t'internet

[barhell]

Lost my connection for 30 seconds murphy's law that.

[Bongo]

BT fixed my problems with a new line to the exchange... Not going to happen too often I'd venture!

[snoopy1239]

Snoopy, router or modem? Wired or wireless? Could be your kit, could be the condition of the line. Can you get any stats (Attenuation, Noise Margin) from your router/modem?

Router (netgear I think). Wireless. BT connection.

Other info: Same happens whether mac or pc. Disconnections are sporadic and can be between several second and a few minutes, rarely longer. Resetting router is often temp solution. Line sometimes cuts out when phone line is in use. Mobile receptions are exceptionally poor in Hampstead.

How do I get the stats?

[Longines]

If it's a Netgear try http://192.168.0.1. Login/password is probably admin/admin.

You're looking for the downstream figures for speed, attenuation and Noise Margin.

If you can find the exact Netgear model I can probably tell you exactly where to find them.

[boldie]

If it's a Netgear try http://192.168.0.1. Login/password is probably admin/admin.

You're looking for the downstream figures for speed, attenuation and Noise Margin.

If you can find the exact Netgear model I can probably tell you exactly where to find them.

actually could also be  admin/password (I've seen that page a million times this week as my ISP is driving me nuts and I have one of them things)

[M3boy]

Dropping of wireless connections is a good sign the router is on its way out.

If you can get hold of another router (preferably the same model) just to see if the disconnections still occur.

Netgear support is actually pretty good aswell.

[Ginger]

Wireless connection dropping can also be a sign that another wireless device is interfering with the signal, sometimes all it takes it changing the channel on your router.

[AndrewT]

Wireless connection dropping can also be a sign that another wireless device is interfering with the signal, sometimes all it takes it changing the channel on your router.

Yes, that may help.

When I moved into my current flat there were two wireless networks in range. Now there are eight so finding a clear channel is important to keeping the signal strong.

[snoopy1239]

Wireless connection dropping can also be a sign that another wireless device is interfering with the signal, sometimes all it takes it changing the channel on your router.

Yes, that may help.

When I moved into my current flat there were two wireless networks in range. Now there are eight so finding a clear channel is important to keeping the signal strong.

Thx. How exactly do you do this?

[Longines]

To change the channel your router is using, login into it and you'll find it under wireless settings.

To find out what channels your neighbours are using, download Netstumbler or the trial version of WirelessMon. Most equipment can select a channel between 1 and 13. Most seem to use 11 as a default. The 5 other networks I can "see" from my desk use 1, 9, 11, 11 and 11. So I use 5.

If your Netgear is anything like mine, it has a "Auto 108Mbps" mode that disables the channel choice. 108 mode only works at 108Mb/s if you have a Netgear wireless card as well as a Netgear router, there's a Z in the month and you stand on one foot. 108 mode made my wireless connection flaky as hell. Choose "g & b" mode instead.

[snoopy1239]

If it's a Netgear try http://192.168.0.1. Login/password is probably admin/admin.

You're looking for the downstream figures for speed, attenuation and Noise Margin.

If you can find the exact Netgear model I can probably tell you exactly where to find them.

Hello. I logged into the router and found the following details:

DownStream Connection Speed = 7392 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed = 448 kbps
Downstream Attenuation = 19.0 db
Upstream Attenuation = 14.0 db
Downsteam Noise = 3.0 db
Upstream Noise = 10.0 db

Many thx for your assistance and superior wisdom.

[Dino]

The downstream noise is low,if it drops lower due to any electrical interference then the internet disconnects.
If you have a two piece bt master socket as below

unscrew the front section and plug your router into the internal socket.
If your noise margin improves that points to a problem with your internal wiring or filters.

[Longines]

Yep, 3dB is pretty low.. Ideally you don't want to drop much below 6dB or you start to risk disconnections. Follow Dino's advice and you are bypassing all your internal wiring. If the noise margin shoots up, you know the problem is internal.

My noise margin used to hover around 14dB until 10/11pm at night when it would drop to 3dB without fail - no internet. Mine was something external generating interference somewhere between me and the exchange. Luckily it stopped and I get 6.9dB pretty much all the time.

(IIRC, you can program Netgears with an 'ideal' dB figure - to allow techies to try and squeeze every bit of performance out of the line (lower dB=higher sync speed). Any chance someone has had a play in the past?)

[snoopy1239]

The downstream noise is low,if it drops lower due to any electrical interference then the internet disconnects.
If you have a two piece bt master socket as below

unscrew the front section and plug your router into the internal socket.
If your noise margin improves that points to a problem with your internal wiring or filters.

If it did improve, thus pointing to a problem with internal wiring or filters, is there anything I could do short of rewiring the entire house? Could I not just plug my router into the internal socket permanently?

[snoopy1239]

By the way, I don't recognise the device in the picture, so I doubt we can perform that procedure anyhow. This is our current set-up:





Just to give you another couple of details that might help: when I disconnect, I still have bars on my Mac wifi icon, thereby suggesting that it still detects that the network is there, but simply refuses to connect, loading, loading, loading before coming up with the error page. Rebooting the router seems to do the trick most of the time. Jen has the same problems on her PC, so the computer isn't the problem.