Alternatives To Adsl

[devdev]

Need some advise from the techies please.

Have an ADSL line at the office. Running off Openweb as the ISP (Uncapped, light shaping for 'naughty' applications)

For the past three weeks my DSL has been randomly falling out of sync with the exchange. It goes down for 20 - 40 mins, then reconnects again for the same amount of time, then drops again.

I have noticed it has a tendency to be stable in the mornings, and then after 12h00 - 12h30 it starts with the drop/connect/drop/connect game, until I leave the office, around 18h15. I can tell from my remote login that in the evenings it continues doing this.

I have had telkom out four times. 1st it was the RJ22 cable from the wall, then it was the POTS filters on the other extensions, then it was my modem, and then it was because its too far to the exchange and I must downgrade the line speed - even though it has worked at this speed for past couple of years. I dont know what excuse they will throw at me next.

My questions:

1. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this issue?
2. Are there any viable alternatives to ADSL? Is Neotel's offering any good?

Your help will be appreciated

 

[soonkia]

Did they actually reset the port on their side - usually one of the first things they do, but one never knows.

Sounds like they've ruled out all the possibilities - and other than maybe you being too far for your line speed.

If you can get Fibre then that would be better

 

[Gazzacpt]

Actually sounds like a congested exchange. To many ppl on it.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Tapatalk

 

[devdev]

Fiber is only rolling out in this location in Sept.

Any comments on Neotel? My broadband doesnt speak very highly of them, but suspect it may be a lot of trolls

 

[PuffingCrow]

Neotel will cost you an arm and a leg, as per Soonkia phone 10217 (Telkom Bussiness) report line fault let them do a line test, explain the line dropping and let them reset the the ports on there side, I have about 8 adsl line in our company and yes telkom can be frustrating at best of times. If that does not help the drop the line speed down with Telkom, you can always up it again, just be carefull each time they come out to you premises they will charge you like R700 call-out fee if the fault is not on there side.

I had a similar problem where the line was running at 6mb and disconnecting, after all port resetting and testing, switching the line down to 4mb line solved it, problem is wireless and 3g technologies are not yet good in sa for stable high speed internet in my opinion and Neotel wants somthing like R12000 (Last i checked) a month for a fiber line that is if you are located in the correct spot.

 

[johan]

Guys he said: "... even though it has worked at this speed for past couple of years."

@devdev suggest you insist they do proper testing, sounds more like problems on their side, port change at the street box might be a solution.

 

[BhavZ]

Are you hard-linking to your modem/router or wifi?

How many people on on the connection?

If your answer is hard-linked and you're the only on the connection then ask telkon to do a port reset, if that does not work then ask them to change your port at the exchange, if that still doesnt work ask them to do a attenuation test for the next best exchange near you and have your line moved to that exchange.

Hope that helps

 

[Rowan Francis]

@devdev , pm work address , let me see if we can do fibre

 

[devdev]

So the network topology is ADSL Router -> Linksys WRT (Running Tomato FW) -> Netgear 8 port switch.

Total of 4 machines hardwired, and about 8 mobile devices (phones & tablets) and 3 or 4 laptops using wifi

The machines in my part of the office are hardwired (Cat5) to the Switch. Wifi is courtesy of the Linksys, and there is another Wifi serving as an extender in the other end of the building.

I am going to phone telkom now and see what I can do:

1. Port reset
2. Line testing
3. Drop line speed

(Thanks @PuffingCrow, @Gazzacpt & @soonkia)

If none of those resolve the issue then I will resort to:

1. 'Persuading' the telekom guy to plug me in to a different port at the street box
2. Attenuation testing

(Thanks @johan and @BhavZ)

Will keep you all posted

 

[soonkia]

Yeah, if you want unstable switch to a wifi/3G type solution - when it works it's great, great speed etc. But you get a lot more problems with interference and lines dropping - so speed and connectivity is very inconsistent

Neotel's fibre is expanding, and their pricing seems to be dropping - but you have to be in the right location for it to be a potential option

 

[devdev]

For what it is worth, today was the first time I realised @PuffingCrow's name is not PuffingCow. Sorry man!

 

[PuffingCrow]

For what it is worth, today was the first time I realised @PuffingCrow's name is not PuffingCow. Sorry man!

