a couple of seconds it will work.

I have a 2wire 2071-a modem through a d-link wireless router (dl-624).

Any help appreciated.

First!

I mean, we have pretty much the same problem with iiNet (but also have a D-link router).

Jump on Whirlpool and have a bitch, theirs usually a rep trolling around helping ppl like you.

Run straight into the 2wire, if it still does it then look to see if the dsl light is turning off when it does it.

I am actually having the exact same problem with node. I'm prolly on the same exchange as Chakas, too.

more information required for diagnosis..

but if you're on an aggressive sync profile (ie DSL2+), that's often a cause. Doesn't matter what sync rate you get. (I had drops constantly at 4-5Mbit).

does the connection actually drop out and need to reconnect?

does the connection actually drop out and need to reconnect?

I'm not sure because it usually doesnt happen for long, 5 seconds around abouts.

check the time connected on your router, it will tell you;

Call Telstra tech-support instead of asking here.

It's better to get them to step you through the troubleshooting procedure systematically than have you follow completely random and out-of-order advice in this thread.

Feel free to follow up in this thread if Telstra still can't help you .. that's when the random advice can help :)

Hate talking to paki's :(

The general process is to perform an "isolation test" by unplugging all telephones, anywhere in the house, and seeing if that fixes the problem. Generally if it does, it will indicate either a faulty filter or faulty phone.

All net companies will get you to try that anyway.

Then you can check out your Line Attenuation and SnR (which should be available in the modem's config page) Post them here, 56dB attenuation is the max that telstra allow, i believe, if its close to that, you might have a poor line. If its like 20dB, you've got an excellent line.

As was already mentioned, you should check and see exactly what is happening when it disconnects... You could be having DNS issues...

You will eventually need to call tech support, Telstra have Australian support last time I checked?

It looks like my problem might've just been related to PPPoE - I've switched to PPPoA at tech support's advice and so far so good - although my modem seemed to inexplicably reboot itself yesterday, wtf?!

You should have bought the wireless version the 2-wire adsl modem has no range booster, the wireless version has a range booster that telstra have @ 4 by default (goes to 10), you can also change the frequency of the modem, in case you have any bluetooth enabled mobiles/laptops, or even a cordless digital phone(yes even the 5.8ghz phones can effect the 2.4ghz range when it comes to wireless. Also use the windows wireless software, wireless zero in 2k/xp, wlan in vista as the netgear/d-link software is dodgey.

But yeah anything from a bathroom/dishwasher betwen to wireless access point and the pc while someone is having a shower/dishes can drop out the connection.

Trial and error is your best bet. 75% of the time it's environmental.

the worst thing about wireless is the speed hit

i gave up on it a long time ago and have been much happier ever since

I encountered a similar thing a few months ago, short unexplained shutdowns spanning a few seconds to a couple of minutes. They initially confused me because the DSL and Internet lights were still active, which meant that I should be connected to the Net. I decided to chase the problem down, and after a little bit of chasing I discovered that the short breaks can sometimes be attributed to techs in the exchange doing some minor inhouse maintenance. Sometimes their maintenance requires a quick reboot or break, which sometimes breaks the data flow whilst still maintaining a connection. If some of you guys are on the same exchange, albeit through different providers, then this might explain the short outages. Food for thought, but I know that now when I get an outage, I usually use it as an excuse to stretch my legs and see if it is back on when I return.

You should have bought the wireless version the 2-wire adsl modem has no range booster, the wireless version has a range booster that telstra have @ 4 by default (goes to 10), you can also change the frequency of the modem, in case you have any bluetooth enabled mobiles/laptops, or even a cordless digital phone(yes even the 5.8ghz phones can effect the 2.4ghz range when it comes to wireless. Also use the windows wireless software, wireless zero in 2k/xp, wlan in vista as the netgear/d-link software is dodgey.

But yeah anything from a bathroom/dishwasher betwen to wireless access point and the pc while someone is having a shower/dishes can drop out the connection.

Trial and error is your best bet. 75% of the time it's environmental.

I'm not using wireless for this PC which im getting the problems through (probably the laptop too - haven't checked ), The modem and router is in my room with the modem connected to the wireless router and the router connected to my PC.

Then you can check out your Line Attenuation and SnR (which should be available in the modem's config page) Post them here, 56dB attenuation is the max that telstra allow, i believe, if its close to that, you might have a poor line. If its like 20dB, you've got an excellent line

it takes an assload of time to load up the modem page.

Current Noise Margin: 6.0 dB (Downstream) 23.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 33.6 dB (Downstream) 21.5 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 19.3 dBm (Downstream) 12.1 dBm (Upstream)

Your line quality is average, its not that...

Try an isolation test... thats the best thing you can do.

6dB Noise Margin - that isn't much. What rate are you syncing at? Maybe ask bigpond to provision a less aggressive sync profile on your port - there are heaps of environmental factors that can adversely inject noise into the line -- 6dB is not much to lose sync.

I had a linesman out the other week for a case of "foreign battery", which basically meant in my case the pit filled up with water, the water found it's way into one of my joins, and ate into the copper sheath, and acted as a conductor between the pair, introducing heaps of crosstalk. I was syncing at like 32k (kilobytes) for a week!

my speeds arent a problem, im getting 7500kbp/s on an 8000 kbp/s plan.

yeah it's not that, it's the downstream noise margin on the line, it's bugger all, so if any variance in line quality occurs for whatever reason, it will cause a drop. (ie you can gain a dB or two in noise just for it being daylight)

If you graph out the capacity and quality of an adsl line over a set of frequencies each line is unique, they're not a pretty bell curve, it's typically a dogs breakfast!

There's a reason Telstra limited it to 1.5 megs (other than obvious commercial and technical reasons). It's cos it costs too much to support and maintain at the higher rates (ie top end ADSL1). Things break more.

last edited by dRanged at 21:42:43 22/Aug/07

I had a linesman out the other week for a case of "foreign battery", which basically meant in my case the pit filled up with water, the water found it's way into one of my joins, and ate into the copper sheath, and acted as a conductor between the pair, introducing heaps of crosstalk. I was syncing at like 32k (kilobytes) for a week!

man, what did that cost you?

i dunno if my problem is the same, but my connection halved its speed after heavy rain

just havent got around to getting someone out to test the line yet;

You'll need to get your ISP to do a line test and if it comes up poorly then Telstra send a bloke out to fix it.. however if he finds no problem then you are stung with a bill for his time.

Yeah spook that's what it will be, you'll find the joints are fine in the dry, but over time and with water & rust it leeches into the gel or epoxy surrounding the cable join and acts like a conductor between the low insulation old resistance copper pairs. More often than not it won't get too much better with time even if the pit is emptied as the water will just sit in the epoxy. And sometimes the water can act as a path to earth, which again is a killer. You should be safe with a linesman because there aren't too many of them around and typically there's a bit of testing done before they're deployed.

yer, ive already done all the line tests with iinet and they said the line to the house is ok

but my speeds halved after rain (and the line started dropping out when the phone got used), and i havent been able to get them back

so something is definatley up

Ring telstra, they are the ones who you want to do your line testing.