Broadband keeps disconnecting ??

I am using Wanadoo broadband and have an Alcatel 300 USB Broadband Modem
(Win XP SP1 - can't use XP2 as it affects a lot of my hardware !). Athlon
2200XP, 620RAM, Zone Alarm Pro, Spyware Doctor running.



The broadband modem used to disconnect now and again (maybe 2 or 3 times a
night). So i updated the drivers from the Alcatel website, but it didn't
seem to help. That was when I was on 512K broadband and i could live with
being disconnected now and again.



However, last week I upgraded to 1MB broadband (still with Wanadoo), and now
the modem disconnects every 10 minutes or so (sometimes even every 2 minutes
!). I have again updated the drivers, I have taken all the phones out of the
line (apart from the broadband modem) and it is still the same. It
disconnected about 30 times in a 6 hour period, last night !.



When it disconnects, the right hand green light (connection light) goes
orange, flashes and then re-connects automatically and goes back to green
(the light on the left does NOT change colour, so I know it's not the modem,
setup or USB cable). That to me sounds like the line, yet the line is fine,
it worked okay before upgrading to 1mbps when it only disconnected now and
again. It works a lot better before 4pm and after about 10pm, but between 5
to 9pm the line drops a heck of a lot.



I really begrudge paying £27.99 a month for such poor service. So, a few
questions, if anyone can shed a bit of light:



1) Does this sound like it's the line ?.

2) Why does it disconnect much more between 5 to 9pm (peak period ???) ??

3) How could I solve this (is it worth ringing Wanadoo, what could they do -
could they "up" the gain on the line or is that only for dial-up modems ??).

4) Is it worth changing ISP or would i have the same problem (assuming it
was the phone line in the beginning) ?

5) Are there any other things I could try, that I might have overlooked ?





Kind Regards

Andrew

andy100 wrote:

> 5) Are there any other things I could try, that I might have overlooked ?

Try a different microfilter. They die and when it happens the
connection goes up and down like a fiddler's elbow.

Nick

andy100 wrote:
[snip of wanadoo disconnection problems]
> I really begrudge paying £27.99 a month for such poor service. So, a few
> questions, if anyone can shed a bit of light:
>
>
>
> 1) Does this sound like it's the line ?.

I've talked a lot to their "technical support" in the past few days.
They claim that the broadband is in the process of being upgraded and
that the upgrade will not be completed until Friday 3rd; until then you
are liable to be disconnected and/or unable to connect.

I don't know how true what I was told is, because it was being used as a
(almost certainly false) reason for my account disappearing :-(

> 2) Why does it disconnect much more between 5 to 9pm (peak period ???) ??

Other people using it?

> 3) How could I solve this (is it worth ringing Wanadoo, what could they do -
> could they "up" the gain on the line or is that only for dial-up modems ??).

You could try their technical support but IME their helpers can be of
very different standards.

> 4) Is it worth changing ISP or would i have the same problem (assuming it
> was the phone line in the beginning) ?
>
> 5) Are there any other things I could try, that I might have overlooked ?

I think you may have to wait until Saturday 4th to see if things are
mended as they claim.

> Kind Regards
>
> Andrew

Alan

andy100 wrote:
> I am using Wanadoo broadband and have an Alcatel 300 USB Broadband
> Modem (Win XP SP1 - can't use XP2 as it affects a lot of my hardware
> !). Athlon 2200XP, 620RAM, Zone Alarm Pro, Spyware Doctor running.
>
>
>
> The broadband modem used to disconnect now and again (maybe 2 or 3
> times a night). So i updated the drivers from the Alcatel website,
> but it didn't seem to help. That was when I was on 512K broadband
> and
> i could live with being disconnected now and again.
>
>
>
> However, last week I upgraded to 1MB broadband (still with Wanadoo),
> and now the modem disconnects every 10 minutes or so (sometimes even
> every 2 minutes !). I have again updated the drivers, I have taken
> all the phones out of the line (apart from the broadband modem) and
> it is still the same. It disconnected about 30 times in a 6 hour
> period, last night !.
>
>
>
> When it disconnects, the right hand green light (connection light)
> goes orange, flashes and then re-connects automatically and goes
> back
> to green (the light on the left does NOT change colour, so I know
> it's not the modem, setup or USB cable). That to me sounds like the
> line, yet the line is fine, it worked okay before upgrading to 1mbps
> when it only disconnected now and again. It works a lot better
> before
> 4pm and after about 10pm, but between 5 to 9pm the line drops a heck
> of a lot.


