DSL reliability

[rmrichesjr]

If problems continue, one diagnostic tool I would recommend is to use the Unix/Linux 'ping' command to get statistics on the percentage of packets that get through and time delays. Then, have someone who can be described as a competent network administrator call the phone company and explain the problem. If you give them specific packet loss rates and standard deviation of round trip times, you're more likely to get the phone company to check whether their equipment is at fault. I'm aware of a case where the phone company swapped out the provisioning and reduced packet loss rates from 90% to zero. That helped massively with web page loading.

If nobody in your area has a Linux laptop that can be brought in, you could boot from a Live-CD.

[russellhltn]

Windows supports "Ping". Drop to a command line and run ping /? to see all the options.

[aebrown]

If problems continue, one diagnostic tool I would recommend is to use the Unix/Linux 'ping' command to get statistics on the percentage of packets that get through and time delays. Then, have someone who can be described as a competent network administrator call the phone company and explain the problem. If you give them specific packet loss rates and standard deviation of round trip times, you're more likely to get the phone company to check whether their equipment is at fault. I'm aware of a case where the phone company swapped out the provisioning and reduced packet loss rates from 90% to zero. That helped massively with web page loading.

Sorry, but if you have no connection, a ping doesn't do much good -- it will simply timeout. That is the situation I was having last night. The packet loss rate is quite simple: 100%.

And there is no problem getting the phone company to come and check their equipment -- they can see that the DSL connection is down, or when it is up, the sometimes abysmal upload speeds from their end. So they are willing to send out a technician -- I have an appointment scheduled.

The problem is that the connection is inconsistent. Sometimes it will be down for hours, or go up and down every few minutes. I have had multiple phone support people see this. Other times it stays connected for days at a time, with full upload speed. Unfortunately that seems to be the case when a technician is on site.

[techgy]

.......The problem is that the connection is inconsistent. Sometimes it will be down for hours, or go up and down every few minutes. I have had multiple phone support people see this. Other times it stays connected for days at a time, with full upload speed. Unfortunately that seems to be the case when a technician is on site.

We just experienced a very similar situation with the DSL in our stake center. It would appear to be somewhat stable during the week and then on Sunday, when the usage would increase, it would disappear completely. We'd called out repair service twice and both times nothing was found. They came out during the week and things had been working. Sometimes a power-cycle of the modem would resolve it for a while, but it wouldn't last.

This past week I stopped by the building after work and found the DSL running very slow. I immediately called the ISP's support number and had the line checked. They discovered some problems in line noise, so a ticket was made to the line maintenance department to have the line checked.

Long story shortened.....The problem was traced to what they called a "Bridge Tap". This is another connection made to the same line that we were using for our DSL. It's apparently quite common and gives the phone company a chance to use the line somewhere else if we ever decide to give up our service. The Bridge Tap wasn't being used but I was told that this can cause noise on a data line such as DSL. The more the line is used the quicker it fails because of increased noise. This was exactly what we were seeing. The line would fail on Sunday when usage went up.

Yesterday the phone company removed the bridge tap and now things appear to be stable. We're seeing good download speeds. The acid test will be this Sunday, but from what I'm seeing at this point the problem may have been found and repaired.

I offer this in the event that others may be seeing the same type of problem. If so, I would suggest this to the service technician as a distinct possibiliity. Apparently installing a Bridge Tap onto a line is a common practice.

Followup: 3/18/09 The DSL has been stable since the "Bridge Tap" was removed. Hurray!

[dkcook2-p40]

I'm new as the stake technology specialist and have been trying to get a handle on things.

We have a CCN wireless network (3 access points) in our stake center with the PIX 505 modem and an Actiontex R1524SU DSL modem from Q..st. We have a FH workroom with 6 computers hardwired and we have 4 separate clerks computers who access the internet with wireless adapters.

I've been getting reports that the internet goes down regularly. I was there last night when it went down. I could get an IP address fine (IPCONFIG). I could PING the firewall. The name server was not working properly. I could not PING google. I called the GSD and they had me working with a few name server settings but we didn't get up and running. I was able to PING the support computer from the clerks computer I was on but I was unable to set up a remote connection. I didn't have my physcal key to get to the router and modem to reset them but I will do that today. From from what I've heard this gets it back up and running.

My question is: Does this sound like a modem - reliablity issue or is this a firewall issue? How does the name server work?

[dkcook2-p40]

I stopped by the stake on my way in to work and it was up and running again. No need to reset anything.

[techgy]

I'm new as the stake technology specialist and have been trying to get a handle on things.

We have a CCN wireless network (3 access points) in our stake center with the PIX 505 modem and an Actiontex R1524SU DSL modem from Q..st. We have a FH workroom with 6 computers hardwired and we have 4 separate clerks computers who access the internet with wireless adapters.

I've been getting reports that the internet goes down regularly. I was there last night when it went down. I could get an IP address fine (IPCONFIG). I could PING the firewall. The name server was not working properly. I could not PING google. I called the GSD and they had me working with a few name server settings but we didn't get up and running. I was able to PING the support computer from the clerks computer I was on but I was unable to set up a remote connection. I didn't have my physcal key to get to the router and modem to reset them but I will do that today. From from what I've heard this gets it back up and running.

My question is: Does this sound like a modem - reliablity issue or is this a firewall issue? How does the name server work?

Please clarify: are you having problems with the wireless portion of the Internet or is the problem with the hardwired section - in the FH room?

[russellhltn]

The name server was not working properly.

Are you referring to the DNS? Did you try pinging the DNS?

I was able to PING the support computer from the clerks computer I was on but I was unable to set up a remote connection.

Meaning you could ping the computer at GSD? So your ping got outside of the stake center?

[dkcook2-p40]

Please clarify: are you having problems with the wireless portion of the Internet or is the problem with the hardwired section - in the FH room?

I think the problem is with the Internet in general. I was working on the wireless portion last night but from the family history director I've heard that the internet goes down regularly in the wired portion also.

[dkcook2-p40]

Are you referring to the DNS? Did you try pinging the DNS?

I used NSlookup like the Internet troubleshooting guide recommends. I was doing NSLookup www.google.com -- that is where it failed.

We did try pinging the DNS also...4.4.2.2 (that may be wrong #)...if I remember correctly we were not able to ping it and we tried a different DNS 160.... it was getting late and I may not be remembering this correctly, but I know we attempted this.

Meaning you could ping the computer at GSD? So your ping got outside of the stake center?

Right I could ping the GSD, so it did get out of the stake center. That I do remember.

One thought I've had as I've been looking around the stake is that the modem and firewall were never plugged into a surge protector just straight in the wall. Can power surges cause grief with the internet connection? I think it would be good to get a surge protector anyway - Right