Linksys WAG54G drops DSL connection

I set up my home network system last September, using a Linksys
WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway, wired to my main desktop computer
and wireless linked to another desktop and a laptop computer. All
three of our household computers are running Windows XP
Professional with SP 2, and have been very stable.

After getting the initial problems all resolved, this network
setup has been very stable and fast...until last Friday
afternoon. It started dropping the DSL connection and
re-connecting in a very erratic pattern. It will not stay up
longer than about 10 minutes, now. When the connection is up,
everything seems normal. It is fast and stable for a few minutes,
then it goes catatonic, again.

I have tried all the standard troubleshooting
approaches...re-boot, power off and unplug the Gateway for 3
minutes, etc. but have not found the cause, or a solution to the
problem.

I can use my dial-up connection, and everything functions as it
should, but it is sometimes hard to establish a dial-up
connection. This has led me to think that there may be a phone
line noise problem. My service provider (swbell.net), denies
this, and seems reticent to check things out any further.

I even ran a temporary phone cable from my ADSL Gateway to the
phone service box outside, disconnecting from the household phone
wiring entirely during this test, but this made no difference. My
DSL service provider suggested this, before they will start any
serious effort to locate a line problem.

Is there anything else I should try? I'm even thinking of
borrowing another ADSL Gateway to see if mine is defective.

Gordon wrote:
> I set up my home network system last September, using a Linksys
> WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway, wired to my main desktop computer
> and wireless linked to another desktop and a laptop computer. All
> three of our household computers are running Windows XP
> Professional with SP 2, and have been very stable.
>
> After getting the initial problems all resolved, this network
> setup has been very stable and fast...until last Friday
> afternoon. It started dropping the DSL connection and
> re-connecting in a very erratic pattern. It will not stay up
> longer than about 10 minutes, now. When the connection is up,
> everything seems normal. It is fast and stable for a few minutes,
> then it goes catatonic, again.
>
> I have tried all the standard troubleshooting
> approaches...re-boot, power off and unplug the Gateway for 3
> minutes, etc. but have not found the cause, or a solution to the
> problem.
>
> I can use my dial-up connection, and everything functions as it
> should, but it is sometimes hard to establish a dial-up
> connection. This has led me to think that there may be a phone
> line noise problem. My service provider (swbell.net), denies
> this, and seems reticent to check things out any further.
>
> I even ran a temporary phone cable from my ADSL Gateway to the
> phone service box outside, disconnecting from the household phone
> wiring entirely during this test, but this made no difference. My
> DSL service provider suggested this, before they will start any
> serious effort to locate a line problem.
>
> Is there anything else I should try? I'm even thinking of
> borrowing another ADSL Gateway to see if mine is defective.

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be one of the microfilters
I was using.It would intermittently generate noise causing the dsl link
to drop.

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 17:06:06 +0000, NBT <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Gordon wrote:
>> I set up my home network system last September, using a Linksys
>> WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway, wired to my main desktop computer
>> and wireless linked to another desktop and a laptop computer. All
>> three of our household computers are running Windows XP
>> Professional with SP 2, and have been very stable.
>>
>> After getting the initial problems all resolved, this network
>> setup has been very stable and fast...until last Friday
>> afternoon. It started dropping the DSL connection and
>> re-connecting in a very erratic pattern. It will not stay up
>> longer than about 10 minutes, now. When the connection is up,
>> everything seems normal. It is fast and stable for a few minutes,
>> then it goes catatonic, again.
>>
>> I have tried all the standard troubleshooting
>> approaches...re-boot, power off and unplug the Gateway for 3
>> minutes, etc. but have not found the cause, or a solution to the
>> problem.
>>
>> I can use my dial-up connection, and everything functions as it
>> should, but it is sometimes hard to establish a dial-up
>> connection. This has led me to think that there may be a phone
>> line noise problem. My service provider (swbell.net), denies
>> this, and seems reticent to check things out any further.
>>
>> I even ran a temporary phone cable from my ADSL Gateway to the
>> phone service box outside, disconnecting from the household phone
>> wiring entirely during this test, but this made no difference. My
>> DSL service provider suggested this, before they will start any
>> serious effort to locate a line problem.
>>
>> Is there anything else I should try? I'm even thinking of
>> borrowing another ADSL Gateway to see if mine is defective.
>
>I had a similar problem and it turned out to be one of the microfilters
>I was using.It would intermittently generate noise causing the dsl link
>to drop.
>
Thanks for this suggestion. I have some spare microfilters. I'll
try switching them. However, these were not in the circuit while
I was hooked up to the phone service entrance box, outside. That
is, I had the entire household phone wiring disconnected from the
service drop line, and had my WAG54G Gateway connected directly
to this phone service drop, using a long phone patch cable. The
problem persisted, unchanged in any way that I could tell. I also
tested my dial-up service with this phone hook-up, and it too was
flaky.

