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Date:      Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:28:44 -0600
From:      David W. Hess <dwhess@banishedsouls.org>
To:        questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: question on DSL signal
Message-ID:  <4orgq3tdbp4b03o7sfmh792k6tk79hg5hg@4ax.com>
In-Reply-To: <20080204200151.GA16540@skytracker.ca>
References:  <20080204200151.GA16540@skytracker.ca>

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On Mon, 4 Feb 2008 15:01:52 -0500, David Banning
<david+dated+1202587312.e4b61b@skytracker.ca> wrote:

>I notice very inconsistent results. Sometimes it's up for a week
>without a single drop, while other times it's up for 30 seconds,
>down for a minute, up for 2 minutes, down for 1.  That can go on
>for 10 hours, and then maybe it's stable again for a day or so.
>It's always appears to be the DSL signal itself, as I can see the
>modem sync light starts flashing when the signal goes down.
>
> . . .

I had similar symptoms last year during the hottest part of summer after =
a big storm.  The
thought was that the heat and humidity had compromised the wiring between=
 my location and
the central office.  As it ends up, the problem had existed for years but=
 the previous
owner had figured 384 down 128 up was the maximum the line length would =
permit and the
phone company was hardly going to admit there was a problem unless =
pressed.

>So here's my question:
>
>1. is there anyone who has a lot of experience monitoring DSL lines
>   that can tell me how common this is?

It depends on the condition of the infrastructure which varies widely in =
the US from area
to area.

>2. Is there any way to avoid it?

Is this DSL installed on a line that also has a dial tone?  If so when =
the service becomes
erratic, try leaving the phone off hook in order to continuously draw a =
current through
the line.  If the line is suffering from a dry open, then the DSL =
connection will be
restored while the phone is off the hook.

On telephone lines used for dial service, a line with a dry open =
condition will manifest
as a scratchy/noisy telephone line.  When used in DSL service, =
performance will be very
limited because of the high impedance state when no current is flowing =
through it.




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