How do you install your own DSL connection to the phone box?

[pointreyes]

I have had it with this old house's phone wiring. My wife merely switched phones on the phone line and my DSL went haywire. Constant disconnects. Definitely not reliable anymore. Have to unplug/plug the modem to regain momentary connection. This happened before and the phone tech tested the POTS connections in the box and said that the connection from Qwest is good but the connection in the house is slow. However, this is the worst I have ever had it with constant disconnects.

Here's what I know to do:
1. Drill hole through wall to outside.
2. Pull line through hole to phone box which now has an open connection for another line.

Here's where I'm lost.
What type of line?
Should I install a line filter in the box so that the phone line is filtered from that one point instead of to connections throughout the house?
Jack type?
Which color lines do I use in the line? This will strictly be a DSL line.

[rjs735]

I would first check and see if your wife reused the dsl filter that should be on her phone. Only the jacks used for the dsl modem connect are without filters.

[pointreyes]

I actually installed new line filters (or rather a new filter) after this happened. This house has a daisy chain wiring scheme which causes the need for only one filter on the line. Currently there is only one phone being used in the house. I tried various configurations with the existing filters and the new one to not avail.

[rjs735]

I assume you tried without the new phone connected. To eliminate the new phone as the source of the problem.

The need for filters is to eliminate possible loading on a conditioned balanced line that DSl uses. This is required due to the mutiplexing of both voice and data over the same copper pairs to your house.

To run a separate line use a 4 wire telephone conductor ( Home depot) better would be Cat5 twisted. Connect this to your phone box and then connect the dsl modem at the other. You now have dedicated dsl line from the disconnect box to you system. However if your problem appears to be line loading problem it will still be there. The line being slow ( to respond to various freq) will eventually lead to time outs which is why you are dissconnecting.

Personally to save your self further aggrevation swap the phone out with a new replcement for the one your wife just bought and / or buy a different brand . WHat maybe happenning id the new phone may have good ringer equivalency spec but the electronics of the pnone maybe some how generating adverse loading on the line.

[pointreyes]

Yup, tried no phone on the line and problem did not go away. The phone switch was a temporary thing because the recharging batteries died and hence the use of an cheap replacement phone that for some odd will not ring. Does not matter what phone I used, the problem is persistent now. At my last house I had a second phone line to the box and it was purely for DSL connection and worked flawlessly. The phone that is being used on the line is an AT&T cordless. I'm thinking that maybe the switch spiked the line somehow. Maybe my DSL modem got hurt? It's a Cisco 678 but it is over 4 years old from my usage and I purchased it used. I have probably downloaded over 500Gig in the past 4 years with this modem. Would a newer modem be able to handle this older phone line system? I haven't found anything online to denote that modems have improved from this old Cisco.

[rjs735]

I don't know nothing about Cisco. I would assume that Cisco might have some diags to test the modem.

So what I am reading is that the phone swap and the disconnect problem are just a coincident.

If you are close to a window then I would just cobble up a temp cable just unplug your house connection from the telco box plug your cable in and the other end your router and test. This would eliminate any and all wiring inside the house.

If the test works then you have an inside house wiring problem. Maybe due to moisture.

If it still fails then I would get on the Telco to come and fix your line . The line conditioning that was engineered at install time may have deteriorated with time and needs to be set up properly again. The telcos like to skate because it takes a little bit of time to do it.

[rjs735]

Pointreyes have you looked at the release notes for the Cisco 678 they are here Release Notes for the Cisco 678 ADSL Router

[pointreyes]

Originally Posted by rjs735

The line conditioning that was engineered at install time may have deteriorated with time and needs to be set up properly again. The telcos like to skate because it takes a little bit of time to do it.

Qwest did not install DSL at this house - no line conditioning was done. Qwest is rather lazy and will suggest me install a separate line to the box. That or they will gladly charge me at least $100 to suggest me to do a separate line. Fortunately, the last time they were here was due to a problem with voice and DSL. My linkbacker insurance covered that $100 fee. That was when Qwest confirmed that the phone line going to the box was loaded with errors but at the connection point at the box-no errors. Running wireshark (a.k.a. Ethereal) confirmed the high instance of IP errors. At that time there were two lines connected to the box. Qwest disconnected the line that was killing the phone and my modem (no connection at all when that happened). Once fixed the modem worked fine until this week. The Qwest tech did frown about me using the Cisco - claiming it should not even work at the speed it does (worked at 1.5/896 for quite a few years at the previous house).

