madasafish broadband connection problems

rabbie69

Recently changed ISPs and beginning to wish I hadn't. MAF broadband just not working. Have phoned their Tech. Support 4/5 times now. Each guy gives me different advice: Plug in the ethernet cable/don't plug in the ethernet cable etc. The wireless router has been unplugged/reset more times than I care to think about. Oh, and I am running Vista on a brand new Dell computer.Have uninstalled my Virus protection and now only have IE firewall.
The B/band connection lasts sometimes only for a few seconds then either goes down or I get a message -IE cannot display this web page-.
Sometimes the little internet symbol down on right hand corner tells me I have only a local connection (no internet). Have been round the houses on this one and its driving me nuts. I need to be able to access the intenet for work apart from anything else.
Has any one else had such problems, and more importantly, can anyone offer any advice? Sometimes I think it will be something very simple.....but I'm just not seeing it.
Best wishes everyone.
Rabbie

gorblimeyguvnor

If you have a BT socket like the one shown here then plug in your router to the test socket as per fig 3 (suggest using ethernet rather than wireless for these tests to eliminate problem areas).
Post your line stats , up/down attenuation (guide to loop length), snr margin (shows how much noise line can handle (ish)), sync speed, router make/model before and after doing the above, that might show where the problem is.
How long ago did you change to MAF? Take it it's not an upgrade from adsl to adsl max or llu in which case your line will be flaky for the first 10 days.
What speeds did you get before the change?

rabbie69

Hi, changeover on 18th Sept. Hasn't worked properly since. Techie guys all give me different advice, none of which works for long. Will have a look at the BT socket. Sat it out for the 10 days in the hope it would stabilise. But it hasn't.
Thanks,
Rabbie

Madasafish_Customer_Care

Hi Rabbie69,

I'd be happy to have a look into this for you. Could you please PM me your Madasafish username?

Also, could you please have a read through my guide to speeds up to 8Mb just to tick off all the points (ie. connecting from the master socket, one microfilter fitted to each phone socket that is in use, no long telephone extensions running between the master socket and the router) etc.

If you're not staying connected to the Internet, the first thing that I would always check is that you've got one microfilter fitted to every phone socket that is in use.

I’ve written this post as a guide to walk through everything that will be asked of you for basic troubleshooting should you call our support centre for assistance with your speeds. If you know the answers to these questions and follow these steps prior to calling in it should save you some time (and possibly a phone call).

Are you within the first 10 days of your ‘go live’ date?
When you first start your broadband with speeds up to 8Mb it’s important that you turn off your router/modem and then turn it on again. This will ensure that your router/modem will synchronise when it connects to the new faster service. The 10 day stabalisiation period will commence after you have connected at the new rate for a period greater than 15 minutes. If you do not restart your router/modem, your connection speed will remain the same as you had previously.

During the 10 day period, we recommend that you leave your router on all the time. The computer doesn’t need to be on, just the router.

During the stabilisation period you might experience slow speeds or intermittent connection issues. Unfortunately we will not be able to raise a fault or undertake any technical assistance in relation to these queries until the 10 day period is complete, or unless you experience a complete loss of service. Should your speeds not be satisfactory by day 11 please get in touch with us.

Microfilters
Check that every phone socket in your house that is in use has a microfilter fitted to it. Remember to include phone sockets that are being used for Sky TV boxes and FAX machines.

Microfilters can be problematic if you are using a faulty one. Faulty microfilters will impact your speeds and you will get disconnections. To check your microfilters to see if you’ve got a faulty one, unplug everything from all phone sockets in the house, test each filter from the test port from within your master socket by connecting to the Internet. If you get a substantially lower sync using one of the filters you’ve found your faulty one and it will need to be replaced.

Master Socket
Internal wiring can influence the end speeds that you receive. If you are getting slower speeds than expected and you’re connecting from an extension socket, please move your set up to the master socket and see if your sync rates improve. If they do leave it there for three days to see if the speeds improve. If the speeds do improve it may be time to look at getting a wireless router or a very long ethernet cable.

A further step if you don’t see any improvement from your master socket is to connect from the test socket that exists within your master socket and see if the sync rates improve from that location. If the sync rates improve, please stay connected to the test socket for three days and see if your speeds improve. If your speeds do improve from the test socket but not from the master socket it is most likely that your internal wiring is causing the problem and you will need to get your local phone person out to fix it. Make sure you test out everything else first (such as microfilters) before you get the phone person in!

Hardware
Get up to date with the latest drivers or firmware for your broadband modem/router. Most hardware manufacturers have the latest drivers available on their websites for download; we recommend that you make sure that your drivers are up to date .

Apple Macintosh
I love Macs and I use one at home. If you’re a Mac user do not connect to the internet using a USB connection – treat yourself to a router that’s got an ethernet cable and use that to connect. If you’re a Mac user and you’re interested in signing up for our services our free router has both a USB and an Ethernet port. Please use the Ethernet cable to connect!

If you do continue to use a USB connection please be aware that we’ve seen problems with the Apple Mac and the Voyager 105 – if you’re using this combination of equiptment, please download the latest 105 drivers from our Website. Or even better; get an Ethernet router!

Speed Tests
In the instance all of the above doesn’t point towards the cause of the problem, you’ll need to get in touch with us. Before you do, run a few speed tests at different times of day through the speed tester located in “My Account”. The speed tests that you run will become a permanent part of your account records and this will expedite the process of raising faults if you’ve done this before you call us. During the time that we’re dealing with your query I would recommend performing a speed test daily.

Change in Your Sync Speeds
If your sync rates decrease, your throughput speeds will immediately decrease too. If your sync rate increases, it will take three days for your throughput speeds to increase. Go figure.

If you see an increase in your sync rate please stay connected for three days and you should see an increase in your speeds; provided that the sync rate stays at that rate or higher.

Getting in Touch With Us
If you perform all the above troubleshooting and nothing seems to appear as the immediate cause of the problem, please call or email us. Should you write in please make sure to include all the troubleshooting that you’ve performed as outlined above, this will mean that we’ll be able to look at your speeds in greater depth straight away. Also, if you write into us, be sure to include your username so we can locate your account.

Please keep me posted and I'll do my best to get this back on track.

Kind regards,
Samara

gorblimeyguvnor

"Change in Your Sync Speeds
If your sync rates decrease, your throughput speeds will immediately decrease too. If your sync rate increases, it will take three days for your throughput speeds to increase"

If you are talking about BRAS Profiles you should probably be aware BT changed these from the 7th August.

“The current Max logic rules mean higher sync rates are required to be sustained for 3 days to invoke an upwards BRAS profile move, irrespective of the degree of line rate change. Adaptive Max Logic will look at the percentage of the line rate increase to determine the period before an upward BRAS profile change is implemented. A small percentage increase in line rate may mean a wait of up to 5 days to change the BRAS profile, but where a larger percentage change occurs, the BRAS profile could change within a very short time (4-6 hours).