ISP/Internet/Server/fail

My network diags constantly interrupt me to tell me my network configuration has changed and I need to click ok to continue, and often when I look at the diags the red lights are showing for Isp, Internet and server stating they have failed.

It takes forever to load a page, I have no hope of iplayer etc and utube doesn't play ball either. No LLU here and my ISP doesn't support anything other than the line.

Wild guess- is your NIC going into sleep mode?

Or perhaps a wireless connection that's latching on to nearby unsecured networks?
Wired or wireless, the fault is within your local setup and nothing to do with your ISP.

what do I need to do to sort this out?

I have changed my channel and all wireless networks in the area appear secure although next doors BT constantly asks me to connect when I open my laptop

If you must use wireless, download Inssider and run it at various times for a few days.
That way, you'll hopefully see a little hole in the fog for yourself. Try to keep at least 3 channels away from any outside networks. If you can't do that, keep away from the strongest networks.

You can instruct your wireless client to only use your network but achieving this depends on which OS you're using.

Edited by Deadbeat (Tue 05-Apr-11 21:24:33)

unfortunately my only working socket in the house is on top of a kitchen cabinet, plus my laptop does not have ethernet so must be wireless I'm afraid.

and I am running OSX so Inssider is also a no no

as far as I know my wireless client is only using my network

In reply to a post by captainmouse:

and I am running OSX so Inssider is also a no no

Have a look at iStumbler.

Post deleted by Finguz

Thanks for that, I have downloaded it and it is runnning and??????

Like Deadbeat said- it'll show what channels you and others within range are using.

It's unlikely you'll find an empty channel, but try and use one which isn't close to another strong one.

I'm on 6 my neighbour is on 11

That should be OK.

I've run out of ideas

Anyone else?

What's your ADSL connection like? Perhaps it's nothing to do with your wireless, simply that your ADSL link is being lost.

Could you post your router stats ans perhaps monitor the link with RouterStats, see http://www.vwlowen.co.uk/internet/files.htm

sorry not runinng windows/linux.

also i stumbler shows noise at 13%

it has taken me 3 hours online just to post these few posts, I have been unable to read email surf or do anything as it just fails to load the pages it is driving me nuts

You need to find out if the problem is wireless or the underlying ADSL connection.

I know but I don;t know how hence the post

Step 1 - get a proper computer running windows.
The rest is easy.

In reply to a post by captainmouse:

sorry not runinng windows/linux.

You don't need to. You can get the configuration page for most routers by typing 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 into your browser address bar. You will need to know the username and admin password though.

I have access to my router config page no probs thanks.

and as I fix windoze/bloatware pc's all day I choose not to have one at home.

I just need the correct apps to track my prob.

wondering if I need a new router? but to be honest the O2 one was exactly the same so.....

In that case please post the stats, as requested.

In particular make sure you include the error figures, not just the basic speed/attn/noise.

What does the router log have in it for problem periods? That's what it is for - diagnostics.

Hi, you will find it very difficult to re-configure your O2 wireless router without an Ethernet connection; get the settings wrong and you have lost your wireless connection.

First step to eliminating the wireless is try the connection when connecting via Ethernet, if all is well then you appear to have a wireless or driver issue under OSX

Hardly the attitude for someone who is trying to appear helpful is it.

In reply to a post by captainmouse:

... plus my laptop does not have ethernet so must be wireless I'm afraid.

What laptop? Some wierd Mac? I didn't know there were any laptops without ethernet.

Re one of your posts somewhere here, what router are you using if it isn't the O2 box?

There are some free tools which allow you to monitor connectivity between a central test box and the router at the customer end.

If you had one of those you wouldn't be hampered by "thinking different" and you wouldn't need a Window box either.

If you had one of those it *might* show if there were connectivity problems (e.g. packet loss) between your router and your ISP.

Where can you get such a tool?

Try http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping


You can do this ping test stuff at the same time as the other suggested stuff wrt checking your wireless connectivity. I've tried InSSIDer but couldn't find an SNR indicator only a signal level indicator. Netstumbler used to have both signal strength and SNR. A high signal level is not much use if there is another high level signal on the same channel, causing poor SNR.

Also on similar lines I'm not sure how InSSIDer handles non WiFi devices in the relevant bands - e.g. if someone has a video sender on the same frequency as your WiFi it won't affect your received signal level but will affect the signal quality; Netstumbler could show this as poor SNR, but can InSSIDer show it at all?

