Broadband disconnects when phone is in use...

Lord TSC

So, I've been having trouble with my broadband for about 6 months now. Every now and again, it will just completly cut off for a while and then reconnect. While it doesn't stop me doing much in terms of surfing, it does mess me over when playing games (WoW is unplayable in groups, for example).

I emailed Eircom and they suggested switching the channels. Didn't work, as bad on all of them. They said to try moving computers or whatever to beside the Netopia box. Didn't really work.

Yesterday, we figured out that the connection goes when the house phone is in usage. I don't think that this is the only reason it disconnects, but it does seem to explain a bit. Problem is, how can I fix this. The entire point of BB is surely that you can surf AND use the phone.

I'm going to send Eircom another email; with a definitive symptom of the problem, I can see if they have any new advice. |But since my experiences with them are generally pretty bad, I thought I'd ask advice here as well

Jev/N

Do you have a filter on the line?

Shredd

A couple years ago, we moved into the house we are currently in (brand new). The Broadband (eircom 3mb) would cut-out all the time, usually around 30 seconds each time. After a few months of this, i finally noticed that the broadband would disconnect when the front gate was opening+closing. :P It would initally disconnect (gate opening), then reconnect for about 1 minute, then disconnect again (gate closing). The reason it took so long to notice this is that apart from the dc's because of the gate opening+closing, the broadband would dc randomly all the time anyways.

Going through the usual Eircom channel of customer complaints (needing to call daily and to file atleast 3 complaints about the same issue), they finally sent a broadband expert to our house. I told him what i thought about the gate+disconnects and he tested the wires etc. What he found was that the quality of the line coming into our house was so bad, that any sort of interference (i.e a gate opening+closing) would disconnect the broadband. To fix this, the Eircom technician went down to the exchange and swapped our line with someone else who had a better line :P. The gate opening+closing wouldn't cause disconnects anymore, but it really was insightful to see how Eircom dealt with our problems (shifting it onto another one of their customers).

Now, a couple years later, the Broadband is still extremely intermittent (about 10 disconnects per day). It's down to the quality of the line coming into the house being absolutely rubbish, the line attenuation+SN margin are terrible, (a couple nights, i have recorded AVERAGE SN margins of 2dB's).

The technicians of Eircom have even told me that there is nothing that they can do to fix it, its simply down to the truly terrible infrastructure that Eircom refuses to spend any sort of money upgrading. The techinicians ask for the money from Eircom to upgrade bad-quality lines, but Eircom simply doesn't want to spend money upgrading lines for customers that have no other broadband options.

@the OP, i'd post your line stats for your connection, though i don't know much about this stuff, i would guess that your SN (sound noise) margin is what is causing you the problem. Good luck in getting Eircom to do anything about it though.

MunsterCycling

Why not fix the gate as it clearly isn't installed properly

Shredd

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Why not fix the gate as it clearly isn't installed properly

I don't actually know what could have been done about the gate, tbh. But the point is that the strength of the line coming into the house was so weak that the opening/closing of the gate was enough to throw it off.

mehmeh12

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

So, I've been having trouble with my broadband for about 6 months now. Every now and again, it will just completly cut off for a while and then reconnect. While it doesn't stop me doing much in terms of surfing, it does mess me over when playing games (WoW is unplayable in groups, for example).

I emailed Eircom and they suggested switching the channels. Didn't work, as bad on all of them. They said to try moving computers or whatever to beside the Netopia box. Didn't really work.

Yesterday, we figured out that the connection goes when the house phone is in usage. I don't think that this is the only reason it disconnects, but it does seem to explain a bit. Problem is, how can I fix this. The entire point of BB is surely that you can surf AND use the phone.

I'm going to send Eircom another email; with a definitive symptom of the problem, I can see if they have any new advice. |But since my experiences with them are generally pretty bad, I thought I'd ask advice here as well

Eircom dial up also used to disconnect users when the phone rang-a coincidence?

