Posted: 1/14/2009 7:03:43 PM EDT
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Folks,
We've been having a lot of trouble with Bellsouth DSL the past two months. Specifically, we get brief fast bursts displayed as anywhere from 200 kB/s to 1 MB/s (I've only been concerned with measuring download speeds) followed by several seconds of very slow activity (0 to 5 kB/s), all measured on the Extended Status Bar add-on for FireFox. Average download speeds (measured by total data transfer over 24 hours using Carbonite for our off-site backup) run right around 50 kB/s (200 MB/hr). Our service specs are 768 kbps down and 128 kbps up, max. We've been using Bellsouth's service for several years, and it had always been reliable for us. We live out in the sticks, so there aren't many competing providers. We're on a dry loop (DSL only, with no landline service) with a single, fresh Cat-5e home-run cable (straight from the box outside to our office). This line tests good. The line out to the street and then to the local Bellsouth office has been changed several times with either no result or with improvement of another problem–– our DSL modem losing sync several times per minute. We're no longer losing sync, but we are still running much slower than we used to. So what sort of things do I need to consider here? What can I request of Bellsouth or the techs who come to check it out? Are there tests I can run from here at home to test the line and Bellsouth network equipment myself for problems? Any recommendations will help–– we're pretty frustrated at this point. ETA: DSL modem was replaced, and router was removed from the equation (direct line from modem to computer does not affect speed). Adding info as it occurs to me... |
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There are several lines and items in the overall path:
1. The Router - You said you have tried bypassing this and going PC -> DSL Modem, so I'll say this probably isn't the issue. 2. The DSL Modem - You said it was replaced with no improvement. Have you tried a different Brand and Model of DSL Modem? 3. The line from the DSL modem to the Demarc at your house. Not to be overlooked. Even if it is fresh Cat5e, try stringing a new line, just in case. 4. The line from the Demarc to the multipair line at a servitude(the Street). You indicate this line also has been replaced with no improvement. I'll pass on this one, unless all other options are exhausted. 5. The rest of the Local Loop copper from the servitude to the CO. It sounds like they have also moved you to different lines here. Same as 4. Though, as a previous poster pointed out, there are more advanced S/N tests they can perform on this loop. Be sure a DSL technician, not a 'voice only' tech does these tests. Not sure if those are still separate positions where you are, but it is worth asking. 6. The DSLAM port that the Local Loop terminates into. This is one they probably haven't tried changing. Tell them to provision a new port on the DSLAM and move you onto it. Might be the trick, might not. That's pretty much the whole DSL circuit, from one end to the other. Any other problems would be Logical issues upstream of the DSLAM, and almost certainly would be affecting other customers, as well as you. Good Luck! FluxPrism |
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Harry and Flux, thanks for the great replies. Quoted:
2. The DSL Modem - You said it was replaced with no improvement. Have you tried a different Brand and Model of DSL Modem? Yes, we switched from an old Westell (beige box) to a new Motorola (small grey box, very helpful indicator lights) 3. The line from the DSL modem to the Demarc at your house. Not to be overlooked. Even if it is fresh Cat5e, try stringing a new line, just in case. I pulled this myself before the last two techs visited. Originally we were running on the old four conductor line put in for voice many years ago. I pulled Cat-5e carefully so as to avoid crimps or tight loops, and I was especially paranoid about electrical cables. Maintained 18" spacing minimum from all electrical cables and always crossed at 90-degrees. 4. The line from the Demarc to the multipair line at a servitude(the Street). You indicate this line also has been replaced with no improvement. I'll pass on this one, unless all other options are exhausted. Actually, I misspoke. (I'm new to the terminology.) The line from the box out on the street down to the station in town was changed, twice, but the line from our house to the street wasn't changed. The tech had even indicated some concern about 'football' splices in the aerial run, but didn't replace the line. Could those be problematic? 5. The rest of the Local Loop copper from the servitude to the CO. It sounds like they have also moved you to different lines here. Same as 4. Though, as a previous poster pointed out, there are more advanced S/N tests they can perform on this loop. Be sure a DSL technician, not a 'voice only' tech does these tests. Not sure if those are still separate positions where you are, but it is worth asking. Yeah, the line from the box on the street to the station was switched from one pair to another twice. Our tech told us that our street was moved years ago and may have crushed some cable because our area has a lot of defective pairs. Rain also seems to affect the signal quality drastically. When we had voice, you could hear it on the line heavily. Now we're on a dry loop for DSL, so no voice to test. We've specifically requested a DSL tech, but they always send voice-only techs. These guys do know a little about DSL, but always tell us it isn't their specialty and that larger areas have Premise Techs for that sort of thing. 6. The DSLAM port that the Local Loop terminates into. This is one they probably haven't tried changing. Tell them to provision a new port on the DSLAM and move you onto it. Might be the trick, might not. I don't think this was done. I'll be asking them to perform more tests, to check out the splices on our aerial from the street, and to switch us on the DSLAM. We've spent about 10 hours between phone calls and waiting on techs now, so they really need to fix it. I know the 4-hour windows are necessary, but they sure get old when the problem drags out. Thanks again, guys. I'll update if we can get a tech to come back out again. |
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Well, we are definitely getting somewhere:
1. The spliced Aerial needs to go. That stuff might fly for Voice only, but with DSL, you want a clean run. (And yes, Splices can be electrically neutral when done properly, but honestly, after years hanging in the breeze (literally), what are the odds...) Even if you have to pay them $100 to run a new, unspliced, Aerial, it should be worth it. And they should do it on their dime. 1A. You can test if the Aerial is the problem, by having them connect a bypass line, basically a new Aerial, except laid On The Ground. Connected at the street and at the Demarc on the house to replace the existing Aerial, but without taking time to take down the old Aerial and hang the new one. If the problem goes away, just take down the old Aerial and Hang the bypass line. If the problem Doesn't go away, just disconnect the Bypass line and reconnect the Aerial. (Though it should be replaced anyway.) This is one of the few remaining 'links' that you can easily bypass and test. All it takes is x feet of cable and a little time. 2. If the Local Loop multipair lines are messed up from the street being moved, they might need to do more work on those. That will require a DSL tech with a better Meter than the normal guys carry. 3. Also, one thing I left out, since they normally find these quickly: Filters. In the past you would occasionally have them place Filters in-line in the Local Loop Multipair cables to cut down on some electrical gremlins. DSL and those in-line Filters (these are Not the Filters in you use in the house when you don't have Dry DSL) do NOT play together nicely. In fact, the Filters main job was to filter the signal on the line down to 0-4KHz only, cutting out upper harmonics. Unnecessary for POTS voice, those frequencies are necessary for DSL. Worth asking them about, anyway. Good Luck! FluxPrism |
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Quoted:
This thread needs MSPaint Actually 50% of my job (until I got laid off...) was making Visio diagrams of all of manner of Network layouts just so that people could understand them. MSPaint is beneath me. (Memes aside, it is just not very useful...) If I have time later I'll whip something up that we can all use as a reference. It's good to keep in practice anyway. FluxPrism |