ADSL Router for noisey lines

[zulander]

Does such a thing exist? I have never really had a problem with my broadband but over the last 2 nights my modem seems to have had a problem keeping the line up. I left some stats on thinkbroadband.com and someone said that it may be a noise problem on my line and that router would be a better bet. These are the stats i was getting

Some stats from the modem:

Noise 27.0up 3.6 down this went to 1.8 at one point
Attenuation 28.0up 49.5 down
bits per frame 264 up 766 down

Any suggestions??

[BigFatCat]

Speedtouch routers have a reputation for being tolerant of noisy lines.

[dave87]

Draytek have a general reputation as being good in all situations - Zak had a great improvement when he switched afaik (He has a similar problem at times...)

[Steve]

By noise I presume you mean SNR... signal to noise ratio, measured in decibels (dB). A higher SNR means the signal is of greater magnitude than the noise... which is good.

Less than 6dB is getting rather ropey, and less than that is a bit of a crisis. You seem to have a lot of attenuation on the line. Are you a long way from the exchange? Also, is the modem/router close to the master socket? Internal wiring can really mess up the SNR particularly if the signal isn't very strong by the time it reaches the house.

I have a Draytek Vigor 2800VG and it's great. They even do special firmwares for noisy lines... firmwares that deviate from the spec a little to accommodate the adverse conditions they must face. However, I'm not sure Draytek are the best routers on noisy lines.

[zulander]

Im 3.46km away from the exchange. Modem isnt on the master socket its connected to a 15ft (yes i know its long) cable which goes upstairs to the phone socket there. TBH tho how do i check if its the master socket? My phone line comes off a pole near the house so it could well be the master but not sure how i check. The only problem i have ever had b4 was downtime from my ISP when i was with Pipex. So its a bit puzzling, it was fine again for a time last night so hoping its summat and nothing

[peterb]

If you take the front cover off the master socket (assuming it it is one of the new types) you will find another socket behind it. This connects directly to the incoming line. Plug your router in there and see what the parameters are like. If they are better, then the problem lies with your internal extension cabling. If you must use internal cabling, then changing it for CAT5 will give some improvement, but ideally extensions should be as short as possible, and wired correctly.

If plugging into the master socket doesn't give an improvement, then the problem lies with the wiring to the exchange - and getting that sorted can be a nightmare. Basically you have to raise the issue with your ISP, who can raise it with BT. How long that takes and the hoops you have to jump through depends on how pro-cative your ISP is. It won't come as any surprise to learn that the more expensive ISPs tend to be more pro-active - it is the better customer service you are paying for!

There is one (slightly risky) way round this. If your voice service is noisy (and BT provide your POTS service) you can try ringing faults (as your voice contract is with BT) and compalin about noise on the line. If BT agree, they may do some remedial work, which might improve the ADSL characteristics. However if they consider that the line is fine for voice, they won't do anything, and there is a risk of a call out fee (although a bit of a complaint can usually get that refunded if it is applied)

The choice is yours!

[zulander]

ISP wise im with IDnet so im confiendet they would be able to push things along. I think the modem may be at fault tho, last night all was well then it deceided to cut me off again but then windows started saying it couldent find the device or there was a probelm, Ive borrowd a mates speedtouch 330 for tonight and ill see how i get on with that

[Agent]

Draytek have a custom firmware for people with noisey lines which seems to have worked wonders for some people