Unable to use Zoom

[dane]

The modem shouldn't be filtered - the phones should. Phones are a source of interference for DSL, so the purpose of the filter is to assure that phones only communicate in the frequency ranges that are used for POTS voice.

[johnv]

Don't worry, only the phone lines are filtered. Otherwise I would never have gotten my 18/2Mbps speeds!
I guess I could have worded that comment a bit better; sorry.

johnv

[dane]

Don't worry, only the phone lines are filtered. Otherwise I would never have gotten my 18/2Mbps speeds!
I guess I could have worded that comment a bit better; sorry.

johnv

Excellent, glad it's going in the right direction. Sometimes folks put the "DSL filter" on the DSL line - and generally get little to no DSL as a result. They go on the phones - but their absence can be a challenge to detect, because it generally results in intermittent failures and slower speeds, particularly on the upstream portion of the link, which is lower-frequency and closer to the voice portion.

[johnv]

BTW, Dane, I am really really impressed that you are still somewhat involved in the technical side of Sonic....just as you were 25 years ago when I first joined. I certainly do not expect that of most other CEOs...well, maybe Elon Musk.

JV

[dane]

BTW, Dane, I am really really impressed that you are still somewhat involved in the technical side of Sonic....just as you were 25 years ago when I first joined. I certainly do not expect that of most other CEOs...well, maybe Elon Musk.

JV

Of course. I have done more every job here in one way or the other over the years, and some of it I still remember. I can even operate a directional drill, albeit pretty slowly.

Please stick with us, we'd love to solve the issue with your connection. I do suspect it'll turn out to be the copper, or MPOE or a wiring fault - but if it's the modem and that swap does it, neato!

[johnv]

I have removed my DSL filter which effectively disconnected my entire house from the DSL signal. I have the 2 phone lines going directly to the modem via a Cat 5 cable (only 2 of the 4 twisted pairs are used.) The problem remains.
I am waiting for the the new modem to be delivered later today. If that does not solve the problem, then it must be on Sonic's side. Stay tuned.

On a side note, I used my cell phone as a hot spot for my 3-hour Zoom meeting last night and that worked flawlessly. Fortunately, about 3 years ago, Verizon put up a mini tower a couple of blocks away so now I get a good signal; before it was almost non-existent.

[johnv]

The new modem arrived at 8pm last night. This morning I configured the modem to my required settings, turned off its internal wireless, configured the port forwarding, and switched my ASUS wireless router to work as an access point instead. Everything went smoothly. Now we wait.

While it has only been running for an hour so far, everything is functioning normally. My wife has a Zoom meeting at 2pm today...that will be the true test. I am also running a smokeping test over the next 24 hours to verify that my packet loss has improved from the 7% I had previously. Fingers crossed.
johnv

[johnv]

Looking good so far. My wife's Zoom meeting had no issues. We have not had any of the connection issues we had before. The smokeping test, after 3 hours, shows 0.00% packet loss. I am beginning to really think it was the modem.

johnv

[dane]

Interesting! I’m surprised by that. We replace modems a lot, and when tested afterward we see single-digit confirmations - and often the issues persist. But I was wrong in this case!

[johnv]

I will wait a day or two before returning the old modem...just to be sure. After spending 35 years in product support at HP/Agilent/Keysight (of my 45-year total) doing similar types of troubleshooting, I learned to never be surprised whenever I get surprised!

JV