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.

On 23 Jul 2006 14:27:53 -0700, "Jim" <jsjones@graceland.edu> wrote in
<1153690073.800739.27830@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups. com>:

>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.

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

>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).

What are the exact symptoms?

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

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:
> On 23 Jul 2006 14:27:53 -0700, "Jim" <jsjones@graceland.edu> wrote in
> <1153690073.800739.27830@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups. com>:
>
> >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.
>
> Probably not a provider problem. Possible causes include radio
> interference and peer-to-peer filesharing. See wikis below for more
> info.
>
> >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).
>
> What are the exact symptoms?
>
> --
> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

On 24 Jul 2006 16:01:39 -0700, "Jim" <jsjones@graceland.edu> wrote in
<1153782099.780437.239890@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups .com>:

>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.

No DHCP? Ugh!

>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).

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

>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).

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

>When I depress the reset on the router or use the router's
>webpage interface to re-apply the settings,

Power cycle the router instead.

>I almost always get the
>connection back and can continue for another web-link or two before it
>happens again.

Are you doing any peer-to-peer filesharing?

>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 still don't know what that means.

>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?

Probably not.

>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.

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

>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.

No.

>John Navas wrote:
>> On 23 Jul 2006 14:27:53 -0700, "Jim" <jsjones@graceland.edu> wrote in
>> <1153690073.800739.27830@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups. com>:
>>
>> >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.
>>
>> Probably not a provider problem. Possible causes include radio
>> interference and peer-to-peer filesharing. See wikis below for more
>> info.
>>
>> >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).
>>
>> What are the exact symptoms?
>>
>> --
>> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
>> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
>> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
>> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>