Frustrating - but dealing with it

[SARGE]

Being retired made me loose in troubleshooting but still have the elimination skills. Have gone frustrated with my SBC dsl (or AT&T). When I turn my power off when leaving town, I have the dickens getting back my dsl. When the modem (2-Wire) finally syncs, it disconnects as soon as the PC boots up. I cannot get a sync after that, even with a reset of the modem - it just blinks red. Today I took the modem to the SNI (connection at house) and it did sync immediately. Great - took it back inside and did the same. Boot the PC - drops the sync. I'm thinking by now, never ever turn the power off (all a/c to everything) but another side says it shouldn't matter. What could be in the PC that drops the modem sync? And then make it not sync the whole day? Even reset the modem but no baby.

Go to the garage and get the original very old 2-Wire modem, hook it up thinking they have software to recognize a breach upon my service and deny service, but it works, the PC is happy and for days I surf. This has been the pattern for months. Am thinking/believing the problem is the latest 2-Wire modems they send me - but geez, 3 of them?? They all worked until I undid the power for a few days. They send me a new one for $75 and am collecting a stash.

The old one keeps on trucking so am at a loss if a PC problem or what. I do know however, that my Supra Express 56k modem works in a pinch. What a throw back to the old days.

[betances93]

Yes I also have SBC, but I don't quite understand the problem. What used to happen to me was I kept on getting disconnected while I was on the web.

[glc]

Use the old modem!

[edfair]

The newer stuff is more sensitive to noise interference. Can you try shorter satin (wire from jack to modem).
Wireless equipment (net or phone) close by. Possibly close to computer or printer or monitor?

they can be a bear to diagnose.

[SARGE]

Originally Posted by edfair The newer stuff is more sensitive to noise interference. Can you try shorter satin (wire from jack to modem). Wireless equipment (net or phone) close by. Possibly close to computer or printer or monitor? they can be a bear to diagnose.

It's a straight shot from jack to SNI, maybe 8-10 feet. Wire goes out the wall and a tech years ago stuck it under the a/c breaker and under main breaker at power meter to boot. True, it could be picking up interference from either. No biggie re-routing the wire for testing purposes. Part that gets me is the PC booting up dropping the connection. Gives me something to play with and a piece of cake as far as re-wiring.

[edfair]

Try unplugging the phones that are on the same line, one at a time, at the wall jack pulling the filter too.
This assuming that you have modular connectors, as most people do.

This may show up a problem with a filter. And to verify, no filter on the dsl modem.

If you have or can make a shorter satin and use a longer patch cord you can cut down the possibility of picking up noise. I had one that wouldn't work at 6 feet but did at 4. So I cut it to 2 and everybody is happy.

[SARGE]

Geez, I've lost my troubleshooting skills. Went to the AT&T store and bought a new 2-Wire modem for $85, plugged it in and same problem - no sync. For some reason I ran an extension cord to another power outlet and got an immediate sync. Same with supposedly defective modem. I'm thinking something wrong with original power outlet, however the PC, printer, monitor all work ok off it, plus my ancient 2-Wire worked ok. Scratching my head crazy like. I start all over. I then bypassed the surge suppressor/strip and plugged directly into the outlet - bingo, sync with both modems. It all came down to the strip/suppressor; the modems didn't like it but the ancient modem did. Lesson learned and now have 3 good modems. Still wondering why 2 didn't like the suppressor though.

[juppy]

Glad you got it figured out finally, Sarge! I remember reading this one back when you first posted the problem, but I didn't post a reply because I was in the same "clueless" boat that you were in. That's strange that the surge strip would be the culprit in all of this. Thanks for posting the eventual answer though, because that's one that could keep someone else scratching their head for a long time.

[glc]

Too bad you cant gang those 3 modems up like you did with your 3 Supras for dialup, huh?

[edfair]

Sarge,
Thats life in the fast lane when you deal with "Alice in Wonderland" equipment. You know about that stuff, don't you? When it is good, it is very, very good. When it is bad, it is very, very bad.