Help! keeps on being disconnected (with PlusNet)

I have been with them now for some 6 weeks, and seem to lose connection at
least once a day.

I use a Belkin Modem/Router (F5D7630-4A) that I bought separately, and have
it connected using an Ethernet port. Everything works fine, speed is very
good, but connection seem to be lost almost every time I boot the machine,
and also very often overnight for some reason (no special tasks are ran
overnight).

Any idea what could be the cause for this? Is it likely to be the BT line,
or PlusNet?

I should probably also add that:

1. My voice line seem to be very bad (only from the outside, I cannot hear
any noise from here) - BT are coming later this week to investigate.
2. I tried swapping between my two filters - they are of different makes -
middle range ones (£4-£6 each IIRC) - but without any luck.

I only moved into this house a couple of months ago, and noticed that the
telephone extension's setup is a complete mess, but haven't got round to
sorting it out yet. Basically, the BT line from the street runs under the
house and then split (using masking tape...) into 4 lines for the various
sockets around the house, so there is in fact no "master" socket. I never
noticed it, and neither did the BT guy that came to connect the line (well,
remove the old ISDN setup that was attached to one of the sockets). He,
however tested all the sockets around the house and confirmed that they
worked correctly.

I work from home, and can really do with these things sorted out, so any
help/tips will be most appreciated.

TIA,

J.

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 10:41:06 +0100, "JoeJoe" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I should probably also add that:
>
>1. My voice line seem to be very bad (only from the outside, I cannot hear
>any noise from here) - BT are coming later this week to investigate.

Noise on the line doesn't help.

>2. I tried swapping between my two filters - they are of different makes -
>middle range ones (£4-£6 each IIRC) - but without any luck.

And you have filtered all extensions?

>I only moved into this house a couple of months ago, and noticed that the
>telephone extension's setup is a complete mess, but haven't got round to
>sorting it out yet.

Sort it out before BT get there - the engineer will normally only test
to the master socket..

>I work from home, and can really do with these things sorted out, so any
>help/tips will be most appreciated.



--
Hiram Hackenbacker

"Hiram Hackenbacker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 10:41:06 +0100, "JoeJoe" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >I should probably also add that:
> >
> >1. My voice line seem to be very bad (only from the outside, I cannot
hear
> >any noise from here) - BT are coming later this week to investigate.
>
> Noise on the line doesn't help.
>
> >2. I tried swapping between my two filters - they are of different
makes -
> >middle range ones (£4-£6 each IIRC) - but without any luck.
>
> And you have filtered all extensions?

Well, only the ones that I use (one for the PC - only use the ADSL output,
and one for the phone - only use the voice output). I assume that's ok?

> >I only moved into this house a couple of months ago, and noticed that the
> >telephone extension's setup is a complete mess, but haven't got round to
> >sorting it out yet.
>
> Sort it out before BT get there - the engineer will normally only test
> to the master socket..

My plan is to make them "create" a master socket first... ;-) I assume that
they should have noticed the lack of a "proper" master socket when they
connected my line (for which they were paid). There is one socket that looks
like a master one (BT-type faceplate), which is the one they tackled when
they connected me, but further investigation on my part revealed that it is,
in fact, connected like an extension.

Will they comply?

> >I work from home, and can really do with these things sorted out, so any
> >help/tips will be most appreciated.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
JoeJoe <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I have been with them now for some 6 weeks, and seem to lose
> connection at least once a day.
>
> I use a Belkin Modem/Router (F5D7630-4A) that I bought separately,
> and have it connected using an Ethernet port. Everything works fine,
> speed is very good, but connection seem to be lost almost every time
> I boot the machine, and also very often overnight for some reason (no
> special tasks are ran overnight).
>
> Any idea what could be the cause for this? Is it likely to be the BT
> line, or PlusNet?
>
> I should probably also add that:
>
> 1. My voice line seem to be very bad (only from the outside, I cannot
> hear any noise from here) - BT are coming later this week to
> investigate.
> 2. I tried swapping between my two filters - they are of different
> makes - middle range ones (£4-£6 each IIRC) - but without any luck.
>
> I only moved into this house a couple of months ago, and noticed that
> the telephone extension's setup is a complete mess, but haven't got
> round to sorting it out yet. Basically, the BT line from the street
> runs under the house and then split (using masking tape...) into 4
> lines for the various sockets around the house, so there is in fact
> no "master" socket. I never noticed it, and neither did the BT guy
> that came to connect the line (well, remove the old ISDN setup that
> was attached to one of the sockets). He, however tested all the
> sockets around the house and confirmed that they worked correctly.
>
> I work from home, and can really do with these things sorted out, so
> any help/tips will be most appreciated.
>
> TIA,
>
> J.

