loyalguard

Since I am in the GMT time zone and now that Summer is approaching it doesn't get dark here anymore, I sometimes find myself online in the wee hours of the morning playing with my fellow TG'ers especially on PW and weekend nights to catch some hardcore primetime gaming.

Well, I have had a chronic problem for about a year now that I have only just now diagnosed and will soon have corrected. If I am online (gaming, interwebz, etc.) at 02:13 am GMT I will be disconnected. It does not matter which computer (PC or Mac) or connection (ethernet or wireless). The connection restores itself in about a minute but as you can imagine this can get quite frustrating.

For the past year I have reviewed every log my computer/route generates, quizzed my ISP, and scoured dozens of online forums to no avail. Well, in casual conversation Friday night while describing the problem to friends, one of them remarked that I had an alarm system. It turns out that my alarm company tests the alarm system every night at 02:13 am. Basically, my alarm system completely takes over my phone line (including the line to my router because they are in series), calls the security monitoring center to give a status check, and then hangs up. Once I knew what seach terms to use (i.e. alarm, ADSL, disconnect), broadbandreports.com showed that I am not alone.

Well, a quick call to the alarm company has resolved this because tomorrow they willl install a splitter so that my alarm system and router are no longer in series.

I would never have thought of the alarm as problematic to my internet. So, if you own an alarm system and have DSL/ADSL and have chronic internet connection problems, you may want to consider your alarm system as a possible culprit. If you are having an alarm system installed, make sure you tell them if you use DSL/ADSL to connect to the internet so they can install the system as to not interfere.

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|TG| LoyalGuard

TG_JBRanger

I have this EXACT issue! I too had narrowed it down to the alarm system. Mine is slightly different in that whenever the door opens or the alarm is activated it takes it out. Thanks for the info!!

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icky

Ya, I fixed this up when I moved into my house. At the entry point, I have my DSL modem connected on one side and a filter on the other. Beyond the filter is the alarm and the rest of the house.

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Peace through fear... since 1947!

Dick Blonov

Same here. I splurged an bought an ADSL POTS splitter.

Worth every penny.

DB

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|TG-6th|Blonov

ednos

This isn't always the problem with intermittent connections. At home here, we have Verizon DSL (and no alarm system), and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why our connection was so shoddy. One of the service men was here checking it out for us and leaked me a little bit of information: on a backbone designed for roughly one thousand users, Verizon was attempting to support six thousand. When the area's population increased significantly, the company failed to upgrade the equipment. They're getting what they deserve, though: about half of the community is dropping the DSL service. Hopefully this means the connection will soon become twice as good as it was before.

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The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell
I have a tendency to key out three or four things and then let them battle for supremacy while I key, so there's a lot of backspacing as potential statements are slaughtered and eaten by the victors. ~ Magna Centipede

loyalguard

Agreed...the alarm system angle is just something else to consider when diagnosing problems.

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|TG| LoyalGuard

=DdogG=

an alarm system is the biggest problem with DSL apart from long distance/ old or shorted wire. When I worked for BellSouth, this accounted for about 30% of the problems. I am surprised the alarm company is claiming the problem.

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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein
The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison

If all else fails: "rm -rf /"

Sir_Brass

This is why I encourage people to get cable instead of DSL if its available where they live.

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|TG-Irr|Hiram_Yorik
Games: GRAW, BF2142, Oblivion, FarCry, Empire At War, R6:RVS, KotOR, KotOR2, MW4: Mercs, FEAR (XP)




*Hiss* "Oh...crap!" *BLAM* "I'm down....MEDIC!!"

DirtyLude: "If we kill him and eat his heart, his magic will be ours."

Wyzcrak

When I switched to Vonage and dropped the landline altogether, I told ADT to switch my home alarm monitoring to a cellular device in the attic. I need to run a test on that thing again. I just don't trust it as much as I do a landline (despite the fact that damn near every call I make these days is on my cell phone).

Seems like there's plenty of room for discussion about why my decision might be a good or bad choice for various folks, but I thought I'd mention it here, in case it's helpful.

Cable, not DSL. In case it matters. Somehow. Surely it doesn't.

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Darkilla: In short, NS is pretty much really fast chess. With guns. Apophis: I haven't seen anyone say that SM's are better than non-SMs. Nordbomber: This is THE first server I've seen where either side can comeback from out of seemingly nowhere with the right teamwork. en4rcment: I have NEVER experienced the type of gameplay that I have found here. Nightly I am amazed at the personalities and gaming talent. Root: Welcome to TG. Feel free to punctuate your sentences correctly. Monkerz: Its gonna take all my skills to beat those boys off in the future.

ScratchMonkey

DSL is the only way to get a static IP at a reasonable price. Useful if you want to run a server. Cable companies only offer static IP's on business plans by running a T1 to your house.

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jepzilla

My DSL line runs on a dedicated dry pair so it doesn't interfere with the alarm system.