AT&T Southeast → AT&T DSL Keeps Dropping Connection w/ Macbook Pro Airport

I have an ongoing issue with my DSL, it keeps dropping, randomly, sometimes once an hour, sometimes every 5 minutes. AT&T has been out here 3 times, they have replaced all the phone line from the road to my house, replaced the DSL filters with an external on the box, I have replaced my old westel modem with a new AT&T 2-Wire DSL modem and had all the wiring checked in my house.

It doesn't seem to drop when I am just using my Dell. When my Macbook Pro tries to connect to the time machine backup (which is does successfully) it seems to drop. I have the Airport Extreme connected via ethernet to the 2-Wire, but I have also tried turning off the Time Machine backup, unplugging the Airport Extreme, disabling the backup on my MBP, and connected the DSL modem directly to the outside box on my house with nothing else on and it still keeps dropping.

I have eliminated everything I can think of and every time I call AT&T they threaten me with an $80 fee just to come out. It is not a problem with my house wiring, my modem (just bought a second new 2-wire today, still drops the connection)?

I called AT&T DSL and a Level 2 Tech said he "thought" there was noise on the line but they could not (or would not) troubleshoot any farther because there was an appointment for someone to look at my phone line and they wouldn't do anything else until that was done (although they have already done that 3 times now).

Any suggestions at all? This has been going on for about a month and it driving me crazy. I am on AT&T's 6mb DSL FastAccess. My 2-Wire connection settings are below, but right now it is connected of course.

AT&T DSL 2-Wire Modem 2701HG-8

The first thing I would need to know before offering any advice, is exactly what you mean by "dropping connection".

Are you losing DSL sync?

Are you losing the PPPoE session?

Is it just wireless that is dropping the connection?

Is the 2701HG-8 perhaps rebooting?

The stats (taken while connected normally and during/after the dropped connection) and the connection logs from your 2701HG-8 would go a long way toward answering some of those questions.

»AT&T Southeast Forum FAQ »How do I check modem stats & event logs? What do the numbers mean?

»AT&T Southeast Forum FAQ »How do I find the line statistics on a 2Wire HomePortal?

It would seem that the MacBook airport is somehow causing the DSL connection on the 2-wire modem to drop, as in go to red, i.e. disconnect, then back to green, although when it does this, my Dell doesn't seem to disconnect, only my MBP's.

It is the wireless that is dropping, but something is causing the 2-wire to disconnect. The 2701HG-8 is not rebooting.

The connection settings are below.

DSL Connection Details
DSL Line (Wire Pair): Line 1 (inner pair)
Protocol: G.DMT Annex A
Downstream Rate: 7040 kbps
Upstream Rate: 512 kbps
Channel: Interleaved
Current Noise Margin: 17.0 dB (Downstream) 12.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 17.1 dB (Downstream) 7.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 13.6 dBm (Downstream) 5.2 dBm (Upstream)
DSLAM Vendor Information: Country: {0xD1} Vendor: {CTNW} Specific: {0x00}
PVC Info: 8/35
Internet Connection Details
Connection Type: PPPoE
Username:
Internet Address: 70.145.158.204
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway: 68.152.228.232
Primary Domain Name Server: 205.152.132.23
Secondary Domain Name Server: 205.152.144.23
Domain:
Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU): 1492
Gateway Ping: Successful
DNS Communication: Successful
Configuration Server Post: Successful

The only two LED indicators on the 2701HG-8 that can go red (to my knowledge) are the DSL and Internet indicators. If the DSL LED is red, that means that your 2701HG-8 is not synchronized with the DSLAM. »AT&T Southeast Forum FAQ »Explanation of the lights on the 2 Wire 2701HG-B

That does not indicate that only the wireless connections are dropping. I suspect that your wired Dell has also lost its internet connection (if you lost sync, nothing is still connected), but it just silently regains the connection when sync is restored and it is not as noticeable as when a wireless connection is dropped.

If you are intermittently losing sync, then that may very well be caused by noise on the line as your were informed by that AT&T tech. When the problem occurs, you can check for noise on the line by simply connecting a telephone handset to the line and listening (dial a number to kill the dial tone).

Also, as I mentioned before, check the stats and logs both during normal and disconnected times and compare the results. The stats you posted look OK, but you need to check again during the failure period.

it could be noise but I doubt that is the issue at this point. If AT&T hadn't been out here 3 times already I would say yeah, that's probably the case, but they have replaced everything, including 1/4 mile of phone line that goes from the connection at the road to the connection at my house.

If my mac isn't turned on, the dell does not knock out the 2-wire, as in have the connection lights flip from green to red to green. When the lights are flipped to red (and I have no connection on my mac) I can pick up my VoIP line connected to my dell and it is still connected, along with the browsers on my dell. It may be that the dell is just reestablishing instantly.

After reading through the forums on Apple's website I tried disconnecting my airport and just connecting via ethernet and so far it hasn't dropped again? That would make the culprit the macbook airport connection between the MBP's I have (this happens on both MBP's in my house) and the AT&T 2-Wire.

Nice to know that could be the problem but NO ONE seems to know how to fix it? Any suggestions?

I also changed the channel on the 2-wire modem from a suggestion on another forum, from channel 6 to channel 11, and that seemed to help, a little, why would that be?

You only need three things for simple wireless network at home.

1. DSL Modem.
2. NAT Router.
3. Wireless Access Point.

The 2Wire 2701HG-B is a DSL modem, NAT router, and wireless access point.

The Apple Airport Extreme is a NAT router and wireless access point.

You have one too many of two of those things.

You are probably wondering how you should go about fixing this so you only have one of each thing that you need.

---

1. You need to configure the 2Wire 2701HG-B so that it is just a dumb DSL "Bridge" modem and disable its wireless access point.

