SLINGSHOT - Connection keeps dropping

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Ultimate Geek
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#11152 5-Jan-2007 20:27

Hi All, I am in Mt Wgtn area in Auckland and have recently experienced frequent dropping of ADSL, the ADSL light on my Billion 7100S router just starts flicking and connection is lost. After sometime it starts working again and the light becomes steady. Happened 3-4 times today between 6 to 8pm and also happened yesterday around 8 pm. Has anyone else experienced this, I called Slingshot and they say everything is fine at their end and theres no work going on in my area so it's either my router or the cabling. I still suspect it's something from their side. When broadband is not working the phone still works fine so I think cables are fine. Please share your comments.

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Ultimate Geek
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#57037 5-Jan-2007 21:51

I think I just typed this in another thread but check out your phone cabling. If its happening at the same time of day there could be something interferring with your phone line.

It might pay to grab a torch and go following your phone cables around & making sure there's nothing goofy. I dont like to recommend a splitter because they cost lots to get installed however its something to consider.

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#57041 5-Jan-2007 22:11

OK< will have a look at the phone cables tomorrow morning, maybe you are right, but I have recently bought this unit and internal wiring is supposed to be new as there were no phone jacks in this unit and 2 new were installed before we moved in. The phone jacks in the wall have TV point also in the same unit, I am wondering if thats something to do with ADSL d/c but whenever ADSL gets disconnected TV was never on.
What's a splitter by the way. Thanks

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#57043 5-Jan-2007 22:24

A splitter is a device that is installed at the entry point at your house, basically what it does is split the voice signal away from the the ADSL signal. You'll typically have a jackpoint with ADSL, jetstream, or DATA written on it. These are usually installed when you have an alarm system that is monitored or you have more than 4 jackpoints.

You'll only get ADSL sync on that jack.

The most common installation is using filters. Filters are little matchbox devices that you need to connect to each phoneline. They will have a phone and ADSL plug on them. All devices that use the phoneline must be plugged into one of these devices. If not, you risk having unstable ADSL. Additionally having more than 4 jackpoints can be a problem as well as having a monitored alarm system.

What I'd personally recommend doing is try and isolate your modem. Remove all other devices on the phoneline and try just using the ADSL modem alone, swapping filters too if possibly. Try another jackpoint. If you have a friend, try borrowing a modem to see if you have the same issue (or if you have a spare). Remember that if its a modem issue and they supplied the modem, they will generally replace it.

Check your port speeds to see whether you're getting really low speeds as this is generally a sign. If it isn't the modem and the wiring looks ok... take it up further with Slingshot support as they should be able to arrange for a line test (5530) and potentially someone to check the wiring (if you have the wiring option on your phone line, this should be covered under that).

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Ultimate Geek
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#57048 5-Jan-2007 22:43

Thanks for the explanation but what I don't understand is that if its a cable or modem or filter problem why does it happen only sometime and ADSL runs perfect at all other times, like now it's running fine since 8pm and this problem has started occurring since 1 week only. Also, I have 2 phone jacks in my house, one of them has a phone installed and the other has the adsl modem only, also I think the alarm is connected to the phone line so it dials my personal mobile phone only if the alarm goes off but it has never happened so far. I have put a filter on the jack on which the phone is installed, ADSL modem is plugged straight into the 2nd jack and alarm has no filter but alarm is not monitored or something. Is there anything I am doing wrong, do I need a filter for the ADSL modem also or the alarm.

Cheers
Also, if the modem is faulty do u think they will replace it, as I have been with them for over 1.6 years now, I guess there might be a 12 month warranty only on the modem.

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#57051 5-Jan-2007 22:49

I'd personally lean towards the alarm now.... normally if you have an alarm connected to the phone line it is recommended to have a splitter installed.

Do you know if the Alarm phones home (to any security company) at all? Or if it picks up the line to check regularly? These things could cause your connection to drop.

If the modem is from Xtra, if I recall correctly... they have a 3 year warranty.

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Ultimate Geek
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#57058 5-Jan-2007 23:13

Alarm is Paradox Spectra 1728 and as far as I know it shouldn't keep checking the line, and it doesn't dial any company,it's setup to dial my mobile no if the alarm goes off. Did you read about my other settings with filters in my previous post, am I putting the filter correct, one filter at the phone line and modem connected to 2nd fone jack w/o filter.

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#57060 5-Jan-2007 23:19

The configuation you currently have with the phone being filtered and the DSL modem being directly connected sounds ok. Alarm *could* be causing an issue if its unfiltered.