I've deliberately left all your original text in as you first said
your line wasn't fine, it was dropping out 2 to 3 times a night, this
is not normal & most deffinitely not ok. 2-3 times a wekk or even
month may be conscured to be ok but not in one night. Now you've had
your service upgraded to a higher speed which requires a higher spec &
surprise surprise it's falling over more often.

For you to check whether it's the line or not, you don't just unplug
all your phones but you have to physically disconnect the wiring as
well. You do that by taking the faceplate of the master socket
(NTE5a) & testing from the test socket in the back. If it doesn't
display any of your symptons then, you know it's your wiring, if it
still does then you may have been upgraded out of your lines limits or
you may have a fault on your line.

> I really begrudge paying £27.99 a month for such poor service. So, a
> few questions, if anyone can shed a bit of light:

Then why upgrade a service which is already flakey to say the least..
>
>
>
> 1) Does this sound like it's the line ?.

Ref the above, it could be your phones, it could be your filters, it
could be your extension wiring, it could be you 'live to far away'
from the exchange & yes it could your line
>
> 2) Why does it disconnect much more between 5 to 9pm (peak period
> ???) ??

Ambient noise levels will rise in the evenings which will knock out
your DSL if you already have a weak signal..
>
> 3) How could I solve this (is it worth ringing Wanadoo, what could
> they do - could they "up" the gain on the line or is that only for
> dial-up modems ??).

You have to report it via Wannado as you are their customer, who then
may reffer it to BT, but only after they have made you check a few
things first & no they can't up the gain for DSL services.
>
> 4) Is it worth changing ISP or would i have the same problem
> (assuming it was the phone line in the beginning) ?

Seeing as the line will be the same, your extension wiring won't
change & you won't be changing any of the equipment how is changing
your ISP going to directly improve things?? The only way it may
improve things is that the new ISP may get BT to investigate quicker
than your old one, but here again they may look at your line stats &
say you can only have 512k as well.
>
> 5) Are there any other things I could try, that I might have
> overlooked ?

Read the above as you have missed a few...

Many thanks for the detailed advice. I will have a go at the above and will
contact Wanadoo if problems persist.

Kind regards
Andrew


"Kraftee" <kraftee@pleasedon'(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:43df98d5$0$1470$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> andy100 wrote:
> > I am using Wanadoo broadband and have an Alcatel 300 USB Broadband
> > Modem (Win XP SP1 - can't use XP2 as it affects a lot of my hardware
> > !). Athlon 2200XP, 620RAM, Zone Alarm Pro, Spyware Doctor running.
> >
> >
> >
> > The broadband modem used to disconnect now and again (maybe 2 or 3
> > times a night). So i updated the drivers from the Alcatel website,
> > but it didn't seem to help. That was when I was on 512K broadband
> > and
> > i could live with being disconnected now and again.
> >
> >
> >
> > However, last week I upgraded to 1MB broadband (still with Wanadoo),
> > and now the modem disconnects every 10 minutes or so (sometimes even
> > every 2 minutes !). I have again updated the drivers, I have taken
> > all the phones out of the line (apart from the broadband modem) and
> > it is still the same. It disconnected about 30 times in a 6 hour
> > period, last night !.
> >
> >
> >
> > When it disconnects, the right hand green light (connection light)
> > goes orange, flashes and then re-connects automatically and goes
> > back
> > to green (the light on the left does NOT change colour, so I know
> > it's not the modem, setup or USB cable). That to me sounds like the
> > line, yet the line is fine, it worked okay before upgrading to 1mbps
> > when it only disconnected now and again. It works a lot better
> > before
> > 4pm and after about 10pm, but between 5 to 9pm the line drops a heck
> > of a lot.
>
>
> I've deliberately left all your original text in as you first said
> your line wasn't fine, it was dropping out 2 to 3 times a night, this
> is not normal & most deffinitely not ok. 2-3 times a wekk or even
> month may be conscured to be ok but not in one night. Now you've had
> your service upgraded to a higher speed which requires a higher spec &
> surprise surprise it's falling over more often.
>
> For you to check whether it's the line or not, you don't just unplug
> all your phones but you have to physically disconnect the wiring as
> well. You do that by taking the faceplate of the master socket
> (NTE5a) & testing from the test socket in the back. If it doesn't
> display any of your symptons then, you know it's your wiring, if it
> still does then you may have been upgraded out of your lines limits or
> you may have a fault on your line.
>
> > I really begrudge paying £27.99 a month for such poor service. So, a
> > few questions, if anyone can shed a bit of light:
>
> Then why upgrade a service which is already flakey to say the least..
> >
> >
> >
> > 1) Does this sound like it's the line ?.
>
> Ref the above, it could be your phones, it could be your filters, it
> could be your extension wiring, it could be you 'live to far away'
> from the exchange & yes it could your line
> >
> > 2) Why does it disconnect much more between 5 to 9pm (peak period
> > ???) ??
>
> Ambient noise levels will rise in the evenings which will knock out
> your DSL if you already have a weak signal..
> >
> > 3) How could I solve this (is it worth ringing Wanadoo, what could
> > they do - could they "up" the gain on the line or is that only for
> > dial-up modems ??).
>
> You have to report it via Wannado as you are their customer, who then
> may reffer it to BT, but only after they have made you check a few
> things first & no they can't up the gain for DSL services.
> >
> > 4) Is it worth changing ISP or would i have the same problem
> > (assuming it was the phone line in the beginning) ?
>
> Seeing as the line will be the same, your extension wiring won't
> change & you won't be changing any of the equipment how is changing
> your ISP going to directly improve things?? The only way it may
> improve things is that the new ISP may get BT to investigate quicker
> than your old one, but here again they may look at your line stats &
> say you can only have 512k as well.
> >
> > 5) Are there any other things I could try, that I might have
> > overlooked ?
>
> Read the above as you have missed a few...
>
>