Put more briefly: try using different channels for your WiFi and see if it helps.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Hardly the attitude for someone who is trying to appear helpful is it.

Why not - he works with PCs, he could get one from somewhere. He obviously knows his way round windows and all the diagnostic tools are available for windows.

Does TBBmeter run on OSX?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by captainmouse:

... plus my laptop does not have ethernet so must be wireless I'm afraid.

What laptop? Some wierd Mac? I didn't know there were any laptops without ethernet.

Could be a MacBook Air. I don't think they have ethernet, although Apple do a USB to ethernet adaptor.

Thanks.

I do indeed have a macbook air which is ethernet free. Also the master socket (only working socket in the house) is on top of a kitchen cupboard so standing in the kichen to surf is not ideal.

I am using a netgear DG834G before that I was with O2 so used their modem but had the same problem

What sync rates, attenuations, SNR margins, errors are reported by the router.

See http://kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php

System Up Time 01:08:00
Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collisions Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
WAN PPPoA 7624 9735 0 279 1873 01:07:18
LAN 10M/100M 268 0 0 15 0 01:07:52
WLAN 11M/54M 11236 9297 0 1967 361 01:07:43

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 4544 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 38.0 db 21.5 db
Noise Margin 11.6 db 20.0 db

Nothing obviously wrong there (apart from your sync being lower than expected, probably because your SNR margin has been raised).

Would be worthwhile to check error info.

See if http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=debug enables debug mode (replace the 192.168.0.1 with your router's address).

If that works go to a command prompt and launch telnet.

e.g.

telnet 192.168.0.1

depending on your model/version number either

cat /proc/avalanche/avsar_modem_stats

or

adslctl info --stats

should report the error stats.

In reply to a post by captainmouse:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 4544 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 38.0 db 21.5 db
Noise Margin 11.6 db 20.0 db

Are you still on Vivaciti Family 30 with a DG834G v4 router?

adslctl: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: ShowtimeRetrain Reason: 0
Channel: INTR, Upstream rate = 448 Kbps, Downstream rate = 4544 Kbps
Link Power State: L0
Mode: G.DMT
Channel: Interleave
Trellis: ON
Line Status: No Defect
Training Status: Showtime
Down Up
SNR (dB): 11.4 20.0
Attn(dB): 38.0 21.5
Pwr(dBm): 19.8 11.3
Max(Kbps): 5088 1080
Rate (Kbps): 4544 448
G.dmt framing
K: 143(0) 15
R: 16 8
S: 1 8
D: 32 4
ADSL2 framing
MSGc: 1 1
B: 143 15
M: 1 8
T: 1 1
R: 16 8
S: 1.1111 8.5000
L: 1152 128
D: 32 4
Counters
SF: 326092 326094
SFErr: 1 0
RS: 22174286 2770796
RSCorr: 914 0
RSUnCorr: 23 0

HEC: 1 0
OCD: 0 0
LCD: 0 0
Total Cells: 59410624 0
Data Cells: 176888 0
Drop Cells: 0
Bit Errors: 0 0

ES: 1 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 22 0
AS: 5543

INP: 1.77 1.00
PER: 1.94 1.85
delay: 8.88 8.50
OR: 28.80 30.11

Bitswap: 0 0

Total time = 1 hours 32 min 57 sec
SF = 326092
CRC = 1
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 1
Latest 1 day time = 1 hours 32 min 57 sec
SF = 326092
CRC = 1
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 1
Latest 15 minutes time = 2 min 57 sec
SF = 10443
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
Previous 15 minutes time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52923
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
Previous 1 day time = 0 sec
SF = 0
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
15 minutes interval [-30 min to -15 min] time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52923
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
15 minutes interval [-45 min to -30 min] time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52982
CRC = 1
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 1
15 minutes interval [-60 min to -45 min] time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52923
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
Showtime Drop Reason: 0
Last Retrain Reason: 0
#

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Thanks.

No prob.

The Apple USB to ethernet adaptors are £19 on Amazon, silly money for what they are, but worth their weight in gold when it comes to trouble shooting one of the Airs. In practice I suspect the Apple adaptor will fit the Air but will be unusable on another machine. Can't see why one of the cheaper ones wouldn't fit an Air, but there may be custom firmware in the Apple adaptor.