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smearcase · Jan 17, 2014, 08:15 PM

I have made no changes to my computers, but in the last 4 days, we have intermittent loss of internet connection. Theses drops occur on the average of once per hour for about 3 minutes duration. Pretty consistently, most likely 24 hrs per day.
The provider (phone company) has checked their equipment, replaced the router (I have been using their routers for about 6 months), replaced the splitter in the outside box, and say they found an incorrect setting at the central office, which they corrected.
They hung around yesterday until one of the outages finally occurred and I saw their tests of the incoming line and outgoing ethernet connection from the router, and they accessed the router data which all showed "connected" while (at the exact same time) the computers (wired) showed no connection.
Question:
What are the chances this problem will "follow me" if I change to a cable service?
Thanks for any suggestions.

odinn7 · Jan 17, 2014, 08:39 PM

Is this DSL?

I had Verizon DSL for years and suddenly, after a storm, I had consistent disconnecting. I was sure it was their problem. Two separate times this happened.
Long story short, there was "noise" in my phone line in the house. First time it was a phone line that one of the cats bit which must have been causing a voltage drop. The line wasn't bit through but there was a puncture in the shield. When I replaced that, all was good for months. The second time I finally narrowed it down (after very much work) to a bad phone.

As a side...I've been using cable internet now for almost 2 years and it is pretty flawless.

smearcase · Jan 17, 2014, 09:33 PM

Thanks odin. It is dsl I believe, through local phone company.
Yes, I should have mentioned that while the tech was here and during an outage, while he was testing I picked up a nearby cordless phone and there was some "hissing" static noise, which he heard too and he looked surprised to hear that.
But, I haven't been able to hear that noise again during outages that occurred later after he had gone. Maybe his testing device caused it?
I did move the router to another phone outlet in another room that I know is a different wire back to the splices where the phone lines come into the basement- and still got disconnects there too.
We have no pets or mice.
Very frustrating problem. I could save significant bucks by going to cable even, but this seems to be a very common problem as discussed on computer sites and I see it more with cable than dsl, on those sites.
Your comments are appreciated.

odinn7 · Jan 17, 2014, 11:30 PM

With DSL, any kind of noise or drop in voltage (no matter how small) will cause you problems. Even the filters on the phone lines can cause you problems if they are defective.
Unplug the phone that had the noise and leave it off for a while and see if that solves anything.

The process I went through took a while. I unplugged everything from the phone lines and went from there. The first time, unplugging didn't help and that is how I focused on a bad wire. I then started checking all exposed wires and finally found it. The second time, unplugging everything worked. I then started plugging phones back in until I wound up with the problem. It was a cordless phone.

My cable connection is fine. 2 years and I've had 2 problems with it. One time it was slow and they traced it to an issue at the pole. The other time it went down for about 6 hours but that was for everyone in the area, they were resetting something. That was it. I am actually happy with the cable service.

smearcase · Jan 18, 2014, 08:13 AM

Another interesting point. The first technician's first question was (he had looked into their outside box on the side of the house before he came to the door), when did they put that splitter in the box outside. I did not know the answer to that question. But he explained what that splitter does- it separates their incoming line into one pair of wires for phone, and another pair for computer. So he said that I don't even need the filters that I placed on the lines. I think that they probably put that main filter in when they were here for another problem and didn't tell me anything. I will definitely remove those filters. Glad you reminded me of that possibility.
We checked closer this morning and find that the problem definitely affects wireless as well as wired connection.
I am going to go somewhere today where WiFi is available and try out a laptop while I am there, unless I hit pay dirt when I remove those filters.
Thanks again.

odinn7 · Jan 18, 2014, 08:19 AM

Also, like I said, don't overlook the possibility of it being a phone. We had a portable Uniden phone on one of the lines. Actually, the base station for that phone....it turned out to be the base station causing the problem. It must have been creating feedback in the line or something.

smearcase · Jan 18, 2014, 01:58 PM

Tried removing all filters and disconnecting phones but still had problem. Went to a well known convenience store and from their parking lot hooked into their wifi (and this is relevant to my theory below-a message came up in the process of sign in for their wifi- the message said:Your DNS setting has been changed, do you want to restore it and I checked yes--the wifi then connected) and we went to every website we could think of for about an hour- no disconnects whatsoever. Vast difference.