"Gordon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 17:06:06 +0000, NBT <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>Gordon wrote:
>>> I set up my home network system last September, using a Linksys
>>> WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway, wired to my main desktop computer
>>> and wireless linked to another desktop and a laptop computer. All
>>> three of our household computers are running Windows XP
>>> Professional with SP 2, and have been very stable.
>>>
>>> After getting the initial problems all resolved, this network
>>> setup has been very stable and fast...until last Friday
>>> afternoon. It started dropping the DSL connection and
>>> re-connecting in a very erratic pattern. It will not stay up
>>> longer than about 10 minutes, now. When the connection is up,
>>> everything seems normal. It is fast and stable for a few minutes,
>>> then it goes catatonic, again.
>>>
>>> I have tried all the standard troubleshooting
>>> approaches...re-boot, power off and unplug the Gateway for 3
>>> minutes, etc. but have not found the cause, or a solution to the
>>> problem.
>>>
>>> I can use my dial-up connection, and everything functions as it
>>> should, but it is sometimes hard to establish a dial-up
>>> connection. This has led me to think that there may be a phone
>>> line noise problem. My service provider (swbell.net), denies
>>> this, and seems reticent to check things out any further.
>>>
>>> I even ran a temporary phone cable from my ADSL Gateway to the
>>> phone service box outside, disconnecting from the household phone
>>> wiring entirely during this test, but this made no difference. My
>>> DSL service provider suggested this, before they will start any
>>> serious effort to locate a line problem.
>>>
>>> Is there anything else I should try? I'm even thinking of
>>> borrowing another ADSL Gateway to see if mine is defective.
>>
>>I had a similar problem and it turned out to be one of the microfilters
>>I was using.It would intermittently generate noise causing the dsl link
>>to drop.
>>
> Thanks for this suggestion. I have some spare microfilters. I'll
> try switching them. However, these were not in the circuit while
> I was hooked up to the phone service entrance box, outside. That
> is, I had the entire household phone wiring disconnected from the
> service drop line, and had my WAG54G Gateway connected directly
> to this phone service drop, using a long phone patch cable. The
> problem persisted, unchanged in any way that I could tell. I also
> tested my dial-up service with this phone hook-up, and it too was
> flaky.

Contact your dsl provider and get them in on the problem. They can make the
phone Co. fix the line or at least help find the cause of your problem.
I had the same problem. It was the phone Co. I was on Qwest with Covad as
adsl provider. Covad wimped out. TOSSED BOTH OUT. Now I have new phone
Co.and SDSL and now ME HAPPY CAMPER. : )))))

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 12:27:21 -0700, "Teddybare"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

[snip]
>
>Contact your dsl provider and get them in on the problem. They can make the
>phone Co. fix the line or at least help find the cause of your problem.
>I had the same problem. It was the phone Co. I was on Qwest with Covad as
>adsl provider. Covad wimped out. TOSSED BOTH OUT. Now I have new phone
>Co.and SDSL and now ME HAPPY CAMPER. : )))))
>
Teddybare, I have already done this, but so far it has not gotten
them to take any action on the problem. My ISP and my phone
company are one and the same...SWBell. Their posture is that if
they send a technician out and find no problem with their line or
service entrance drop, they will have to bill me for the cost of
this work. They claim to have already checked my line with their
facilities at the phone central office. They claim to have found
it within specs as far as noise is concerned. I contend that the
noise is intermittent, and may not be discernable for several
minutes at a time. It seems to knock the connection down about
every 10 minutes, give or take.

I also wonder if their phone central office check would reveal a
noise problem caused by an intermittent connection at the service
drop to my house. They are looking at the problem from the wrong
end of the line, it seems to me. With all my phones on the hook,
and my DSL Router presenting only a very high impedance load,
would a line connections problem really reflect back to the
central office test equipment? I think not, at least not very
noticeably.

Many years ago (1989 maybe) I had a similar intermittent problem with my
dialup connection to the local university (back then it might have been no
more than 1200 baud!).

Continually complaining to the phone company had not effect - they were not
obliged to give data service!

But a little analysis on my part and pushing on the phone company finally
resulted in a solution.

How often does the problem occur? EXACTLY? I found that the interference
that caused the modem to drop happened at exactly 3, 18,33 and 48 minutes
after the hour.

