There are a lot of really smart people in my network, so I’m hoping someone might have some thoughts on avenues I might explore, tests I might run or potential root causes for an issue I’ve been having for about 4 weeks that I’ve been unable to resolve.
Symptoms
The issue surrounds the browsing and loading of websites and as such is fundamentally impacting my ability to work online at the moment. The symptoms occur quite frequently and are highly consistent in nature. When you attempt to load a web page one of 3 things will occur:
- The page will time out, displaying a Cannot Find Server message
- The page will load without rendering the CSS Style Sheets or images
- The page will load properly, but will take a very long time to do so
These symptoms are most noticeable during the day and worsen even further at night and occur even when only one computer or device is using the connection and online (it’s particularly bad when two people are online). In the early morning the symptoms are not nearly as extreme.
System Spec
- ISP: People Telecom
- Connection Speed: 1.5 mbps download / 256 kbps upload
- Devices Affected: 4 – two laptops (1 dual-booting Mac/XP, 1 straight XP); 1 dual-booting Ubuntu/XP desktop; 1 iPod Touch
- Browsers Affected: Internet Explorer; Firefox; Chrome
- LAN set-up: Broadband modem through hub to Wireless Router (feeding laptops and iPod Touch) and secondary switch (feeding desktop)
Findings to Date
In troubleshooting this issue I have looked at and/or attempted a number of different things:
- Restarted all components in LAN chain
- Disconnected and reconnected to the ISP through the router’s admin interface
- Restarted all machines
- Used only one machine with all others turned off
- Booted into alternative operating systems (Mac, Linux, XP) or used different browsers
- Contacted People Telecom
The representative I spoke with at People Telecom ran a line test while I was on the phone and indicated that everything appeared in order from what she could see.
Interestingly, I have also noticed that downloads are coming through at full speed; it’s just the loading of web pages that is currently affected.
This issue is occurring cross-browser, cross platform, affecting all devices in the LAN, appearing to worsen during certain periods and lessening during others; according to my ISP the line appears working properly, downloads are coming through at full speed – and yet the issue has been occurring for over a month now.
Questions
- Is it possible that there are settings conflicts taking place here between devices in the LAN? Could conflicts occur cross-platform?
- Is it possible that the issue lay with the phone company, Telstra, who own the line that People Telecom is using to provide the internet access?
- Could it be a hardware issue in one of the components in the LAN (broadband modem, hub, wireless router, switch)?
- Am I losing my mind?
I’m continuing to troubleshoot this issue and (as God as my witness) will eventually locate the cause of the problem. However ANY assistance people might be willing to offer, or any suggestions, similar experiences or enlightenment you might share would be greatly appreciated.
Wish me luck…
Hi Mike–
I've been experiencing nearly identical symptoms halfway across the globe. What I've been doing when I have connectivity problems is to restart only one component in the chain. It's starting to look like I may have router issues, because most of the time restarting the router (and nothing else) fixes the problem.
Now if only I knew enough about routers to further diagnose the problem other than by just buying a new router.
Must be something in the air
One thing that might be of use to you, I spoke with my ISP yesterday and they suggested I isolate the internet connection (e.g. unplug the phone line temporarily) and retest everything. Her implication was that sometimes the phone signal can interfere with the connection.
If after removing the phone from the equation the internet connection immediately improves it may be an issue with the phone line, in which case you could request a more detailed line test.
In my case she said it's worth running this test before they escalate the issue to the phone company, because if it turns out that the phone line is perfectly fine and the cause is related to something within the LAN we have to pay $100 for the request.
Haven't tried this test yet though, so I don't know what the results are. Watch this space – I'll post an update as soon as I can.
Good luck to us both!
Interesting–in my case phone & ISP are the same (only choice for phone/DSL here is AT&T). My connection problems are fairly intermittent, which adds to the difficulty in troubleshooting.
That's interesting to hear. Were your ISP and phone company the same or different?
My wife noticed on two occasions that Skype calls between my daughter and her friend dropped out the second she answered the cordless phone. It may be a coincidence granted, but it's a very strange symptom nonetheless. Such a pain in the butt regardless! I normally am quite patient with troubleshooting technical problems, but this is getting old LOL.
RE: @mbogle Hi Mike–
I’ve been experiencing nearly identical symptoms halfway across the globe. What I’ve been doin… http://disq.us/1o7a
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
RE: @tidmarshm Must be something in the air
One thing that might be of use to you, I spoke with my ISP yesterday an… http://disq.us/1oq5
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
RE: That’s interesting to hear. Were your ISP and phone company the same or different?
My wife noticed on two occ… http://disq.us/1oup
This comment was originally posted on Twitter