broadband connection goes down often

teddy b123

Ive been having a problem with the broadband in our appartment complex heres the details:

Modem: ZyXEL Prestige 660RU-T1
ISP: Imagine
Connection type: DSL
DSL Filter, Built into phone socket
Connection speed 7mbit
Max users on connection ~15 (through a switch)
Current Diagnostic info (with connection up):

noise margin upstream: 6 db
output power downstream: 12 db 
attenuation upstream: 18 db
carrier load: number of bits per symbol(tone)
tone   0- 31: 00 00 00 02 23 44 44 55 55 56 55 55 55 55 55 00 
tone  32- 63: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone  64- 95: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone  96-127: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 128-159: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 160-191: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 192-223: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 224-255: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 256-287: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 288-319: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 320-351: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 352-383: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 384-415: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 416-447: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 448-479: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 480-511: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 

noise margin downstream: 5 db
output power upstream: 20 db 
attenuation downstream: 15 db
carrier load: number of bits per symbol(tone)
tone   0- 31: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone  32- 63: 00 00 00 22 23 34 44 44 44 55 55 55 56 66 66 66 
tone  64- 95: 06 77 77 77 77 77 87 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 99 99 
tone  96-127: 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 9a aa aa aa aa aa aa aa 
tone 128-159: aa aa aa aa ab ab bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb 
tone 160-191: bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb 
tone 192-223: bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb 
tone 224-255: bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb ba aa 98 
tone 256-287: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 288-319: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 320-351: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 352-383: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 384-415: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 416-447: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 448-479: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
tone 480-511: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 

Havent a clue what this is but im including it in case it is relevent

[ SAR Counters ]
inPkts        = 0x00196c99, inDiscards    = 0x0000359a
inF4Pkts      = 0x00000000, inF5Pkts      = 0x00000000
inDMATaskEnd  = 0x00000000, inBufErr      = 0x00000000
inCrcErr      = 0x0000046f
inBufOverflow = 0x000006ad, inBufMaxLenErr= 0x00000000
inBufLenErr   = 0x00002a7e, inBufDescrOV  = 0x00000000
outPkts       = 0x0010c370, outDiscards   = 0x00006c01
outF4Pkts     = 0x00000000, outF5Pkts     = 0x00000000
softRstCnt    = 0x00000000

and

ATM Loopback Test Fail

When it goes down the connection can be brought back by rebooting the modem
I dont think its the switch as you can still access the modem, you just dont get internet access
im guessing the problem lies with the modem or filter, but would like your opinion on this

Also from those stats, what do you think is the max speed this line can comfortably support?

dazdrog

15 db downstream is quite good, ive got 32db downstream and i am synced at 15mb.

your problem lays with your bad noise margin, how old is the wiring in your house? have you many extensions on the line? you could try replacing all internal wiring and leaving out all extensions to see if the noise margin improves

also disconnect everything from you phone line apart from your router, like sky box, phones and so on and see if it improves

teddy b123

So with noise margin, the higher the better?
What would affect noise margin as the cupboard with the modem and switch is full with coax cables for the tv but they are a foot or two from the phoneline

dazdrog

teddy b123 wrote: »

So with noise margin, the higher the better?
What would affect noise margin as the cupboard with the modem and switch is full with coax cables for the tv but they are a foot or two from the phoneline

theres lots that could give you a poor line, but a good start is to do what ive said above, also remove the filter and connect the router direct to the phone socket, that way youll know if a dodgy filter is adding to your problem. but my best bet would be down to internal or external wiring.

internal wiring you can fix but external wiring, well thats down to eircon to fix and best of luck with that one

teddy b123

id probably have more luck with getting the external wiring fixed than the internal, i cant remove the filter easily as its built in, you say

replacing all internal wiring

as if its something easy and i will have to wait untill tomorrow before i remove everything else (the alarms etc) as god knows what will happen if i do that

However i will try my best and thanks for your answer

dazdrog

teddy b123 wrote: »

id probably have more luck with getting the external wiring fixed than the internal, i cant remove the filter easily as its built in, you say as if its something easy and i will have to wait untill tomorrow before i remove everything else (the alarms etc) as god knows what will happen if i do that

However i will try my best and thanks for your answer

no probs im sure one the lads around here will give ya more info too on how to cure your problem

teddy b123

yes hopefully as the wiring in this place is the messiest i have seen

dazdrog

teddy b123 wrote: »

yes hopefully as the wiring in this place is the messiest i have seen

lol i think youve just answered your own question there

id also ditch that zyxel router too, its useless at keeping a decent noise margin, when i use one on my connection it drops from 7-6db down to 0-3.5 and starts to disconnect a lot. i use the silver netopia one and it manages to hold nice and stable at 6-6+

teddy b123

agree on ditching the modem, by the way, is there normally a white box outside (like the esb meter box but smaller) where the phonelines come in or is that only the norm for residential homes? i was considering connecting the modem directly to that (temporarily) as it would bypass all the wiring in the complex?

dazdrog

teddy b123 wrote: »

agree on ditching the modem, by the way, is there normally a white box outside (like the esb meter box but smaller) where the phonelines come in or is that only the norm for residential homes? i was considering connecting the modem directly to that (temporarily) as it would bypass all the wiring in the complex?

yup thats the norm, but your not allowed to touch that!

teddy b123

Really? i remember when i was troubleshooting my home connection i plugged my modem directly into that?

dazdrog

teddy b123 wrote: »

Really? i remember when i was troubleshooting my home connection i plugged my modem directly into that?

there shouldnt be anything for you to connect into there, its just where the cable from the street meets your internal wiring, all sealed of course

teddy b123

mine was sealed with one of those metal keyring loops if you can call that sealed, are they supposed to be properly sealed like the esb ones?

teddy b123

Ok Rang eircom today, even though the account is with imagine i thought id have a jim will fix it moment like on the advert

Turns out it may be a fault on the line, thats what their system was telling them so i got imagine to log the fault.

Any idea what the normal waiting time for something to be looked at by an eircom tech is?