DSL Connection dropping randomly

[Tomdanizer]

I have SBC Yahoo Dsl Express Pkg. with the 2wire 1800HW modem ( got this 2-3 yrs ago i think )

My problem is that recently, around 7-8:30PM CST my internet drops and the modem just keeps re-syncing/ trying to connect ( light blinks yellow/somtime goes solid red and to blinking yellow again. ) This usually goes on for about 1 hr if not, all night. If it does come back on, its pretty unstable, and goes on/off periodically. However, in the morning & during the day, its fine.

When we first got the DSL, it was like this constantly, but eventually stopped after a few months. We have called SBC when it is and isnt wokring & they have insisted that nothing is wrong on their end & they have us do the same routine everytime ( restart the modem/computer/check wires connected/is it getting power, all the stuff i already do before calling them. )

Another thing is.....i used to get DL speed of up to 180-200kb/s when we first got it, then 100-110kb/s after a few months, and now highest is 70-80kb/s and havnt seen anything higher than that for about 9 months or so now? ( its been a while. )

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[speedyTC]

have you had the line tested itself from you phone company

[Tomdanizer]

not this time around. But when this was happening before, they said nothin was wrong with the lines.

[speedyTC]

I take it that sbc is the telephone service provider have you check the wiring in the house like the jacks them selves all it takes wire to get a nick also have you had alot of rain recently if so the cable in the ground could be exposed causing a problem do you have telephone boxes on the ground or the lines on poles. how about the distance from the telephone companies co
if you are close to the 18,000 feet limit this could cause the slow or dropped connect. If possible call sbc and talk with level 2 support this is usually the engineering group it is possible the can flash you modem with the lastest fix
do you have any router (Linksys,D-link,etc.) take them out and just use the dsl modem

[Tomdanizer]

sbc/ameritech is the telephone provider
the jack in the room the modem is a lil loose ( hooked up a telephone & you have to jiggle it to get a ring tone )
normal amount of rain, had some though.
not sure about the boxes, do know the lines run underground to house.
will check the distance
going to try tomorrow
and no routers, only the modem, which has a built in router

thanks for the help

[YeOldeStonecat]

I'm leaning towards it's an issue in the lines. The hardest part is trying to convince the phone company to come out and check/replace them. Make sure you have a filter on all phones.

The 2Wire gateways..there's a check for firmware updates button in the web admin somewhere.

What I always did in the past..even back in the dial up days. Internet was important to me..every apartment I lived in..I paid to have the phone company run a brand new line..from the street..into my apartment. Same with the house I live in now. And I have a lot of my business clients do that. It's not as expensive as it seems...and seems to really cut down on problems like this.

[DEF_MUTE]

Tom, it is most likely that loose jack. Replace it, thats a must. If there are any connectors between the modem and the wall jack like to add an extension to reach across the room or add two devices on the same line then remove those also. ANY connection can be a problem especially if you know it is loose. Also check the cable/wire end connectors. If the tab that clicks to lock the connector into the jack is gone replace that line also.

[Tomdanizer]

Okies, We've called the techs at least 3 times if not more. They say the lines are fine and that one of our neighbors could be turning something on that interfers with it or the modem is just going bad. We're going to go look for a new one tomorrow.

My main problem is, the connection pretty much just goes off at 8:00pm, sometimes earlier, sometimes later ) and comes back on within an hour or so of going out ( about 9:00ish pm ) the speeds i could care less atm, as they dont matter if the connection is not working :-P. That being said, if it was a problem with the lines or connections or that sort of thing, wouldnt it drop randomly throughout the day instead of just dropping completely between 8:00pm-9pm and coming on afterwards ( its pretty much perfect throughout the day, which has me confused a bit. )

I also found this "log" of my connection, not sure what it means exactly, but it looks like its why my connection is dropping.

