Penners
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How very butch of you. :wink:AMc said:
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Penners
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Those are, of course, highly subjective observations. Any optical cable service will always be better than ADSL, and any ADSL service will always be subject to the vagaries of distance from the exchange, quality of the copper wire, contention on the line and so on.
Undoubtedly true but also (in my experience, anyway) Virgin will invariably blame any ADSL problems on your BT phone line, problems that disappear when you switch provider.
Also cable reliability does seem to depend on the original installer, e.g. Telewest areas appear to be better than NTL ones.
Also cable reliability does seem to depend on the original installer, e.g. Telewest areas appear to be better than NTL ones.
Penners
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Yes, that's undoubtedly the case for you sophisticated city folk, who have fibre-optic cable running right past your front door. We rustics have no such advantage.
Still, the buzzing of the bees, the lowing of the cattle, the bucolic peace... they're ample compensation.
Still, the buzzing of the bees, the lowing of the cattle, the bucolic peace... they're ample compensation.
It's funny you should say that...all of the above were true.rogerh said:
I got switched to Plusnet last week and their router finally turned up yesterday. The connection was still wobbly after the switch but rather than needing a power cycle of everything it would regain its composure after a short interuption - suggesting that there were two problems
1- a line problem that caused the connection to stutter and 2 - a login glitch with Virgin that prevented the connection re-establishing.
The more resilient connection still made online games and streamed video hopeless but meant less bouncing downstairs to push the big red button on the modem.
Installed the new router yesterday and it's been notably more stable. Only time will tell if its a long/short/perception term thing.
I was very disappointed that the new Thomson 585v8. router Plusnet sent me won't allow you to change the primary gateway address or the DCHP pool - you can add more but not change the original - at least not in any sensible way I could find. Every time I fiddled with the settings the thing disappeared from view and I had to factory reset it to get back online!
That means I've had to reconfigure all my fixed IP devices to a new range, Firefox is making me log in to all the sites with cookie username remembering which is dull and all my network shares have gone
I'm sure it is possible to
Penners
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Oh no! Your connection has fallen over mid-sentence!AMc said:
I must say that my brief relationship with Thomson-Sagem in the past was not a happy one.
I've been with Telewest/Virgin cable for about ten years and have had very few problems. The original (Motorola Surfboard) modem has been on almost continuously for all that time.
I'm also a trustee at a local community centre which has its ADSL broadband from TalkTalk. That could be a bit flaky but since replacing the supplied modem-router with a Draytek Vigor 120 modem the connection has been rock solid, serving a network of about two dozen Macs and PCs (with two Apple Airports for wifi) at up to 16 Mbps. (It is only about 100 yards from the main telephone exchange, though.)
I'm also a trustee at a local community centre which has its ADSL broadband from TalkTalk. That could be a bit flaky but since replacing the supplied modem-router with a Draytek Vigor 120 modem the connection has been rock solid, serving a network of about two dozen Macs and PCs (with two Apple Airports for wifi) at up to 16 Mbps. (It is only about 100 yards from the main telephone exchange, though.)
[I'm sure it is possible to]...configure a new default but I was running out of time and while I didn't want to rebuild my side of the network I at least knew how to do it.Penners said:
That was user error not connectivity - lost my thread of thought and pressed Submit
I still have Virgin's Thomson Speedtouch USB modem in its box - I used it for about a day before my first ADSL modem turned up. Not that there was anything wrong with it, just you can't sensibly run more than one computer from it or walk more than a few feet from the master socket tethered by USB.
The article I linked to earlier suggests the problems I've been having are related to a degradation in the line and a problem between the Texas Instruments chipset in the modem I had been using. Weird that it worked fine for 4 1/2 years but I'm past caring.
Oh and for further amusement I got a letter yesterday telling me that Virgin were putting my prices up by £5 a month to cover the increased web use in my area - glad to have helped them get that under control :lol:
And a bill from BT including a £130 charge for sending an engineer to check my line.
As he told me he was a voice engineer and only had basic tools to check DSL connections I wasn't that happy when he arrived and even less so when he told me the call out if he didn't find a fault would be £130.
Thankfully 15 minutes on the phone has got BT to agree that I originally reported an ADSL fault and shouldn't have been sent a voice engineer so they're refunding the charge.
I had expected more agro with this given I've just cancelled service with both Virgin and BT so I was pleasantly surprised by BT's attitude.
As he told me he was a voice engineer and only had basic tools to check DSL connections I wasn't that happy when he arrived and even less so when he told me the call out if he didn't find a fault would be £130.
Thankfully 15 minutes on the phone has got BT to agree that I originally reported an ADSL fault and shouldn't have been sent a voice engineer so they're refunding the charge.
I had expected more agro with this given I've just cancelled service with both Virgin and BT so I was pleasantly surprised by BT's attitude.
