ADSL instabilities

[wyred]

I've been having this problem for a long time, looked everywhere, tried everything but nothing helps. So I'm posting here to try my luck.

Recently, I started taking SNR readings from my modem.
In my normal setup (microfilter, phones, etc), my SNR fluctuates between 12db to 1db, which is causing me to disconnect a lot.
When connected directly to the wall without microfilter, it's the same.
But here's what's weird, in my normal setup, if I lift up my phone receiver and leave it unhooked, the SNR stabilizes at 20db.

Any idea what's happening?

[Fng]

While I am no ADSL expert, I recently had an issue with an new installation of DSL from my local bell company. It would disconnect at least 3 times a day.

When I called and spoke with the more senior people they said they "changed my frequency" now whether or not that is true or they just blowing smoke I am not sure... but it's worth a call to your ISP to see if there is anything they can change on your account...

be wary; I had quite a few calls that involved just getting me reconnected, which never addressed the issue of my connection dieing out. So I started asking for managers / senior tech people.

[wyred]

I've made a few phonecalls to my ISP but it seems that they aren't willing to help. :(
Thus I've been troubleshooting the problem myself for the past 2 years. I'd switch to another ISP but there's no ISP in my country that offers what I need.

[Killgannon]

just be persistent, lots of people work in call centers, you will eventually get one that will help you out

that or demand to speak to higher ups, or a higher level of support the first thing when you call in, insist on it and dont let them give you shit about not wanting them to help you

also dont be an asshole when you call tech support, i do dsl tech support, if someone's being an ass to me, i'm not going to go out of my way to help them, however if they call in and are polite, and explain their problem in an intelligent way not "it aint workin none" then im more likely to help out out a bit more>.>;

[wyred]

Heh, I was patient and polite with the calls, just that they can't seem to find what's wrong. They've sent line technicians to do a line test but the results are normal. Then they just left saying everything's ok.

Thus, I've taken it upon myself to find out the problem. I've switched modems, replaced the copper phone lines with CAT5 cables, didn't help. So I posted here hoping someone might know something, lol

[Shuemue]

You might simply be geographically too far from your exchange for the speed they're trying to serve you.

[SephYuyX]

Do you have a line going directly from your box, to your modem? If not, this will help.
You say youre using line filters, so im assuming you dont have a splitter on your box to seperate the lines right when they come into the house. Thats another good fix.

Suggest to your ISP that you want the DSL/Phone line split at the box where the lines come in, and then run a direct DSL line from that to your modem.

[wyred]

Shuemue: The problem occurs frequently and randomly, during the days when my connection's stable, I can hit max bandwidth of 10mbps.

SephirothYuX: Googled on splitters, I think I'll try that next!

Thanks :)

[Shuemue]

The only reason I mentioned that, is because a previous ISP I was with gave everybody a free doubling of their connection. After the upgrade, many people reported very similar problems to yours and had to have their connections downgraded to achieve stability.

[wyred]

Yea, all these instabilities happened after I upgraded from 512kbps :(

[Shuemue]

You should definitely ask your ISP to try regrading it. Stable & slower is far more worthwhile than fast and crashing.

[wyred]

I'll give that a try too, I don't need that much download bandwidth, only needed the upload. Thanks :)