Internet connection - turn it off and on again PITA

mrc1
mrc1 Posts: 852
edited May 2013 in Commuting chat
So we moved four weeks ago and our new place had existing telephone hardware.

Did some shopping around and went with Talk Talk for phone and internet as they had a good deal going. They sent through the gubbins, we set them up and all was well.

We now are getting a really annoying problem where the wifi connection access goes from "Local and Internet" to just "Local". Whenever it does this I obviously can't use the internet and the only remedy seems to be to manually disconnect from the network and then reconnect. I have tried to establish a pattern of this happening but it is seemingly random.

I work from home and am using the computer basically from 9-6. Some days it happens maybe once or twice, but others it does it well into double figures. The same thing happens when using phones/tablets on our wifi so I don't think it is a problem with the laptop? Equally the wifi signal doesn't appear to be an issue as the strength always shows as five bars (and we are never more than 15m or so from the box).

I called Talk Talk who to be fair were pretty good. They ran a series of remote "line tests" which came back that there are no problems with our line. The guy said that he believes it may be a "connection speed issue" and passed it on to the next level up the chain. They have now come back saying they can't identify a problem.

This leaves me a bit stumped as the problem is still occuring but they seemingly don't have a fix.

So my questions:

1. The actual telephone socket is in the spare bedroom (which is still a dumping ground of unpacked boxes post move) but there was an existing extension cord thing from that socket into the sitting room laid under the floors (I'd guess a cable length of around 20m) which is what the phone and wifi router are plugged in to. I mentioned this to talk talk who said that wouldn't cause a problem, but could this be a cause?

2. Failing that, any ideas on the cause and what I can do to resolve it?
http://www.ledomestiquetours.co.uk

Le Domestique Tours - Bespoke cycling experiences with unrivalled supported riding, knowledge and expertise.

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Comments

  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    Why not plug the router in the bedroom socket and se if that removes the problem. If it does then it's the extension. At least that enable you to rule that out, process of elimination.

    Filters in all telephone sockets thave have appliances fitted? Might be worth replacing with new ones, again process of elimination.

    Not a technical answer but it might help.
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    Are you sure the bedroom is the master socket? If it's not, make sure you plug the router into the master wherever it is.
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    edited April 2013
    http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2013/04/29/age ... off-again/

    (seriously though, as above, plug the router into the master socket and for trouble shooting remove all over devices from extensions and the like. Also check the wiring in the master socket. I rewired mine at my old house and got a much better connection - you only need certain wires connecting and might find (like I did that extra spurs were wired in causing noise on the line)

    Found a nice trouble-shooting page http://angleseycomputersolutions.wordpr ... band-line/ which shows that only lines 2 and 5 need to be connected
    Unscrew the faceplate of your master socket and look at the wires on the back of it. Only 2 and 5 should be connected. 1 and 6 are not needed in the UK and 3 and 4 are now obsolete – the bell wire, if wired up, will be on connection 3.
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  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    edited April 2013
    Could be a crappy router, happened to me with Sky, I bought a decent router for a tenner off e-bay and now it's great.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    edited April 2013
    Does every phone socket in use - i.e. that has a device connected to it - have an in-line filter in place? We had a similar issue a few years ago when someone <bless her> decided the spare phone point in the bedroom would be better if a phone was plugged into it.

    ETA may not be an issue, if you have the newer BT Master faceplate where your phone line enters the house.
  • mrc1
    mrc1 Posts: 852
    Thanks will give it a try - reason for putting off trying that is that the socket is behind a full wardrobe in a room full of boxes and assorted c*ap which I didn't want to move unless necessary.... :lol:

    Its the only socket in the house (on a front facing external wall) so am assuming it's the one!
    http://www.ledomestiquetours.co.uk

    Le Domestique Tours - Bespoke cycling experiences with unrivalled supported riding, knowledge and expertise.

    Ciocc Extro - FCN 1
  • All of the above seems sensible. Also you might want to try manually setting a WiFi channel. We had some problems around Christmas when a neighbour got a new WiFi thing and it decided to use the same channel as ours.
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    Try hardwiring to the router, eliminate the wi-fi aspect as well to drill down to the issue.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    And.

    Do you have more than one network device on your home network? Ours has a router, a switch further down the chain and a NAS HDD plugged in via ethernet that also dishes out IPs (even though I configured it not to). The gist of it is if I have to cycle the power it has to be done in the right order otherwise PCs etc try to use the wrong IP from the wrong device. Power up the router, then the swtich, then the NAS box and all is well. Any other permutation and internal connectivity is ok but no internet access.
  • mrc1
    mrc1 Posts: 852
    I have changed over to the master socket (just using the extension cord for the phone now - plugged in through the filter) and all seems well so far...

