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DSL-to-Router link keeps dropping

For several years I have battled with my wireless router connection that keeps dropping. Since it occurs for extended periods at night and on weekends, it seems provider related; but resetting the router fixes the problem (for awhile) so I used to think it was a router problem. The latest firmware and several times replacing the router, from LinkSys to NetGear (4-port w/ wireless) didn't fix it. At one point the Paradyne DSL crashed and was replaced with another by the phone company, but problem returned. Recently I discovered that if I leave things alone for a long time (perhaps 10-20 minutes) I am again able to do work on the Internet (for awhile).

Here is my educated guess and want to hear the thoughts of others who know better than I:

I think a combination of things explain the problem. (1) our local rural telco may have poor lines/circuits/support during busy times to my area causing handshake delays; (2) as a result the Paradyne DSL does not pass back some important signal to the router that it is waiting on. This might explain why resetting the router fixes it temporarily, why different routers don't eliminate the problem, and why the problem occurs around certain times but not others.

Should I get the phone company to give me a different brand of DSL modem (this is my 2nd Paradyne) or buy my own (if that is possible)? Should I ask them to analyze something on the line (but what)? I am ready to pay the phone company for the service visit to solve this but I'm at wits end.

Reply to
Jim
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On 23 Jul 2006 14:27:53 -0700, "Jim" wrote in :

Probably not a provider problem. Possible causes include radio interference and peer-to-peer filesharing. See wikis below for more info.

What are the exact symptoms?

Reply to
John Navas

Just today I was given a newly provisioned static IP by my ISP to see if that fixes anything. In the process it was discovered that my Gateway IP entry was incorrect, one of the DNS IPs was listed instead (IP forwarding must have been on for this to have worked at all). Until the weekend arrives I will not know if things are better or not. Tech support gave me the wrong Gateway address some time back, but that may have been during one of my dropped connection complaints.

You asked for the "exact" symptoms-- During email or web activity I will simply lose the connection (very annoying when in the middle of an online purchase). I can ping the router (using the local 192.168.1.1 address or the static IP assigned by the ISP) but cannot ping anything outside (none of the IPs for DNS or Gateway). When I depress the reset on the router or use the router's webpage interface to re-apply the settings, I almost always get the connection back and can continue for another web-link or two before it happens again. If I go away and come back in an hour I am successful at refreshing my home page (one way I check for internet connectivity), but that doesn't last long (same as resetting the router). When I am in one of these "flakey" periods (e.g., weekends) I can run the ping command for 25 consecutive retries and I will lose my connection during one of the pings... so even tiny packet activity can experience this. I have experienced the problem with only wired PCs connected to the ethernet ports on the router (i.e., no wireless laptops in use). Here are some questions I have in response to your reply:

Question1: can radio interference cause problems with my

4-port+wireless router, even when the only connectivity I have and am using is wired?

Question2: Can you explain more about the file sharing problem? I don't do much with file sharing at home and the problem I experience is certainly not only occuring with file sharing activity. I do have a shared printer set up and a shared folder on the primary PC near the router... but I am sure I have had that PC powered off and still experienced the problem from another wired PC (a Mac) or wireless laptop (Dell) that was not involved in sharing or printing. I think it is rare that I use file sharing to transfer files between PCs at my home... but I do have a pub folder for those occassions.

Question3: I have a Mac in a different part of the house connected to one of the ethernet ports on the router and this machine is rarely turned off. Could the length of cable be an issue? I am pretty sure it is under 100 meters long.

Thanks. JJ

John Navas wrote:

Reply to
Jim

On 24 Jul 2006 16:01:39 -0700, "Jim" wrote in :

No DHCP? Ugh!

What does that mean? Exact error message please. Exact Status of the wireless connection please.

What does the router say about the WAN connection? Most importantly, what are the status lights on the DSL modem?

Power cycle the router instead.

Are you doing any peer-to-peer filesharing?

I still don't know what that means.

Probably not.

I said peer-to-peer filesharing, like Bittorrent or eDonkey/eMule, by you, or by anyone else on your router.

No.

Reply to
John Navas

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