To put the 2Wire 2701HG-B into "Bridge" mode and disable its wireless access point you need to follow the directions in the FAQ below.

»AT&T Southeast Forum FAQ »Bridge Mode for the 2Wire 2701HG-B

2. You need to reconfigure the Apple Airport Extreme so that it makes the "PPPoE" connection to AT&T.

To put the Apple Airport Extreme into "PPPoE" mode you need to refer to the manual that came with it or Apple's support website.

You might also find some help with the Apple Airport Extreme in the »Apple forum here at DSLReports.

Note: When you enter your "PPPoE" DSL login user name into your Apple Airport Extreme the user name must be in the format of username@att.net or username@bellsouth.net depending upon whichever one you have.

When you get all of this done then your 2Wire 2701HG-B will just be a dumb DSL modem and all it can do is talk to AT&T's DSL modem on the other end of the connection. Your Apple Airport Extreme will now be in charge of everything.

.

I'm not saying for sure that making these changes will fix your problem. It might though because it's the way that things should be setup. Right now you have five pieces to your puzzle and when you get done you will just have three. Less pieces is less things that could go wrong.

This was the only thing I think I hadn't tried yet, and this is exactly how I had my old westel modem from AT&T hooked up. So far so good. It has only been running w/out dropping for about an hour but so far it hasn't dropped. Hope this is the final fix, THANKS SO MUCH.

If anyone else is trying to setup an AT&T 2-Wire DSL Modem, the 2701HG-B anyway to connect via bridge to the Apple Airport Extreme Base Station where the base station is setup via PPPoE just make sure you do NOT put anything in the "carrier" field on the airport extreme, this will cause the PPPoE to not authenticate with AT&T.

thanks again, hope this works for good. Scott

I don't think what I told you to do is going to help you out. I'm sorry. It is the right way to have things configured though.

I have been awake for way too long. I believe I misread your problem because I did not glean the information from your first post that I should have. I'm going to get some sleep and come back to this tomorrow.

on the contrary, you nailed it... I changed over to exactly what you suggested and it, so far, has worked great... thanks so much.

Only time will tell so lets just see what happens.

It's possible that the modem was losing DSL sync due to line troubles and the techs fixed that issue as best they could and along with the big "Noise Profile" that they have put on your line it is now stable.

Somewhere in the mix of things a new variable was introduced by replacing the Westell with the 2Wire. The 2Wire/Airport was not properly configured and may have caused problems similar to your original problems.

If they fixed the troubles with your DSL line and you having since properly configured the 2Wire/Airport then maybe your problems are gone now.

I hope they are gone.

Now the next thing woould be to dump the 2wire and home network option, save $5 bucks/mo for somewthig you are no longer using anyhow and just get a plain old DSL modem from ATT instead..

Standard DSL modem = Motorola 2210 = $75.00
HomeNetworking Wireless Gateway = 2Wire 2701HG-B = $100.00

HomeNetworking Plus is optional and requires HomeNetworking Wireless Gateway = $5.00 a month with Lite and Ultra and $0.00 a month with Xtreme and Xtreme 6.0.

You are not required to have HomeNetworking Plus to have a HomeNetworking Wireless Gateway.

The DSL modem that is built into the 2Wire 2701HG-B is superior to the DSL modem that is built into the Motorola 2210.

The 2Wire 2701HG-B as a "Bride Modem" is much better than Motorola 2210 as a "Bridge Modem".

Well I am on the DSL Ultra 6.0/m so I am guessing I don't pay anything extra for the home networking if it is free at the Ultra level anyway.

It has been 3 days now and the 2701HG-B hasn't dropped the connection since. It had never gone more than a few hours before, so I am almost ready to call this fixed by using it in bridge-to-aiport extreme.

At this point I am totally thrilled compared to how my DSL use to run. Thanks again for the suggestions from this forum on how to get it fixed. -Scott

If it has not missed a beat in three days then I would say that you are probably good to go.

Glad you got it fixed up. I know how much it sucks when the Internet not working right.

Oh my gosh, I just searched for this and your post came up. It is the EXACT problem that I'm having in my home.

We purchased a new Macbook for my girlfriend, and ever since then, whenever she connects to the internet, intermittently the connection will drop. The DSL light will go red, flash for a while, then start going back to green.

However, when I'm on either both my Compaq or my Dell, the internet NEVER drops.

I have had techs come out to find no problem with my lines. I've run my own tests to find no packet loss, and the AT&T box is at the end of my block giving me higher performance than someone further away.

The only different in my home is the MacBook.

It'll drop the connection sometimes every 5 minutes, sometimes every hour, with no pattern. This is super odd.

Is there another solution besides bridged mode? I want to keep everything wireless in my home.

This is only one of several discussions that I have seen where the use of a Mac will somehow cause the 2Wire 2701HG-B to intermittently lose ADSL sync. I have not seen any explanation for this situation yet, nor does the whole thing make sense to me. The wireless portion of the 2701 is on the LAN side of the built-in router and the DSL modem section is on the built-in router's WAN side. Even if a Mac should somehow be able to disable the wireless transmitter, it should not be able to disrupt the connection to AT&T.

If you want to be able to keep everything wireless and not bridge the 2Wire, you might look into the Netopia/Motorola 3347 (normally provided to AT&T business customers). This model is way more bulletproof than any 2Wire.

As a business-oriented model, the configuration is not as simple as the 2Wire, since it has many more setup options. Fortunately, many of these options can be left at the factory-default settings for residential use.

Try changing the 2wire wireless mode to use 802.11g instead of the default 802.11b/g

Anyone know where I can get a standard DSL modem? I have a 6-year old Westell modem that I think is dying because of random disconnects, but I don't need a modem that has any sort of routing or wireless capabilities since I have an Airport that'll be doing that for me.