Having trouble with broadband cable not holding connection and affecting my voip phone.

[elocs]

I got broadband cable internet almost 2 months ago and finally got my voip phone connected a couple of weeks ago after giving up on getting my number ported. The problem I had was that people would call and their call would go directly to voice mail, telling them I was on the line. The only problem is that I wasn't on the phone and in fact sitting right by it and it never rang. I called my voip company and they tested over the weekend and found that for 48 hours I was frequently no connected. I had experienced this myself while surfing the web and having a page not load only to discover upon checking that I was no longer connected to the internet.

The voip company suggested that I first check with my internet provider (Charter.com) and let them check on my connection. When I was hooked up they used the old cable tv coax cable that has been buried for many years, but the guy said it was ok. The other suggestion was that it might be my router (I am using an old D-Link that I got from a friend). I have the feeling that Charter will automatically first blame my router since it saves them time and trouble (like with cable tv problems--first blame the customer's tv).

So internet connection or router? Is it more likely to be one rather than the other or is it a tossup?

[RoyGBiv]

1. Tossup without more info ...

They blame routers because routers are frequently the problem.

That being said, Charter is a problem too, and an old, buried cable line is likely to have worn or rotted shielding that make be causing some problems.

Have you noticed any speed problems?

Does your cable ever get snowy or have bleeding on any channel? Do you have digital cable, and if so, do you ever get black/frozen screens or tiling?

[elocs]

2. I haven't had cable tv in years, but the cable is the same one when I moved in years ago.

A neighbor had a new cable put in last December and that orange cable lay on the ground until April when they finally buried it. I asked about it when my broadband was first hooked up but the installer said it was ok, and maybe it was then.

I have noticed speed problems inasmuch as I can be surfing the web and I might simply check a link on Google and it will not load. When I check my internet connection it shows that my built in ethernet is not connected. In fact, when I checked it at this very moment it shows in blue "connect" and my connection as "idle" even though I have done nothing to disconnect it. So just now I did a Google search on "idle+definition" and it gave me a bunch of links, but when I clicked on the first one it would not load. I am guessing that when I click "post message" here it will not post until I reconnect.

My router is an old D-Link DI-604 and it is no longer supported by D-Link and it was never upgraded by my friend who had it.

Now, to try and post.
On edit, it did post here at DU, but is that because DU was in my cache when I couldn't connect on a simple Google search of the definition of idle. I'm not sure of what is going on here.

[RoyGBiv]

3. You know how to ping something?

If not (I'm assuming Windows XP here) click on RUN and type cmd in the box and hit enter.

When the window pops up, that's your DOS shell.

Type ping some.site.foo, as in "ping www.google.com" without the quotes.

Do that for several sites like google, yahoo, then something more obscure. When the ping test is done (I think Windows defaults to maybe sending 10 packets, so you can let it go, but if it seems to be going on forever, hit CTRL-C to stop it), look at the report and see if it shows any packet loss. If it does, you probably have a line problem, but if it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily mean you don't.

You can also go to a site like http://www.speedtest.net/ and do several tests to several different locations. If you're getting slower speeds than you should be, that could involve a line problem as well.

I'm not real good at diagnosing router problems. I've owned exactly one, and it has only given me one problem ever, and a firmware upgrade fixed it. You don't have the option of a firmware upgrade probably since the router is no longer supported. That said, a friend has a D-Link router, and it has constant disconnection problems. Constant. I don't know the model, though.

[elocs]

9. No ping, I have a Mac.

I've tried the speedtest.net site before and this time I got 4573 kb/s for download and 483 kb/s for upload and this is from 100 miles from me. I also use http://www.auditmypc.com/internet-speed-test.asp and on there I get 5065 for download and 519 for upload and those are typical speeds. I'm not really sure what I should be getting but since I came from dialup this all seems fast, but I need to keep a connection in order to have my voip phone work properly.

I am suspicious about the router since I have read about problems with D-Link and this router is from 2001 and is no longer supported by D-Link. I know the friend who gave it to me never downloaded any of the updates in the time he had it.

[RoyGBiv]

12. Macs have ping ...

Everyone has ping. You just get to it differently.

In your case, all you need to do is open a terminal. Applications > Utilities > Terminal. Then you issue the ping command.

[elocs]

13. I did it, but I have absolutely no idea what it means.

I must be honest. The main reason I have been using a Mac for the last 3 years is because I do not want to do any of these things and I have pretty much successfully avoided it until now.

[RoyGBiv]

14. Okay ...

If you could post the results and let me know what you did, I could try to interpret it for you. Did you ping one address once or several or what, and what did the output of the test say, etc.?

In any case, let me be honest as well. The ping tests and the direct connection thing that hobbit suggested you do are the kinds of things the Charter tech is going to do (or ask you to do) because these are the things you do to try to find the source of the problem. So, if you don't want to do them, your best bet may be to call Charter and see if you can get them to send a tech. If it does end up being your equipment, you'll likely be charged for the visit.

[elocs]

15. Since my voip phone company was able to do a 48 hour check on my connection,

I assumed my own internet provider could do the same. I think I will get a new router and if it comes to it I think I might be able to make a good case with Charter that a coax cable that has been in the ground for 20 years might need replacing, especially since they did it for my neighbor. I'm not really worried or concerned about being charged for a visit. Thanks anyways.

[MyNameGoesHere]

4. Download ping plotter.

it is a relatively easy application to use. It sends a continuous ping with packet info along the route. Usually you can pinpoint a problem. But normally the first "hop" your router will always be 100 % packet loss. This is normal if it is told not to respond to pings. However what you are looking for are the hops after your router.


If that looks good, and you did say you were using a borrowed router, i am wondering if the one charter should have supplied has the same issue?

[elocs]

6. I can't download ping plotter--no Windows here.

Charter would have supplied a router for a monthly fee, but I would have the same problem as with ping plotter--I have a Mac and their router is not compatible.

[MyNameGoesHere]

11. Oh sorry about that. I have a MAC as well as a spare but i

took off osx and put Yellow Dog Linux on it because of these type of issues.

[hobbit709]

5. You can eliminate the router by bypassing it

Connect your computer directly to the modem. If you're still getting a slow/not connection then it's not the router. Then when you call customer "support" you can tell them that you tried connecting directly to the modem and still nada. Don't let them BS you, stand firm but try not to get too abusive with the clowns.

[elocs]

7. The trouble is that if I connect directly to my computer I then have no phone.

The router is what allows me to use the broadband for both my computer and my voip phone. The connection must sporadically drop out and then come back again. Evidently with the missed phone calls that went directly to voice mail and the phone never rang, they occurred during one of those times of not being connected.

There have been times, like right at this moment, when I am able to surf the web even though my internet connect shows a blue "connect" (meaning I should click that to be connected) and my status is "idle". So that leads me to believe that I am losing my connection, but then it comes right back again, or something.

[hobbit709]

8. That was just to troubleshoot

If you're still getting a slow connection, then the router is most likely OK. If you now have a fast, always on connection, then its the router. Process of elimination.

[elocs]

10. If I connect straight to my computer to check, it would be hit and miss to tell

since I am apparently and randomly connected--disconnect--reconnected. Like I said, at this moment my internet connect shows my connection status as being "idle", but I am obviously online. I have had times when a simple Google link will not load and when I check it shows my status is "idle" and in that case it is idle and I have tried to click a link when I am still truly not connected.