Intermittent Internet: Help/Advice Needed

PyroboyUK · 19 Jul 2008 at 15:22

Its came to this time of the year again where i seem to get the same problem, it always happens once a year :confused:

but somehow rectifies itself so i forget bout it. However this time im going to try and fix it.

With our home internet the situation stands like this (its pretty poor, please forgive me for all the extensions)

The master phone socket is downstairs in the dining area. An extension goes all the way from the phone socket to the loft of the house to another phone socket. The room that my computer is situated in is the room below the loft, so i have another extension cable coming down from the loft into this room. In total i think its around 30 metres of standard phone extension wire.... (Im sure this has something to do with the problem) AOL have told me that is IS the problem and on this occasion i will grant them its probably right.
They are telling me that the signal is not travelling down the phone phone cable as its too long so its becoming weak, thus causing the intermittent connection. (As i type this out now i can see my "I" light on the router going off and becoming orange).

The easiest solution i can think of it to take the router downstairs and make my pc wireless. I have tried this once before but i didnt get a very good signal up here, plus had many problems but i think it was because i bought a Belkin internal adapter for a Netgear router ( I was told that combining Belkin and Netgear can cause problems)

Are there any other solutions that anyone can think of?

Any Help is much appreciated.

tolien · 19 Jul 2008 at 21:54

If you disconnect the extension and connect the router to the master socket, does the sync rate/SNR margin improve (or at least does the internet connection become more stable)?

PyroboyUK · 20 Jul 2008 at 00:39

tolien said:
If you disconnect the extension and connect the router to the master socket, does the sync rate/SNR margin improve (or at least does the internet connection become more stable)?

It was stable for the time it was plugged in, however this was only around 5 mins. I disconnected it quick as i had a very poor signal up here.

I have come up with a new idea for this, if AOL are claiming that the poor internet connection is because of the extension cable, then why does it happen only around once a year, if it was the cable it should happen more often.
A friend mentioned something called "REN" i think.... He said this was the limited number of devices i could have plugged into all my phone sockets in the house. But all in total there is a Cordless phone (well 4, but they all run off one), 2 Sky boxes and a router. Surely this couldnt not cause problems by exceeding the maximum devices?

tolien · 20 Jul 2008 at 11:14

Try running an ethernet cable up?
So long as you've got that massive run of extension cable, they'll keep pointing at that, whether it's to blame or no.

MikeHiow · 20 Jul 2008 at 11:22

Remove your faceplate from your master socket, and plug your router in the test socket inside (Thus, removing your extensions from the equation).

If you must have internet during this time, run a temporary cat5, they're not expensive.

If the problem goes away, think about re-wiring your extension system, being sure to use new cables, and sockets, and in the most cable economical way (The shortest distance).

I'd be inclined to say that the extensions would cause poor performance, but I find it unlikely to cause intermittent disconnections, just once a year.

swinnie · 20 Jul 2008 at 13:00

Definitely consider moving your router to the master socket and running a CAT5 Network cable in place of your existing telephone extensions (it is possible that you can use these as "draw wires".

If you have other computers to consider that will suffer from a poor wireless reception run CAT5 cables to them.

I wired my entire house in a day, and just have one small section to complete which will take half an hour, once you get into a rhythm it's quite quick.

PyroboyUK · 20 Jul 2008 at 15:15

Thank you all for your input into this problem. I think i may have fixed it, however its a temporary fix. I had a loose connection on the socket which brings the extension cable down to this room.

But when i get some time i think im going to take the advice given and run this "Cat5" cable from the router up to this pc.
It can either go 2 ways, through the house "discretely" or outside (which would be easiest) but im sure there are types of cat5 cable which are weatherproof. They already look pretty insulated anyway.

Many thanks again

PyroboyUK · 20 Jul 2008 at 17:30

Just after typing saying i have fixed it, its just knocked out again. Thought i had fixed the loose connection.

Been looking at the outside of the house to see if i can route a Cat5 up the house, it seems possible, but going to have to either drill through the sandstone to get the cable into the room, or try to find a gap below the window that i might be able to get the cable through.

I think its going to be the best solution as wireless signal is poor up here.