DSL Issues/Help please

I really hope someone will be able to help me out because I am going mad-

After about a two month wait I finally got DSL but sadly it's not without it's share of problems.

I want to be able to figure out what the cause is so that I can fix it, here are a few issues that might be helpful in pinpointing the cause:

Whenever I turn on my modem "alarm" comes on a few times and it takes a bit of the modem cycling between "alarm" and '"ADSL" until it finally works.

I have a 2MB connection and I am only downloading at 100kb/s, about the same download speed as a 1MB connection. It almost feels like it's a 2mb connection in name only and a 1MB connection in reality. When I do download files, it doesn't stay constant at a rate but rather it goes down. For instance, it will keep dropping to 60kb/s before it rises up to ~90kb/s for a few seconds then drops back down. Even when I am just browsing sometimes I am blowing through pages and other times it's molasses before it picks up again.

I know this 2MB connection is capable of ~250kb/s as I used to have the same before I moved.

Every 15-20minutes the alarm light comes on the modem and then the net obviously dies.... and then it reconnects itself...

I don't know what's causing this.. Is it the line quality? The router? Is something wrong with my laptop?

Any help whatsoever would be really really appreciated...thank you.

 

Here's a start;

Is any other computer on the network?

You mentioned Router..do you have a Router as well? If you do try connecting your desktop/notebook computer directly to the Modem to rule out the Router as the cause.

It is possible that it may be a poor line quality issue.

Do you have any other computers you can use on the network to test the speed. Speakeasy is a good website to test the speed of your connection.

If all else fails and your connection still acts up and your connection speed is not on par w/ your service I would definitely suggest calling your ISP to question this and the connection issues. Maybe you are paying for a 1mb connection?

 

No. I am directly connected to the modem.

I misspoke, I meant to say modem.

I mean, would that explain these issues? If it's the line quality I guess I am SOL.

Na, this is my only one seeing as how it is the backup. My HP's Nvidia 8400 blew up on me.

I did call them actually and they said I am getting 2MB. My router setup also says that I am getting that but it's just not translating to real world performance. They told me it might be my router or the line- they don't know themselves you could say.

According to Speakeasy I am at 1213/215.

Could it really be the line? I mean... I don't know much about this sort of thing but it just strikes me as odd. I dunno...

 

I can't answer that really...it could be the line but you wouldn't know for sure unless the ISP guy test it. I believe if there is too much noise in the lines the connection would degrade...I don't know much about the line issues myself either...OR it could be the modem...you might want to try getting it replaced by the ISP.

A point to note though; Just because you might have a 1 or 2meg connection, it doesn't mean that you will hit the max. amount any or all the time. Stuff like SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), and distance can and will affect the connection speed. I think you should just explain the issue to the ISP and go from there....maybe the modem is dieing and needs replacing.

 

It could very well be your line - if the wire running from the junction box on the property to your unit is old or damaged, it could be playing havoc with the signal being transmitted down that wire, causing a lot of lost/damaged packets that have to be re-requested, resulting in an effective d/l rate that appears to be a lot slower than it actually is.

It could also have to do with the condition of the service-provider's feeder line from the trunk line in the street to the main junction box in your building - again, a damaged/old line could be causing a lot of signal interference.

Finally, it could just have to do with the number of other users you're sharing the trunk line connection with - if everyone else in your building also has DSL, then there's a lot of traffic on the shared wire that will effectively cut down the amount of bandwidth available to any single user, such as yourself.

 

This is from one of my other posts...

Run direct wired connection for these webpages. Run these test several times and than even in safe mode. Trying to eliminate your ISP and modem.

http://www.dslreports.com/linequality

http://www.dslreports.com/beta/doctorping

http://network-tools.com/

Try some of the other tests...

 

Thanks for the input guys!

Here is a question:

You know the box outside a building that has like all of these little horizontal slots? I really don't know what it's called, but like, it's where the connections from the street line to the building line are made I guess...

Anyway. My line coming from my apartment to the main cable isn't connected to that little grey box, it's directly connected to the main telephone cable. Could that be the source of the problem?

I am not sure if that was clear... lol.

Basically, instead of the line from my apartment being connected to this little box that's also connected to the main wire from the street, it's directly connected to that main wire (wrapped around + electrical tape).

It's annoying I am checking the speed on my DSL modem, it says I am connected at 1769 kbs when I should be getting 2046... uploads are at 268 kbs instead of 512... I don't get it.

Any suggestions would be cool. Thanks!

Oh and here are my stats if it might help:

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 268 / 1.769
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 3,07 / 16,13
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12,5 / 20,0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 10,5 / 25,0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 15,0 / 6,5

Once again, your support is really really appreciated, thank you!