Interestingly, timing is starting to look more predictable. e.g. On this hour that I'm writing up this message I will have to plug/unplug the modem at least four times and sure enough I'm disconnected right now. Later tonight the disconnect will occur about 2-3 times over a 3 hour timeframe. Tomorrow is the first day I have a chance to play around with running a line from the modem direct to the box.

[rjs735]

From what your telling me it may pay for you to have dedicated line for your dsl connect to you room. The only other choices you have are to go to every room and take off the wall plate and inspect each and every jack for some form of corrosion both from the jack side and from the connects on the back side. The other choice would be to replace the telephone wire. If it's a really old house the wiring mayhave been run outside the house and as we know the weather does a good job of deteriorating both the insulation on the wire and the outside covering.

I just paid $80 to Bellsouth to tell me that the problem on my phone line was inside the house wiring. He did clean up the ends in the phone box where the insulation was gone from the wires. This corrected thye problem ( phone rings once and the person on the other end (the one making the call GETS AN EARFULL OF STATIC FOR A FEW SECONDS BEFORE THE LINE CLEARS) ).

After he cleaned up the wiring he then says there is still a problem on the line inside the house. But the phone works fine. I have't had run at a supervisor yet but there hasn't been anyone at the wiring inside the house except for the phone Co since new. All because I don't want to pay Bell $2.50 /mo for inside wiring insurance. Thats $36/ yr and for 10 yrs it's $360
even if I end up paying $80 I still saved $280.

BTW Radio shack sells a little device for $5-6 THAT TELLS YOU IF YOUR JACKS ARE WIRED CORRECTLY OR IF THE WIRES ARE REVERSED. It plugs into the jack and leds tell you the story.

[pointreyes]

Called Radio Shack yesterday and asked them if they had a DSL modem in stock. They did. Asked what it was and they shocked me when they did not say ActionTec. I don't care for actiontec from the last time I tried their brand. It was a 2wire 1800. Since hooking it up, no disconnects have occurred. However, the speed is still the same as with the old Cisco. So providing a dedicated line will be needed but at least I can wait for a better time of the year to plug the hole I will have to drill on the side of the house. Caulking a hole at this time of the year in damp Oregon is not a very easy thing to do. This DSL modem even has a wireless connection that supports WPA so I might see how it does compared to my wireless access point. The firewall settings are advanced enough to configure port forwarding so all seems well so far.

Thanks for the advice rjs735.

[rjs735]

I am happy to hear you overcame your disconnect problem. As far as running a dedicated line and the hole that needs to be sealed a good grade of silicone caulk paintable if you have a painted siding. If not then a just a good grade of silicone caulk. It will bond with most anything and will deal well with the damp Oregon weather.

Glad I could share some info.

[ronbo 613]

I've had ADSL from the begining and there have been some big problems. First, the telephone company should provide service to the jack inside your house, no questions asked. Inside your house, it's your problem, but service to the house is their job.
In the first year I had DSL, I had all kinds of problems. My provider told me that rain and high humidity would cause problems, that's bull. I'm in SoCal, 9" of rain a year. Long story short, the old phone wires up on the pole were shot and the phone company didn't want to say anything about it because they were going to take the lines down and put them underground the following year.
I did have modem issues. Two out of three modems my provider gave me were bad.
What you need to do is get the facts. Your provider should send a technician to your house to test your line. If the signal to your house is no good, it won't matter what you do and you will go insane trying to figure it out. Point out to the provider you are having problems and want to make sure that they are giving you what they are billing you for.
There are couple different configurations for a phone/DSL line into your home, but there should be a line in with a splitter, the phone line needs a filter, but I'm sure you know that. Sometimes, if you use a router or line switcher, you need to use two filters in series.
These providers have stopped testing lines because they don't have enough service techs to go around. If you continue to have problems, I would call your provider and demand they test the line. Line conditioning is just sending out a few extra volts to dry out the lines. If they don't play ball, call your cable company.