Well just an update ! - i range their helpline (i keep getting foreign
people, which i have no problem with, but i cannot understand them !!). They
said they would do a line test and i had to ring them back after 1 hour.

I rang them back and they identified a possible fault on the line. They
would look into it and i have to ring back after 7am on 2.2.06 (2 full days)
to see what the problem is !!!!

What will they do then ? Physically get engineers out to the exchange/line
just for me ??? (doubt it !!). If they do identify a problem would they fix
it without charging me ?? What kind of problems might they be talking about
(snapped/damaged cables ???????)

Many Thanks
Andrew



"andy100" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:dro6n2$114$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Many thanks for the detailed advice. I will have a go at the above and
will
> contact Wanadoo if problems persist.
>
> Kind regards
> Andrew
>
>
> "Kraftee" <kraftee@pleasedon'(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:43df98d5$0$1470$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> >
> > andy100 wrote:
> > > I am using Wanadoo broadband and have an Alcatel 300 USB Broadband
> > > Modem (Win XP SP1 - can't use XP2 as it affects a lot of my hardware
> > > !). Athlon 2200XP, 620RAM, Zone Alarm Pro, Spyware Doctor running.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > The broadband modem used to disconnect now and again (maybe 2 or 3
> > > times a night). So i updated the drivers from the Alcatel website,
> > > but it didn't seem to help. That was when I was on 512K broadband
> > > and
> > > i could live with being disconnected now and again.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > However, last week I upgraded to 1MB broadband (still with Wanadoo),
> > > and now the modem disconnects every 10 minutes or so (sometimes even
> > > every 2 minutes !). I have again updated the drivers, I have taken
> > > all the phones out of the line (apart from the broadband modem) and
> > > it is still the same. It disconnected about 30 times in a 6 hour
> > > period, last night !.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > When it disconnects, the right hand green light (connection light)
> > > goes orange, flashes and then re-connects automatically and goes
> > > back
> > > to green (the light on the left does NOT change colour, so I know
> > > it's not the modem, setup or USB cable). That to me sounds like the
> > > line, yet the line is fine, it worked okay before upgrading to 1mbps
> > > when it only disconnected now and again. It works a lot better
> > > before
> > > 4pm and after about 10pm, but between 5 to 9pm the line drops a heck
> > > of a lot.
> >
> >
> > I've deliberately left all your original text in as you first said
> > your line wasn't fine, it was dropping out 2 to 3 times a night, this
> > is not normal & most deffinitely not ok. 2-3 times a wekk or even
> > month may be conscured to be ok but not in one night. Now you've had
> > your service upgraded to a higher speed which requires a higher spec &
> > surprise surprise it's falling over more often.
> >
> > For you to check whether it's the line or not, you don't just unplug
> > all your phones but you have to physically disconnect the wiring as
> > well. You do that by taking the faceplate of the master socket
> > (NTE5a) & testing from the test socket in the back. If it doesn't
> > display any of your symptons then, you know it's your wiring, if it
> > still does then you may have been upgraded out of your lines limits or
> > you may have a fault on your line.
> >
> > > I really begrudge paying £27.99 a month for such poor service. So, a
> > > few questions, if anyone can shed a bit of light:
> >
> > Then why upgrade a service which is already flakey to say the least..
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > 1) Does this sound like it's the line ?.
> >
> > Ref the above, it could be your phones, it could be your filters, it
> > could be your extension wiring, it could be you 'live to far away'
> > from the exchange & yes it could your line
> > >
> > > 2) Why does it disconnect much more between 5 to 9pm (peak period
> > > ???) ??
> >
> > Ambient noise levels will rise in the evenings which will knock out
> > your DSL if you already have a weak signal..
> > >
> > > 3) How could I solve this (is it worth ringing Wanadoo, what could
> > > they do - could they "up" the gain on the line or is that only for
> > > dial-up modems ??).
> >
> > You have to report it via Wannado as you are their customer, who then
> > may reffer it to BT, but only after they have made you check a few
> > things first & no they can't up the gain for DSL services.
> > >
> > > 4) Is it worth changing ISP or would i have the same problem
> > > (assuming it was the phone line in the beginning) ?
> >
> > Seeing as the line will be the same, your extension wiring won't
> > change & you won't be changing any of the equipment how is changing
> > your ISP going to directly improve things?? The only way it may
> > improve things is that the new ISP may get BT to investigate quicker
> > than your old one, but here again they may look at your line stats &
> > say you can only have 512k as well.
> > >
> > > 5) Are there any other things I could try, that I might have
> > > overlooked ?
> >
> > Read the above as you have missed a few...
> >
> >
>
>

