Common Problems with your ADSL

ADSL is a complex technology, and things can go wrong. However, most of these are to do with your own modem, PC, filters, etc. Before posting a thread, follow these instructions and see if it solves your problem.

Run a test from your ISP’s own mirror, and see if speed is appropriate for your connection speed

The speeds you can expect are:

256/64 connection – about 25KB/s
512/128 connection – about 50KB/s
1500/256 connection – about 150KB/s
8000/384 connection – between 150KB/s and 900KB/s
ADSL2+ connection – between 150KB/s and 2.9MB/s
For 8000/384 and ADSL2+ connections the minimum speed is 150KB/s – ISPs do not log a fault unless the speed is below this. However, you are still welcome to post a new thread and see if an ISP rep can assist you in raising the speed

Your ISP can tell you what their official test is. However, a http://speedtest.net or http://ozspeedtest.com test should yield a reasonably accurate result.

Some ISP speed tests are listed here:

• TPG – http://tpg.com.au/test3.iso (run this download until it reaches a stable speed, then cancel it as it counts toward your limit)
• Netspace – http://speedtest.netspace.net.au (Use the 100MB test. Run the download till it reaches a stable speed, then cancel it)
• BigPond – http://files.bigpond.com/library/index.php?go=cat&id=609 (For High Speed ADSL and Cable, use the 100MB test. For other connections, use the 10MB test)
• Internode – http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/test/ (For Extreme ADSL2+ and ADSL Plus, use the 50MB test. For other connections, use the 10MB test)
• iiNet – http://ftp.iinet.net.au/ (For ADSL2+ and 8mb ADSL, use the “test50MB.dat” file. For other connections, use the “test10MB.dat” file)
• Exetel – http://www.exetel.com.au/speed
• Optusnet – http://speedtest.mel.optusnet.com.au or http://speedtest.syd.optusnet.com.au – These are hosted out of Optus own infrastructure.

Also keep in mind that versions of Microsoft Windows prior to Windows Vista will not download at over about 400KB/s. If you are running Windows XP or earlier, use an application to fix this (UnblockA is no longer available so link removed)

Reboot your modem

Like your computer, your modem can slow down after time, and a hard reboot can be highly beneficial. To hard reboot your modem, turn your modem off using the switch at the back, or turn it off at the powerpoint, and leave it off for a few minutes. Switch the modem back on, and check to see whether this has resolved your issues.

If it hasn’t, you can hard reset your modem (You will need your connection details from your ISP for this, so please make sure you have these before continuing), as explained below.

Hard reset your modem

Important – (You will need your connection details from your ISP for this, so please make sure you have these before continuing)

Just like a computer, sometimes your modem needs hard resetting. Hold down the pinhole button at the back of the modem for 30 seconds or so.

Remember to reconfigure it properly – i.e, putting in the correct ADSL username and password, and if your modem is Wi-Fi adding a WPA2 password, etc.

Isolation Test

To perform an isolation test, disconnect everything from the phone line, including phones, fax machines, Back2Base alarms, Foxtel/Austar boxes, long line extension cables, line surge protectors, and your ADSL modem. Remove excessive power cabling from the area as not to cause unwanted interference.

After about 15 minutes of having nothing connected to the line (this also allows your DSLAM port to reset) plug in only the ADSL modem to the master phone line if you can. Ensure it does not have a line filter on it (these are for phones and faxes). See if your speed improves, and if you were having dropout problems also check to see if the stability has improved.

If the isolation test solved your problem, you can one by one plug in your devices (ensuring they are all filtered) and see which has the biggest impact on speed/stability.

Try a different modem

If the isolation test did not solve the problem, another good thing to do is to try another modem and see if this improves your speeds.