ADSL modem sync problems (split)

[NickA]

I have a similar problem, the ethernet modem (Huawei mt800 that i got from true) keeps losing sync. Is there any chance that buying a new modem (Billion Bipac???) will help the problem, or is it purely a problem with the line?

I think I read a webpage about it, but it was in Thai so I'm not definite about the details, but it seemed to say that changing modem would help.

[Butterfly]

I have a similar problem, the ethernet modem (Huawei mt800 that i got from true) keeps losing sync. Is there any chance that buying a new modem (Billion Bipac???) will help the problem, or is it purely a problem with the line?

the lost sync is a typical problem of bad phone lines, use the handset hangup trick, that usually works for weak phone lines

[Butterfly]

As I said before, a thai webpage seemed to say that the Billion Bipac was much better than the Huawei.

They are all using the same underlying software and hardware, all chinese crap, that said, they all work fine

Also, my modem is now 3 years old, could it be dying?

I highly doubt it, but I had one that died and it was quite an experience.

Try the handset trick for the ADSL sync, those numbers doesn't mean shit

[matsalleh]

Try the handset trick for the ADSL sync, those numbers doesn't mean shit

Care to enlighten me with that trick? Thanks in advance!

[NickA]

Try the handset trick for the ADSL sync, those numbers doesn't mean shit

Sorry, not sure what the handset trick is

[Spin]

^ pick up the phone handset and dial a "1" then leave the handset off the hook. This is supposed to reduce line noise and thus improve Signal to noise ratios so that the router can hold the ADSL connection better. On the other hand it could be a load of old bollox

[Butterfly]

What happened to their good ol 58 series, have not seen that one for a year.

I am on the 58 address class, from LoxInfo though

pick up the phone handset and dial a "1" then leave the handset off the hook.

no need to dial 1, just leave it off the hook

On the other hand it could be a load of old bollox

it works, I did it for 2 years, the ADSL sync will dropped as soon as I would put it back on the hook. I think CMN tried also and was amazed that it worked,

[NickA]

^I'm not sure I have the same problem then, as it made no difference for me.

[Butterfly]

^ is it really a sync problem or something else ?

[NickA]

^not sure.... could be the filter/splitter.... could be the router..... could be the line..... I'm trying to narrow it down. It's actually pretty stable at the moment, going down once every 3 hours. When it does go down, it only takes 30 seconds to recover. The router definitely says it is losing sync.

[Butterfly]

^ change the filters first, get proper ones, not the cheap chinese crap you find everywhere,

[buad hai]

^^Did you ever just listen to the phone line to see if it is noisy?

[NickA]

^yep, no different to how it was 2-3 years ago and it would keep a stable connection for weeks on end.

Here's the Thai thread à¹çµÇÔè§äÁèàµçÁ¤ÇÒÁàÃçÇ - OVERCLOCKZONE Forums

If any of you are better at Thai then me have a go at reading it, but I'm pretty sure the guy is having similar problems and in the end he tests out 4 modems and finds that everything works fine with the billion.

(as a sidenote, the connection has been pretty good since last night)

[NickA]

Thanks for the advice guys, but I didn't listen to most of it, I listened to those Thais and bought a new modem/router. I wanted to get the Billion Bipac 5102s that only had a single port, but couldn't find one and ended up getting the one with 4 ports (might come in useful later). Connection hasn't dropped once, although speeds are up and down.



I'm not very technical, but I guess one of the components in the old one was slowly dying or affected by heat or something like that.

Anyway, case solved.....

[Wallalai]

finds that everything works fine with the billion.

I don't know if it's really a modem problem. I have the Billion Bipac 5012S for 3 years now and had many loosing sync problems at the beginning. Almost no more now, I would say that it's the connection who improved. Or maybe switching from the Indy to the Premier package?

At least I'm satisfied with the service now.

[Spin]

Or maybe switching from the Indy to the Premier package?

Indy package licks balls, unless you wanna look at teenee.com all day. Premier is only just a bit better.
I waiting to have the CAT telecom 2meg pagake installed at 2600 baht per month. I heard it was the best package available in Thailand for the price.

Heres some stuff on attenuation that i nicked from somewhere else...

"The higher the speed of the data you try to push over the phone lines, the more difficult it becomes for your router to distinguish between the actual signal and the noise picked up along the line.
Main reason is that for higher data speeds, higher frequencies are needed.

What your "downstream noise margin" number indicates, is how much spare margin your router has to still be able to distinguish between the noise and the signal.

Simply explained, if your noise margin is 16db, the signal can drop 16db until the router loses connection, or alternative, the noise might increase 16 db to make the connection drop or a combination of the two...

As said before, the higher the speed, the more difficult to distinguish the signal, the lower that spare margin will become!

Now, since the noise on a line is never really constant, nor is the strength of the signal received, as a common rule it is accepted that at least a 12db margin has to be there, so your router won't drop connection each and every time there is a small spike in the noise, or when the signal drops a bit...

With less then 12 db margin, you tend to get a very iffy connection, where your router is half of his time trying to re-sync with the DSLAM (at the phone exchange).

Also, noise margins tend to drop quite a bit just before dawn, mostly because of dew on the lines and electric equipment in the neighborhood of these lines..

What you'll have to look for is the actual connection speeds (in kbps), Line Attenuation (in dBm, should be 60 or less) and the Signal to Noise ratio Margin (SNR margin, should be over 12 dBm)"

[NickA]

^'twas not the problem in my case, the SNR margins were 20 db or more and the line attenuation was around 40. It was just an aging modem.

From my searching around the internet, it seems about 1/3 times it is a problem with the router/modem/filter, 1/3 of the time it is a problem with the line and the other 1/3 never get solved and just change ISP.

The billion seems more user friendly than the huawei and the UPNP port forwarding for torrents works straight out of the box, which it never did on the old one.

[ChiangMai noon]

how do you know if your modem is out of sync?

[NickA]

^one of the lights either flashes or goes out and your download speed drops to 0. If you look at azureus you will see something like this...



whereas if you are not losing sync their will be no gaps...



If you have got the problem you will know about it, because it will totally piss you off.

[Frankenstein]

I have had similar connection dropouts for the past two weeks and doubt it is my equipment, because when it does work, it sometimes works as usual for a few hours straight before the intermittent dropouts come back.

[NickA]

^sounds exactly like mine... when it works it works fine, the loss of sync could be anything from 1 minute to 3 hours apart.... I have not had a single dropout since I bought the new modem. It's worth a try, as if you find out it is not the problem you can always take the new modem back to the shop.

[buad hai]

It may be that different chip sets are better than others at handling specific types of line noise and attenuation problems. I know no one here bothers to click on external links, but here are a couple:

thinkbroadband :: DSL modem chipset issue comes to the fore

ISP blows the whistle on router chip 'fault' | The Register

[NickA]

Yep, I think people like to blame their ISP straight away when they have connection problems. I looked at a lot of websites and it seems best to try changing every piece of kit (router, modem, wires etc...) before wasting time shouting down the phone at the some poor git who doesn't know what's going on.

If anyone is having trouble with True and using a Huawei, try buying a Billion Bipac 5102. I'm not sure if this will work for all ISP's though.

[Butterfly]

I have the Billion and never had a problem,

usually the land line is the problem because of poor quality, and therefore it's possible that the cheap routers can't handle them,

[raptoger]

most likely the telco or old copper lines.