Dropping connection
 

howdies all,
recently my 600k connection has been really dodgy. Every so often (totally random) it will just cut out then connect back again, which in turn causes me to having to keep resetting zonealarm and has caused the computer to crash (which i believe is linked to the drop in net connection). On top of this, my internet connection (when it is working :rolleyes: ) is pretty terrible. Obviously i do get a connection some times and downloads are fine (60-70kb/s) when using P2P's, but to get it to display a website or download from a website, i have to keep bouncing between ntl proxies (luton ones) to find one thats working and even then it may only last 10minute or so, then i will have to go through the proxy list again, finding another one. :(

However, i have got used to this, but the dropping in connection is taking the pee :mad: So has anyone got any ideas to what it could be? I have thought it could be the router, but it has worked for the passed 2 years without a problem and its only within the last month or two that the dropping in connection has occured :(

Thanks to anyone that can help,
Dom

p.s - info that may help: the CM is a ntl:home 120 and the router is a Netgear Wireless MR314, and im situated just outside of bedford :)

Re: Dropping connection
 

seems certain parts of the NTL infrastructure is borked right now, moreover the caches in b'ham are up and down to.

BizBo

Re: Dropping connection
 

Hi there.
You have an NTL 120.....do you lose the sync and/or rdy lights when you lose the connection ?
How do you retrieve the situation ?
Are you connected via ethernet cable (RJ45) or USB ?

Re: Dropping connection
 

I am in Letchworth mate, and I know what your going through. I have exactly the same thing. My connection drops occasionally, and I get aweful ping at certain times of the day. I belive its due to oversubscribing the servers for Luton (which encompasses both of us).

I have had enough of ntl's bad connections and poor CS, so I am in the process of switching to another service (going to try ADSL this time).

Re: Dropping connection
 

It may be unwise to jump to conclusions in this case. Losing the connection altogether isnt usually a problem associated with oversubbed UBR's. I would be interested to see what is needed to be done in order to restore the connection.

Re: Dropping connection
 

I have been having similar problems, but for a much longer time - about 1 - 1.5 years. I frequently get disconnections when the connection is being used moderately, mostly during online gaming. I will get 100% packet loss immediately and get null route anywhere, even the ubr doesn't respond. The lights on the cablemodem (3com CMX) stay as usual but the link lights flash alternately at a fairly steadyish 180 beats per minute (or so). The quickest way to get a connection back is to turn the power off then on, on that cablemodem. Otherwise if I wait about 5 minutes the connection will resume again.

I had two engineers come around to try and sort the issue last week, they say they found a bad connection outside and removed a connection that is no longer used in a splitter, this apparently improved the snr. Unfortunately this didn't seem to solve the disconnecting issue, I will still get disconnected during online gaming after about 1 minute or if I'm lucky about 10-15 minutes - unfortunately I play QuakeWorld and matches last 20 minutes :). The connection will also die when downloading but I don't download as often so can't provide much prior knowledge on that.

I live in the GU22 region and I'm on the 1mb tier.

Re: Dropping connection
 

Also I was given this information from an ntl employee about my connection a couple days prior to the engineers coming around:

cmSNR +26.4 dB

so it seems the snr is 'fine', and apparently it has been increased (by how much I don't know) since the engineers were here.

Re: Dropping connection
 

thanks for everyones replies :)

wheeliebin - Not sure on the light mate, since the wireless router and CM is in another room, and by the time i get disconnected and leg it to the room, it has already come back on :dozey: As for the dropping of the connection, well the network icon in the system tray just disappears and a popup says that it has been disconnected. Then about 10secs or so, it will come back again another popup stating that it has been connected. As for connection, well its ether into the router, but im using a USB wireless adaptor.
Using win2000 sp4 if that helps at all mate :)

As for CM levels (below):
Downstream Receive Power Level : 0.76 dBmv
Downstream SNR : 34.63 dB
Upstream Transmit Power Level : 52.50 dBmv

I believe there ok?

To everyone else - yea, the service has deteriorated over the last 6months or so and it does become abit of a pain in the bum when you have to keep changing proxies to view website :( Although the dropping in connection has only happened recently (last month or so) and its usually during busy periods (after 5pm til about 7-8pm)...otherwise its fairly fast.
Our BT exchange has all just been upgraded for ADSL, so it is a thought on my mind, but id rather have 600k that 512k, plus ADSL seems to be more capped for the speeds ie: i have heard people only being able to get 60kb/s max, whereas i download stuff at 75kb/s or so.

Thanks again everyone :)
Dom

Re: Dropping connection
 

Hmm... When this next happens see if you can ping your router. This may not even be NTL related. How good is the signal strength to the card ?

The fact that the network icon is going means that its the connection between your pc and your router that is going. If the NTL connection went this would not happen.....

Do you have any dect phones or microwave ovens near the router or wireless card ?

Re: Dropping connection
 

Signal strength is 55-83% with the link quality being about 95-100%, and im about 10m away from the router, but there are 3 walls in the way :erm:

Good point about the network icon ;) chances are it isnââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t a NTL fault then, must be something up with my router :( Yea I have dect phones, which are about 2m away from the wireless adaptor. Only other things I can think that might be causing interference is the adaptor is next to my monitor and a halogen desk lamp (with transformer in the base), oh and my mobile...but surely these wont stop the connection completely?

Re: Dropping connection
 

They may be causing the router to re-connect now and again... Are there any people using wireless networks near you ? If you are using the default channel on the router (11 usualy) then it would be a good idea to change it !

Re: Dropping connection
 

Yep spot on.

Looks like cust equipment. Let us know if you suss out what the cause was :)

Re: Dropping connection
 

yea, theres another computer, about the same distance from the router and this pc sharing the connection as well, and this pc is using channel 1. Not sure about the other pc, but i take it they should be on different channels?
Also, 128bit WEP in enabled, i take it both pcs should use different wep keys or the same one?

Ill try and move the wireless adaptor further away from the stuff and see if that helps :)

cheers stuart :)

Re: Dropping connection
 

If both computers are on the same network IE yours then no. They should have the same channel number SSID and wep key..

I was thinking more of anyone near you with a wireless network !

Re: Dropping connection
 

Not that i know of. Im in a village in the middle of no where lol :D And my adaptor doesnt pick up any other networks apart from my own :)

Well luckly, over the last day or so it hasnt disconnected once, so maybe what ever it was has cleared up, although nothing has been changed :confused:

well, thanks for all your help peeps :tu: ill see what happens over the next week, although it is a strange one since i would get disconnected atleast once a day, but now it doesnt lol

Thanks again anyways,
Dom :)

Re: Dropping connection
 

funny that, Im having so many problems with NTL and guess what server Im on? you got it, Luton!

I am also gonna leave NTL when I move house and sign up with a decent bloody provider :|