Code: Select all

WRN 2006/07/20 17:38:10 CDT  sntpc: Server ntp.cmr.gov did not respond
WRN 2006/07/20 19:29:51 CDT   adsl: adsl connection lost due to errored seconds limit
INF 2006/07/20 19:29:51 CDT   adsl: adsl0: down (signal lost)
ERR 2006/07/20 19:38:51 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:39:32 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:40:12 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:40:53 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:41:34 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:42:15 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:42:55 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:43:36 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:43:36 CDT  sntpc: no time servers found
ERR 2006/07/20 19:44:27 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:45:07 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:45:48 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:46:29 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:47:10 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:47:50 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:48:31 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:49:12 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:49:53 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:50:33 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:50:33 CDT  sntpc: no time servers found
ERR 2006/07/20 19:51:24 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:52:05 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:52:45 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:53:26 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:54:07 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:54:48 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:55:28 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:56:09 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:56:50 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:57:30 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:57:30 CDT  sntpc: no time servers found
ERR 2006/07/20 19:58:21 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:59:02 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 19:59:43 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:00:23 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:01:04 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:01:45 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:02:26 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:03:06 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:03:47 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:04:28 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:04:28 CDT  sntpc: no time servers found
ERR 2006/07/20 20:05:18 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:05:59 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:06:40 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:07:21 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:08:01 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:08:42 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:09:23 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:10:04 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
WRN 2006/07/20 20:10:06 CDT   adsl: adsl connection lost due to errored seconds limit
ERR 2006/07/20 20:10:44 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:11:25 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:11:25 CDT  sntpc: no time servers found
ERR 2006/07/20 20:12:16 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:12:56 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:13:37 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:14:18 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp2.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:14:59 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp.cmr.gov': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:15:39 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp3.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:16:20 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp1.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
ERR 2006/07/20 20:17:01 CDT  sntpc: Failed to resolve ntpserver 'ntp4.2wire.com': Host name lookup failure
INF 2006/07/20 20:17:18 CDT   adsl: adsl0: up G.DMT interleaved Rate:768/384 Max:1216/1024

and thats pretty much it so far. Hopefully i'll find a solution :-P. thx for all your help btw. I appreciate it greatly, unlike the techs i get :-/

[fliperover]

If the problem is happening at the same time it may be a neighbor using something that is causing your problem. EG: If you have a little nick in a line or a poor connection somewhere in the system and they are using a CB radio it will cut off your connection. Ive had that problem. It could be many different things though. A phone with a certain mhz signal, a microwave, light fixtures, alarm systems. You man be able to fix it by installing a line noise filter on the power supply for the modem. And run a new line for your modem directly from you outside interface. Im not a tech but i have run into similar problems. And most were found to be a bad wire or lose connection.

[geoffhellyer]

Has your service been up-graded recently by your ISP?

[rk90]

I am having very similar problem with my sbc-yahoo dsl. Problem started 4 days ago. At aroung 8pm-9pm, dsl line goes dead and it comes back on the next day morning. First line of tech support from sbc (at&t) has not helped much (they did their usual test on the line and declared the line ok). Will try to follow the suggestions on this forum. Will keep you posted.

[edilas]

Hello,

I have also had intermittent problems and have SBC (Now AT&T) Yahoo service in Los Angeles. I have done the following so far:

1. Used the AT&T self support tool and chatted with several techs with all the same suggestions: bad filter, interference from other devices, maybe a bad line.

2. Finally, they reduced my speed to 768 and I had solid connectivity for a whole week.

3. I called the line maintenance division and had them increase the speed back to 1.5Mbps max.

4. Connection drops occur between 8pm to 9pm or later every 10 to 20 minutes. VERY frustrating while working, or more importantly, when playing on-line games.

Trying to figure out what this means but I did notice that the noise margin was 15 db when the speed was slower but went down to 5db/6db when the line was maxxed out at 1.5 Mbps.

Anyone know what that means?

Why are we all having this weird problem isolated to around 8pm? (PST for me)

[CylverLyne]

I, too, am having the same problem. The connection goes out all night and is fine all day. If there are connection or wire issues, why only at night? Do we all have neighbors that interfere with our connection starting between 8 and 9.

[YARDofSTUF]

The time I had problems in the early mornings I called comcast(maybe it was AT&T then) and they came out and changed the power levels. The cold winters can be trouble.

[trogers]

why only at night?

Could be due to electric heaters giving out EMI.

Sorry, I think heat pumps are commonly used in North America, for cooling during summer and heating during winter. Electrically operated ones are known to emit strong EMI.

[jay R]

I also have had months of problems with my yahoo dsl PRO connectivity at night. It is very consistently dropping connectivity after 9 pm PST. I have had their technicians out to the house to see if the line into the house is ok and they have always said the line is fine and that the problem must be inside the house.

Of course the problem is only at night and you can not get a technician out to the house at that hour to see the problem live.

I have removed all but one line from my telephone box. That line connects directly to the DSL box and that is all. We still have the same connectivity problems.

One 2nd level tech suggested that the lines separate at night when they get cold, one suggested that we are too far from the base station for the PRO package and when everyone gets online at night, we loose connectivity. We are going to try down grading the service package to Express (despite it now costs $19.99 and we are paying $17.99 for PRO). The Tech also told me that their business office should have NEVER sold us the PRO package given we are too far from the closest station. Interesting and bad business practice.

