Internet dropping out constantly

cate

I need a little advice:

My broadband keeps on dropping out. It will stay off for a couple of minutes then reconnect. It does this 3 or 4 times in a row, then be good for a few hours, then drop out again and reconnect. Sometimes its ok for a few days, then I'll have a bad day and it will drop in and out all day.

I was with eircom, and cancelled this subscription and went with Sky thinking it was an eircom fault. Same thing is happening with my new sky broadband too. New router, new service provider, still dropping in and out.

I can only guess that it is my physical wires coming to my house that is the problem? My neighbour has no issues with their eircom broadband. Who is responsible for the physical wires? Eircom or Sky? Who do I call about this? Have I guessed correctly that it is a telephone cable issue? I am not in a new fibre area, and not likely to be for a very long time.

What can I do about my drop out issue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Cate

Langer

Sounds like a problem with low SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) margin levels. you may need your speed profile adjusted downwards. what kind of speeds are you getting?

The most common problem on longer lines is that your SNR is too low to maintain a steady connection.

cate

I am on the 24Mbps package. With Eircom it was usually around 10mbps, but with Sky it has been 13mbps. Just tested it then and it was 14.23Mbps. My line was tested by the Sky guy and he said that my line was only capable of 17Mbps.

How do I adjust my speed profile downward?

(thank you for replying and offering some advice)

cate

Broadband Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 16929 kbps 765 kbps
Line Attenuation 19.0 dB 8.5 dB
Noise Margin 6.1 dB 20.20 dB

Does this info help?

Langer

yes your Noise Margin at 6.1 dB is probably a little low, and may get even lower during the evening (due to many factors)

Id say call sky broadband support and request them to lower your speed profile a little, you may lose a MB or two in speed, but should have a more stable connection and see your SNR Noise Margin go up.

cate

So, I should ask sky to reduce my Connection speed from 16929 kbps to 14929 kbps?
My speed is too fast for my line to cope with? Is that correct? (sorry if I sound a bit thick, just trying to learn it all so I don't sound stupid on the phone to sky!)

Langer

yes , id try! . hopefully they will do that. I know Eircom did it for me in the past.

cate

Thank you!

Langer

no problem, let us know how you get on.