Whitby Shores Community Forums

Any other Sympatico users experiencing downtime like I am? Every day at 4:30 (like clockwork) my service goes completely down and stays down between 3 to 4 1/2 hours. I suspect this is a central office capacity problem considering the regularity and timing. Called in and complained last night. They said it'll be fixed by Tuesday. Not holding out a lot of hope there. Just wanted to get other's experience so when I call back to complain again on Tuesday I'll have something to talk to.

So does your DSL go down or just througput? When it is happening take a look at the DSL modem and see if it is constantly re-training (no DSL synch light). If that is the case then there are CO or last mile issues most likely. If the DSL synch light remains solid then it's capacity issues. Like all other ISPs Bell has implemented P2P throttling which begins at 4:30 and goes up in increments until just after midnight. However, if you're not running P2P traffic you should not notice any impact.

Jabber.

Oh boy, DSL issues in Whitby Shores - I've had lots of them. How long has this been going on for that you've noticed?

The reason for this could be one of many... and Bell probably doesn't want to tell you exactly what's going on.

It could be P2P throttling as jabber mentioned, but not all ISPs do this. I for one am with an excellent DSL provider called TekSavvy who don't screw around with my packets - in fact, they just bumped my monthly transfer cap from 100GB to 200GB for nothing and they still offer true unlimited service.

Bell is always going around and updating hardware, and sometimes they don't care when they do this - since DSL isn't considered an "essential" service. They regularly check line quality at the DSLAM (the hardware on the other end of your phone line that gives you your DSL connection) and increase people's speeds when possible. I would imagine they're also ramping up for DSL2...

Since it's always happening to you at the same time, at least you can rule out line problems. This subdivision has more than its fair share of those due to the wet nature of the surroundings.

Hate to tell you this VreHost but Tekksavvy is a wholesaler going through Bell equipment. Different domain and access method (L2TP as opposed to direct PPP) but still riding on Bell devices. As for when Bell does network upgrades, barring a major outage there are very clear guidelines as to when equipment can be touched.

Adsl2+ has been out for quite some time now but distance limitations exist. The DSLAMs in use are ADSL2+ capable with speeds up to 22 Mbps.

I very much doubt DSL issues that regular in nature would be caused by water given the fact that sealing current is in regular use (hence the term dry loop DSL).

Let's wait to hear back from MB to see if there is synch at all times...

Jabber.

Umm... I know, thanks. In my opinion, that's a good thing

I'm also interested to see what happens...

It's been happening for about 3-4 weeks now. The DSL light remains solid. Had a Bell Tech come out to my house, only problem was they didn't make an appointment and I wasn't home ... they just showed up. Haven't heard back from them since.

You guys seem to know a LOT about this. I know some but not to this level. What's P2P throttling?

As the DSL light remains solid we can conclude that DSL stays up and it's only the speed that goes down. It's most likely due to usage and time of day but it might be due to P2P (peer to peer apps like Bit Torrent, file sharing, Kazaa etc...) throttling if you do any of that. This is pretty much the norm on the Internet these days. Very few large ISPs can get around it. Demand is far out stripping supply. It could be the result of congestion on the backhaul from the DSLAM to the aggregation switch (most likely) or congestion on the link from the BRAS to the core (least likely). If your traffic is leaving Bell's network then the BXs could be congested (somewhat likely).

When this is happening (ie: after 4:30PM) go to chi.speakeasy.net and do a speed test. Let us know what the results are. Then you can do the same when speeds are good. That way when you call Sympatico you will have some hard data to share with them.

The only thing you can really do is ask to be moved to a Compact Remote which is closer to your house and is most likely using GigE as the backhaul. This should rule out any backhaul congestion issues. Bell will do this if you ask so don't take no for an answer...

Jordan.