SBC/AT&T was considerable nicer today when I spoke with them. I pressume that they finally realize that too many customers are having the same problem, and they can no longer blame it all on the wiring inside the customer house and need to avoid a class action lawsuit. (also note that they recently changed their policy to charge $50 for anyone who calls for an onsite tech and the problem is inside the house) I pressume this is their attempt to reduce the # of service calls.


I would be willing to sign up for a class action lawsuit to challenge their service quality. They do not stand a chance of winning. Any enterprising attorneys out there?

[jay R]

I also have had months of problems with my yahoo dsl PRO connectivity at night. It is very consistently dropping connectivity after 9 pm PST. I have had their technicians out to the house to see if the line into the house is ok and they have always said the line is fine and that the problem must be inside the house.

Of course the problem is only at night and you can not get a technician out to the house at that hour to see the problem live.

I have removed all but one line from my telephone box. That line connects directly to the DSL box and that is all. We still have the same connectivity problems.

One 2nd level tech suggested that the lines separate at night when they get cold, one suggested that we are too far from the base station for the PRO package and when everyone gets online at night, we loose connectivity. We are going to try down grading the service package to Express (despite it now costs $19.99 and we are paying $17.99 for PRO). The Tech also told me that their business office should have NEVER sold us the PRO package given we are too far from the closest station. Interesting and bad business practice.

SBC/AT&T was considerable nicer today when I spoke with them. I pressume that they finally realize that too many customers are having the same problem, and they can no longer blame it all on the wiring inside the customer house and need to avoid a class action lawsuit. (also note that they recently changed their policy to charge $50 for anyone who calls for an onsite tech and the problem is inside the house) I pressume this is their attempt to reduce the # of service calls.


I would be willing to sign up for a class action lawsuit to challenge their service quality. They do not stand a chance of winning. Any enterprising attorneys out there?

[dreamerinsf]

Hi JAY,

Please email me at dreamerinsanfrancisco@yahoo.com about yahoo DSL dropping problem. class action lawsuit.

[Morphues]

i live just south of seattle on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex with a few trees in front of my balcony. i have qwest service and im not even getting the 1.5/700k speeds that im qualified for. where i live, i cant get any higher speeds at all. my connection drops and comes back up and drops every few minutes or so. this is so annoying to me. i called tech support and they said that there was an outage in the area and wont be fixed until tomorrow. the problem is that my connection has dropped before but not every few minutes. my doesnt happen just around 8 or 9 like u guys were experiencing. i was thinking about going back to comcast but i dont like the restriction on how long u can be on the internet in a month. i just cant wait to move to be able to get the higher speeds and more stability. if u have any ideas for me please let me know. thanks

[archie1514]

So I thought I was overreacting in thinking SBC Yahoo! DSL is just terrible...but it seems many share my same problems. I would have to say I have huge connectivity problems after 8 PM PST. I play online games which require STABLE internet connections. I think every two weeks I run into frustrating problems with connectivity. Tech support is the worst, last time I had some guy reroute my call to another division after spending 15+ Minutes explaining my problem, the guy didn't bother to note any of it, nor fill in the next responding tech support agent. So I had to spend another 15 minutes (already frustrated at this point) filling in the next person. Finally, after doing everything they asked me to do, they agreed to send a technician out to the house to look at it. A week later (little to no connection during this time), a guy shows up, runs some tests outside. "I can tell theres a problem, but it's inside the house. If you'd like me to come in and look at it, it will be $60 (SIXTY DOLLARS) per half hour (HALF HOUR)."

This is the kind of service SBC expects to get away with?
I pretty much told him to get off my door mat, and called SBC and told them never to insult me again in such a manner as this.

Still have no solution to their less than acceptable service. It's basically gotten to a point where I dont care to go thru the hours of preliminary tests just to get to another level of "help."

[Venus1974tn]

I am having this same problem only mine seems to be all the time now. 'Top Techs' have been out multiple times checking inside and outside...checking all jacks...running line tests to and from outside pole running inside test and it seems to not drop when they come except for once he tried surfing the net and after 10 min it dropped. But, when I am on most of the time it drops much sooner than that. I just moved here in April and keep having this issue plus they upped my speed to the next higher package but, now I have les mbps its very frustrating. All lines are new its newly remodeled (besides they checked all lines and went up in attic checking) I am about to lose my mind they sent me a new 2wire just incase it was the modem but issue is still present I am so tired of this...I had the lower speed for years before I moved and never had this problem.

[Venus1974tn]

Oh and they said they did a noise reduction on my line.

[trogers]

Do a tracert to http://www.yahoo.com and post.