[plug] Please help.. i'm desperate

[Daniel Pearson]

> "Look, I know we need 1mm gauge wiring here to get the specification
> voltages, but that's stuff's expensive. If we go down to 0.5mm, it'll be
> fine for voice, and that's all we have to provide proper service on
> anyway. If they whine, we just pretend there's no problem until they go
> away, or repeatedly test it fine for voice. They should just be glad
> they're not on a RIM... hmm, why aren't we using one of those here anyway?
Well, I was on a RIM till they found the "alternate path" for me 2 months
ago.

> I'd have to discuss that with my housemates, but it may be possible. I'd
> want to borrow the Billion (I assume it can be switched to behave like a
> normal ethernet DSL modem?) for the time. Of course, I'm then quite
> likely to have to report that the billion is in fact crap on our line,
> but that'd tell you something too - wouldn't it?
Correct. And by normal DSL modem you mean making it so that the PC can take
care of the PPPoE?

> Have you tried talking to iiNet and seeing if they can provde a decent
> quality DSL modem as a loaner? If you got your initial DSL modem from
> them, they may be willing to upgrade you to a better one if the loaner
> fixes the problem. That was the arrangement I made with Westnet - we
> borrowed the Alcatel, and when it worked we returned the DSL-300 and
> paid the difference. iiNet used to supply Alcatel SpeedTouch Home as
> standard (when I got DSL at work 2 years ago) but no doubt the standard
> has since fallen.
I bought the original from Synnex (PC Parts supplier, wholesaler). Already
asked about a loaner modem, got a big no in response.

> My argument when I went through this with WestNet was the loss of line
> sync CAN NOT be a problem with my system. The modem does it even when
> there's nothing plugged in, it's an indicator of whether it can 'see'
> the remote DSLAM or not.u I also, to placate them, tried my Win2k laptop
> on the modem as well as my normal firewall. As such, the problem HAD to
> be the modem or phone line. They didn't want to call in a fault to
> telstra on the line, as it costs them hundreds of dollars, so they did
> us a loaner modem and that did the trick. The crucial point was that the
> fault was with their hardware or with the line, and could not be my gear.
Yeh, thats exactly what I did. Tried my laptop running Windows 2000, to no
avail also. I also explained to both iiNet and Telstra that the PC couldn't
be an issue because they weren't even on and it still wouldn't gain synch.

> You should be aware that calling a line fault with Telstra, specifically
> about your non-telstra ADSL service, at least used to incurr
> 'punishment' charge from Telstra to your ISP that the ISP would pass on
> to you. It's an incentive to the ISP to make sure it's customers go away
> and don't bother Telstra directly over the ISP's wholesale ADSL service.
> Conveniently, if you use Telstra ADSL you can get line issues fixed (ok,
> have more hope anyway) - what a surprise. You may be able to force iiNet
> to call in a fault, but it probably won't be easy.
iiNet has called in a fault twice now, I believe. I'm just waiting to here
back from them. They're fairly good like that.

>  From what you just said about the DSL modems you've tried, I wouldn't
> be surprised you're having problems - at least if there are any line
> quality issues at all. Mark Gaynor's comment about "built to a price"
> comes to mind - if you buy cheap and nasty, you may well end up getting
> what you pay for. Both undoubtedly work perfectly in the right
> environment, but I wouldn't be surprised if they fell apart on poorer
lines.
Yeh.

> Then again, for all I know the Billion might have good quality guts and
> there might be something else wrong (or your line might just be
> unspeakably bad). I'd be amazed if the USB DSL modem was anything but
> shoddy, though - yuk.
The Dynalink? Heh, yeh. The billion seems to be OK, from all accounts that I
have dealt with - but I guess testing at yours would be a good test for it.

Cheers,
Daniel

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