Noise on ADSL line

local source? PC?

[treetopper]

My ADSL connection drops out temporarily and then kicks in again. Sometimes it drops out and remains out and at this time I hear a whistling on the telephone line and then only when my ADSL line is connected (ie plugged into the filter). After line checking by telecom engineers (result=OK), trial replacement of Conexant runner ADSL internal modem with new one (result= no change), checking of filters and other plugged in equipment (result= OK),checking for virii and pests (result: AVG search= negative, Pest Patrol reported finding a Dolly trojan variant and it was removed)-- the problem continues. At first I thought the problem would be resolved by removal of Dolly which allows remote control of a PC and can cause disconnection problems- however even after cleaning and registry correction (regclean 4.1)the problem remains. Does anyone else have experience of this- and PLEASE can you offer some advice its driving me bonkers!

[martinibuster]

...only when my ADSL line is connected (ie plugged into the filter).

The adsl line should not be plugged into a filter. The line should go straight into your phone jack. All the telephones in your household should plug into the filter.

[grahamstewart]

Erm.. not true.

My ADSL line goes into a micro-filter. In fact the cable wouldn't physically fit in a normal phone jack.

But yes, you should have a micro-filter on every phone socket.

[vrtlw]

The adsl line should not be plugged into a filter. The line should go straight into your phone jack. All the telephones in your household should plug into the filter.

My ADSL line is supposed to plug into the filter.

[added]
Yes every phone jack where a phone is connected should have a filter so you can plug your telephone into it regardless of where you DSL is plugged in
[/added]

[martinibuster]

Erm.. not true.

Not true for you... I guess my first post should be ammended likewise. I'm in the United States/California/San Francisco. My ADSL runs from the phone jack to the Modem. From the modem it becomes a cat5 that plugs into my ethernet card. Been that way for the last two or three years.

As for noise, Halogen lamps are reputed to be a problem. A good source (possibly the best source) of troubleshooting info on this is at broadband reports (aka dslreports.com).

[vrtlw]

USA/CAlifornia/Sacramento,

My setup sound the same as yours martinibuster, but mine does need to be plugged into the filter. Filter is a z-330 tja "Z-Blocker", DSL provider is SBC/Yahoo.

[martinibuster]

Here's something about the filters [ovislink.ca]:

The Z-330CWA is a small... wall mount filter designed to expedite the service delivery and improve the performance of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and Home Phoneline Network (HPN) services. This model filters all telephone sets, facsimile machines, answering machines, etc. individually or in groups and includes an additional unfiltered jack for use with an ADSL modem and/or HomePNA device.

The filters are for everything that is not adsl. The adsl line plugs into an unfiltered jack on your z-330 filter (or splitter). So, as I stated above, you can bypass your filter altogether and plug the adsl line straight into your phone socket.

If you can, do not share that wall jack with a phone line.

Sounds like there may be some leakage. If you can spare a phone socket, dedicate a single socket for your adsl. Get rid of those Z-330 filter/splitters and visit your local Radio Shack and pick up the smaller adsl filters (they're each about the size of a box of matches) and hook those up wherever you have a phone or fax etc.

I had a brand new line and wall box installed just for my adsl- it comes straight from the box outside. Sounds like your splitter might be the problem.

[treetopper]

Thanks for the input guys but perhaps i should clarify that I'm UK based so my adsl is meant to plug into the filter and that my adsl has been running without a problem for a year until about beginning of this March. Examination of the Connexant runner log file reported noise and CRC errors: Here is a typical excerpt of the log:

03/10/2004 - 19:52:55 - EVENT = PHYSICAL STATISTICS -
Downstream Noise Margin = +29.2 dB
Downstream CRC Errors = 1
Downstream FEC Errors = 0

A search of my win.ini folder (run> msconfig) revealed the file "iun3404.exe"; PestPatrol (after googling)suggested this was the Doly Trojan 1.5 and it was deleted (see PP's interesting comments on this wee beastie).. but to no effect!
The halogen lamp point was a new idea- so I've just disconnected a mini-halogen lamp under my PC shelf - but the problem is still with me! Shall now shoot off to see dslreports.com any more ideas woulfd be gratefully received!

[grahamstewart]

Fair enough - in the UK things are a bit different.
We connect a micro-filter into every telephone socket, then run a (US style) RJ-11 lead from a filter to the ADSL modem.

See [adslguide.org.uk...] for more info

[treetopper]

Sorry I should add that I have minifilters at every telephone point in the house and each filter has a socket for a telephone line and a socket for an ADsl plug (used or not)- this is what I mean by 'is meant to plug into the filter' but I agree that the filter is really meant for everything else... for now anyway all other telephone points are disconnected until the issue is resolved! (I hope)

[treetopper]

Here's an update. The problem is internal to my PC. I determined this by taking my PC to my neighbours house and letting him log in to his perfect adsl line via my PC. The PC continued to disconnect and reconnect (approx 6 times in 30 min).
Observation of processor usage via 'System Monitor' (Windows 98) shows that usage starts at ca 2% then climbs to say 25% then to 75/80% in steps coinciding with each drop out of the adsl and reconnection. This even when the mouse is idle. At this point the connection may be lost (permanently) and a whistling is heard through the telephone line (when the receiver is lifted). To reconnect I must either reboot .. or unplug and then replug the adsl line into the socket the process will then start again. Sometimes I can get 7 hrs or so continuous connection- most times not.
I am suspicious of Explorer and related programmes or possibly malware but AVG and PestPatrol can find nothing. I have noted that someone else seems to have the same problem- see
[discussions.virtualdr.com...]

Any ideas anyone.......Pleease!

[plumsauce]

i suspected as much yesterday that you would find
out that it was internal to your pc.

the number one culprit would be your power
supply. if it sags, you lose the connection.

to narrow it down, take the card out and
try it in another pc. maybe your neighbour's
if they are willing.

while the card is out, try wiping the edge
connector with a piece of dry tissue.

did you install anything new lately?

another long shot, is the central office
dropping you because of conflicting dhcp
assignments?

does this thing use an external powerbrick
that could be going bad?

[treetopper]

Thanks guys for all your help. After doing thorogh checks of the software installations and downloading all the latest drivers patches etc and changing the power supply unit- all of which which made no difference, I by a process of elimination found that it was caused by a Creative soundblaster sound card. I've now removed it and am now running sound directly off the motherboard. The sound card apart fom this gave no other indication that it was faulty.... so maybe this will help other people with this problem .
Thanks again