Help Please: How to diagnose wiring issues.

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webwat

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#381985 19-Sep-2010 19:53

Traffic management does not affect sync speeds, and the black wires at demarc would be where the chorus tech was getting 8megs (they test at the demarc to isolate house wiring). So you need a splitter and good cable to the modem from the demarc. I should also mention that you might need to test another modem if the master splitter and cat5 cable to the modem doesnt help. An alarm without master splitter will generally cause slow/unstable speeds exactly like this, so thats first thing to fix.

Time to find a new industry!

muppet

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#382200 20-Sep-2010 12:26

Thanks webwat.

Just to be clear, I connected my DSL router to the "black wires" and still got terrible performance. This bypassed any Alarm etc.

Turns out I *do* have wiring maintenance, so Chorus have been rebooked to come look at this.

That doesn't mean I won't get a master splitter installed (I will) and I'll also rerun the house with Cat5e (only $1.25 per/metre)

The more I investigate this the more I think there's either a very dodgy joint somewhere, or there's a problem with the DSLAM.

Will update the thread once Chorus have been again.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

cldlr76

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#383236 22-Sep-2010 16:03

$1.25/m for cat5e is expensive, you can get it for half that price at electical direct .

I put a splitter in at my place and ran cat5e and our speed went from about 2Mbps to about 6Mbps so it's well worth it I reckon.

muppet

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#383238 22-Sep-2010 16:05

Yeap, I'll be doing that very soon.

Chorus have just closed my second ticket without coming onsite claiming we don't pay for wiring maintence, when in fact we do.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

k14

629 posts

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#383249 22-Sep-2010 16:38

cldlr76: $1.25/m for cat5e is expensive, you can get it for half that price at electical direct .

I put a splitter in at my place and ran cat5e and our speed went from about 2Mbps to about 6Mbps so it's well worth it I reckon.

I've just done a bit of wiring and got my Cat 5e for $0.40c a meter. You can get it for that price from here http://www.cablesdirect.co.nz/catalog/entry?entry=314

webwat

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#383672 23-Sep-2010 16:07

k14:
cldlr76: $1.25/m for cat5e is expensive, you can get it for half that price at electical direct .

I put a splitter in at my place and ran cat5e and our speed went from about 2Mbps to about 6Mbps so it's well worth it I reckon.

I've just done a bit of wiring and got my Cat 5e for $0.40c a meter. You can get it for that price from here http://www.cablesdirect.co.nz/catalog/entry?entry=314

Might be a bit more expensive by the time you pay for courier, so best to get a few other things in the same delivery.

Time to find a new industry!

muppet

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#384821 27-Sep-2010 10:57

So, after 2 weeks of blood sweat and tears, I have discovered the key to my home ADSL issues.

The problem is nothing to do with the home wiring. It's nothing to do with the line. It ain't the DSLAM. TelstraClear finally got Chorus to come out and help me diagnose the line properly yesterday and I agreed with the Chorus guy that whatever the problem is, it's in my house.

When the Chorus guy arrived (on a Sunday, great service) I dragged my laptop and ADSL2+ modem outside and tested. Full speed (4+ Mb/s which is fine given the distance to the exchange)

He gave me some more information, plus his name and mobile telling me I could call him anytime in the next 48 hours and he'd come back to help. So excellent service from the Chorus guy!

Once he left I went back inside and kept testing. If I plugged my ADSL2+ modem in, it would work really well and sync at high speeds. Happy that maybe it was finally fixed (even though the Chorus guy had replaced nothing) I unplugged the Ethernet cable coming from the ADSL2+ modem from my laptop and plugged it into my Firewall device (which is also the Wireless LAN box)

Straight away, the ADSL dropped. F*** I thought! To diagnose I plugged the Ethernet back into my laptop. Whaaa? The ADSL synced back again, at 4+ Mb/s. Plugged into the Firewall. ADSL sync lost.

It soon became very clear to me that the Firewall, connected to the ADSL modem only via a Cat5 Ethernet Cable, was causing the ADSL line to drop. Somehow there is so much noise coming from it that it travels OVER the Ethernet cable and then causes the ADSL line on the ADSL2+ modem to die.

I wouldn't have thought this physically possible. Results show otherwise!

It seems to me that probably the power supply on the Firewall is faulty. I think this because if the Firewall has been off for a while (and the power supply cool) then the Firewall works fine. It's only after 20 minutes or so the noise starts up and the ADSL drops. Plus the power supply is getting way, way hotter than it ever used to.
I also ruled out it being the Wireless built into the Firewall being a problem, by turning it off. No difference.

Of course, the Firewall also has an ADSL1 modem built into it. So in all the testing I was doing I had two ADSL modems. But when I was using the ADSL2+ I had it plugged into the Firewall, because it provides the Wireless. Whatever crazy noise the Firewall is generating was enough for it's built in ADSL modem not to sync either.

What's even stranger is that the Ethernet port on the Firewall never showed any framing errors or similar. How so much noise could be transmitting over the Cat5 while not causing any framing errors is beyond me.

So after 2 weeks of the most tricky to diagnose fault ever, the problem was sitting right in front of me the whole time, a noise emitting Juniper Netscreen 5GT. It wasn't the broken cabling outside my house with water dripping in, which pointed it out to Chorus guy. He didn't care.

A big no-thanks to TelstraClear who's insane wait times and we'll-argue-with-you-not-help-you attitude really pissed me off. The whole time I kept saying "I am happy to accept it's probably my fault, but please please send Chorus out to actually diagnose that!" Eventually they did and it WAS my fault, which I'm happy to acknowledge. I just wish it hadn't been so painful to get Chorus out to test their bits properly.

Well at least I know now. I'm going to test a new power supply tonight. If it doesn't work, the Netscreen will be getting chucked in the bin. I mean, it works fine, it just has the plague of ADSL dropping attached to it!

I'll still be doing a proper master splitter install. But it's good to know that my home wiring actually is pretty good, because I get pretty much the same sync speeds inside the house as I do outside plugged directly in the copper pair at the Chorus roadside box.

The End.

PS: I am ready to curl up in a ball and cry for 3 days.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

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kyhwana2

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#384831 27-Sep-2010 11:17

Bizzare!

tardtasticx

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#384841 27-Sep-2010 11:36

Oh god that'd make your stomach turn when you noticed that infront of the Techy. Atleast you got your speeds back! Congratulations. haha

muppet

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#384845 27-Sep-2010 11:39

tardtasticx: Oh god that'd make your stomach turn when you noticed that infront of the Techy. Atleast you got your speeds back! Congratulations. haha

Naaa techie had long since left. Still, I was feeling quite foolish because the first thing you always do is make sure you've tested from a second box. It never occurred to me that something from the Firewall could ever affect the sync on the ADSL2+ box.

Live 'n' Learn!

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

muppet

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#385316 28-Sep-2010 08:59

Switched to a new power supply for my Netscreen 5GT last night. Rock solid ADSL performance.

I can't believe a faulty power supply caused me two weeks of grief.

Let this probably be a lesson to you all!

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