Broadband Connectivity issues with Satellite TV

Hi all

I have had broadband (through my BT Telephone line) for a while with the same ISP and although speeds are not always as I would like it has worked fine.

During the last week I have noticed connection issues - sometimes broadband would not be connected. I contacted ISP and no problems could be found. I realised last night that the connection is dropped when we turn our satellite receiver on. The satellite is for a European satellite (dish is external) and the phone line is in no way connected to the receiver or dish. Has anyone else had this problem, is it a common problem and how can it be rectified? At least now I know that to have broadband we need the satellite turned off but still puzzles me.

It's not unheard of. might be some sort of interference readiated from the box or into the mains wiring that's causing this.

I would probably check that all your internal phone wiring is done using the correct cable, and that the correct cores have been used. If not, the wiring will be prone to picking up such interference.

The other 'standard' fix is to use a filtered faceplate, which isolates your house wiring from the ADSL signals. This does limit your siting options for the router a touch, but it's workable.

Are your router and sat receiver close to each other?

Thanks for your reply.

I moved the router to our main bt box (from an extension) and had the same problem. When you mention mains wiring do you mean power
The satellite receiver is a distance (in another room) from the router so do not think this could be the issue.

Its possibly emmitting a lot of radio frequency interference which you maybe able to detect using an AM radio, or the power unit inside could be faulty and emmiting interference though the mains wiring , not helped if they are on the same ring (ikely). This is where a USB modem and a laptop can come in handy.
At least its not like a Sky box and plugged into the phone line, which can affect ADSL for those in the surrounding area , although may still be happing through the mains or by any RFI, though that is usually more localised .

Edited by deleted (Mon 19-May-08 16:15:34)

Yes I have heard of this before, with a sat system other that Sky and not connected to the phone, It kicked up a lot of noise on AM radio, as well as reducing BB speed. a new receiver curied the problem.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/faq/sections/radsl.html#235 removing the ring wire is worth a try.

RF interference can travel for some distance, it may be affecting neighbours too. If a AM radio shows the unit is the source and its under warranty you can try getting a replacement from the original supplier.

That's interesting. I am experiencing connection issues currently that started roughly the same time as someone moved into a house behind me and erected a satellite dish in the back garden. Assuming their receiver is at the back of their house, there would be about 20-25 meters and 2 double-skin brick walls between that and my broadband router. What would the typical range of any interference that kit like that could kick out? When you say that you can pick up this interference on an AM Radio, what am I listening for? (only just discovered that I have an AM radio!) What sort of frequencies should I listening to? Sorry if these questions are dumb. I've never had a lot to do with this sort of thing.

In reply to:

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What sort of frequencies should I listening to?

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I would be listening for a broad frequency band of noise but, if I did not hear that, it would not necessarily rule out something more specific. It's difficult to track one of those down.

Trevor

The noise is likely to get worse as you get closer to offending device, and if you do a 360 degree circle should vary in amplitude. You will need to tune off of an actual station

I've seen faulty Sky boxes knock out broadband for a hundred metre radius.