ADSL does not work, help!

Hi all,

So, I'm happily browsing the web. Go off to watch a TV programme about Ebay
at 7pm. Return at 7.30pm to find I cannot actually access the internet.

Well, sort of. It's quite random. I can, 75% of the time, ping things. Ping
the BBC website, get a nice reply with an average of 16ms. Type
www.bbc.co.uk or whatever into the browser, and nothing. Web site found,
waiting for reply... then it times out. Regardless of the site in question.
Even my ISP (Plusnet)'s homepage does not work. MSN does not work, etc.

Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.
And even that doesn't work some of the time, with 'destination net
unreachable'.

I am using a 3Com Wireless ADSL Router with built in modem. I sat and
watched the lights for a bit. Every so often, the sync light would go out.
Then it would come back on again. Connecting to the ISP, manually, was a
pain. Click connect - router connets - nothing. Repeat 6 times before it
actually connects. Then once its connected you can't do anything bar ping
stuff. Then it'll drop again. Very annoying.

So, I ring Plusnet. Fobbed off with the standard 'Turn your router off for a
bit' excuse. Useful.

What do I do now? I've restarted the router, I've reset it to factory
defaults, I've left it turned off, and now I've resorted to connecting to
the internet via a 56k modem.

I've no idea whats wrong, and no idea how to find out whats wrong. This has
happened once before - exactly the same problem - and it magically went away
the next day. I don't really want to have to wait 24 hours before I can use
the internet properly again

Any ideas? The issue affects all machines on my network, and yea, I've tried
turning firewalls off etc to no avail.

Cheers..

"Michael Rodgers" (E-Mail Removed) wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)
>
> Any ideas? The issue affects all machines on my network, and yea,
> I've tried turning firewalls off etc to no avail.

Sounds suspiciously like your SNR has dropped through the floor. What's the
ADSL Status page say for downstream noise margin?

> Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.
> And even that doesn't work some of the time, with 'destination net
> unreachable'.

Does sound a bit odd. I've had a few strange things over the past week (but
gremlins seem to have gone now).

My ADSL connection 'drops' (although it doesn't actually lose sync) and my
router then picks up a new IP address and DNS server. The IP and DNS range
belong to BT wholesale (i think), and not to my ISP and the 'connection' is
pretty useless. The mystery DNS server seems to point things in all
directions, similar to your experiences.

Maybe you are having a similar problem? If you haven't already, try changing
your router settings if possible, so that it *always* tries DNS lookups
through one of Plusnet's DNS servers:

212.159.6.9
212.159.6.10
212.159.13.49
212.159.13.50

That way, if you do get 'lost' in BT's IP streams, at least your router will
be looking at Plusnet for DNS, and you might be able to continue using your
connection a little better.

HTH,
Dan.

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 20:38:07 UTC, "Michael Rodgers"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.
> And even that doesn't work some of the time, with 'destination net
> unreachable'.

> What do I do now? I've restarted the router, I've reset it to factory
> defaults, I've left it turned off, and now I've resorted to connecting to
> the internet via a 56k modem.

How well does the phone work? Is it noisy/patchy? Sounds like a faulty
cable to the exchange.

I had similar symptoms except that they got worse faster; within 9 hours
it had gone completely and the phone was dead. BT fixed it within an
hour; broken cable at top of pole (fixed in the dark by BT man with
ladder and torch).

So, I'd see if the phone works properly. If it doesn't, then ring 150
and report a *phone* fault.

"Bob Eager" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:176uZD2KcidF-pn2-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.
>> And even that doesn't work some of the time, with 'destination net
>> unreachable'.
>
>> What do I do now? I've restarted the router, I've reset it to factory
>> defaults, I've left it turned off, and now I've resorted to connecting to
>> the internet via a 56k modem.
>
> How well does the phone work? Is it noisy/patchy? Sounds like a faulty
> cable to the exchange.

Phone works fine.

FWIW I just used WinMTR to test a random web address:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics
|
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg
| Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| . - 0 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0
| 0 | 0 |
| 195.166.128.64 - 9 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 15
| 16 | 16 |
| gi1-2.802.pth-gw4.plus.net - 17 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 15
| 16 | 15 |
| ge0-1-0-22.ptn-gw1.plus.net - 0 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 16
| 31 | 15 |
| No response from host - 100 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0
| 0 | 0 |
|________________________________________________| ______|______|______|______|______|______|
WinMTR - 0.8. Copyleft @2000-2002 Vasile Laurentiu Stanimir (
(E-Mail Removed) )

Any ideas?

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 20:38:07 -0000, "Michael Rodgers"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.

if MTU setting exists in router set it to 1500.

Does router show loss of signal or CRC error counters ?

Phil

"Phil Thompson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
>>Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.
>
> if MTU setting exists in router set it to 1500.
>
> Does router show loss of signal or CRC error counters ?

Router shows:

ADSL Status

Status
Configured Current
Line Status --- ShowTime


Data Rate
Stream Type Interleaved Channel Data Rate Fast Channel Data Rate
Up Stream 0 (Kbps.) 288 (Kbps.)
Down Stream 0 (Kbps.) 576 (Kbps.)


Operation Data
Operation Data Upstream Downstream
Noise Margin 20 dB 8.5 dB
Output Power 12 dBm 15.5 dBm
Attenuation 31.5 dB 63 dB

Defect Indication
Indicator Name Near End Indicator Far End Indicator
Fast Path FEC Correction 0 0
Interleaved Path FEC Correction 0 0
Fast Path CRC Error 1100 0
Interleaved Path CRC Error 0 1
Loss of Signal Defect --- ---
Loss of Frame Defect --- ---
Loss of Power Defect --- ---
Fast Path HEC Error 645 645
Interleaved Path HEC Error 0 2

"Phil Thompson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
>>Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.
>
> if MTU setting exists in router set it to 1500.

Just tried and it threw up an error - 'MTU should be between 1400 and 1492'.

"Michael Rodgers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Phil Thompson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>Basically, I cannot do anything on the internet, at all, bar ping things.
>>
>> if MTU setting exists in router set it to 1500.
>
> Just tried and it threw up an error - 'MTU should be between 1400 and
> 1492'.
My router has MTU=1458 and seems to work just fine (Netgear DG834G on
PlusNet).

"Michael Rodgers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all,
>
> So, I'm happily browsing the web. Go off to watch a TV programme about
> Ebay at 7pm. Return at 7.30pm to find I cannot actually access the
> internet.

And now, this morning, the whole thing works perfectly. Odd!