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Top:Computers and Internet:Internet:My Connection:ISDN:Problems

Don't assume that a relatively abrupt throughput problem is due to your ISP - it could be noise on your ISDN line. I saw my throughput slowly go into the toilet over the course of several days. Since my ISP is MSN, I unfairly assumed that they were having some router difficulty and were sending my packets off to V'ger. I tried several times to get through to MSN's tech support, but they were either closed or giving a busy signal each time. I continued to watch my throughput dwindle to unusability.

Finally, I thought to check the admin screen of my P75. Holy Mole! Look at all the CRC errors that were showing up! I called US West service right away (around midnight). They said they would have it fixed by 1800 the next day. It was fixed by 1300. Nice job!

Moral of the story: If your throughput starts to suck, check things out. Check your admininstrative interface to your TA for lots of CRC errors. If your terminal adapter has a POTS port, plug an anlog phone in and take a listen. If you hear lots of clicks and pops (even if you still get a solid dial tone), you need to call the phone company and open a trouble ticket.


If your line seems to be working fine for some calls, but generating error codes for others, check with the phone company. This happened to me shortly after installation when I tried to call Portland. Their central office didn't have a route for me to mkae callls to Portland until I called and asked them about it. They fixed it quickly, though.


If you use someone other than MSN as your ISDN ISP, make sure they have an Ascend MAX series router at their POP for you to talk to. I tried using Transport Logic as my ISP for a while. They have lots of bandwidth (multiple T1s to the rest of the Internet), but their Salem POP has a Livingston Portmaster router. The Livingstons are very popular amongst ISPs because they're cheap. But, they don't support Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation or compression. My throughput with Transport Logic consistently sucked eggs for the couple of months I tried them out. They were nice people, but their Salem equipment just couldn't deliver.

Equipment - Equipment Vendor - Internet Service Provider
Operatng System - Problems - Telephone Company


Page created 2/18/97 by twisted@teleport.com.
Last updated 03/17/03 at 14:34.
© 1997 by Michael Heggen. All rights reserved.

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