DSL disconnects within seconds of rain starting.

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Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#95525 6-Jan-2012 21:12

Been pulling my hair out on this one. Within literally seconds of rain starting my adsl will disconnect, then reconnect within 5 minutes or so even if its still raining. If its dry the connection will be rock solid for weeks on end and speeds are never below 16mbps whatever the weather is. Apart from being useful as a way to know when to get the washing in from outside this is a huge pain.

Done the isolation tests, switched modems, visually inspected the line where it joins the house, had chorus up the poles (when it was dry so the line tested perfect at the time). Not even a hint of what is wrong

I'm assuming its a problem in the 15ish meters of line that's above ground before it goes underground across the road but could it be somewhere/something else? All you need is the lightest of rain to knock you off the internet, the worst days are when its either light intermittent rain (rains, disconnect, dry out, rain, disconnect over and over) or the huge storms. A good steady rain is almost fine because apart from the initial disconnect your internet is solid.

Would like to hear similar stories and hopefully resolutions. If anyone has ideas or suggestions would be great.

Heres the modem diagnostics for a recently disconnected line:

Vendor: Linksys
ModelName: WAG120N
Firmware Version: A1.00.16 , 2010-08-06T14:08:04
GUI Version: A1.00.16_007
Boot Version: 1.0.37-5.4
Hardware Version: 0.01

--- DSL Information ---
DSL Driver Version: 3.4.4.10.0.1
DSL VPI/VCI:         0/100
DSL Status:          Up
DSL Mode:            ADSL2+
DSL Channel:         0
DSL Upstream Rate:   916 kbps
DSL Downstream Rate: 16422 kbps

                      Down         up
DSL Noise Margin:     172 dB       150 dB
DSL Attenuation:      172 dB        49 dB
DSL Transmit Power: -380 dBm     -431 dBm

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#565577 6-Jan-2012 23:01

Old aerial cable is a shocker for high resistance joints. Is your service naked, or do you have a phone? Does the ringer do funny things some times? Is it aerial from the footpath to your house, and then at the footpath it goes underground?
Just ring your provider and tell them you have no service and MAKE them send a chorus tech out to replace the aerial cable.
Is your house on piles?.. can you get under it? If so, is it dry under there when it rains and are there any cables under the house that could have been sitting in a puddle for 10+ years lol.

Just the first few questions that spring to mind... lol

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#565593 6-Jan-2012 23:40

Cheers

Outside the house it goes aerial from the house to the power pole on this side of the road, then across the road to another pole, then down below ground. Inside the house it goes under the floor for about 3 meters in total (to the 1 jack in the house), but its totally dry under there and still well above the ground.

The chorus guy was up the poles the other day, opening a small box on each pole and then doing something with clippers/pliers.

Sorry I cant be more specific than that but it didn't make any difference. I wouldn't be surprised if all the wiring was original from when the house was built in the 70s though.

We have a phone and its 100% fine, no problems whatsoever with it. The crazy thing is how little rain is required to cause a drop out, I'm talking a strong spit. So I'm thinking the rain must be hitting something directly and the only thing that seems to be uncovered like that is the wiring connected to the poles.

It would be great to get ANYTHING come up on a lines test so it doesn't sound like I'm an idiot but getting chorus and rain together at the same time hasn't happened so far.

gzt

17104 posts

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#565677 7-Jan-2012 09:53

It is possible the condition reacts to a high level of moisture content rather than a simple direct hit - but anything is possible.

So the Chorus guy renewed all the connections up the poles at least. Most likely he would have renewed the connections where it goes into the ground as well.

Did he also renew the connections at the house end where the aerial line joins your house?

These usually terminate inside a cable box, and it is easy to do it yourself with a $20 tool if it is not near power lines.

You should also check the cable path through your house and see that there are no unexpected (and unterminated) cable branches anywhere. It sounds like you have a simple system so it maybe very cheap for you to renew it with new cable and a new socket so you can say you have entirely eliminated that.

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#565689 7-Jan-2012 10:45

What kind of aerial cable is it?...
The newer 2-pair aerial looks quite thick and has one skinny wire that ties the cable to the pole and the other is a fatter one with the actual copper in it.
With old cable you can see the 2 wires. They look kind of like speaker wire and are quite thin. Then there is the type that is twisted all the way down. If it is either if the latter two I would ask that they be replaced. The thin 'speaker' wire type is notorious for breaking down where it is tied to the building/pole as the cable itself is wound around a steel wire so where it is bound the sheathing breaks down and you get problems.
I assume the tech put a ladder up the side of your house to check that connection? Is there a white ETP box on your house? Aerial boxes are bad for moisture so could be a bad joint in there. Other than just unscrew the jackpoint and check that it isnt corroded in anyway. (greeny/blue gunky looking stuff)

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#565725 7-Jan-2012 12:20

Thanks for the suggestions, I will follow the leads and see what I come up with.

Going by the description it looks like I have the older "speaker wire" style wire which is wrapped around a big thick steel wire before joining the house. The chorus guy didnt look or do anything to the wire where it joins the house. I just had a look myself apart from looking old I cant really see too much but it is now my number one suspect. There could easily be a problem there that is hidden.

The only cable box I see is in the hot water cupboard in the kitchen, at that point the cable comes down from the ceiling, meets the cable box and then goes underfloor to the jack point nearby. Everything inside the house looks dry and brand new. Im going to get up in the ceiling just to confirm the cable runs exactly how I think it does.

Since it is such a simple wiring system I think replacing everything with new wiring will be my next step.

cyril7

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#565730 7-Jan-2012 12:30

Hi, if its the old single pair aerial leadin then the insulation may have punctured and creating an issue, if voice is ok then maybe its just enough leakage to cause RF issues for DSL. Old single pair leadin is not good for DSL at the best of time, I would try get it replaced with a new 2pair leadin from end to end.

Cyril

chevrolux

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#565810 7-Jan-2012 16:19

+1 for replacing the cable.

if it is easy enough to do then replace the old stuff with some new cable. Do a continuous run from the jack to the outside of the house. Then get them to replace the lead in and every thing will be brand new up to the street so less stuff to blame.