Internet Connection Help!

[DaddyGrim]

Hey all, 

Firstly I'll start off by saying I have Windstream as my ISP as long as I've had them I've had a crappy connection. The best I can get in my area is 15mbps as I live in a rural area and not too far from me it goes down to 1mbps so I'm pretty lucky in that regard cause it could indeed be worse. The problem is that my connection with or to my ISP is very unstable and always has been even on a cat5 directly to their modem. Their techs have been out several times and one time they found a degraded line to their box, other times it's a modem replace (I have a dual channel modem from them) plugged into a Rax35 Netgear Nighthawk Router. One of their techs said there was a lot of noise on the line and they couldn't figure out where it was coming from and just replaced the modem and the filter. I've had more filter and modem replacements than I can count and randomly the channel on the modem will blow out about every 6-8 months like clock work. I don't have a phone in the house we just use it strictly for ADSL as we only have our cellphones for phone needs. My biggest question is, with the tech saying there was a lot of noise on the line before could this be causing me to drop packets etc? I've been looking around and people are suggesting x filter or an ADSL faceplate etc and outside of building computers a very minor network troubleshooting this stuff is admittedly over my head. I'm In the USA if that makes any difference. I really just need some advice, I keep getting ping spikes on all my computers (Currently have 3 computers one of the computers is direct cat5, 3 phones, 2 tv's and a google home attached to the network.) My main computer is via wireless on a Nighthawk 1800 wireless dongle. I'm so fed up with having to call my ISP that I want to at least shore up my house so maybe just maybe they are finally forced to admit its their problem.

 

What I need is advice on:

ADSL Filters (Do I want / Need an ADSL Faceplate?)

Better potential settings for my Wifi Dongle/Router/Modem setup for a more stable connection.

Anything that you think would help would be appreciated and please if leaving instructions I have very minimal knowledge (I poke at things till they work) so explain it in lamens terms please. xD

 

 

Thanks everyone!

Mike

[curiousmind34]

31 minutes ago, DaddyGrim said:

Hey all, 

Firstly I'll start off by saying I have Windstream as my ISP as long as I've had them I've had a crappy connection. The best I can get in my area is 15mbps as I live in a rural area and not too far from me it goes down to 1mbps so I'm pretty lucky in that regard cause it could indeed be worse. The problem is that my connection with or to my ISP is very unstable and always has been even on a cat5 directly to their modem. Their techs have been out several times and one time they found a degraded line to their box, other times it's a modem replace (I have a dual channel modem from them) plugged into a Rax35 Netgear Nighthawk Router. One of their techs said there was a lot of noise on the line and they couldn't figure out where it was coming from and just replaced the modem and the filter. I've had more filter and modem replacements than I can count and randomly the channel on the modem will blow out about every 6-8 months like clock work. I don't have a phone in the house we just use it strictly for ADSL as we only have our cellphones for phone needs. My biggest question is, with the tech saying there was a lot of noise on the line before could this be causing me to drop packets etc? I've been looking around and people are suggesting x filter or an ADSL faceplate etc and outside of building computers a very minor network troubleshooting this stuff is admittedly over my head. I'm In the USA if that makes any difference. I really just need some advice, I keep getting ping spikes on all my computers (Currently have 3 computers one of the computers is direct cat5, 3 phones, 2 tv's and a google home attached to the network.) My main computer is via wireless on a Nighthawk 1800 wireless dongle. I'm so fed up with having to call my ISP that I want to at least shore up my house so maybe just maybe they are finally forced to admit its their problem.

 

What I need is advice on:

ADSL Filters (Do I want / Need an ADSL Faceplate?)

Better potential settings for my Wifi Dongle/Router/Modem setup for a more stable connection.

Anything that you think would help would be appreciated and please if leaving instructions I have very minimal knowledge (I poke at things till they work) so explain it in lamens terms please. xD

 

 

Thanks everyone!

Mike

Just get starlink man

No, but for real, there are many things you could do as noise on the line is not very specific. Switch ethernet cables, a faceplate won't likely do much as it separates phone and internet but it's cheap enough to try. Try plugging your pc directly into your modem and see if that makes a difference, so you know if your router is causing the problem. Decent chance that it's not your fault it's your isp. So maybe that part about starlink in the beginning might be useful lol.

[wanderingfool2]

56 minutes ago, DaddyGrim said:

Their techs have been out several times and one time they found a degraded line to their box, other times it's a modem replace (I have a dual channel modem from them) plugged into a Rax35 Netgear Nighthawk Router. One of their techs said there was a lot of noise on the line and they couldn't figure out where it was coming from and just replaced the modem and the filter

Curious, did the tech check for the noise at the jack or outside your house?  Depending on the age of the house/other wiring you have, the noise could be caused by something in your house.  If the noise existed outside of your house, then there isn't much you can do except see if they will climb the pole to test the signal there (in my case they did, and replaced the line running to my house).  The other thing would be having the modem on the closes outlet to where the phone lines come into your house

 

Depending how vital it is and how much you currently are paying, Starlink might be a good option for you

[DaddyGrim]

8 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

Curious, did the tech check for the noise at the jack or outside your house?  Depending on the age of the house/other wiring you have, the noise could be caused by something in your house.  If the noise existed outside of your house, then there isn't much you can do except see if they will climb the pole to test the signal there (in my case they did, and replaced the line running to my house).  The other thing would be having the modem on the closes outlet to where the phone lines come into your house

 

Depending how vital it is and how much you currently are paying, Starlink might be a good option for you

The problem with Starlink is that the website says that it won't be active in my area till 2021 sometime, as for the other question I think they checked it at the house and at the line and at the line is how they found the degraded line and at the house they put in a new filter and modem but didn't check it after.

[Heliian]

North American phone lines aren't even reliable for phone signal in some places.  There are so many bad lines buried that they can't even fix them economically.  The only way to get better internet is to go with cable or ota. 

[WkdPaul]

* thread moved to the Networking section *

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, DaddyGrim said:

with the tech saying there was a lot of noise on the line before could this be causing me to drop packets etc?

Most likely thats your issue. With DSL is operates over the phone lines. The issue is most phone companies have failed to maintain their copper network properly. Also, some of the gear they use for DSL is no longer made or they dont want to replace it. So in some cases, equipment dies on the ISP side and they have issues offering service. 

 

My guess is water got in somewhere and has started to rot the lines. There is not much you can personally do. Maybe check out Starlink? T Mobile offers home internet via LTE but there service in rural areas can be hit or miss.