@devdev LOL

 

[Die Kriek]

Neotel's fibre is expanding, and their pricing seems to be dropping - but you have to be in the right location for it to be a potential option

This should change for the better after the Vodacom sale goes through.

 

[devdev]

Thanks guys - after a lengthy telephone call to 10217 (previously I had been using 10210) they have reset the port and logged a fault for low line speed.

Will see if it keeps the connection up now. Will keep you all posted

 

[Shaun]

If i may add, don't discount involvement on the ISP side. Openweb are in my experience the worst ISP currently. My account is pending cancellation for the third time... yes i keep going back for there cheap prices. To rule them out i would signup for a free trial account from some of the other ISP's and perform the necessary testing accordingly.

Im my experience normal browsing was near impossible during business hours, i assume this may be due to oversubscribing users on that particular service. A simple .co.za domain would time out and have to be refreshed a number of times, youtube would barely stream at 144p without buffering, the list goes on but all was perfect via a different ISP... so food for thought, hope you get sorted soon!

 

[devdev]

If i may add, don't discount involvement on the ISP side. Openweb are in my experience the worst ISP currently. My account is pending cancellation for the third time... yes i keep going back for there cheap prices. To rule them out i would signup for a free trial account from some of the other ISP's and perform the necessary testing accordingly.

Im my experience normal browsing was near impossible during business hours, i assume this may be due to oversubscribing users on that particular service. A simple .co.za domain would time out and have to be refreshed a number of times, youtube would barely stream at 144p without buffering, the list goes on but all was perfect via a different ISP... so food for thought, hope you get sorted soon!

Funny you mention that, a mate just left Openweb in favour of Axxess, for similar reasons. I use openweb at home and at the office, and home has been stable. If Telkom can't resolve my issue then that will be the next item tested. Thanks @Shaun

 

[BhavZ]

Funny you mention that, a mate just left Openweb in favour of Axxess, for similar reasons. I use openweb at home and at the office, and home has been stable. If Telkom can't resolve my issue then that will be the next item tested. Thanks @Shaun

If you are looking at changing ISP, give AfriHost a look at as well. They have month to month services and I am sure they can hook you up with a trial just to test your line.

MyBroadBand has rated them tops a few times now and here in the cape (touch wood) I have not had any issues with performance from them.

 

[Joey786]

i suggest get a 3g failover - duxbury adsl modem with 3g failover - manual/auto
currently 8ta can be used as most affordable
R279 for 15Gb + 15Gb night usage - free mifi modem - only for companies

this will automatically cut off and wont incur any additional charges once data depleted, you can topup manually @ R149 /3gig - could be mistaken but this is prepaid rates topup

 

[Derick]

When we had issues with our line our ISP told us to try and connect with the Telkom guest account and run some speed tests - quick way to see if it is ISP or Telkom related. Turned out to be telkom, they came out and changed ports (put us in a new port) at the exchange and it solved our problems

But yep, we have a Modem with a 3g failover - the 3g is just a pay as you go USB 3g, so it doesn't cost much, but it is there in case of emergencies, plus we can use it in the laptop if the power goes down

Unfortunately I can't remember the telkom guest account details anymore, but I'm sure it is publicly available

 

[BhavZ]

Have a look here Point 2 talks about guest account. Details below:

2. Slow connection/intermittent connection
a) If your line is supplied by Telkom:
Use a Telkom guest account to test your line speed.
Username: guest@telkomadsl
Password: guest

 

[Rex_Bael]

The final straw that convinced me to switch from an OpenWeb uncapped was when they insisted that if speedtest.net has a good result they are not at fault. It's amazing what you can do by creatively shaping a line. The speedtest results would be excellent, but opening any other site would be like watching paint dry.

I have a free 1GB Afrihost account you can use to test, just PM me for details if you'd like to use it.

 

[Tom]

Were u not in Sunninghill? There was always issues with congestion at that exchange.

 

[devdev]

Were u not in Sunninghill? There was always issues with congestion at that exchange.

That's my home @Tom. My office is linked to Bramley exchange, even though Benmore would as close.

Thanks @Rex_Bael I may take you up on the offer if the low line speed fault isnt resolved