Diagnosing internet issues - Parent IT support

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blackjack17

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#270212 28-Apr-2020 17:07

My parents are in a semi rural (life style block) area, Hunua in Auckland and are having major issues with the reliability of their internet. They will lose connection to the internet either completely or to an extent that it will become unusable

Mum has been on the line with vodafone and apparently sales has suggested that they might be better off with VDSL rather than ADSL which seems strange to me.

They have recently been issued a new modem which hasn't fixed the reliability issues. When she first installed it she was getting speeds 19.7 Mbps down 1.06 Mbps up

Given I can't go out there what do I need to ask her to try to narrow down what might be causing the issue.

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gehenna

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#2472905 28-Apr-2020 17:13

Bet it is junction corrosion, no new router will help that. Chorus needs to go out and look.

blackjack17

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#2472907 28-Apr-2020 17:26

Is there a way of diagnosing this remotely or at least narrowing it down?

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cyril7

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#2472908 28-Apr-2020 17:27

Can you login to the router remotely, see the dsl stats and sync rates.

Cyril

coffeebaron

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#2472910 28-Apr-2020 17:28

What's the internal wiring like?

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cyril7

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#2472916 28-Apr-2020 17:40

Folks surname not Goff by any chance, but hey if they have VDSL that is only achieving 1M up and <20M down then often moving to ADSL is more stable, but clearly indicates they are on a longer than desirable line for DSL, purhaps you can point them in the direction of a WISP as per the Goff article. This of course assumes their internal wiring is not the root cause of these issues and if they get that sorted they shoot up to 40/10.

Cyril

hio77

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#2472917 28-Apr-2020 17:41

blackjack17: Is there a way of diagnosing this remotely or at least narrowing it down?

Yes, the steps to do this are as follows.

1. Validate it's not wifi issues.

2. Have your parents find the phone like object and listen to the dialtone, see if it crackles.

3. Have your parents add you as a authority on the account (this helps alot in the next steps)

4. Call the RSP and ask them to do a line test.

5. Upon RSP's results, decide on the next best step.

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dylanp

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#2472934 28-Apr-2020 18:21

coffeebaron: What's the internal wiring like?

Are you still saving the world one master filter at a time?

decibel

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#2473020 28-Apr-2020 20:18

dylanp:
coffeebaron: What's the internal wiring like?

Are you still saving the world one master filter at a time?

And why not? Depending on what is in your house, a master filter makes a huge difference.

blackjack17

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#2473038 28-Apr-2020 20:53

hio77:

blackjack17: Is there a way of diagnosing this remotely or at least narrowing it down?

Yes, the steps to do this are as follows.

1. Validate it's not wifi issues.

2. Have your parents find the phone like object and listen to the dialtone, see if it crackles.

3. Have your parents add you as a authority on the account (this helps alot in the next steps)

4. Call the RSP and ask them to do a line test.

5. Upon RSP's results, decide on the next best step.

Don't think it is wifi but no computers with a lan port to check.

Dial tone is fine

hmmm might take a while

I was able to talk her through getting into the modem and finally found the line stats

current rate 23529 kbps 1215 kbps

Max rate 23644 kbps 1335 kbps

S-To-N Ratio 10.5 dB 9.6dB

Attenuation 13.5 dB 6.7 dB

power 18.1 dBm 10.1 dBm

Chorus came out a couple of weeks ago and said the wiring was fine and the modem was the issue (he didn't go into the house), vodafone then sent out the new modem.

To complicate things they have a sure signal plugged in as mobile coverage is average with dead spots if you walk around. This leads them to confuse copper internet with mobile internet and mobile phone quality.

So when she is trying to explain things and throws around 3g, 4g, adsl, vdsl terms and gets quite confused.

When it works it seems fine but then it seems to cut in and out. She was sending me photos of the modem screens and sometimes they could come straight through and other times it would take 4 to 5 minutes.

She is working from my place tomorrow so i might get her to call vodafone from here

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cyril7

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#2473130 29-Apr-2020 08:56

Hi, so those stats are saying your 1km from the cabinet/exchange and speeds for ADSL are at max, and noise margins are good. Based on that I would expect you could see better results from VDSL, but nothing flash, as your 1km away.

However what it does not tell me is are there other things across the line that are causing things to get worse from time to time, ie alarm panel or phone device and no proper DSL filtering in place. Obviously there also could be a bad joint that is causing drop outs as moisture and temp move about.

So if it were me, I would check the house wiring, even though Chorus say its fine, there could be something randomly across the line they missed, and if you clean it up ask to go back to VDSL and see if it maintains a stable connection.

Cyril

hio77

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#2473135 29-Apr-2020 09:02

Looks like upstream congestion, which for remote working wouldn't surprise.

Switch to VDSL.

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blackjack17

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#2473144 29-Apr-2020 09:21

cyril7:

Hi, so those stats are saying your 1km from the cabinet/exchange and speeds for ADSL are at max, and noise margins are good. Based on that I would expect you could see better results from VDSL, but nothing flash, as your 1km away.

However what it does not tell me is are there other things across the line that are causing things to get worse from time to time, ie alarm panel or phone device and no proper DSL filtering in place. Obviously there also could be a bad joint that is causing drop outs as moisture and temp move about.

So if it were me, I would check the house wiring, even though Chorus say its fine, there could be something randomly across the line they missed, and if you clean it up ask to go back to VDSL and see if it maintains a stable connection.

Cyril

They have never been on VDSL only ADSL. So are you suggesting that they might actually be better off on VDSL?

They have no alarm and a single phone plugged in that has a filter (no master filter).

Their connection seems to go through spells, fine for times and then unusable. The unusable times seems to be becoming more frequent and lasting longer each time.

Would asking vodafone for a line test be the next logical step?

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