Broadband keeps dropping

luckylucky

Lately my broadband connection has been dropping for a few seconds, this is happening 4 or 5 times a day.

Anyone know the likely cause of this?

Normally I don't have too many probs with broadband here(Central Portugal) unless there are storms. The weather like the rest of Europe has been crap over this Winter but not so bad that I think it should be affecting it so bad.

I'm beginning to wonder if my wireless netgear modem/router is possibly the cause of the problem. It's about 4 years old now and has seen plenty of use.

Are there any thigns I can go through to find out the real cause of the disconnections?

Jonathan

What type of broadband do you have?

luckylucky

jmccrohan wrote: »

What type of broadband do you have?

ADSl. (The company provider is Sapo but that won't mean anything to 99.99% of Boardsies.)
A few more details...
My usual Broadband speed is about 6Mbps download and 1/2 MB Upload.

What I know specifically happens is the icon that denotes internet connectivity on my router goes off (typically for only a few seconds) and it's not PC specific or anything, i.e. my wife's pc is off when mine is off. So pretty sure it's either got to do with my router, the isp or some other external factor.

Edit: My download speeds are also dropping at times. Right now It's going as slow as 16 kbps, even though according to speedtest.net my download is at 2.5mbps and according to my router itself I'm at 5.5 mbps

Cabaal

tyr this then get back to us
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=54381143&postcount=6

luckylucky

Cabaal wrote: »

tyr this then get back to us
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=54381143&postcount=6

Thanks. I'll try this. Right now - just as I want there to be problems with it so I can test it - it's back to normal speeds, I'll do the tests as soon as I get problems with it again.

dub45

The inevitable question: can you post your line stats - it sounds typical of SNR issues and if you have been having lots of rain maybe lines are getting damp underground etc etc.

luckylucky

dub45 wrote: »

The inevitable question: can you post your line stats - it sounds typical of SNR issues and if you have been having lots of rain maybe lines are getting damp underground etc etc.

Here are my stats at the minute. I experienced another disconnect about 10 minutes ago and download speeds have gone right down again
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 5257 kbps 511 kbps
Line Attenuation 31 db 8 db
Noise Margin 6 db 21 db

In regards to rain, we've had loads of rain here and even when it's not there has been tons of mist and fog. Also the house we are staying in is very damp so was already thinking this might be affecting it. I'm going to try out the tests now as suggested by cabaal.

MrVestek

That 6db of noise, is that upload or download? Whatever stream it's affecting those results are quite bad. I presume the low snr is on your downstream which would explain alot.

luckylucky

Achilles wrote: »

That 6db of noise, is that upload or download? Whatever stream it's affecting those results are quite bad. I presume the low snr is on your downstream which would explain alot.

Sorry I tried to format it so it would appear under headings. I'll redit it below. Anyway that 6 db is for download. it's at 8 db right now and download seems to be going better than it was at 6db. I don't really understand these figures at the moment as it's new to me.

Connection Speed Downstream 5257 kbps Upstream 511 kbps
Line Attenuation Downstream 31 db Upstream 8 db
Noise Margin Downstream 6 db Upstream 21 db

Edit: My modem/router is upstairs - there is a long cable going up to it. I've done as per Cabaal's instructions now and plugged the router directly into the connection with just a short lead - the phone is diconnected now also. I can see quite a big difference straight away in the Noise Margin downstream stat

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed Downstream 6141 kbps Upstream 511 kbps
Line Attenuation Downstream 31 db Upstream 7.5 db
Noise Margin Downstream 13 db Upstream 22 db

2nd Edit: Just tested again with all the original cabling plus adsl filter on - basically the same as I had it upstairs - the only difference is that the cabling isn't going up the stairs - it's at pretty much the same as the last test I done. The downstream noise margin is varying between 11 and 12 db. Our stairs is tiled and getting quite damp lately - could the cable going over this surface be having an impact?

luckylucky

Should the amount of Pcs have anything to do with Downstream Noise Margin?

I've noticed now that it differs greatly when I have 3 pcs connected plus laptop and just 1 Pc plus laptop.

1 Pc plus laptop and I'm getting between 9 to 13 db.

With all 3 pcs connected and laptop it went as low as 3 db and in general its at about 7db.

From my looking into what all this stuff is about over the past 24 hours I was under the impression that the amount of pcs plugged into the router didn't affect the noise margins, but looks like I might have picked that up wrong!?