I just signed on with SBC Yahoo DSL. I diligently read all the instructions and installed the modem without any problems. Hooray for DSL!
The next day the modem kept disconnecting and then finally wouldn’t connect at all. I checked all the cords and plugs and filters. Everything was tight. I called SBC support and went through the whole testing rigamarole. They think that the DSL modem is encountering electrical interference from the CPU. So I pulled the CPU and modem as far apart as they would stretch. Now the DSL stays connected for about 20 minutes at a time, disconnects, power cycles, then reconnects.
My question (along with my plea for help) is, Is electrical interference a reasonable explanation and do I need to get longer cords to keep everything separated? I have an ethernet card in my CPU, the modem is 2Wire, and I’m running Windows XP. Any help would be appreciated!
I had a similar problem a few years ago and seperating the modem from the CPU worked for me. I never really understood why that was.
You mentioned that the modem power cycled. What did you mean by that? You physically turned it off and then on, or all the lights went out and came back on, or what? The modem shouldn’t be “power cycling” itself. You might have a bad piece of hardware there.
How far apart are they at this time? I have SBC Yahoo and my modem is perhaps 24" away from the computer.
A couple of additional sources from this Earthlink site
*Some 900 MHz phones and halogen lamps may interfere with a DSL signal. If you are using any of these devices, try unplugging them. If unplugging one of these devices allows your modem to receive a DSL signal, try plugging the device into an outlet on a different electrical circuit (this may eliminate any interference).
Computer monitors and stereo speakers may interfere with a DSL signal. If your DSL modem is on top of a monitor or speaker, try moving it.*
Also,I did not like is the connection software that comes with SBC. It seemed to be the source of disconnection problems when I first used it. I installed a router and used the software that came with that and the connection smoothed right out. You might want to get one for security issues as well.
It’s actually cycling on its own. The modem will disconnect, then the Power light will come back on, the Local Network light will blink and blink and then come back on, then the same thing for Broadband.
They’re about a foot and a half apart - as far as I could separate them without longer cords. The phone isn’t near the modem, but it is in the same dual line thingy as the modem. Could that be causing a problem? I was planning on getting a wireless router this month - hopefully that will help.
I just tracked down an IT guy here at work - he recommended replacing the power strip to get a better connection.
Hmm, I’m no expert, but that doesn’t sound like normal behavior. You might want to contact your tech support again and ask for a new modem. The people at Broadband Reports are usually pretty good at this type of thing. You might want to ask in their SBC YAHOO forum.