MunsterCycling

I take this is a electric gate, you need someone to check the suppresser as there should be no feedback from the equipment as it opens and closes the gate.

James3555

I have the exact same problem. not nice when you're playing poker and your mother decides that she wants to make a phonecall and lose you some chips :mad::D

medelina

I had a similar problem. I got around it but don't fully understand it. I had both dsl and phone plugged into the one phone socket and even using a filter I got this problem, everytime the phone rang I got disconnected.

Fortunately I have a second phone socket in an upstairs bedroom, so I moved my phone (dect basestation) up stairs and used the filter there. downstairs I have my dsl modem plugged into the phone socket without any filter. now I don't have the problem.

As I say, I never really figured out why they didn't both work downstairs using the filter but anyway maybe this will give you some ideas even if you don't have a second phone socket. You could try using a splitter first then on one side using the filter for the phone and on the other side of the splitter plugging the dsl modem modem in without a filter.

Lord TSC

Jev/N wrote: »

Do you have a filter on the line?

I...don't know <_< I'm not really great when it comes to this sort of thing.

If its what I think it is, then no. My Netopia router is plugged into a phone socket downstairs while my phone line is plugged in upstairs.

Jev/N

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

I...don't know <_< I'm not really great when it comes to this sort of thing.

If its what I think it is, then no. My Netopia router is plugged into a phone socket downstairs while my phone line is plugged in upstairs.

More than likely the issue so

Something like this is what you need:



I may be corrected on this but AFAIK you need filters on all lines in the house

Lord TSC

There would appear to be one of those on the router downstairs but not on the phoneline upstairs. Would that really be the problem? Anyone know where I could get another filter then?

Also, Eircom sent this reply back; I'll be damned if I can understand it though

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your recent email to eircom.net Technical Support.

Regarding your issue, a flashing or no sync light is normally caused by
telephone interference. You may not be able to detect the interference
on a dial tone as noise, but it will affect the frequency that DSL
(broadband) works on. As DSL comes into your modem using a phone line
(the DSL Cable) we recommend you try the following:
Connect the router at the main phone point, without a splitter/filter.
Make sure there is nothing else connected to the phone line - no sky
digital, no phones, no faxes, etc.
Ensure that other phone services - monitored alarm, pabx, isdn, sky
(hardwired,) etc. are disconnected.
Power-cycle the router (turn it off for ten seconds).
If you still fail to get a solid SYNC light please contact technical

LoCall rates- but if you can confirm that you have tried all of the
above tests then you should not be too long on to the Agents).


Kind Regards,

eircom.net Residential Technical Support.

delricyo

Back in my days of working for an ISP we used to recommend disconnecting everything from all phone points for 15 minutes. Dont know if it caused the exchange to send a "new signal" or not - but it sure was a way to make sure customers unplugged EVERYTHING

The tech team are right by saying you should try and connect the modem directly to the wall. Find a day that you arent expecting phone calls on the landline (silly suggestion from me !). Disconnect all equipment from the landline and see if you get a good few hours without interruption. It is usually a faulty phone or a dodgy filter that causes intermittent dropping of signal.
Hopefully it will be a case of a faulty filter as this is the cheapest item to replace. Try the like of Maplin or Peats - shouldnt cost more than a few euro

MunsterCycling

Let it be stated too that a filter with two sockets, one for phone and one for the modem, only the phone side has a filter, the modem line is connected directly to the line, but any other equipment connected must be filtered.

Jev/N

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Let it be stated too that a filter with two sockets, one for phone and one for the modem, only the phone side has a filter, the modem line is connected directly to the line, but any other equipment connected must be filtered.

What MunsterCycling said

Lord TSC

Switched the filter to the phone line and plugged the router straight into the wall. Seems to have fixed the problem Thanks guy.

Kicking myself that it took me 6 months to diagnose it though ¬_¬

Steffano2002

mehmeh12 wrote: »

Eircom dial up also used to disconnect users when the phone rang-a coincidence?

LOL! I got the joke!