US Telco Support > CenturyLink > Help please? Centurylink DSL keeps dropping Internet

reply to Mikesalz

Re: DSL Keeps Dropping Please Help

Your levels are:

SNR Down = 20/21 Up = 9/14
Attenuation Down = 17 Up = 7

Your attenuation numbers mean you are VERY close to the DSLAM.

The down SNR 20 is good, but the up SNR 9/14 is a problem. Something is affecting the SNR up by 5db.

You should try connecting the modem directly to the NID/SNI/Protector or whatever one wants to call it and see if those numbers are still the same. Not knowing what your residence is, this may be a problem. At least try to prove its not in your wiring.

Unless a tech can isolate a noise problem on your line. About the only other thing would be a bad port in the DSLAM.

Intermittent trouble is the biggest pain in the rear to find.

Here's a good reference for the above readings:

Noise Margin (AKA Signal to Noise Margin or Signal to Noise Ratio)
Relative strength of the DSL signal to Noise ratio. The higher the number the better for this measurement. In some instances interleaving can help raise the noise margin to an acceptable level.
 
6dB or below is bad and will experience no synch or intermittent synch problems
7dB-10dB is fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions
11dB-20dB is good with little or no synch problems
20dB-28dB is excellent
29dB or above is outstanding
 
Line Attenuation
Measure of how much the signal has degraded between the DSLAM and the modem. This is largely a function of the distance from the exchange. The lower the dB the better for this measurement.
 
20dB and below is outstanding
20dB-30dB is excellent
30dB-40dB is very good
40dB-50dB is good
50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues
60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issues
 

I will try this. The only thing is I only have 1 jack that has connection in my house. Does that even matter?

Do you consider the DSL a active phone line if I dont have a "phone line" with Centurylink and I only pay for internet? I ask this because I dont use a filter or wondering if I am less likely to get noise on my line.

Here are my Levels connected directly to NID

Levels Downstream Upstream
SNR:21 dB 14 dB

Attenuation:16 dB 6 dB

Power:22 dBm 12 dBm

If you only have the 1 jack then a filter is unnecessary, especially since you don't have a landline dialtone.

At the NID did the modem lose sync at all? If it still drops at the NID then you will need a tech visit.

Another thing you can do since there is no dialtone on the DSL line. Is plug in an old analog phone into the phone jack on the modem and when there is a problem listen to the line and see if you hear any noise or static.

Still plugged into NID. So far so good. I will update tomorrow. Thanks Retiredqwest

Hey Mikesalz, please let us know if we can provide you additional personal support.

»bit.ly/TALKTOUS or TalkToUs@Centurylink.com

Thanks,
Rich
Centurylink Help Team