Here's my theory:
from my orig question: "and say they found an incorrect setting at the central office, which they corrected. " And it may have been a DNS (or related setting) he said he had corrected.
I think that the router was the problem all along. But he made that change which was not a correct setting. Then he came to the house, saw that the problem was still there, and then agreed to try a new router. Why the old router tested OK on his meters- I can't explain that, as I am in way over my head already.
Kinda like my olden day cars-- The car ran lousy so I messed with the points and the car still ran lousy, so I kept looking and found ratty plugs (which was the real problem if I had gone there first), and the car still was bad until I went back and corrected my mistake with the points which I should have stayed away from in the first place. If all that makes any sense.(?)
I am using that same computer at home right now, wirelessly and no outages so far. I would have expected an outage by now based on our recent experiences.
Worst case, you might see me in the store parking lot doing my Turbotax in a few weeks.
Do I have to get into DNS settings on all my computers or did that restore I did at the convenience store restore DNS for all my computers?

odinn7 · Jan 18, 2014, 03:13 PM

Sadly, that much is beyond me. I know what I know from reading and learning on my own but once you're into settings, if it's not on my system, I have no idea.

There are others here that should know this. Ben is one of them.

smearcase · Jan 19, 2014, 01:12 AM

I may just try cable for 30 day trial and keep the dsl also on one computer for that time. Then hopefully the cable solves the problem or the cable co. can solve it.
Reduced cable price for one year will make cost the same if and when I drop the dsl.
Would have to get cable phone too in order to produce any real savings and I have heard some complaints from friends about phones thru cable.
But I have one more chance-- I forgot to unplug one phone when I tested with no phones hooked up- and it is an old clunker cordless system base with one phone and it is the answering system we have used for a long time. And the other phones on that system have already been tossed as they had become worthless. I'll hold out hope for that still possibly being the cause but won't be able to try til Sunday evening. Definitely worth a try.
Also will have a chance tomorrow to try Barnes and Noble's wifi maybe for longer duration. Still haven't had a drop on wifi away from home and that seems significant.
There is way too little choice/competition for something that has become a necessity. Choices for power and telephone are scarce too but much more dependable.

WallyHelps · Jan 19, 2014, 06:48 AM

Another choice for phone service if you go with cable internet is an Ooma Telo. You pay for the router-like box and then (unless you opt for the premium plan) your phone service is almost free. Unlimited US calling. All you have to pay is the taxes, which for me are between $3.71-3.76 per month. I've had this for over a year and love it. Check out Amazon for thousands of reviews.

Hope this helps,
WallyH

smearcase · Jan 19, 2014, 09:18 AM

Thanks Wally. I'll check that out.

odinn7 · Jan 19, 2014, 01:15 PM

I was thinking about this last night and I was wrong....actually, my wife reminded me that I was wrong and I remembered something incorrectly as it had been a few years ago.

The phone that I was talking about was bad and we did replace it. The internet speed picked up once that phone was removed so there was interference from it. What I forgot was that the phone didn't actually cause the drop out problem. The drop out problem came a few weeks later. I had then determined the wireless router to be the cause. The router was about 3 years old and a cheaper Netgear model from Walmart. I had done online research as part of my investigation and discovered that the router could cause this. My main system is wired through the router and everything else runs off the wireless. This is why I got confused because I didn't think my main system should have an issue but it did. Something with the router was causing the drop out for all systems, including the one wired through it. I replaced the router and that was the answer.

Oh, and...I have cable phone...no complaints. It's clear, the price is right, and it's more reliable than the veriizon phone service was.

Cat1864 · Jan 19, 2014, 01:25 PM

Forgive me if I missed this information: How many devices (not just computers) do you have using the wi-fi?

