DSL & Router

[Thantos]

Ok need some help as I'm about half a nerve away from going to my ISP and unloading.

Every week or so my DSL stops working, 90% of the time I can power down the modem and router for about a min and then turn them back on and it works again.

However sometimes it stays down longer and every time I call them:

1) The connection magically starts working again
2) They make me disconnect my router and say that routers can cause the DSL to go down

Any truth to this?

In Okinawa we had DSL lines all over the island connected by switchs and routers, and they never seemed to go down.

I just want to keep from killing these people if they are right.

[XSquared]

Routers do not cause your DSL to go down. Hubs will.

And also, powercycling everything does tend to make it work again, but if you have to do it so often, try asking if you can get a new modem.

[CSW800]

Back when I got DSL, the same thing was happening. I saw an article about how Verizon was recycling what they use on the other end (my memory fails me to what it was. ) so I asked them to change the one they were using for me and that fixed it...

[Thantos]

Thanks for the info. Also to clarify I'm not 100% sure that its the modem do to the fact the the DSL light stays on but the computer can't connect to the server.

[ygfperson]

That just means that the problem is in your network connection somewhere between your computer and your dsl modem.

[Thantos]

Really don't see how its my network causing the problem when I can take and leave my computer directly hooked up to the modem and get the same results.

[adrianxw]

I have DSL and a router. Have had them for more than 6 months now, and if you browse this and a dozen or so other boards, you will find my posts describing the problems I have been and still am having.

My DSL modem goes to a D-Link 804V router and thence to the machines. One machine has an SMC NIC is an ancient old cronk and runs Win-95, works like a charm. Very reliable. Always up.

The other is a little more than 6 months old P-IV system running XP, this system is a total and absolute dog when it comes to the network. It can talk to the other machine, indeed, I wrote a pair of socket programs to exercise the lan to see where the problem was, work fine, thus the NIC's and router switch are working. Still the machine is unreliable talking to the 'net.

I have rebuilt the OS, the TCP stack the driver for the NIC. Nope. The router software is up to date. I have tried all manner of things, and still I have problems. The damn machine just stops communicating. Right now I am waiting for a new NIC, (identical to the one in the other machine), to see if that works, I am also investigating some rather enigmatic net sniffer traces.

Some things to try...

Make sure your router has it's "keep alive" function enabled. Most routers will allow a connection that is not being used to drop after a certain period of inactivity, you should disable that - check your routers manual.

Set your connection speed down. Most modern routers switch 100Mbit, but the DSL will only run at 10Mbit, in your NIC setup there will probably be an "Auto speed negotiation" option, try setting that down to 10Mbit half duplex.

If you have other machines on the lan side of your switch, change the lan protocol to IPX/SPX and leave the TCP/IP stack for wan traffic, it allows more resources for the TCP stack.

Put a gun to the system and blow it to bits. This increases the airflow over certain components and at the same time, reduces the power consumed, this reduces possible heat induced problems - however, I've got close to this on occasions.

If you do get anywhere with this, let me know.