[plug] Another (Possibly) Redhat specific squid tip

[John Summerfield]

On Mon, 23 Nov 1998, Adrian Blockley wrote:
> I think I remember you saying that Telstra checked the line out, but did
> they check both ends.  I had a problem a year ago with my modem that kept
> cutting intermitantly.  It was very frustrating sometimes it would be ok
> for an hour and sometimes it would hang after 5 minutes.  Telstra checked
> the line from their end and said the line was fine.  After puting up with
> this for some time I tried Telstra again and explained my problem and that
> I could hear noise sometimes when trying to connect or make a phone call.

My experience with Telstra's is pretty good. A few years ago I had
complaints from others I wasn't answering the phone though I was home (I
didn't here it ring). I called Telstra and discussed what I had connected
and they actually measured the loading it all placed and said, while it
seemed I had a lot, the loading was fine. We speculated that changing my
extension cord (I had a spare) might help. We didn't identify a problem, but
people did stop complaining.

> 
> They sent a technician who did some testing from my end as well; it turned
> out that some grass had invaded a nearby junction box which was causing
> input wires to rub whenever the wind was strong enough, but only on the
> line coming in.  This was why they couldn't hear the problem from their
> end.  It was a good thing that it was a windy day when the technician
> came.  He cleaned out the grass and the problem went away.  intermitant
> problems can be very difficult to track down...


Presumably had they run the tests when it was windy they would have
detected the problem. No doubt windy days in years gone by were attended by
lots of problems. Imagine a bird or a branch in overhead wires, only making
contact when the wind blows.


Cheers
John Summerfield
http://os2.ami.com.au/os2/ for OS/2 support.
Configuration, networking, combined IBM ftpsites index.