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Kid Presentable
03-08-2006, 11:29 AM
I got broadband a while ago. for you lot in the northern hemisphere, our DSL technology in Australia is fairly shitty, I gather. Perhaps moreso on the west coast.

So I logged a telecommunications fault with my ISP back in October; my modem wasn't able to achieve a connection. The ISP sorted it out and all was well. Until I noticed that the connection was dropping out at least once a day. I was told that it was fairly normal for this to occur once every 10 000 minutes, and paid it no mind.

Recently I noticed that people were telling me my msn had been signing in repeatedly all day (something they observe on their desktops, naturally). I though it strange and took note. My DSL connection subsequently dropped out 29 times this month (check the date!).

I contacted the ISP to enquire about this, and have now arranged a loan modem for troubleshooting purposes.

A number of theories have been presented to me by people I know, who are in the know. One suggestion was that Telstra (the mighty phone gods) had oversold on the network in my area, and I was simply the victim of this. Another theory was that the sealant on the cable junctions may be cracking in the heat, and causing dropouts. Obviously I'm just hoping it's a twitchy modem.

Yes, this is a boring thread, typed by a nonsensical being. But I was wondering if anybody out there could surmise a possible problem from this information? It used to be that the net was kind of a luxury for us, but now I need to rely on it fairly heavily, and can't afford to be at the mercy of an unreliable service.

Thanks.

burbboi
03-08-2006, 11:50 AM
DSL uses existing phonelines to make connections with an ISP. You undoubtedly received a bunch of stuff when you ordered it, one item being a line conditionner. This is placed between the modem and the phone jack in order to 'condition' the line for use with data communications.

Even so, the phone lines in your area might be of poor quality or subjected to interference from electrical components in your area such as transformers being too close to phone lines etc, etc. It could also be that the network was poorly laid out to begin with or even that your ISP just has so many subscribers that they can't off the same consistent quality of service to all their paying customers.


Whether the service is cable or DSL, connections will have 'hiccups' from time to time. Before working for Dell, I was a tech support rep for a hi-speed cable provider. Unless it was a network outage in the area, many times all that was needed to be done was to power cycle the modem and the connections came back. Power cycling is simply unplugging the power to the modem, waiting about 10-20 seconds, then plugging it back in.


That being said, you shouldn't have to do that once a day. Once a week is more reasonable. Keep bugging your ISP. They are obligated to send technicians onsite for persistent problems like this.

synch
03-08-2006, 12:56 PM
Cable rocks.

I've been saying "rocks" lots lately.

That doesn't rock.

Crap.

zorra_chiflada
03-08-2006, 02:30 PM
we have the same provider, don't we?
i haven't experienced any problems yet - and i was really expecting there to be because i live in such a remote area and everything.
i really don't have a clue. sorry :(

Rancid_Beasties
03-08-2006, 05:44 PM
Change to cable. Its faster and muchos reliable.

Tzar
03-08-2006, 07:24 PM
ok is cable the same thing as DSL?

i have 1.5mb DSL and it's fucking awesome. rarely have problems with it. my mate's broadband, however, runs out too quickly and it's dodgey here and there, doesnt go as fast or whatever.

GetYourWarOn
03-08-2006, 08:04 PM
cable is pretty quick. 768kb/s DL speeds for me. the DSL in my area is less than half that, like 300kb/s

Kid Presentable
03-08-2006, 08:12 PM
Yeah, it feels like I'm living in a pocket of shit internet access. :(

Thanks you guys.

tracky
03-08-2006, 08:14 PM
ASDL2 is where it's at (y)

Kid Presentable
03-08-2006, 08:24 PM
ASDL2 is where it's at (y)

Do you think any of my hypotheses could turn out to be true?

we have the same provider, don't we?

Yeah we do, and they've been awesome up until this point. For what I'm paying I just want a service that works, you know?

miss_bhaven
03-08-2006, 08:39 PM
Change to cable. Its faster and muchos reliable.

Agreed. I've had cable for the past couple of years. It's faster but I wouldn't agree with it being as reliable. I have an 'unlimited' plan, but telstra the dodgy fuckers slow down my connection after I hit 10gigs of download. Maybe try cable and see how it goes?

ToucanSpam
03-08-2006, 08:42 PM
Where have you been KP?


Nobody understands my need to talk wrestling.

Kid Presentable
03-08-2006, 08:44 PM
Where have you been KP?


Nobody understands my need to talk wrestling.

Tell everybody who was goldust.... :D

me english talk um good....

ToucanSpam
03-08-2006, 09:17 PM
No one will EVER forget the name of........




OOOOOOOOOH GOOOOLDUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST. *bite*

zorra_chiflada
03-08-2006, 11:30 PM
i don't think you can even get cable in tasmania