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My internet connection is going beserk. Please help me figure out what's wrong with it.

kei

Senior member
I currently have SBC dsl service through PacBell. I would prefer RoadRunner cable but that's not an option for me right now. For the past 3 weeks my internet connection has become very unstable. Sometimes the speed would slow to a crawl and other times the connection would completely die on me. This is an on and off again occurance. In attempt to regain my connection, I'd shut down everything (computer, modem, and router) and power it all up. Unfortunately this method is only successful 25% of the time.

I have called my service provider approximately 6 times already. They've sent one tech to my house. He really didn't do anything different from what I was doing. Twenty minutes into his visit, my internet started to work......BUT the next morning it broke down again! While he was here, he tested my phoneline and said the signal was good. He thought perhaps the modem was dying on me and so he replaced it with a new one. Could it be my Linksys 4-port dsl/cable router (BEFSR41) that is causing this? How can I tell if the router isn't working properly.

The main problems I've see are:
*dsl light on the modem is not always lit up
*router cannot always connect to the PPPoE server
* sometimes when everything appears to be running correctly (dsl light on & PPPoE connected)......my internet connection is still dead.
🙁

What's going on?

The last time I called my provider was on Thursday and I'm supposed to wait for someone to call be back. So far, no word.
 
I would normaly tell you to post in a different section of the forum seeing as we have dedicated forums for questions exactly like this, but since it's the holiday season I'll be nice 😉

have you flashed to the newest router firmware?
have you tried to isolate any particular section of the network?

I was having the weirdest freaking network problems 6 months ago and it turned out that my linksys router was smoking crack as soon as I got a new router everything was fine
 
same thing happens to me (i have pacbell too)

im stuck at 40k, even tho the line should be higher.. my internet will die randomly and sometimes restarting the modem wont work.

what's wierd is that if im connected to a site or aim or something and my internet dies, i can still use it. say like im browsing ATOT and im on AIM... i can browse aroudn the forum and be on AIM, along with every other site on the internet.. but hten hwen my internet dies, i cant vew any new webpages except for the webpages that i have open.. it's weird i dont know how to explain it

i want to swtich to cable but my dad wants to wait for a deal
 
I would try these things:

Eliminate extended cabling. Test your cabling. Common problem, especially if you've done your own cabling job to get cross-talk.
Move your pc directly to the termination point where they put your cable modem.
Eliminate your router. Connect directly into the cable modem and monitor it for awhile.

HTH
 
Do you guys have satellite TV?

Do you use the proprer filters?

I remember I was having the exact same problem ever since we started using DirecTV. Turns out, the phoneline connected to the direcTV receiver didn't have that filter, so I just disconnected it all toghether, and regained my speed.


By filters, i mean the filters that attach to the phone jack.
 
Originally posted by: NetworkDad
I would try these things:

Eliminate extended cabling. Test your cabling. Common problem, especially if you've done your own cabling job to get cross-talk.
Move your pc directly to the termination point where they put your cable modem.
Eliminate your router. Connect directly into the cable modem and monitor it for awhile.

HTH


I don't know what cross-talk means.

I'll update my router firmware first before I lose my connection again. 😛
Then I'll try your advice which means I have to reinstall the software PacBell originally gave me. ugh.

thanks guys!
 
Originally posted by: kei
Originally posted by: NetworkDad
I would try these things:

Eliminate extended cabling. Test your cabling. Common problem, especially if you've done your own cabling job to get cross-talk.
Move your pc directly to the termination point where they put your cable modem.
Eliminate your router. Connect directly into the cable modem and monitor it for awhile.

HTH


I don't know what cross-talk means.

I'll update my router firmware first before I lose my connection again. 😛
Then I'll try your advice which means I have to reinstall the software PacBell originally gave me. ugh.

thanks guys!

It's basically a piss poor ass cabling job done in your cat-5 wiring. If the ends of the RJ-45 aren't terminated correctly, the wires can start 'talking' to other wires when they shouldn't be causing data loss. If you get enough dataloss, you modem or your pc may say fvck it, i've had enough and the only way to fix it is to reboot your PC. You normally only see this on custom made cat-5 cables.
 
Easiest way to test one theory is to swap in a different router.

I had a really screwy problem with cable Internet service not long ago; finally a tech replaced the RCA cable modem with a Toshiba and everything is fine since.
 
*dsl light on the modem is not always lit up

I was only on DSL for a short time as I was too far from the station.

If the DSL light on the modem is going off, it ain't the router it's a poor signal to your modem.

It depends on where you live but I was able to go to the main connection box on the outside of the house and plug the modem directly into it with only a 6' cord. When it wouldn't sync there I knew the problem was in the lines from the telephone company to my house.


I changed to cable.
 
I was kicked off the internet again last night. I'm on the phone with SBC right now. I'll print out this thread and show parts of it to the tech when he or she arrives. 😉

The cat5 cables I'm using are store bought (been using them for 2 years).
I don't have direct TV.
There are 2 phonelines in my place. One number is for the entire house and the other is for my bedroom. DSL only works on my line.

If the tech can't fix this, then I'll try to get cable. There isn't a cable line in my bedroom. I believe they cable company charges quite a bit to install it. The closest room with a cable outlet is approximately 20 feet away. Could I have the company install a splitter in that room and then extend the cable to my room? Would that significantly decrease my signal? I'm currently renting and I have no idea how long I'll stay at this place. I don't want to invest too much in the house wiring. Nor would the owner be happy if I start drilling holes everywhere.

adul: sorry for not saying goodbye on AIM last night. I got kicked off! 😛

Rossman: hey! I almost bought a laptop last week because of you. When I was customizing it on staples.com, my internet blew out on me. Maybe that was a good thing. 🙂
 
try hooking the pc directly to the modem instead of going through the router

and you shouldn't need to install the pacbell software
 
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