You could try another filter (most modems now come with two) to see if that fixes it...

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#57062 5-Jan-2007 23:26

cokemaster: Alarm *could* be causing an issue if its unfiltered.

Professionally installed alarms are generally hardwired to the phone line (rather than going though a jackpoint) to prevent tampering.

For this reason it's best to use a Splitter in houses that have an alarm, whether or not they are monitored. If you don't have any sort of filter or splitter on your alarm, it is likely to be causing problems.

To prove this for sure, I would suggest opening up the cabinet of your alarm (block your ears first!) and disconnect the phone wires. If your connection speed/reliability improves, you will have found the source of your problem.

Good Luck and let us know how you get on.

Cheers,
Grant.

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Ultimate Geek
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#57065 6-Jan-2007 00:07

My connection speed is excellent so even if I open the alarm box I won't be able to test anything as connection normally works perfect and only sometimes it dies, I guess my best bet would be to install a splitter. Can you people tell me where can I buy a splitter and if it's easy to install and where exactly it goes. Cheers

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#57066 6-Jan-2007 00:15

You can order one from Telecom (or more specifically your internet provider, slingshot) who will install it. The cost is around $149.

Alternatively, you can buy a splitter by yourself and install it. There was some discussion about where to get them somewhere on the forums (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=49&TopicId=10572). It should ultimately be placed where the cable enters the house... before the alarm. You'll need to wire up another jackpoint specifically for ADSL access as all the others will be filtered now.

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#57067 6-Jan-2007 00:20

cokemaster:
Alternatively, you can buy a splitter by yourself and install it. There was some discussion about where to get them somewhere on the forums (try using the search function).

MasterTrade have them as follows:

ST550 ADSL IN-LINE FILTER TELEPERM
Code 342371
Description ST550 ADSL IN-LINE FILTER TELEPERM
Product Group 300: SECURITY, DATA & COMMUNICATIONS
Product Class 210: DATA PERIPHERAL CONNECTIVITY
Retail Price $77.08

Or possibly this one:

20021673 ADSL FILTER HARDWIRED
Code 297802
Description 20021673 ADSL FILTER HARDWIRED
Product Group 300: SECURITY, DATA & COMMUNICATIONS
Product Class 210: DATA PERIPHERAL CONNECTIVITY
Retail Price $86.67

We never did quite figure out which of these was the "Splitter" made by Marque Magnetics. If it has a black plastic case around 70mm long with a whitish coloured underside that has 4 wires coming out, then it will be the one you want.

If they try to sell you a cheap one for $50 or less, it is not a splitter, just a filter i.e. NOT what you want.

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#57209 8-Jan-2007 10:24

If you're getting disconnected that frequently then the other thing you can do is ring the helpdesk at slingshto and ask them to log a port reset for you. Certainly helped in my situation until the port went complately FUBAR at the exchange.

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Ultimate Geek
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#57220 8-Jan-2007 12:34

Thanks for the advise, spoke to Slingshot last night again as it got disconnected at around 8pm but was connected again at around 9. They are asking me to check try with another modem or check my modem elsewhere before they can do anything.

Modem is more than a year old so not covered under warranty, I have bought a Dlink 302 and this time when it disconnects I will try with D-Link and if it connects then it’s the modem, if not I will ring again and ask them to log a port reset, hope it’s not the wiring but I believe if phone continues to keep working when ADSL is disconnected then at least the wiring should not be cut or something but according to Slingshot even if the wiring is cut from somewhere, phone will continue to work which doesn’t sound correct.

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#57237 8-Jan-2007 17:19

unlocker:
...according to Slingshot even if the wiring is cut from somewhere, phone will continue to work which doesn’t sound correct.

Nah, that's complete bollocks, the phone would stop working as well.

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Ultimate Geek
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#57421 9-Jan-2007 22:44

OK, I have bought a Dlink DSL-302G now, but ADSL has been working fine on my Billion and since I bought Dlink it hasn't d/c. There's one problem though, I wanted to configure Dlink, I put all the settings same as in Billion but connection with Dlink is very very slow as comapred to Billion. Does anyone know what settings to put on Dlink to get desired speed, I am on 256K/25GB Slingshot plan but if I do a speedtest at any website using Billion I get 268l/s but same speedtest with Dlink results in 76k/sec. What am I doing wrong with Dlink?? Now that I have bought it, I would like to use it and D link looks bit better than Billion. The firmware version on Dlink is R2.01M.B3.NZ(021206a/T93.3.44). Is there anyone using the same modem or has some speacial setitngs, please advise. Thanks a lot.

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