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Zinlu
join:2006-09-22
Macon, GA
2 edits | AT&T Southeast dropping Internet randomly; Last Ditch Effort
This is my final attempt to find out what is going on with my connection before calling to cancel DSL and get cable internet and phone. My frustration levels are beginning to overshadow my dislike of cable internet.
If you want to get to the hard technical details, and skip the sob story, go to the next double line space.
The Westell 6100 Years
We've been with Fastaccess since we moved in this house in Dec 2004. We started with the 3.0 then 3 or 4 months after we moved in, we upgraded to 6.0. We had the occasional burp, but generally it was great service, good speeds, hardly ever any disconnects, unless the power went out.
We had to discontinue it in October of 2007 (finances), and it was off until Jun 2008, when we signed back up for the 3.0 service(keeping our hardware from when we had the service before).
In July 2008 we had a lightning strike in the yard next door that blew out a power transformer and our (years old) D-link switch and port 1 on our (not quite so many years old) D-link router where the switch was plugged in(we think, because when the power came back on the switch and port were inoperative). After that we would get the occasional PADT error(dropping us from the internet), figured "must be the bad router". The PADTs got more and more frequent, so we found another D-Link router (same model, I am resistant to change) on Ebay. The PADTs continued with the new router, but not any more frequent.
In February of this year we upgraded again to 6.0. I think it was around April that the PADTs started getting more and more frequent. By the time May's end rolled around they had gotten frequent enough for us to think we should get a new modem, as I had already tried 3 different Linksys routers (WRT54Gs v 2.0 w/ DD-WRT and v. 6 with Linksys firmware, and a BEFSR41 I think it is). All this time we have had the Westell 6100 modem from the original install and it has kept soldiering on.
The Uncertain Times
We ordered and recieved a D-Link (yes, I am brand loyal) DSL-2640B Gateway (modem/router all rolled up into one sleek package). Received on June 2, 2009 we hooked it up and I let the auto config wizard do its thing. Pow bang right online no problems! Until a few hours later, when the internet connection started dropping again. Thinking that it may be the autoconfig wizard doing something not quite right(I have an innate distrust of these things), I reconnected the old Westell and Linksys WRt54g v. 2.0 (DD-WRT is now a staple in our networking).
AT&T as a Stress Reducer
By this time the frustrations were beginning to take their toll. We called to see about getting the lines and stuff checked at the house.
June 9th, they sent a tech out, he rebuilt our NID, putting in an ITT Systems splitter, and I ran a new homerun to a dual jack. He also had one of the bucket trucks come out and cut a "dead pair" out of the box on the line at the pole. He also checked something or other up there with his handy dandy handheld thingamajig. The tech and the wireman were very professional, courteous and had no problems answering my dumb questions. Kudos to you two, you know who you are.
They are the only two reasons we didn't call and cancel that day. The tech told us that if what they had done didn't fix the problem, we would probably have to downgrade to get stable service. It didn't fix it, and on June 11 we downgraded back to 3.0. Still didn't fix it.
We decided the next day to call AT&T customer service to order a new Bellsouth-approved modem, figuring that would eliminate any modem-caused issues. Wow what a clusterdoodle they have going on there. After calling late at night (what a mistake!), we decided to wait until morn.
June 13 we called in the morning to order a modem (and try to get a rebate). The nice english-speaking lady in billing fixed us up, overnighting the 2701HG-B (at no charge) so it would have a monday arrival.
Monday the 15th came, and went, and no modem. The wife called and they had shipped the modem to the address that previously had the number we have now. SO they overnighted another (at no charge, again) modem.
The 17th arrived, and in the early morning so did our modem. (finally!) We opened the box and , "WHOA! That's not the gateway, that's a Motorola 2210!"
That poor lady that ended up getting my call, I sure hope she had great customers the rest of the day because I was a complete and utter ass. I hadn't had my morning caffeine or nicotine, and was *extremely* aggravated. Not many people have seen me like that, as I don't often let things get to me that much, but I had, plain and simple, Had Enough. She never broke her stride, asked me all the right questions, said all the right things, and made sure the modem was going to the correct address and that it was the correct modem and sent me shipping labels to send the motorola back.
The new gateway arrived today, I got home from work at 10:30pm, and hooked it up. I like it, BUT not 5 minutes after we set it up, powie, disconnected. Here I sit, 6 hours later, no shower yet, no dinner yet, still with an internet connection that disconnects randomly, irregardless of time of day (or night) or heavy network traffic or no network traffic. I have spent this 6 hours trying different phone lines (even though we have replaced every cable, wire, filter and jack multiple times in the last 3 months). I have also gathere together what stats I could from the inside jack I installed, and from the NID outside. I sincerely hope this is enough information, as I have gone from an angry frustrated mood in the last couple days to one of calm acceptance.
I accept that I may not be able to get a stable 3.0 or faster connection from Bellsouth, AT&T, whatever they are calling it these days. I also Accept that Cable may be be so bad after all, since I have a few friends that have had minimal to no problems with it over the last few years.