It took me about a year and an awful lot of arguing to get a call out fee refunded for an intermittent fault outside of the property which of course didn't show itself while the engineer was around.
Fortunately, I had reported the fault using the test socket inside the master BT socket which disconnects all internal equipment. I also got the lady I spoke to, to acknowledge that she could hear the crackling on the line. If I hadn't have done this, my company would have been stuck with a £144 fee. There was still an awful lot of arguing though.
Fortunately, I had reported the fault using the test socket inside the master BT socket which disconnects all internal equipment. I also got the lady I spoke to, to acknowledge that she could hear the crackling on the line. If I hadn't have done this, my company would have been stuck with a £144 fee. There was still an awful lot of arguing though.
Flyfisher
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The problems associated with each ISP issuing their own router is, I believe, less to do with the routers themselves being special in some way and more to do with making it easier for the ISP to support just one model of router. Given that call centres tend not to employ networking experts who can configure any router from first principles but people who work through a trouble-shooting script, imagine the work involved in supplying them with a suitable script for every model of router on the market (and all the software versions!).
I've configured a few networks using different routers in my time but, even so, it can be frustrating finding the various menu options within different routers, even though I know what I'm trying to do (mostly). I suppose I could 'RTFM' but where's the fun in that - besides, I'm a chap and we don't do such things. :lol:
But I entirely sympathise with AMc's frustration. Swapping out a faulty router ought to be a simple thing really but in reality it can mean having to reconfigure an entire network. It's a jolly good thing that computer technology has made certain aspects of our lives so much easier and faster, otherwise we wouldn't be able to spare all the necessary time tweaking and maintaining them. :wink:
I've configured a few networks using different routers in my time but, even so, it can be frustrating finding the various menu options within different routers, even though I know what I'm trying to do (mostly). I suppose I could 'RTFM' but where's the fun in that - besides, I'm a chap and we don't do such things. :lol:
But I entirely sympathise with AMc's frustration. Swapping out a faulty router ought to be a simple thing really but in reality it can mean having to reconfigure an entire network. It's a jolly good thing that computer technology has made certain aspects of our lives so much easier and faster, otherwise we wouldn't be able to spare all the necessary time tweaking and maintaining them. :wink:
Still with TalkTalk, the connection has dropped out from time to time and I am starting to monitor the speed but it's behaving itself.
Is there a way to boost the router guys or do I need a more powerful one? I can only get a signal if i am virtually sitting ontop of it, and my microwave keeps shutting it down.
Is there a way to boost the router guys or do I need a more powerful one? I can only get a signal if i am virtually sitting ontop of it, and my microwave keeps shutting it down.
All WiFi devices are only capable of outputting a limited amount of radio power (by law) though my experience is the actual performance of the signal is quite variable - this new Thomson one has better coverage than the Buffalo one it replaced in the same location.
Microwaves routinely blast out radio frequency interference strong enough to ruin WiFi performance but only for the time they're in use and not enough to cook you If you can move the router so the microwave isn't between it and your laptop that would help.
There may be other radio interference which is reducing your range - other WiFi networks on the same or adjacent channels, baby monitors, wireless video senders all use the same unlicensed 2.4GHz band of radio and the non-digital ones can cause a lot of trouble.
First check for any other networks near by with your laptop to see if anyone else is on the same channel as you.
Change your routers wireless channel to one furthest away from any you find. Channels 1, 6 and 11 are the best bet as they don't overlap with each other (but they do overlap with the intermediate ones). Changing channels may also move your WiFi away from a non digital cause of interference.
If you want to boost the signal then technologies like MIMO (multiple aerials) and wireless N (faster data speeds) are reputed to increase range but I've never used them and it could be expensive to change router to discover it doesn't solve your problems.
You can also boost the signal from the router by adding an external aerial - if you have a socket on the router.
I added an 18" long aerial which solved a problem in another house - the larger aerial increases the power of transmission and the sensitivity of reception compensating for a weak signal.
These people helped me get the correct one for my router when I emailed them the model.
http://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-indoorantenna-24.htm
A super cheap way of increasing the signal if you have the router near an outside wall or dead space you don't need to cover is to wrap a bit of card in kitchen foil (a few times) and put it between the router and the wall -that simply reflects the signal being blasted into the wall. I got a small boost from this.
It's also worth trying standing the router on its end, rotating it or adjusting the aerial if it has one - the radio signal extends in a flat donut shape from the aerial, so if the router is pointing in the wrong orientation you may get little horizontal range but plenty of vertical Quite small movement in the aerial can produce significant affects. Putting the router on a high shelf helped me to get coverage downstairs and upstairs.
Finally if none of these work you can get wireless repeaters which extend the coverage - I have 2 of these because the house is large, filled with foil backed insulation and has brick built internal walls and big fat chimneys all of which work to block WiFi (and DAB radio).