andy100 wrote:
> Well just an update ! - i range their helpline (i keep getting
> foreign
> people, which i have no problem with, but i cannot understand them
> !!). They said they would do a line test and i had to ring them back
> after 1 hour.
>
> I rang them back and they identified a possible fault on the line.
> They would look into it and i have to ring back after 7am on 2.2.06
> (2 full days) to see what the problem is !!!!
>
> What will they do then ? Physically get engineers out to the
> exchange/line just for me ??? (doubt it !!). If they do identify a
> problem would they fix it without charging me ?? What kind of
> problems might they be talking about (snapped/damaged cables
> ???????)
>

If they have really found something wrong expect a visit from your
local DSL trained Openreach engineer, in the next couple of days (or
anything up to a wekk or so), but I have heard of ISP's saying that to
appease their end users without doing anything about it. I've
actually came across one end user (who must have had the patience of
Job) where the ISP strung them along for over 12 months & when they
did eventually get a visit they found out that they couldn't have any
DSL service at all due to line limitations. Hope yours go better than
that.

You shoudn't be charged unless they actually do any faulting on your
internal wiring, that'll be your decision & costs £45 for the first 45
minutes, or part of & £15 for every 15 minutes after that

> You shoudn't be charged unless they actually do any faulting on your
> internal wiring, that'll be your decision & costs £45 for the first 45
> minutes, or part of & £15 for every 15 minutes after that
>Bloody hell! Maybe I should become a BT engineer! Or does BT grab all that
>doe?

Dan

On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 00:18:39 -0000, "Daniel"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Bloody hell! Maybe I should become a BT engineer! Or does BT grab all that
>doe?

dough ?

Have you looked at the cost of plumbers, electricians, PC repairs, car
servicing etc in the last 10 years ?

Phil
--
http://www.notspot.info/ - if you can't get the Broadband you want.

On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 00:18:39 UTC, "Daniel" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>
> > You shoudn't be charged unless they actually do any faulting on your
> > internal wiring, that'll be your decision & costs £45 for the first 45
> > minutes, or part of & £15 for every 15 minutes after that
> >Bloody hell! Maybe I should become a BT engineer! Or does BT grab all that
> >doe?

Deer, deer!

--
[ 7'ism - a condition by which the sufferer experiences an inability
to give concise answers, express reasoned argument or opinion.
Usually accompanied by silly noises and gestures - incurable, early
euthanasia recommended. ]