# ADSL Router syncronisation



## dedee (23 Sep 2006)

Over the past 4 or 5 days by router (netgear DG834G) keeps losing or resetting the ADSL link. I can tell that because the ADSL light goes out.

Spoke to Zen today who suggest resetting the router and changing the filter which we did but the problem still persists.

Much of what Zen said went way over my head but the bit that sticks was a comment about the router not being in synch with the ADSL. and figures of 2db were mentioned. I've just taken the following from the router statistics. 

ADSL Link Downstream	Upstream
Connection Speed	4448 kbps	448 kbps
Line Attenuation 40 db 12.5 db
Noise Margin 2 db 23 db

Do I have a solvable problem, ie by using a different filter or wall socket. Is the router likely to be a fault (only about 1 year old).

Layman's noddy language only please  as the techie stuff is beyond me.

I will follow this up of course with Zen again in the morning but I would appreciate any comments that might help me understand what I am talking about

Andy


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## CHJ (23 Sep 2006)

Not able to help much,
These are the readings on my 834G

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream 
Connection Speed 2272 kbps 288 kbps 
Line Attenuation 39 db 13 db 
Noise Margin 13 db 27 db 

And is working fine. 

Over the last month I have had connection problems a couple of weekends starting Friday evening through to Monday morning when the router would loose sync. with the exchange, then when connected and reporting normal connection, no access from exchange to the net.

Took this up with ISP, last time it happened and they could not trace problem, went through all the engineering backdoor connection routines to try and isolate problem, they reported to BT asking for investigation. BT reported back with no fault found and that I was on line with no problems, when I checked the logs, sure enough my connection had mysteriously healed itself just before the report time, I just concluded that I was falling foul of inter-exchange upgrades that needed a tweak that had been missed.


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## mailee (23 Sep 2006)

I too have been having problems with my Netgear router just recently and at first thought it was the servers. I am on NTL braodband though. I have to re-set the router to it's factory default at least three times a day?? I am not sure what the problem is so sorry I can't be of any help.


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## OLD (24 Sep 2006)

Tryhttp://kbserver.netgear.com/products/dg834v2.asp
and upgrade firm ware, use the latest.
Its router upgrade on the router it solved a similar problem for me.
Extra info.http://www.stapeley1.plus.com/dg834_reference_manual_2.pdf


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## dedee (24 Sep 2006)

Old,
thanks, I really should have thought of that myself.

I've upgraded the firmware but the noise margin figures have not changed ie hovering between 2 and 4db upstream the downstream remains constant at 22 or 23. Don't really know what that means though.


I'll have to wait and see if the connection is now more stable.


Andy


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## Roger (24 Sep 2006)

Here's a handy little write-up on the various readings and their meanings for you Andy:
Line Loss


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## OLD (24 Sep 2006)

My understanding is this is the signal to noise ratio which will limit your speed but your running faster than my link so if the sync sorts its self out give it a couple of days you should be fine.


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## CHJ (24 Sep 2006)

Andy, as a matter of interest I checked my figures today, and the lowest signal to noise had dropped to 11-12.

I re-seated the master BT socket plug a couple of times to clean the contacts and this was the result, compare with above post.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream 
Connection Speed 2272 kbps 288 kbps 
Line Attenuation 40 db 13 db 
Noise Margin 26 db 28 db


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## dedee (24 Sep 2006)

Roger, thanks for the link. I've tried to reseat all the cables from the modem to the primary BT socket and my downstream noise margin is still between 2 and 6db. But I am still not sure if these figures are good or bad when it comes to the ADSL link being lost

ADSL Link...............Downstream...Upstream
Connection Speed...5600 kbps......448 kbps
Line Attenuation......40 db............12.5 db
Noise Margin...........4 db..............24 db

I see that Plus net recommends using good quality filters. Would that make a difference based on the stats above? Any recommendations of the make or brand of a quality filter? I am currently using a Speedtouch and an unbranded one which both give the same results.

Andy


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## OLD (24 Sep 2006)

You have a large increase in speed there just let it sort the final speed to give you a stable link.bt may be upping the speed for you it takes a while to settle.
my line loss 39&13.4
s/n 4&17 so similar figures
i am about 2km from exchange .