The local cable provider here seems to have some pretty good ratings as well, some higher than AT&T. As much as I would like to stay with AT&T (and DSL, as I said, I am brand loyal) I have had enough hassle and shenanigans, that if something doesn't change in the near future, I will be calling the Cable company to setup an appointment for internet and phone service.
And NOW for the Technical Bits!
Inside Data Jack Stats
MTU is 1492
DSL Line (Wire Pair): Line 1 (inner pair)
Protocol: G.DMT Annex A
Downstream Rate: 3552 kbps
Upstream Rate: 384 kbps
Channel: Fast
Current Noise Margin: 31.0 dB (Downstream) 16.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 28.6 dB (Downstream) 20.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 19.7 dBm (Downstream) 1.6 dBm (Upstream)
DSLAM Vendor Information: Country: {0x0F} Vendor: {ALCB} Specific: {0x00}
PVC Info: 8/35
Outside Test Jack Stats
MTU is 1492
DSL Line (Wire Pair): Line 1 (inner pair)
Protocol: G.DMT Annex A
Downstream Rate: 3552 kbps
Upstream Rate: 384 kbps
Channel: Fast
Current Noise Margin: 31.0 dB (Downstream) 16.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 28.4 dB (Downstream) 20.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 19.7 dBm (Downstream) 1.2 dBm (Upstream)
DSLAM Vendor Information: Country: {0x0F} Vendor: {ALCB} Specific: {0x00}
PVC Info: 8/35
Line stats taken with 2-Wire 2701HG-B Gateway, sorry, I don't feel like changing anything else out and taking line stats. I have had enough of changing equipment and cables and power bricks.
Does NOT lose DSL Sync(light stays steady on every configuration), just internet connection(light blinks, turns red whatever it does with whatever equipment was hooked up at the time). Connection loss seems totally random, any time of day, night, heavy traffic, light/no trafffic. Usually in groupings, disconnect, reconnect disconnect with a minute or so in between, for times ranging from 3 minutes to 45 minutes.
PADT Tag (and disconnects)with Westell 6100 modem, by itself, and running in bridged mode (and DHCP off) with the following routers: D-Link DI-604, various Linksys WRT54G versions, some with DD-WRT and some with Linksys firmware.
PADT Tag (and disconnects) with Motorola 2210, by itself and running in bridged mode (DHCP off) with all of the above routers.
Disconnects (can't find PADT tag notations in any of the logs, can barely make sense of the logs at all) with D-Link 2640B and 2-wire 2701HG-B gateways.
Dumb questions
Why does the noise Down/Up vary to such a degree?
Why so much Output power downstream? Is that my modem putting out that much power or the DSLAM?
I read that 15 is recommended maximum.
Thank you. I sure feel better now to have told it.
Zinlu
Steve | |
shivetya
Premium
join:2009-06-02
Dallas, GA
| Can't help ya, but I am in Dallas Georgia and been having a similar problem with AT&T for the last month. 2+ years of flawless 6.0 service and it now is toast.
I disconnect a lot. Funny thing is, the first time I log into WOW for the day I get immediately punted by the dsl line!
They have replaced cards in the box outside my house, checked the wiring in my house and at the box on my house.
However I first lose the internet light and then I lose the DSL when it tries a few time to get pppoe back up | |
Zinlu
join:2006-09-22
Macon, GA
| Glad to hear I am not the only one. Thanks!
I forgot to mention that twice this week there have been "Network outages in the area due to repairs", if the computer on the phone is to be believed. It stays stable for a bit afterwards, (up to 6 hrs) then starts the dropping again.
Since I posted it's dropped twice, once at 07:30 and again at 07:46. That's the ones that I know of, my "disconnect monitor" wouldn't connect back after that and was still disconnected when I got home from work a few minutes ago.
Also, the Tech that came to the house told us it was 6200 feet worth of wire from here to our CO, since the line runs down the other side of the street about a 1/8 mile past us then back up on our side. | |
twill1989
join:2009-01-03
Goose Creek, SC | Same problem here in SC. Been randomly losing DSL sync for the past 3 months. AT&T claim there is no problem. | |
wayjac
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-22
Indy | reply to Zinlu
Are the PADT's rx or tx
If they are rx its the PPPoE sever ending the session
If they are tx its the PPPoE client ending the session | |
Zinlu
join:2006-09-22
Macon, GA | On the D-Link 604's and the Westell modem by itself I believe all the PADT's were RX (recieved), other than those two, I am not sure enough to try to specify. | |
wayjac
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-22
Indy | If all your problems are caused by bellsouth ending the PPPoE sessions.
Cancel the DSL and get cable you won't have the PPPoE session problems with cable | |
rovernet
Premium
join:2004-02-11
Richardson, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to Zinlu
Yeah, it's impossible to diagnose your trouble with just a partial logs from the modem.
