THEPARTYHOUND
Gold Member
I have a few problem areas that I make my best effort at keeping going. Sometimes when the copper cables are severely deteriorated with multiple bad spots in between peds it can be difficult to isolate, dig up, and replace/repair the bad spot. Worse, is that we are not putting much money into refurbishment of bad areas of copper as it is all slated to be replaced by fiber in the not too distant future. In these areas that need long sections of cables replaced, but won't happen, we just try to find the best pair we can and hope it is a little better than it was before.
Another thing that is often overlooked with DSL is bonding and grounding. While it has always been important for voice quality, it is extremely important for DSL quality. The shielding on phone cables need to be bonded to power company grounds so that the shield and power ground is at the same ground potential. If, say, the phone ground is better power can induce onto the phone cable and use it as a path back to ground. I have fixed many DSL issues over the years by simply digging a trench 40' from my ped to a power pole and connecting a ground wire from my shield to the power ground.
Another problem is that it has become common practice in many areas for Telcos to contract out cable locates. Thes locators come out, disconnect the grounds from the cable to locate it, and then either entirely neglect to replace them or do not tighten them sufficiently causing issues for anyone feeding down that leg of cable.
Something else I have seen many times is the lightening arrestor (protector) inside the NID causing problems. I can test the protector and it will test out fine, it passes dial tone no problem, but will cause packet loss, CRC errors, HEC errors, and a host of other problems on the DSL connection. Remove the protector that tested perfectly good from the loop and voila! The DSL runs clean as a whistle! I don't know why either...
Anywho, I digress. If the problem is in the outside cable plant it would be nearly impossible to help you without seeing test results from the techs meter. I guess the only other easy thing you could do on your own is bypass your protector and connect your modem directly to the cable pair coming in. If that makes a difference, and it always surprises me how often it does, it would be something that could be mentioned to the tech when he comes out.
Another thing that is often overlooked with DSL is bonding and grounding. While it has always been important for voice quality, it is extremely important for DSL quality. The shielding on phone cables need to be bonded to power company grounds so that the shield and power ground is at the same ground potential. If, say, the phone ground is better power can induce onto the phone cable and use it as a path back to ground. I have fixed many DSL issues over the years by simply digging a trench 40' from my ped to a power pole and connecting a ground wire from my shield to the power ground.
Another problem is that it has become common practice in many areas for Telcos to contract out cable locates. Thes locators come out, disconnect the grounds from the cable to locate it, and then either entirely neglect to replace them or do not tighten them sufficiently causing issues for anyone feeding down that leg of cable.
Something else I have seen many times is the lightening arrestor (protector) inside the NID causing problems. I can test the protector and it will test out fine, it passes dial tone no problem, but will cause packet loss, CRC errors, HEC errors, and a host of other problems on the DSL connection. Remove the protector that tested perfectly good from the loop and voila! The DSL runs clean as a whistle! I don't know why either...
Anywho, I digress. If the problem is in the outside cable plant it would be nearly impossible to help you without seeing test results from the techs meter. I guess the only other easy thing you could do on your own is bypass your protector and connect your modem directly to the cable pair coming in. If that makes a difference, and it always surprises me how often it does, it would be something that could be mentioned to the tech when he comes out.
- we have been using Ubifi at our new house for about 2 weeks. It works great. In fact, we purchased a Wi-Fi extender, set up the security, and our in-laws who live on the other side of the property (350-400 ft away) are using our signal for their Wifi. All are working great. This is with multiple devices. I found the best signal in our house based on signal strength in the direction of the closest tower. Once or twice it has buffered, but for maybe a few seconds.