Chronic DSL performance problems - evenings only

[dane]

Interesting. Where are you located?

An increase in ping time can be an early indication of congestion; next up you'd see packet loss. Note that ping will rise when you yourself use your own connection, at least if you're filling it.

-Dane

[bobrk]

Downtown San Jose, on an R/T so no Fusion for me.

And I'm certainly using the connection at that time, but not always.

[paul]

Ah, bobrk, those line monitor graphs look just like mine. Are they mine or yours?
There may be more to this than just "the local line, or the Internet in general".
It includes the AT&T ATM network path from the Sonic gateway to my local RT.
It may be getting crowded in the cloud (ATM cloud). DSL may not be the only culprit.

Now, about the correlation to TV watching time that you mentioned. YES!! I agree.
Well, maybe not just TV, which WAS exclusively over broadcast, satellite, or cable.
Today it includes much streaming video over the internet, a real bandwidth hog.
"V over IP", via elderly internet paths and "backhaul" networks, causes congestion.

There have been some responses suggesting AM radio station interference.
I originally thought this unlikely at my end of the connection, due to my location.
However, there is an AM station, KSFB 1260KHZ -5 KW day, 1KW night (local time).
The transmitter is about 1/2 mile from the Sonic SF gateway, on Paul St. HMMM!

Also, my AT&T RT is located next to a playground with many high intensity lights.
The lights go on at local sunset, most of them only when a night game is on.
All the sodium vapor streetlights work on the same time frame (daylight sensors).
Local "day" time changes with the seasons (DST, etc.), my problems don't.

The weekly pattern of my problem repeats with startling precision (over 9 months).
At least it gets my attention. Always the same time, within less than half an hour.
The problem increases progressively until about 10pm, then after 12 it's OK within 1/2 hour.
My problem does not switch on and off like a light. It varies progressively like a tide.
Even when my neighbors are on vacation. And I live in a single family house, no roomies.

The group line monitor never sleeps, testing ping times and packet loss 24/7/365.
An even better test is "Smokeping". This one is incredible for resolution and trending.
It's also available at DLSReports.com but is more complicated to setup and read.
The advantages of both tests are in the accurate time base and storage of the results.

[bobrk]

Nice analysis. Unfortunately, my DSL is in an older 100 year old neighborhood with none of the lights or AM station interference that you mention. I also have a DSLReports smoke ping running:

http://www.dslreports.com/r3/smokeping. ... 66b287.CA1

which shows pretty much the same data...

[krellan]

I had that problem happen at a previous house, as well. DSL worked great, except in the evening hours.

The problem ended up being a dimmer lamp in a bedroom. Other residents of the house would turn this on before going to bed, and it was noisy, and killed my DSL. I offered to buy them new lamps, and then the problem went away

A good trick to help locate the source of this is to use an AM radio. Tune it all the way down on the dial, as low as it will go, so it's quiet because there's no stations down that far (around 520 kHz, on most radios). You should hear quiet static. Now, walk around the house with the radio, turning the radio in different directions, listening for any changes in the static, especially if it starts buzzing. There's your interference! Unplug the offending device, and your DSL in the evening should become much better.

[dlbaynecpa]

I have found many forums with similar complaints. This is one of them.

http://forums.att.com/t5/Email-Internet ... -p/2018421

According to Sonic tech support, AT&T will not make a service call after 4:00pm. And if there is no problem I will incur a service charge. So if Sonic cannot convince AT&T to at least investigate my problem during the hours when there is a problem, I doubt that I have any hope of solving it.

[Paul]

Seeing this latest reply to the thread I started in January prompted me to add this.
My performance has improved. I gave up on using my DSL at night (not a problem for me). I don't know when the improvement started. I have tested my connection in the evening a few times, since late July. The Line Quality and Java Speed Tests (@DSLReports.com) show much less evening slowdown than in late 2011.
Last week the daytime and evening speed (at about 10:30 pm) was almost the same; 1.3M down/325K up. I remain capped at 1.5M nominal by choice. This is not a 2+ month study as was reported in January, just some random tests. As far as I know no work has been done, nor has anything changed except speed, latency, and packet loss.
HMMMM!
Dane and Sonic tech support both suggested this could happen, due to AT&T basic DSL customers migrating to Uverse, cable, wireless, etc. I understand we may hear tomorrow from AT&T about the future of basic DSL service over their copper wires. Isn't that something.
STAY TUNED, FILM AT 11!
By the way, an AT&T tech did a 6:30 pm call at my home in late December 2011, but that was then.
I'm still a Sonic customer.

[klui]

I understand we may hear tomorrow from AT&T about the future of basic DSL service over their copper wires. Isn't that something.
STAY TUNED, FILM AT 11!

That's interesting. Didn't know about this.

http://stopthecap.com/2012/09/20/atts-f ... ember-7th/

Does anyone know what rural and tier two-smaller city actually means? Do any cities in the SF Bay Area qualify? I have no need to subscribe to U-verse but am hopeful Sonic can make some inroads to people who are served by RTs.

[dce007]

I have been looking over the forums for information regarding intermitant DSL problems.
I tried all the usual - powering on and off, checking cables, running dedicated lines, replacing routers and DSL modems,
I moved the devices away from the wall switch dimmer, I even changed providers. I seemed to have great speed sometimes and less than dial up all to often.

I found the problem.

My home has dimmers in almost every room, most are used for primary lighting.

I turned on every light that is not dimmer controlled and turned off every dimmer. The speed jumped from .2MBPS to 3.7MBPS

I experimented with all of the dimmers. Some over 50 feet away. ANY dimmer cuts the speed dramatically.
I can watch the speed change by moving a dimmer control while performing the Sonic speed test.

I can't believe no tech support has suggested this before. I believe the interference may be transmitted over the power supply lines back through the electric panel. Not good news if you live in a multi family dwelling.

Perhaps a small power conditioning UPS unit at the computer and modem would work if your neighbors are close.

Good luck

[dane]

I also have dimmers throughout my home, but they are modern and haven't seemed to cause any issues. I use these:
http://www.smarthome.com/2477D/SwitchLi ... ite/p.aspx