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Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:50 am
by Guest
I have intermittent static on the voice line and occasional dropped sync issues, which seems to occur in the late afternoon. Sonic.net support said I should look at a shielded phone cord in case there is some RF interference, but in doing some research on web, I found other items that may help such as a Radio Shack RF Interference (RFI) Line filter.

Does Sonic have a suggested list of things to try such as RFI filter, shielded cord, avoiding too many coils in cords, or even an AC line RF filter?

I'd like to try these options as they are somewhat inexpensive, before doing something more complex such as working on in-house phone wiring.

FYI - I use a new Panasonic DECT 6 cordless phone, there are no other phones plugged in extensions.

Re: Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:25 am
by phonetek
Support may have already gone over this, but how long is the static present when it shows up? Long enough to plug a hardwired phone in at the Network Interface Device? It would be nice to figure out if the static is inside wire, or outside.

Is the static similar to buzzing like driving under high power lines affecting an AM radio station, or more like inconsistent popping and sounds similar to slow frying bacon?

Re: Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:22 pm
by Guest
Is the static similar to buzzing like driving under high power lines affecting an AM radio station, or more like inconsistent popping and sounds similar to slow frying bacon?
It sounds more like a AM static (like ocean waves). I went to the NID but it's not well labeled so can't tell which line was mine (it's an apartment building) but sonic tech said if it continues, they can try to send someone next time. The Sonic technician heard the static too, but it eventually went away. Download speeds were low when there was some static. I lost sync when there was lots of static. The difficulty is that it's intermittent, so can't guarantee that the technician will be visiting when there is static.

Re: Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:41 pm
by phonetek
Intermittent issues are challenging.

You could call support and ask about an RFI filter. But typically they filter out specific frequency bands. So you need to know what frequency to filter out and get a filter that includes that band. My concern is that if its effecting your DSL signal, the filter you need may include the DSL frequencies! So I don't think that would work.

A shot in the dark but, did you try changing out the DSL filter? They can fail, and can cause similar issues.

Re: Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:00 pm
by Guest
A shot in the dark but, did you try changing out the DSL filter? They can fail, and can cause similar issues.
Thanks, and yes, I did change the filter. When I called Sonic support regarding the sync issue, they sent a loaner ZTE modem with a Suttle brand filter (rather than the no-name filter I originally got from Sonic.) That filter worked fine for a while, but got same issue again, so I figured it's not the fault of the filter (or the modem)

Thanks for suggestion on the frequencies -- it would be bad to filter our the DSL signal, so you saved me from a big headache.

Re: Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:57 pm
by phonetek
I would call support and see if they can get AT&T out to tag your line at the MPOE. Or see if they have another idea.

I'm curious in knowing if it's a problem with inside wire, or outside. Does the problem last long enough to run down and test at the NID if you knew which test jack was yours?

Re: Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:44 am
by Guest
I'll ask support about checking at MPOE. If I can find out which wire and can bring a corded phone to the NID and test the line while the static is on long-enough, I'll do that. These things are difficult!

Re: Recommendations on reducing static & interference

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:29 am
by phonetek
Guest wrote: These things are difficult!
You can say that again! Intermittent issues can be very difficult to track down. If the circuit was simply down, I'm sure the problem would have already been corrected... Support may have other ideas to try.

It is often pretty important to determine which side of the Demarcation point the trouble is on. Then you know where to concentrate your efforts.