Connections reset

[hksoftware]

I've got an eTEC ADSL wireless modem-router.

Here's the problem:
Sometimes web pages will load up fine, but sometimes only some will be loaded or none at all. The connection seems to be reset before transfer is complete. I'll often have to keep resreshing the page for it to load it all up.
Downloads will suddenly stop part way through, and have to be restarted. It seems that data just stops transferring, but the applications think there's still a connection.

Sometimes it gets so bad, I restart the modem-router and it gets much better, but it happens after a short while

Connecting between PCs on my LAN is ok (wireless-to-ethernet etc) So it seems to be the modem part of the modem-router.

Any ideas?

 

[G0AOZ]

Electrical interference perhaps? Detune an A.M. radio and listen for any interference.

What are the stats for SNR and ATTEN if your router gives them?

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[hksoftware]

Hi,thanks for your reply. Here's my routers stats:

Modem Status

Connection Status Connected
Us Rate (Kbps) 576
Ds Rate (Kbps) 6272
US Margin 20
DS Margin 10
Trained Modulation GDMT
LOS Errors 0
DS Line Attenuation 23
US Line Attenuation 11
Peak Cell Rate 1358 cells per sec
CRC Rx Fast 150
CRC Tx Fast 0
CRC Rx Interleaved 0
CRC Tx Interleaved 0
Path Mode Fast Path



Wireless Stats:

Transmit

MPDUs 269257
MSDUs 269323
Multicast MSDUs 892
Failed MSDUs 84
Retry MSDUs 84
Receive

MPDUs 246362
MSDUs 249168
Multicast MSDUs 182
FCS Error MPDUs 108
MIC Failure MSDUs 0
Decrypt Error MPDUs 0


DSL Stats:

Transmit

Tx PDUs 523521
Tx Total Bytes 102007106
Tx Total Error Counts 0
Receive

Rx PDUs 562867
Rx Total Bytes 199877651
Rx Total Error Counts 99

 

[G0AOZ]

Downstream SNR is on the low side, but should be ok for your speed of line I'd have thought...

Does the problem occur if you use a wired connection to your router, or only when going wireless?

Not familiar with the eTEC, but when it drops a connection are you still sync-ing with the exchange? In other words, can you still see the Margin (SNR) and Attenuation figures BEFORE you reset it?

Are the DS Margin figures you've quoted above fairly consistent, or do they jump around by a large amount. (You'd expect DS Margin to move about by a couple of dBs).

I think you need to isolate the wireless side of the router from the equation, which is why I suggest a wired connection temporarily...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[hksoftware]

Hi,
I can confirm that this problem is the same through a direct ethernet connection to the router. Download speeds can be good, but web pages often stop half loaded or not at all and I need to refresh to load them.
Regards

 

[G0AOZ]

Ok, understand problem is not wireless orientated.

How about commenting on my above mentioned points...?

"Not familiar with the eTEC, but when it drops a connection are you still sync-ing with the exchange? In other words, can you still see the Margin (SNR) and Attenuation figures BEFORE you reset it?

Are the DS Margin figures you've quoted above fairly consistent, or do they jump around by a large amount. (You'd expect DS Margin to move about by a couple of dBs).

Your answers may be pertinent to the problem.


ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[hksoftware]

Hi,
Whit it drops a connection, simply hitting my browsers refresh button makes it reconnect to the web server, so I'm quite sure my modem has not lost its ADSL connection.
Pinging remote servers is usually fine. No lost packets, typically 130ms pings.

What do you mean by DS margin figures? which figures are they in the stats I showed you?

Thanks for your help,
Hayden

 

[G0AOZ]

DS Margin = Down Stream Margin, i.e. the signal-to-noise ratio of the ADSL signal coming down to you from your local telephone exchange. The higher the figure, the better.

I take it you obtain stats from the router through a webpage using the Internet Explorer browser. If I connect to my router and leave it viewing the stats page, it updates automatically every 2 seconds, so I can immediately see if there's a change, or if the line were to drop. Can you do this with yours?

If you were to leave Internet Explorer viewing your updating stats, do you still get the problem of it dropping the connection? Or does it remain connected to the router ad infinitum?

If that works, try opening another copy of Internet Explorer and connect to one of the sites you're having trouble with. Now go watch your stats page and see if the margin drops or it indicates line errors if and when a download stops.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[hksoftware]

I am indeed accessing these stats from my browser. (I use Firefox.)
It doesn't auto-refresh so I've manually refreshed it every second or so for a couple of minutes.

My DS Margin keeps from 8 to 13, only changing every 30 seconds or so. That doesn't strike me as erratic.

My modem-router is connected to the phone socket via an extension cable roughly 10 metres in length. Could this be the culprit? I would have thought this would give me bad SNR values if it was?
Thanks

 

[G0AOZ]

You may find that the SNR figure rises (gets better) if you were able to plug directly into the phone socket without the 10 metre extension cable. However, an SNR of 8 to 13dB is not bad considering your connection speed. If you could temporarily move the PC to enable plugging in directly, that would show you by how much that extension lead is attenuating your signal. Might be worth trying...

Do you get the same download problems when using Microsoft Internet Explorer, or only when using Firefox?

Have you tried opening another copy of your browser (to check router stats) as suggested in my previous post?

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[hksoftware]

I've just connected up my router in a different house, in a different city with a different ISP. It's right by the phone socket.The exact same problem is happening. Works fine for a day or so, but then starts do get worse.
I've contacted e-tec to see if they can help or give me new firmware

 

[hksoftware]

I've just realised that this problem is only with the Ethernet ports. The WiFi is fine.

 

[hksoftware]

Also, The PC connected to an ethernet port can ping hosts on the net fine, with good ping times. Now, pages won't load at all. The routers HTTP setup page will load, but when I log in to it, other pages won't show. I can't get past the login screen. I have to access it from my WiFi connection.
Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[hksoftware]

This may help:
When I open up telnet, I can open a connection to a host on port 80. When I then manually enter a GET request, I get no text back from the host whatsoever. Absolutely nothing. The router seems to be blocking the data.
The firewall on the router is disabled, and I've even tried running the ethernet port on 10Mbps Half-duplex.

 

[G0AOZ]

Hmmm, wondering if this is a DNS problem...

Is the PC set to a static IP Address or is it obtaining one from the router? Whatever, I suggest to put in your ISP's primary and secondary DNS IP's in the computer.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[hksoftware]

The addresses are obtained from the routers DHCP service.
I don't think it's DNS, apps turn hostnames into IP addresses ok, like I said, some pages partially load, and the fact that the problem occurs with the routers setup page means it isn't DNS as the router doesn't even have a hostname to resolve!
I got a response from the manufacturer, they've brushed it off as possible faulty ethernet ports. They told me to take it back to the retailer. I bought it from a Computer Fair and no longer have the receipt

I think I'll just purchase WiFi cards for my computers, they're only £10 each off ebay.
Thank you very much for your help!

 

[pansophic]

DNS resolution actually happens numerous times during a typical web page load. It is common for DNS failures to cause web pages to partially load. I would have to agree with G0AOZ on that one.

How many DNS servers do you have listed? Two is minimally functional. I prefer to set 3, with the last two being from alternate ISPs. That way when your local ISP's DNS server becomes saturated, the secondary and tertiary requests will not bombard the already overloaded server. Plus, when your ISP's DNS server crashes (yes it does happen) your pages will only load slowly, not fail to load altogether.


pansophic