Look and post the PPPOE Concentrator info and the modem's MAC address or you can stop by ATT Direct and post all the necessary info to look up your line:
»/forum/sbcdirect
I know how tedious talking with a script-reading rep can get but let them walk you through their steps, they could diagnose the trouble and direct it to the appropriate groups to arrive at the fix for your trouble. | |
Zinlu
join:2006-09-22
Macon, GA
| The current modem's information from the System... Details screen is
Model: 2701HG-B Gateway
Serial Number: 160919072232
Hardware Version: 2700-100594-004
Software Version: 5.29.109.11
Key Code: 525Z-25Z4-6266-22AS-B2DC
From the Broadband Link...Summary Screen
Connection Information:
• Internet Address: 98.67.59.82
• Hardware Address: 00:25:3c:1e:83:f8
• Key Code: 525Z-25Z4-6266-22AS-B2DC
I hope that's the mac address for this modem. If need be I can get you the MAC addresses for 2 of the other modems we have used. We returned the DSL-2640B today for a refund.
As far as concentrator info, I have no idea, I will see if I can find that.
It's not so much the tedium of walking through it, it's the fact that we have done it SO much in the last month and it has done nothing to improve the connection. I don't know if it's AT&T sending padt tags and kicking us off or the modems misinterpreting something and classifying it as a padt tag. I just want a stable connection. | |
Pashune
Inhaling at 675 KB per sec.
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Gautier, MS
 ·CableOne
 ·AT&T Southeast
| From the FAQ:
A PADT (PPPoE Active Discovery Terminate) signal is sent to terminate a PPPoE session. It is the proper way to terminate a session but is not the actual cause for the termination. The cause may be a simple timeout, a manual request by either end, or an out of spec line condition.
A PADT every month or so shouldn't be a cause for concern, but as frequently as you're getting them, it makes me think there's a line problem going on somewhere. This makes me think there's an issue with your line pair or DSLAM card. There can also be enough line noise to cause a PADT to occur but not enough noise to make your modem lose sync.
Here's something else you could try. I've had luck with this method in the past.
»Ameritech - SBC FAQ »My DSL loses sync regularly. How can I detect interference with an AM Radio?
--
ISP: CableOne 3 mbit/300 kbit | |
wayjac
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-22
Indy
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to Zinlu
This is the mac address of your 2wire
Hardware Address: 00:25:3c:1e:83:f8
This url should get a page that has your access concentrator name
192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J02
If its not there try this url
192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J34
Look for a line like this
lmd: up with service: (default), ac: WPBHFLGA61W-8Y014070500526 on bridge1 | |
Zinlu
join:2006-09-22
Macon, GA
1 edit | Ah ha! Thanks Wayjac! I keep forgetting about the MDC pages in this gateway.
Connection Type: PPPoE
User Name: ssgibson1@bellsouth.net
PPPoE Access Concentrator: MACNGAMT62W-8Y224150703135
PPPoE Service: (default)
IP Address Range: 98.80.129.78
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.255
Gateway: 98.80.129.1
Primary DNS: 205.152.37.23
Secondary DNS: 205.152.144.23
Thank you also, Pashune, I will see if I can dig up my old battery operated radio.
Just in case any of the other details are useful. | |
wayjac
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-22
Indy
·AT&T Midwest
| rovernet  is a att direct tech I would give any info asked for it may lead to a solution
It may be useful to post the 2wire detailed log the url is in my last post | |
Zinlu
join:2006-09-22
Macon, GA
| Entire Log Incoming:
| |
upb
Premium
join:2004-03-15
Carriere, MS
·AT&T Southeast
| Looks very much like a problem I had here until AT&T fixed some equipment upstream of the DSLAM. The DSL signal was always strong but the connection to the PPPoE peer would be periodically lost.
BTW, I wonder why your router's http daemon is listening on port 50,001? That would tend to make me nervous.  | |
Airwolf7
Premium
join:2004-12-12
Franklin, KY
·AT&T Southeast
| said by upb :BTW, I wonder why your router's http daemon is listening on port 50,001? That would tend to make me nervous. Is it not common for a 2Wire Gateway to be listening on port 50001? I believe that port is used for remote management by 2Wire or the ISP. | |
upb
Premium
join:2004-03-15
Carriere, MS
·AT&T Southeast
| said by Airwolf7 :Is it not common for a 2Wire Gateway to be listening on port 50001? I believe that port is used for remote management by 2Wire or the ISP. Maybe it is on that model, but I never encountered it with the 2Wire units I've owned (1000SW, 1800HG). I just read somewhere else that the management port can be disabled via the setup menus, so I guess it's kind of moot after all. | |
wayjac
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-22
Indy | All the 2wires listen to ports 50001, 443 and 80 | |
upb
Premium
join:2004-03-15
Carriere, MS
·AT&T Southeast
| said by wayjac :All the 2wires listen to ports 50001, 443 and 80 As far as I know, the WAN tcp port 80 and 443 listening only happened if you had the remote access package installed and activated. Remote nmap and grc.com scans of my own routers never revealed any other ports opened, and I did take the time to scan through all possible tcp ports. These comments of course only apply to the two routers I owned (now both shelved), the 1000SW and the 1800HG. | |
ljedmondson
join:2009-06-23
Brentwood, TN | reply to Zinlu
I am having the same problems here in brentwood, tn. It appears to have started when ATT rolled out its uverse products. | |
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