ADSL drop-out in the evening

[sid]

Anyone had this problem? My ADSL connection, which works fine for 21 hours out of 24, has suddenly (about a month ago, but I've only just got round to trying to fix it!) started being very flakey from around 9pm every evening. I use a Netgear DG834 and what happens is that the 'internet' LED starts flashing amber, which according to the manual indicates 'ADSL training'. I guess this is a synchronisation problem. It's really irritating because if an email is being sent (and I send loads) it has to start over again when the connection is re-established. Sometimes large emails don't go at all and I have to leave the pc to sort itself out when I've gone to bed!

I've just phoned the Orange assistance number and for 10 minutes at 0.34€ per minute I eventually reached someone who tells me to phone back this evening when I actually have the problem happening. I assume (or I hope) they're going to run some diagnostics. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had anything similar, and how was it resolved (if at all).

Sid

 

[Martin963]

Happens to us most evenings,  and to the rest of our area;   doesn't seem to be ISP related.   More likely to be "contention" according to Ernie who knows his stuff.  Can be off 10 mins to 3 hours.

We just put up with it,  costs far more to complain than to just wait until it works again.

People in our village who have ditched FT rental also of course find that their ADSL-only phones stop working,  both outgoing and incoming.   We kept our FT sub.

Our only thought is that at a suitable moment we will move to an ISP with a free helpline,  that way we can complain and clamour every time it happens,  maybe then something will be done.

I find it amazing that such poor service seems to be the norm in so many areas,   it's cunning of the ISP's to charge so much for their helplines,  must save them a fortune in maintenance costs,  whilst they coin in from those who do ring up.

 

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

How about that there are too many people on line at that time of day?

[Martin963]

Isn't that what contention means?

[jamesg]

When I was having adsl problems I spoke to FT for free as a telephone problem, they seemed to be able to handle that and ran a test on my line during the free call.

They did say that the problem was within the house and they would charge me if they came out and it was so.   I said I would try to deal with it myself first.

The problem seemed to be intermittent so I had a look at the wiring and found that the ADSL filters had some corrosion.   I don't know why as there does not seem to be damp around.

Having emery papered them and given a squirt of WD40, I have not lost connection since and it was a few weeks ago.

[Martin963]

It's a good point jamesg that you make.   However,  in our case the outages do seem to affect all the people we know with ADSL,  and all pretty much at the same times;    having said that most of us are over 5 kms (in my case 6.5 kms) from the exchange,   and I take the view that whilst it's damned annoying that it drops out it's pretty amazing that it works at all (albeit  at only 400 kbps) so I'm prepared to work round the problem.

Turning the box on and off will often set it going again.

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="Martinwatkins"]More likely to be "contention" according to Ernie who knows his stuff.  Can be off 10 mins to 3 hours.
[/quote]

Unlikely, ADSL should be/is an always on service, if too many people are downloading at the same time (on the same NAS in the local exchange) they should all just slow down.

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="sid"]

I use a Netgear DG834 [/quote]

That modem/router has a dynamic DNS facility, if you can set that up, a service such as 18nc.com can give you a much more accurate idea of  the reliability of the service. 

Then use this data to beat-up Orange.

[Martin963]

I stand corrected;  I was only regurgitating info from someone who knows more than I.

So - OK - what IS likely to be causing a problem such as this for a whole village?   Any ideas gratefully received!

[sid]

Some interesting comments so far, thanks. I've discounted filters etc because it works well for most of the day. I wondered about contention but it's odd that it starts every evening at the same time, round about NOW in fact, so I can expect to have to re-type this message several times before it's accepted!

I don't need to reload the router because it just re-connects automatically.

We live out in the sticks and it is very quiet here; I'd be surprised to learn that the locals were all sitting at their pcs at past midnight!

I have to call Orange/FT assistance again when the problem is actually happening.

I'll let you know what, if anything, transpires.

Sid

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="Martinwatkins"]So - OK - what IS likely to be causing a problem such as this for a whole village?   Any ideas gratefully received!
[/quote]

IF it is the whole village dropping the connection at exactly the same time it sounds like a line or exchange fault.

It would be worth a number of people who are experiencing the problem setting up a log from www.nc18.com & comparing them. If they are seeing the problem at exactly the same time it might persuade FT to look further into the problem.

[Martin963]

Thanks Breton Networks - I'll investigate that one further. 

Certainly when I had the dubious pleasure of paying through the nose to talk to technical support at Club Internet they confirmed that the problem lay between the exchange and them,  not between the exchange and me.....

[sid]

Episode 2. I think this one is going to run and run!

I contacted 3900 Orange assistance tonight. The advisor there wanted me to connect my Livebox in order that they could conduct some diagnostics. He was insistant that Netgear would not suffice for their purposes. My Livebox is gathering dust in the loft, and I've lost the power supply for it! Anyway, I don't want to setup the Livebox, I don't like it. So, we had to agree to disagree on the solution proposed and I bade him goodnight. All during this call (15 minutes-ish) the LED on the modem was flashing orange indicating out of sync (I think). About 5 minutes later it settled to steady green and the phone rang; it was the 3900 advisor asking if my connection was OK now. I said that it was, and asked what he had done. He wouldn't say but advised that if it happens again (tomorrow night I guess!) I must be prepared to connect via my Livebox.

I can't believe that the problem has disappeared for good and it looks as though I'm going to have to fork out for a Livebox power supply. I'll start with Ebay, but obviously it needs to be a French-type plug.

I'll let you know what happens next!

Sid

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="sid"]The advisor there wanted me to connect my Livebox in order that they could conduct some diagnostics. [/quote]

That's because their script only covers the LiveBox

[quote] asked what he had done. He wouldn't say [/quote]

When I had dropout problems (both in the UK & France) BT & FT denied doing anything but the problem miraculously disappeared. 

[quote]I can't believe that the problem has disappeared for good [/quote]

Want to put money on it :-)

[quote] it looks as though I'm going to have to fork out for a Livebox power supply. [/quote]

I can lend you one if you wish, drop me an e-mail to [email protected]

 

[loz]

I would just like to point out that it is possible that you have an intermittent fault on your line to the exchange and a contention problem. My experience of this is from ethernet networks.The link to the exchange is not ethernet I know but the principal of resending packets will be similiar .I have had a poor connection in the past which used to drop out after 9 o'clock. It turned out that there where 2 line faults found between me and the exchange and now the line speed although slow after 9o'clock it rarely fails.Line faults you see can force resending of packets of data again and again and you would not be aware of it. Until the equipment drops the connection due to lack of response.Those with total line breaks are the lucky ones.

Ps   If you want to fix contention problem become a billionare buy the network.

Loz

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[Onion van man]

My connection here in the UK is cable and has a maximum contention ratio of 20:1 with a rock solid 10meg. I'm dreading what kind of connection I'm going to end up with in France.

I saw something on these forums a while back about a device inside the telephone socket in the house that can affect your ADSL connection. There was an article about how to remove it as its not really needed.