> I too have an ASUS external (with probably the current firmware).
> I've used it from three locations around Auckland (Ellerslie, One Tree Hill
> and now Mt Wellington). In Ellerslie and One Tree Hill I had Telecom(GDC)
> terminate/split the connection, while at Mt Wellington I elected to use
> filters on the phones (didn't know where the computer was going to end up).
>
> In both Ellerslie and One Tree Hill I had minor problems with dropouts
> (usually both the DSL and the PPP would drop), but Telecom turned up the
> gain(?) on the ?SLAM and it was fine from there on .

At my current address I could not stay connected for long on my ADSL line.
Telecom increased the signal to noise ration and all the problems went away.
When I first moved in I had only a computer connected to the line - no phone,
no filter, no splitter etc. I now have a DSE filter. I can be connected and use
the phone (with or without the filter) and things are great. If I do it without
the filter then there is some retraining but no disconnections. I am using an
AUSUS Internal modem.

 
> Since I've been in Mt Wellington, I've had no end of problems. I get
> frequent dropouts (usually both DSL and PPP), often in "clumps". Evenings
> are usually worst. The connection will stay up all day and then die 12+
> times in an hour... Telecom (GDC) have rewired the house to the pole
> outside, used a different pair to the exchange, rewired the jackpoints in
> the house, rewired the house. (It's been >5 months now) While the
> situation has improved, it's still not great, since it always seems to go
> down, just when you need it the most... Telecom (GDC) are apparently unable
> to turn up the gain(?) on the ?SLAMs anymore, since (apparently) the newer
> Alcatel gear uses profiles, which can't be tailored for a single port. Oh,
> and we seem to have some cross talk on our phone, with the neighbours, but
> Telecom can't seem to track that down either. Probably related :)

Prior to getting ADSL I lived in the country. I could not stay connected from
midday to about 11pm at night. My modem was a good one (US Robotics
Courier V Everything). Telecom rewired the house, the street to the house,
the exchange and gave me a new card in the exchange. They said that no one
else was having problems with their phones. The locals told me that they have
a crap service but that is the price you pay for living in the country. I told Telecom
this and they decided to test other lines. Everyone had bad lines. The concept
of pairs did not exist. One wire to my house was coming from one direction
on the local loop and the other wire was from the other direction. They rewired
the village - gave people pairs etc - and replaced a few iffy sections of cable
and suddenly everything was great. Before that we all had cross talk and high
pitched whistles on the lines. Crosstalk with another Internet connection and
high pitched whistles are not good for staying connected.

 
> Lessons learned: ASUS seems to need a higher gain(?) than normal. Filters
> don't really cut it. The new Alcatel gear either sucks, or Telecom aren't
> willing to bend a little (why not set up a profile for users that need a
> higher gain(?)?)

Filters/splitters are not needed for your ADSL line - they are only needed for the
other equipment. Try using nothing - see if that helps.

What speed are you connected at? I have 672 down and 4416 up. Before Telecom
tweaked my line I got 7000+ up and something way higher than 672 down. The
fact that I can only get 128 is either direction means that the loss is not noticeable.

You could try faxing FaxRight on the line - do a few faxes - see if the results are
consistent. It they are not then Telecom will have something more solid to fix.
For me, in both cases, this was what ended up convincing Telecom that there was
a problem.

Chrissy

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