Microwaves routinely blast out radio frequency interference strong enough to ruin WiFi performance but only for the time they're in use and not enough to cook you
If you can move the router so the microwave isn't between it and your laptop that would help.There may be other radio interference which is reducing your range - other WiFi networks on the same or adjacent channels, baby monitors, wireless video senders all use the same unlicensed 2.4GHz band of radio and the non-digital ones can cause a lot of trouble.
First check for any other networks near by with your laptop to see if anyone else is on the same channel as you.
Change your routers wireless channel to one furthest away from any you find. Channels 1, 6 and 11 are the best bet as they don't overlap with each other (but they do overlap with the intermediate ones). Changing channels may also move your WiFi away from a non digital cause of interference.
If you want to boost the signal then technologies like MIMO (multiple aerials) and wireless N (faster data speeds) are reputed to increase range but I've never used them and it could be expensive to change router to discover it doesn't solve your problems.
You can also boost the signal from the router by adding an external aerial - if you have a socket on the router.
I added an 18" long aerial which solved a problem in another house - the larger aerial increases the power of transmission and the sensitivity of reception compensating for a weak signal.
These people helped me get the correct one for my router when I emailed them the model.
http://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-indoorantenna-24.htm
A super cheap way of increasing the signal if you have the router near an outside wall or dead space you don't need to cover is to wrap a bit of card in kitchen foil (a few times) and put it between the router and the wall -that simply reflects the signal being blasted into the wall. I got a small boost from this.
It's also worth trying standing the router on its end, rotating it or adjusting the aerial if it has one - the radio signal extends in a flat donut shape from the aerial, so if the router is pointing in the wrong orientation you may get little horizontal range but plenty of vertical
Quite small movement in the aerial can produce significant affects. Putting the router on a high shelf helped me to get coverage downstairs and upstairs.Finally if none of these work you can get wireless repeaters which extend the coverage - I have 2 of these because the house is large, filled with foil backed insulation and has brick built internal walls and big fat chimneys all of which work to block WiFi (and DAB radio).
Thanks Amc , I shall give all that a try and see how it goes. I am in the room above my router but when I go to the other end of the house , around 10meters away the signal drops out. The router is sat on the floor in the very furthest corner of the house, I dont think it could be in a worse place.
I can see a few wireless netwoks in range but all very weak signals, BTFon? being one. They do tend to drop in and out of range.
I can see a few wireless netwoks in range but all very weak signals, BTFon? being one. They do tend to drop in and out of range.
Penners
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I, too, understand that the 802.11n protocol is faster, with a wider range. But to be effective the router and the adapter in your computer must both be wireless N.AMc said:
wobs
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As there are clearly some very knowledgeable people here......
We are looking to moving our phone sockets (both of them). Currently we have:
The KC line that goes into the house is currently taped to our line outside the house as KC didn't do a proper job when they fitted new cables.
This goes a short distance to inside the house where there is a type 52A block terminal which looks similar to this:
From this, two wires leave it to go to the two sockets. The upstairs one has the router and phone, and the downsairs socket has just a phone (although we may one day need to use it for broadband in the future)
We have yet to determine which is the master socket, if indeed one actually is. (Job for the week)
What we are now looking at doing, is moving both sockets to different rooms, and getting KC to properly install their wire to our house.
Is there any benefit in getting new sockets in terms of broadband performance, and phone quality, as I heard you can get new sockets which have a built in filter for ADSL. There is often interference on our downstairs phone, which apparently is due to us having ADSL upstairs (Thomson TG585v8). Its definately not due to us having a Darth Vader phone, and the current KC filter seems rather ineffective in preventing this.
Basically, we need to move the sockets, as our darling baby girl is starting to get a bit mobile, and sockets are at just the right height. So we need to work out if there is any benefit in getting new bits of kit while we are doing this.
We are looking to moving our phone sockets (both of them). Currently we have:
The KC line that goes into the house is currently taped to our line outside the house as KC didn't do a proper job when they fitted new cables.
This goes a short distance to inside the house where there is a type 52A block terminal which looks similar to this:
From this, two wires leave it to go to the two sockets. The upstairs one has the router and phone, and the downsairs socket has just a phone (although we may one day need to use it for broadband in the future)
We have yet to determine which is the master socket, if indeed one actually is. (Job for the week)
What we are now looking at doing, is moving both sockets to different rooms, and getting KC to properly install their wire to our house.
Is there any benefit in getting new sockets in terms of broadband performance, and phone quality, as I heard you can get new sockets which have a built in filter for ADSL. There is often interference on our downstairs phone, which apparently is due to us having ADSL upstairs (Thomson TG585v8). Its definately not due to us having a Darth Vader phone, and the current KC filter seems rather ineffective in preventing this.
Basically, we need to move the sockets, as our darling baby girl is starting to get a bit mobile, and sockets are at just the right height. So we need to work out if there is any benefit in getting new bits of kit while we are doing this.