Complaining to the phone company that I was going the state public service
commission and finally having a phone guy here to see the problem occur as I
predicted got some results. Asked customer service at the phone company what
would happen if the president of the phone company had the same problem,
would it get fixed? Needed to be pretty forceful to get decent response from
them!

Turned out the Unix based phone switch was doing a reset of some type. Phone
company, an independent, finally went back to ATT Naperville were the patch
for the problem had been published long ago. Never really got this from the
phone company but the problem disappeared and sometime later another phone
guy told me what was the cause.

"Gordon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 12:27:21 -0700, "Teddybare"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> [snip]
> >
> >Contact your dsl provider and get them in on the problem. They can make
the
> >phone Co. fix the line or at least help find the cause of your problem.
> >I had the same problem. It was the phone Co. I was on Qwest with Covad as
> >adsl provider. Covad wimped out. TOSSED BOTH OUT. Now I have new phone
> >Co.and SDSL and now ME HAPPY CAMPER. : )))))
> >
> Teddybare, I have already done this, but so far it has not gotten
> them to take any action on the problem. My ISP and my phone
> company are one and the same...SWBell. Their posture is that if
> they send a technician out and find no problem with their line or
> service entrance drop, they will have to bill me for the cost of
> this work. They claim to have already checked my line with their
> facilities at the phone central office. They claim to have found
> it within specs as far as noise is concerned. I contend that the
> noise is intermittent, and may not be discernable for several
> minutes at a time. It seems to knock the connection down about
> every 10 minutes, give or take.
>
> I also wonder if their phone central office check would reveal a
> noise problem caused by an intermittent connection at the service
> drop to my house. They are looking at the problem from the wrong
> end of the line, it seems to me. With all my phones on the hook,
> and my DSL Router presenting only a very high impedance load,
> would a line connections problem really reflect back to the
> central office test equipment? I think not, at least not very
> noticeably.

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 14:46:21 GMT, "Michael Slade"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Many years ago (1989 maybe) I had a similar intermittent problem with my
>dialup connection to the local university (back then it might have been no
>more than 1200 baud!).
>
>Continually complaining to the phone company had not effect - they were not
>obliged to give data service!
>
>But a little analysis on my part and pushing on the phone company finally
>resulted in a solution.
>
>How often does the problem occur? EXACTLY? I found that the interference
>that caused the modem to drop happened at exactly 3, 18,33 and 48 minutes
>after the hour.
>
>Complaining to the phone company that I was going the state public service
>commission and finally having a phone guy here to see the problem occur as I
>predicted got some results. Asked customer service at the phone company what
>would happen if the president of the phone company had the same problem,
>would it get fixed? Needed to be pretty forceful to get decent response from
>them!
>
>Turned out the Unix based phone switch was doing a reset of some type. Phone
>company, an independent, finally went back to ATT Naperville were the patch
>for the problem had been published long ago. Never really got this from the
>phone company but the problem disappeared and sometime later another phone
>guy told me what was the cause.
>
>"Gordon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 12:27:21 -0700, "Teddybare"
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>> >
>> >Contact your dsl provider and get them in on the problem. They can make
>the
>> >phone Co. fix the line or at least help find the cause of your problem.
>> >I had the same problem. It was the phone Co. I was on Qwest with Covad as
>> >adsl provider. Covad wimped out. TOSSED BOTH OUT. Now I have new phone
>> >Co.and SDSL and now ME HAPPY CAMPER. : )))))
>> >
>> Teddybare, I have already done this, but so far it has not gotten
>> them to take any action on the problem. My ISP and my phone
>> company are one and the same...SWBell. Their posture is that if
>> they send a technician out and find no problem with their line or
>> service entrance drop, they will have to bill me for the cost of
>> this work. They claim to have already checked my line with their
>> facilities at the phone central office. They claim to have found
>> it within specs as far as noise is concerned. I contend that the
>> noise is intermittent, and may not be discernable for several
>> minutes at a time. It seems to knock the connection down about
>> every 10 minutes, give or take.
>>
>> I also wonder if their phone central office check would reveal a
>> noise problem caused by an intermittent connection at the service
>> drop to my house. They are looking at the problem from the wrong
>> end of the line, it seems to me. With all my phones on the hook,
>> and my DSL Router presenting only a very high impedance load,
>> would a line connections problem really reflect back to the
>> central office test equipment? I think not, at least not very
>> noticeably.
>
The problem here has been resolved. The phone company sent their
repairman out to examine the lines and connections serving my
home. He found that the service drop from the large phone cable
to my house had been chewed by a squirrel. This was up high where
the service drop patches into the large cable. The insulation had
been damaged to such an extent that the conductors were shorting
together intermittently. This was especially bad when the wind
was blowing and the service drop was swaying in the breeze.