True Inconvenience

[samtam]

I kept getting repeated cut off from my True router nlink, so having had the box replaced several times, I had the technician visit this morning. He came to check the ADSL line and generally bu**er about, and then told me what I had asked when I made the appointment - that I needed a new router. I said I'd already explained that and hoped he was bringing one with him. He said, no I had to go to the True shop to "sign a new contract" and get a new router in person. So I trooped off there this afternoon and returned with the ZyXEL. Tried to set it up, but was unable. Rang True and through my telephone call to their technician, we were unsuccessful, so I am now awaiting a technician to pitch up tomorrow to install. I asked why this couldn't all be accomplished at the same time - such as this morning when I'd already explained the problem, and the poor quality of nlink routers. "Don't know, will discuss with technician team, blah, blah". "Signing a new contract" was in fact nothing of the sort, except my acknowledging that "I have a new router and a new contract, (written in my own hand)".

[WhizBang]

And your point is... ?

[samtam]

Sorry, my OP was long and very difficult to understand.

I asked why a new router couldn't be provided when the technician called this morning, (by the technician), when I had explained the problem was with the nlink router, which is a POS. They did not know the answer.

The co-ordination of service seems lacking. It's an observation. Hope that's OK.

Carry on now. Do

[Pib]

Me thinks if your router has been replaced several times with no fix of your problem then the problem probably lies with your internet/phone/ADSL line and/or computer setup/driver.

[samtam]

No, the line was checked this morning (again), and it's OK.

[Digitalbanana]

I've had a True nlink router for several years and never a fault. Must have been a string of bad units you had there!

Edited September 25, 2012 by Digitalbanana

[lopburi3]

Test of line means little - a slight breeze blowing a poor connection can quickly drop a connection - a phone answer can often do the same (even with proper split connectors). The key is a modem that can recover without a manual reset and for me that has been TP-Link.

[Pib]

No, the line was checked this morning (again), and it's OK.

Who tested the line? What ADSL line stats do you have? That is, the downstream/sync speed, upstream/sync speed, signal to noise/margin ratio, downstream attenuation, and upstream attenuation? These stats are reported in you modem setup menus.

I have a 6 year old Toshiba laptop...still works great...using it right now....but over the years there were a few times where I had problems maintaining a connection to my Wifi router. Until I figured out what the real problem was I blamed my Wifi router, probably changed every router setting under the sun, etc. However, when the dust settled I found out it was my laptop's Wifi chip "driver" causing the problem. Laptop drivers can be very, very picky about their drivers...not uncommon for the drivers to only work properly with the laptop's manufacturer provided drivers versus Windows-provided driver that are "suppose" to be compatible. What had happen in my cause was since I have Windows set to automatically download/install updates it had installed an updated driver for my laptop's Wifi chip (an Intel 3945ABG) and it caused my Wifi chip to have intermittent disconnects....sometimes it would occur every few minutes...other times every few hours...other times every few days....really frustrating. Well, in my troubleshooting I noticed my Wifi chip driver had been updated/replaced when my disconnect problems started; I reinstalled the Toshiba provided driver the my Wifi problems went away. But about a month later they reappeared...I checked and noticed that updated driver had automatically been downloaded/reinstalled. So, I reinstalled the Toshiba driver and set the Windows Automatic Update to not download/install that one particular driver. Problem solved.

Another time I started having Wifi router connectivity problems again...checked the Wifi driver and it was the correct one...so I must have a new problem. Played with the Wifi router settings again...didn't help. I did find the problem after a week...it turned out to be my laptop's Bluetooth driver which had been automatically updated...and since on my laptop's bluetooth chip and wifi chip interface with each other , my messed up bluetooth chip/function was actually messing up my wifi chip/function. In this case I didn't go back to my earlier Tosihiba bluetooth driver but went to a later version I got from the Toshiba support website and my problem went away.

The other times I've had some minor problems with my Wifi routers, not connectivity problems so to speak but erratic Wifi speed, it was one or two settings in my Wifi router that made it run smooth again. Kinda like having an 8 cylinder engine that is missing a little bit....change one spark plug (ie., make one or two router setting tweaks) and the engine is running smooth again. I don't fault the Wifi router default settings for not being perfectly matched to my laptop/Wifi devices since there are so many client devices with their sometimes unique settings that must interface with the router.

Heck, right now, with my current True-provided Thomson Wifi modem/router for my 20Mb/2Mb DOCSIS/cable internet plan it initially caused me two issues. One was with a VOIP service I use to have....whenever I would dial a number, make a connection say to a number which then required you to press a number to continue like to enter you voicemail, the system could "not" hear me pressing the button. Problem fixed by turning off the "IP Flood" setting in my router....my previous True-provided Cisco router didn't have an IP Flood setting. Problem two was with erractic Wifi speed...I noticed that my Wifi speed intermittently got somewhat erractic in the 15Mb to 20Mb ballpark of my 20Mb plan...problem fixed by changing the Wifi router setting from 54G Auto (default setting) to 54G LRS....smooth Wifi speed....and if I remember right I had to do the same thing when I had the True-provided Cisco Wifi router. Just as FYI and for any True DOCSIS users out there reading this, in my opinion the True-provided Thomson wifi router is a better router than the True-provided Cisco wifi router after having used each for around 8 months....primarily better in terms of Wifi signal stability/strength and runs cooler.

I guess what I'm trying to say, maybe the router you have is bad...but since you've had several I doubt that's the problem. Your problem is probably line related or with the device you are using to make that Wifi connection to the router. Or, one or two router settings need tweaked to be best tuned to your client device(s). Good luck...I know internet disconnects, especially intermittent disconnects, can be very frustrating.

[ThailandBert]

When I had similar problems I found that updating my network drivers solved my problem immediately

[samtam]

The line was tested by the True technician yesterday. Today he reappeared and installed the new True ZyXEL router. He did fiddle around with the ADSL line at the socket. But, so far everything is working well...now that's probably put the kybosh on it.