Have you checked your modem/router config very carefully? There is probably
something about connecting on demand, and inactivity timeout (which drops
the connection after a specified period of inactivity). These need setting
in a way which ensures that the connection is *never* dropped intentionally.
You may need to experiment with the settings - they are not always explained
very clearly!
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Same here I did have a Belkin Router drove me up the wall - same drop
outs and i'm with plusnet so ended up buying a Buffalo Adsl Modem
Wireless, and spot on 100% no drop outs or lockups, I had 3 other mates
purchase the same router and there also experiencing the exact same
problems even before the firmware upgrade and after.

I'm not sure the belkin ones are up for the job, When mine dropped the
connection I would reset and the connection and the adsl would kick back in.




e BT guy that came to connect the line (well,
> remove the old ISDN setup that was attached to one of the sockets). He,
> however tested all the sockets around the house and confirmed that they
> worked correctly.
>
> I work from home, and can really do with these things sorted out, so any
> help/tips will be most appreciated.
>
> TIA,
>
> J.
>
>

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 11:18:32 +0100, "JoeJoe" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>> And you have filtered all extensions?
>
>Well, only the ones that I use (one for the PC - only use the ADSL output,
>and one for the phone - only use the voice output). I assume that's ok?

Youdon't need a filter on any "empty" extension socket.

>> >I only moved into this house a couple of months ago, and noticed that the
>> >telephone extension's setup is a complete mess, but haven't got round to
>> >sorting it out yet.
>>
>> Sort it out before BT get there - the engineer will normally only test
>> to the master socket..
>
>My plan is to make them "create" a master socket first... ;-) I assume that
>they should have noticed the lack of a "proper" master socket when they
>connected my line (for which they were paid). There is one socket that looks
>like a master one (BT-type faceplate), which is the one they tackled when
>they connected me, but further investigation on my part revealed that it is,
>in fact, connected like an extension.
>
>Will they comply?

When you say "connected your line" - did they actually visit the place
- or simply make an existing circuit live at the exchange?

The engineers are usually quite helpful - particularly if you have
tea/coffee and biscuits to hand. Remember the engineer works from a
job sheet and always ends up with the dirty end of the stick. Don't
get angry with him/her.

--
Hiram Hackenbacker

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed) says...

> I work from home, and can really do with these things sorted out, so any
> help/tips will be most appreciated.

From what you have said I would say that the wiring is likely to be the
problem. Something like 40% of ADSL faults that we submit to BT end up
being a problem with the internal wiring in a house and the number one
test we would recomend is to try directly into the mastersocket with no
other devices plugged in on your line.

We cannot raise a fault on your line while there is a PSTN fault open
but if the engineer comes out and fails to fix the issue by sorting the
wiring then we can raise a fault to BT Wholesale to get them to have a
look.

Regards,
--
| Josh Berry.................Unmetered & ADSL solutions
| Customer Support..................for Home & Business
| PlusNet plc.....................@ http://www.plus.net
+ ---- My Referrals - It pays to recommend PlusNet ---+

"Hiram Hackenbacker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 11:18:32 +0100, "JoeJoe" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >> And you have filtered all extensions?
> >
> >Well, only the ones that I use (one for the PC - only use the ADSL
output,
> >and one for the phone - only use the voice output). I assume that's ok?
>
> Youdon't need a filter on any "empty" extension socket.
>
> >> >I only moved into this house a couple of months ago, and noticed that
the
> >> >telephone extension's setup is a complete mess, but haven't got round
to
> >> >sorting it out yet.
> >>
> >> Sort it out before BT get there - the engineer will normally only test
> >> to the master socket..
> >
> >My plan is to make them "create" a master socket first... ;-) I assume
that
> >they should have noticed the lack of a "proper" master socket when they
> >connected my line (for which they were paid). There is one socket that
looks
> >like a master one (BT-type faceplate), which is the one they tackled when
> >they connected me, but further investigation on my part revealed that it
is,
> >in fact, connected like an extension.
> >
> >Will they comply?
>
> When you say "connected your line" - did they actually visit the place
> - or simply make an existing circuit live at the exchange?

The socket that looked like the master socket (which as I later discovered
that it was not) had an ISDN box connected to it, so a technitian had to
visit in order to disconnect it, made some changed at the exchange, and then
verify that the line was working correctly.

> The engineers are usually quite helpful - particularly if you have
> tea/coffee and biscuits to hand. Remember the engineer works from a
> job sheet and always ends up with the dirty end of the stick. Don't
> get angry with him/her.

I have/had no problem with the engineer who was very friendly and helpful.
Unfortunately he never bothered to check the wiring from the street into the
master socket. But then again, the line appeared to work properly, and he
had no reason to suspect that someone had tampered with it I suppose. Had he
done so he would have realised that someone (previous owners of the house?)
decided to cut the wire from the outside into the master socket, and connect
4 extensions to it (on of which is the BT master socket). Hope that makes
sense...