Broadband Connection Blues

The BT Broadband has been down all morning. It went off some time 3 or 4 am. The little green light flashing forever as it tries to synchronise with BT's servers. We have been down this road before, last time it took 12 weeks to sort. We have a business connection, you pay more you are supposed to get better service. Since we have a business on The Internet we have to have a connection. Although at our level a couple of visits to an Internet Cafe a day would keep us going.
Last time it was an intermittent problem , some times on, sometimes off for 6 or 8 hours. The gremlins would make sure it worked while the BT man was at the house but would cut in once he left. In the end it was traced to the ADSL Router by me. My background is engineering so I have difficulty putting a hammer through offending equipment.

We have 4 computers networked to The Internet. I am the reluctant IT man.

A visit to PC World always brings an inward smirk though. Two people at checkout, 15 people at the technical desk. Computers are not white goods.

So I have touched nothing our end. You ring up the BT Status Line 0800 1690199. The robot male voice says there are no problems at this time........ Bloody Lies you think.

Then its onto BT Help Line. The girl has a process to go through, we have been through this one 30 times before. We like to speak to people with clear English and an understanding of our culture. Sometimes the Indian or Scottish technical people can be hard going. BT appear to have an awful lot of Scottish support staff.

So we have this merry dance. Do we have line filters, what other equipment is connected, can you turn off computer and restart, will you turn off the ADSL Router, on and on. We give up, the modem is still flashing green, we have work.

The nightmare scenario is an intermittent fault on the outside line. BT Broadband and BT Wholesale are strangers who do not appear to like one another. BT Wholesale look after the line network. BT Broadband have to get BT Wholesale to test the line. ( I think). The exchange computers have all the data on their servers, they know exactly when you are cut off and when it comes back on. They know that you have been cut off 1745 times in the last 24 hours, its all there.

Whilst out we grasp at straw ends with the help of Yellow Pages ring up 3 local companies.

1. Media Field Rhosddu. helpful but its £60 for a new asdl router
2. Chester Computer Centre, Saltney. This guy has an attitude probem, no they dont sell BT Modems which he says are cheap and cheerful but talks to us as if we are asking for rubbish.
The problem here is that we are with BT, non BT kit can attract extra fees from BT if it breaks down as it is not theirs.
Also the BT Voyager 205 ADSL router requires no CD and has a very simple set up and can be bought off Ebay for under a tenner, if you have a connection.................................
3. Proteus Computers Mold. Very good. Says it might be the filter. Perhaps a power surge. We have friends near Caerwys who are currently down after the lightning. Undo all the line filters and plug it back in. If it synchs up its the line filter which has acted as a protector for the modem.
Their web address http://www.proteuscomputers.com/

So we return home to try this out. Into the office the green light is steady. Its synchronising, its fixed hooray!

No it isnt, no internet but its synching but progress made I am encouraged.

Lisa phones BT again. Can we have the procedure for setting up modem? I've lost the settings I think when I did a hard reset on the back of modem with a paper clip.

So its open a browser and type in the address line 192.168.1.1 and press return which brings up this. Click here.

Type in your BT Username and password and off you go , no drivers needed.

Normality returns to the household.

My thoughts. BT all along. If I had left the computers, gone out and came back lunch time everything would have been working.
BT robots says no problems
BT Help test line says no problems.

Not correct.......................................