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Lost connection in bad weather

Every now and then on a day with high winds and heavy rain we get regular disconnections as often as every 3 minutes. The Speedtouch ST 546 immediately renegotiates the internet connection and away we go. At no time do we lose the DSL connection to our exchange.
We are on the west coast of the Isle of Skye and about 1 mile from our exchange at Struan and use Zen Internet as our excellent ISP. The last time this happened I used a prog called DMT to get the following info on my connection:

Downstream bitrate 8128kbps
atten 24dB
SNRM 13dB
tx pwr 19.5dBm
Upstream bitrate 448kbps
atten 13dB
SNRM 22dB
tx pwr 12dBm

Speedtests made at the time using the site at
http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/ gave figures above 6500kbps .

My guess is that there is a problem with the microwave connection from the pole at Struan exchange to the outside world on bad weather days. Does anyone know whether this is a possible cause and could it happen without affecting the voice circuits (because it doesn't)? Also, if this is the problem, how do we bring it to BT's attention?

Brian
 
Your stats look good but then I'm still hung-over from last night, so don't quote me on that :) .

I think your first port of call should be to consider trying another router because some models and chipsets are particularly prone to dropping out during bad weather. I have had routers with cheap chipsets in the past that would cut out purely because of a lightning strike that occurred almost too far away to see.

Storms with heavy rain often result in interference than you cannot see and 9 times out of 10 I've found this to be the cause of drop-outs. I eventually replaced my old router with a Linksys or NetGear and the situation did not re-occur. ADSL can be a lot more sensitive than some people realise.

Also make sure you have all the basics covered (i.e. microfilter/splitters on every phone extension etc.).
 
Your stats look good but then I'm still hung-over from last night, so don't quote me on that :) .

I think your first port of call should be to consider trying another router because some models and chipsets are particularly prone to dropping out during bad weather. I have had routers with cheap chipsets in the past that would cut out purely because of a lightning strike that occurred almost too far away to see.

Storms with heavy rain often result in interference than you cannot see and 9 times out of 10 I've found this to be the cause of drop-outs. I eventually replaced my old router with a Linksys or NetGear and the situation did not re-occur. ADSL can be a lot more sensitive than some people realise.

Also make sure you have all the basics covered (i.e. microfilter/splitters on every phone extension etc.).

Thanks for that, I must say that I have been suspicious of the Speedtouch as the result of reading elsewhere. Is it significant that it is the PPP link that is dropping and not the DSL? And are you saying that it is likely that it is the Speedtouch that is dropping the connection from this end?
High wind seems to correlate best with the drop outs we have been getting, fortunately we hardly ever get lightning up here in the NW of Scotland.

Brian
 
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It's a tough one to diagnose without being right there with you when it happens. Near-by lightning strikes can cause really bad routers to completely reset, much in the same way as older computers would flicker on and off, while distant lightning (the type you may not be able to see) can cause enough EM interference down the line to interrupt just the DSL connection.

Over the years router design has improved to become more resistant but if this always happens when the weather is bad and not generally (rain or shine) then there could appear to be a logical correlation. I'd try a different router first before getting your ISP involved since the line stats look good.
 
Microwave transmissions (including UHF TV transmissions, which are microwaves) are often affected by mist/fog/rain & other precipitation. This is because water absorbs microwaves & converts them to heat. Putting a mug of cold water in a microwave oven for a couple of minutes, will demonstrate that. The microwave link is what I would first suspect; perhaps the signal needs boosting or the transmission dish repositioning?

Our low powered local TV transmitter (Hutton) is only 3.6 miles from my home & the mast head is visible from my TV aerial, yet reception is often lost during fog/rain/hail & snow storms!
 
Yeah that would do it too, I didn't know the Isle of Skye used that method for its capacity.
 
hum, good to know, i have the same problem from time to time, never found out what was causing it. really makes me go nuts when i'm in the middle of my browser rpg or movie or whatever!!
 
Last edited:
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I think your first port of call ought to be to think about trying another router because some models & chip sets are liable to dropping out in the coursework of bad weather. I have had routers with cheap chip sets historically in the past that would cut out purely because of a lightning strike that occurred far away to see.
 
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