    This does mean I have to face unpacking the spare room though....
    http://www.ledomestiquetours.co.uk

    Le Domestique Tours - Bespoke cycling experiences with unrivalled supported riding, knowledge and expertise.

    Ciocc Extro - FCN 1
  • pitchshifter
    pitchshifter Posts: 1,476
    I have a talk talk router. Similar problems to you. Turned out it was the wireless house phone interfering with the connection. Moved it as far away as possible (not ideal I know), now works significantly better.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,486
    I've had similar problems, and now have the router plugged into the primary socket. A lot of houses seem to have long and ropey extensions - ours had a socket in every room except the bathroom, all daisy chained together - which will do for an old analogue phone (with a bit of crackle on the line), but aren't up to carrying reliable broadband it would seem.
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  • mrc1
    mrc1 Posts: 852
    So it's back...

    As per the advice I connected the wifi router directly to the main socket with a filter in place. Seemed to be fine yesterday. But today I am losing internet access almost every five mins (listening to Down The Line on the Radio 4 website (a very funny prog if anybody hasn't heard it before) and have had to reconnect about 6-8 times). Only way to get round it is to disconnect and reconnect to the wifi.

    Digital phone is at the other end of the house, we don't have any other kit that could be causing issues (only hardware is the wifi router and the cordless phone).

    What I don't get is why it was fine yesterday but terrible today - could environmental factors be involved?

    I'm going to try KB's socket wiring suggestion at the weekend but other than that I'm a bit stumped.
    http://www.ledomestiquetours.co.uk

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  • davis
    davis Posts: 2,506
    mrc1 wrote:
    Only way to get round it is to disconnect and reconnect to the wifi.

    If that truly is the fix it suggests it's the link between your computer and the router -- i.e. the WiFi signal.

    Do you have a network cable you can try? (Variously and often incorrectly called Cat5(e), RJ45, patch lead).

    If switching to wired makes it all shiny-happy, then it's the WiFi link. As you've just moved, I'd hazard a guess that you're using the same WiFi channel (frequency) as one of your immediate neighbours, and you should try changing your channel. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the usual ones to try, because they don't interfere with each other (i.e. 6 doesn't interfere with channels 1 or 11. Two WiFi routers both on channel 6 next to each other aren't good).

    If changing the router doesn't work, then it's possible that upgrading the WiFi drivers (if available) or firmware on your router (if available) might well fix it, as there are sometimes incompatibilities between specific bits of hardware. Sometimes these incompatibilities are noticed by the manufacturers and fixed in new versions of software.
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  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    change the channel on your router, might make a massive difference
  • mrc1
    mrc1 Posts: 852
    Thanks - have just tried changing the channel. There is another Talk Talk connection picked up when I search for connections so hopefully a manual channel change should help!
    http://www.ledomestiquetours.co.uk

    Le Domestique Tours - Bespoke cycling experiences with unrivalled supported riding, knowledge and expertise.

    Ciocc Extro - FCN 1
  • lockstock666
    lockstock666 Posts: 131
    spasypaddy wrote:
    change the channel on your router, might make a massive difference
    This^

    Also consider changing the router settings to only broadcast on 802.11b. I have to do this to force my devices to stay connected at all times. The max bandwith is only 11Mbps (more than my max download speed) on this setting but If I try using any of the newer settings my iphone and ipad drop every 5 minutes and it is infuriating. My laptop also suffers on anything else.

    I blame the crap sky sagem router. The old Netgear one was fine (until it broke).
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    Could spend 30 quid to eliminate the wireless. Ethernet over mains wiring. I prefer this massively to wireless and use it for my desktop, then leave the wireless for my phone.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084Y9N3O

    An 11Mbps wireless connection may generally only be good for half that speed.
    Then the quoted 11Mbps is megabits, the internet connection will generally be quoted in megabytes. 8 bits in byte.
    Your 11Mbps might actually be throttling your net connection to ~687KB
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  • jamesco
    jamesco Posts: 687
    antfly wrote:
    Could be a crappy router, happened to me with Sky, I bought a decent router for a tenner off e-bay and now it's great.
    +1
    We live in a Victorian flat conversion and ended up buying an Asus RT-N66U as it sends out a mighty signal on 2.4 & 5GHz. Setting it up took 5 minutes and it should go well, going by the other people's experience.