A couple of months ago, Cats and I had a similar problem and getting a router that could handle more traffic turned out to be the answer to our issues. It is amazing how quickly devices add up when you start looking at printers, phones, game systems, etc.

smearcase · Jan 20, 2014, 12:46 AM

We have four computers, no wireless printers or other wireless devices of any kind. One desktop and 3 Acer laptops. We have always used wired connections but may be gaining more faith in wireless since we have been trying some wifi at a few businesses this past weekend, strictly to check how the computers perform away from our house.
I asked the phone co. supervisor a few days ago to tell me if he thought this (continual loss of connection let's say every half hour, for about 4 days at that time) was my problem or his problem. I was frustrated after he had sent a tech the day before and hadn't produced any improvement. The discussion had gotten a little heated and when I asked him -whose problem is this-- and I said I needed an answer because the service was unacceptable and I needed to decide what to do- he stuttered and stammered for about 20 seconds before saying - it is our problem. And to his credit, he sent another tech out very promptly. The second tech said (when he arrived here) that he had found an incorrect setting back at the office and had corrected that. So we looked at one of the computers for a few minutes and up popped the no connection indicator. He didn't suggest any other possible remedy so I said how about the router so he replaced their router with a new one at no charge to me. Not long after he left- same pattern of disconnection. They keep implying that my computers are the source of the problem. Or that the problem is on my end because their tests of their lines show no faults. The only thing I own in the loop is a 2 pair phone line between the phone jack and the junction point in the basement which is very visible and undisturbed by me. They are a phone company after all and they test the phone line signal at the point where it connects to the router and have never told me that it is an unsatisfactory signal. So, if they think it is my problem, the computers are the only other items left to be suspicious of- from their standpoint- but they will only imply it- they won't say it.
So we spent several hours this past Sat. and Sunday at businesses where wifi is available, hooked up wirelessly for an hour or two at each, using 2 of the laptops and never got one disconnect, not one single time- alternating with two different laptops. Trying to be online (wired or wireless)for the same amount of time at home, we would have had maybe 20 or more disconnects (of about 2 to 3 minutes each). Maybe to be fair, there might be other possible causes still, such as computer settings to be compatible with their (phone co.) signal but they have never suggested anything and I have told them that I pay them for a connection and they don't provide a dependable one, which we can't live with.
I am debating whether to even call them again. They probably will think that the new router solved the problem if I don't call them and I hate to leave them the satisfaction of thinking that but if I do call them- they might keep trying to fix it- and just screw it up worse because I am becoming of the opinion that they are not competent to fix it, even though they are good people and keep trying.
One thing that concerns me is that when I research the problem-"intermittent outages"-- I see plenty of folks on cable complaining about having that very problem. Namely, drops of a few minutes duration, every 30-40 minutes or so.
So my plan right now is to get a 30 day trial, no contract plan with the cable co., use the laptops wirelessly on the cable router for a few weeks, with still having the desktop on the dsl until I am satisfied that the problem is gone.
Thanks to everyone who has commented. If my memory doesn't fail me, I will come back and let you know of any developments.

smearcase · Jan 20, 2014, 12:54 AM

Odin,
Thanks for the additional info and clarifications.
I did try last night, unhooking the one last phone I had forgotten, but no change.

smearcase · Jan 20, 2014, 03:41 AM

cat,
I should have been more specific than I was, in my answer to your question.
I should have said four -wired-computers.
So, when the outages have occurred there was nothing working wireless.

smearcase · Jan 21, 2014, 08:44 PM

I just lost a long summary of what happened with a new tech from a different office coming out today in a snowstorm.
When I clicked Post Quick Answer, I got a "Do you want to leave page message and the post disappeared into the sunset. Too much to rewrite. But he found a "sync"problem in a junction box about 3 miles away. And he left about 3 hours ago, and it has worked ever since so I have my fingers crossed. That is a new duration of connection record for the last 7 days.
I hope to not have to post anymore here.
Thanks for your comments. each one helped narrow the problem down.