Thread: dsl connection troubles

I have been losing my internet connection on a regular basis recently. Turning the Westell 327w modem/router off, waiting, and turning it back on clears up the problem. Sometimes I have to do this many times in an evening and sometimes I'm online for an extended amount of time. I'm not sure how to isolate where the issue is and understand there probably isn't an easy answer. I suspect it may be my isp or modem and would happily replace either but don't want to switch the wrong one.

Here is what my network looks like and some potential culprits:

DSL by Fairpoint 3Mbps
Westell 327w router/modem with 4 ethernet ports and wireless g
XP laptop wired and has a magicjack for phone use
XP desktop wired
XP laptop wireless
Win 7 laptop wireless

When things are working well two computers can be watching movies from Hulu, someone can be talking on the phone (voip) and someone playing an online game all at the same time.

Where would you start to troubleshoot this? Is there any way of isolating if it is a problem in my house vs the isp?

I would suggest taking this issue to the
dslreports forums

. Much more help available there.

Yep. Not to detract from Scott's forum here, but dslreports has people who seriously geek out on telecom hardware. Some forums even have people posting who work for ISPs.

Originally Posted by avg1joe

I have been losing my internet connection on a regular basis recently. Turning the Westell 327w modem/router off, waiting, and turning it back on clears up the problem. Sometimes I have to do this many times in an evening and sometimes I'm online for an extended amount of time. I'm not sure how to isolate where the issue is and understand there probably isn't an easy answer. I suspect it may be my isp or modem and would happily replace either but don't want to switch the wrong one.

Here is what my network looks like and some potential culprits:

DSL by Fairpoint 3Mbps
Westell 327w router/modem with 4 ethernet ports and wireless g
XP laptop wired and has a magicjack for phone use
XP desktop wired
XP laptop wireless
Win 7 laptop wireless

When things are working well two computers can be watching movies from Hulu, someone can be talking on the phone (voip) and someone playing an online game all at the same time.

Where would you start to troubleshoot this? Is there any way of isolating if it is a problem in my house vs the isp?

The obvious thing to do first, is to call your ISP, and ask them to remotely check your modem signal levels, and internal logs... Also, since it's DSL, you DO have filters installed on all other telephone devices, on all other lines in your house, right? If not, that can cause problems...

After that, if you still can't seem to get it working right, take your modem out to the d-marc box on the side of your house, and plug it directly into the drop connection from the pole. There's an inside phone jack in there, with a jumper plugged into it. Remove the jumper temporarily, and plug your modem directly into the jack in it's place. Don't forget to put the jumper back, when you are done. That will bypass ALL the internal house wiring. If it then works correctly, you have an obvious internal wiring issue. Replace all the regular Cat 3 telephone wires with upgraded Cat 5 or Cat 6 ethernet wire. That'll help make you future-proof, and makes sense if you have to re-wire.

I have been looking around on dslreports. Thank you for the suggestion.

I disconnected and/or turned off all the computers except the Win 7 laptop and still lost the connection. It tends to happen while streaming video (hence my other post regarding flash).

Primestar- thank you for the very constructive suggestions.

My experience with Fairpoint customer service on other issues has been horrible. Each time I contact them they tell me things which are simply false.

I am in an apartment building. I believe the box you are talking about has a padlock on it.

Some routers are too slow or have too little memory, and crash if you try to have too many connections open at once.

Is anyone else using your router?

As far as I know no one else is using the router. Things seem worse in the evening and on weekends though.

I think you need to change channels on the router side of your modem/router. Contact your isp and consult with them. Been down that road. Best advice I can give....... I have a Netopia for att.

Does your Westell 327w tell you the status of the DSL connection, or better yet, log it?

I can tell whether my networking problems are between the CO and my DSL modem, or between my DSL modem and my own equipment by simply watching the LEDs on the modem, and checking its logs. If I lose my Internet connection, and my DSL modem tells me the DSL link is either down, or it just came up 30 seconds ago, I know the problem wasn't due to anything on my end.