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## dedee (25 Sep 2006)

Well the problem is now with BT.

Evidently without me even knowing it my ADSL link has been up and down like a Peach's drawers for months. Never more than a couple of hours without resetting. It seems that some recent heavy usage of some web based database searches have bought it to light.

Even disconnecting the telephone has not helped, 3 losses of synchronisation in the last 10 mins.

My only hope now is the fault is with the BT end and not in the house.

Andy

edit: in the time taken to edit out a spelling mistake in this post it's gone again. :evil:


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## Anonymous (25 Sep 2006)

Broadband comes from the exchange to your house down a pair of copper wires, comes into your master telephone socket and then possibly down an extension cable to a filter and then into your router.

If you run wirelessly from your router to your PC or laptop then there is another connection from router to pc/laptop. But you seem to have isolated it to the router so doubtful its the wireless unless you see drops in connection from the PC but the router status stays fine.

If you are running the latest firmware on your router then thats a great start. But in the link of connections I have outlined above there are various places where a problem can occur.

It can be a BT issue. If you live a long way from the exchange then your line may be subject to intermittent drops in connection due to interference, rain water in BT ducting, lightening strikes, dodgy street lamps in the road causing electrical surges etc.

Once it gets to your house, you may have internal wiring issues. If you run a long cable from your master socket to your router then this might add extra length between you and the exchange causing issues. It looks like you are on 8Mb broadband judging by the 4000+ downstream you are getting, so maybe these drops are caused by your line dynamically adjusting to changes in the line quality (water/electrical etc). The line drops due to a problem, resets and then tries to reconnect dynamically.

Extensions are often fitted by non telco engineers. So maybe the extension is faulty. I have seen extensions under the hall carpet, where they get trodden on every day. Not ideal. Try taking the router to the master socket and plugging it in there with a filter. If you connect wirelessly, check your router status, see if you are getting in sync at the master. Leave it there if you can and monitor it for a few days.

Disconnect all other phones/connections to the phone network if you can, removing all the filters as well, leave just the router in the master socket. Dont forget SKY and other phone connections that might not be so obvious, alarms etc. This will help isolate the problem to the house wiring potentially.

If all this seems ok, then maybe the problem is with the router connection itself. Firmware often does resolve this as per someones post above.

Overview is, strip it all back to only the router on your home phone network with the filter on. Plug into the master socket and monitor.

Boilers coming on, dodgy house phones/faxes, nextdoor neighbours TV coming on, dodgy satelite boxes. Anything that can cause an electrical pulse down the bell wire into your home can cause the broadband to be knocked off.

Hope this helps dedee.


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## dedee (25 Sep 2006)

Biglouie,

thanks for your comments. I've been though some pretty exhaustive diagnostics with my ISP (Zen). The problem is not with the wireless as the signal level is max the whole time. I do not have Sky, an alarm system nor is the boiler/CH on. 

Router is on a short cable to the BT master socket (the only one in the house BTW). I disconnected the phone and ran some video streaming from the BBC and the sychronisation loss occurred 4 times in 30 minutes and not once did the downstream noise margin get above 4 db. 

Zen have recommended to BT that the line "may need the target SNR increasing and interleaving to be turned on". Not sure I know what this means but if it does not work then it is likely that the cable or master socket in the house is at fault.

Will see what happens tomorrow

Andy


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## mailee (25 Sep 2006)

Yep, that cured it. Updated the firmware from the site and it seems to have done the trick, so far so good. Thanks guys.


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## dedee (26 Sep 2006)

BT did their bit last night and switched on interleaving (?) and increased the SNR. The downstream noise margin is now hovering between 5 & 8 and the ADSL link is stable ie no drop outs. I hope it lasts. The call will remain open for another 4 days JIC.

This the 1st time I've had to log a call with Zen and their support guys have been great. 


Andy[/i]


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## RogerS (26 Sep 2006)

dedee":3b9acu5r said:


> This the 1st time I've had to log a call with Zen and their support guys have been great.
> 
> 
> Andy[/i]



Yup... they're the bees knees


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