New
#1
troubleshooting frequent DSL internet drops
I've had DSL disconnections since early January. I've ruled out the following possible causes-
* in-home wiring. I've wired up a new phone line jack with a fresh cable and 6' phone cord to the modem, and still get drops. I've unplugged the kitchen phone and its DSL filter, with no improvement. I replaced the Ethernet cable. I also swapped the modem's AC adapter to a totally different jack, in case my Belkin surge protector was the issue, and no change.
* malware. Just did that in the security sub-forum last night. I've run malware scans the past couple of months, including several last night. Found nothing whatsoever. I've run 7 different known legit programs(MSE, Malwarebytes, TDSSkiller, Spybot, ESET, SuperAntiSpyware and HitmanPro) and found nothing. Just now I unplugged the Ethernet cable and let the modem connect on its own without the PC, and the connection still died after 4-5 minutes so the PC doesn't seem to affect this one way or the other. So not only do I appear to be free of malware, I can rule it out as the cause.
I do not run a router of any kind. I am wired up direct to the phone line and PC, no wireless. I've installed very little on my PC the past few months- 2 AV programs last night, some freeware games. I reinstalled Minecraft a week ago after ditching it a few months back.
Now then... when this first started it happened between roughly midnight and 6 AM. Then it became more frequent and now I tend to get kicked off after 2-5 minutes. sometimes I'm lucky and get on for a few hours. Yesterday I was able to get about an hour of play on MapleStory- roughly 40 minutes straight then a few more short bouts after disconnects. This has severely affected my ability to play any online games though.
I'm on the small town local phone company/ISP, not a major company. They are upgrading my area to fiber optic and I may have that in the next 2-3 months, depending. This means no more DSL. One of my suspicions is that their service upgrade through this area is impacting DSL. Another is that their DSL subscriptions are oversold and its affecting customers.
I am also hearing noises/static on the phone, especially during long distance calls. I have even heard this noise during calls made while the modem was shut off. I can't say for 100% certain they're related but... some of the disconnects happened during noise. I've had a few drops when the phone rings, such as just a little bit ago today.
So then, I have a phone company tech coming out Tuesday. Could this be a modem issue? I've had this Netopia modem for 6 years. The phone line noise suggests not but they can replace it for free(it's their property) which I think I'll do regardless. But does anyone think the upgrading to fiber optic is the likely cause of my problems? It could be a bad cable- I do not have an NID box, my house has an old box where a copper wire comes out of the ground and two wires wrap around threaded copper bolts. Two wires. I can't even upgrade my home to a 2nd phone line with that. But what's the point of them digging and installing a new wire, if they have to do that anyway when they upgrade my home to fiber optic?