Noisy line - UV Realtime pics [ Edited ]

[rottielover]

Hoping to catch SomeJoe's attention...   Apologize in advance if these pic's don't come out right, first post.

Profile Page

Error Table

Interfaces

Bitloading

As I understand the documentation, this is a very noisy line...  Remarkably, I'm still pulling 11.5 ish down and 1 up on speedtest.net

What if anything should I look into as far as correcting things?

2nd question on the Channels / Streams tab:   I'm running a config as referanced in your section 3, router behind gateway.  I have a Dlink DGL-4500 "gaming" router, capable of some limited multicast routing.  Just wondering if there's anything that can be done so that I can have my cake and eat it too (see the STB's even though I have a router between my PC and the gateway)...   With the capabilities of this router, I would think I should be able to get it working...

[gregzoll_1]

Are you on a Bonded pair? Your error table is clean, but the IP/Profile is definitely showing that may possibly need to go with a Bonded pair. As for the dlink gaming router, I really see no need to use it, because personally what is it going to do, other than if you want to separate a set of computers on the LAN behind a wall, that other devices that you do not want them to have access to.

[rottielover]

Bonded pair - no idea, how do I know? 

Extra router - QoS, Dyn DNS  not to mention I have much better control over what's behind it than I do with the 2Wire gateway...

Plus I get the added benifit of UV Realtime's "usage" counter by having all my pc's and other devices behind that router.

[gregzoll_1]

Yes, if you are having people do stuff like torrents or watching youtube, but other than that, a off the shelf router is worthless. If you want really good control for traffic shaping, check out pfSense. It is a Linux Router project, and gives more control for you, and some other things.

As for bonded pair, http://www.multichannel.com/article/454799-U_verse_Gets_Into_Bonding.php Contact David about your situation with the IP/Profile tab that you are seeing. I sent you a Private Message on how to see about getting the problem that is showing in the IP/Profile tab.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

Something's not right ... at 2300' you should be getting at least 32 Mbps of max rate. Your line is getting you only 25 Mbps of max rate, which is 2 standard deviations below average for your distance (bottom 3% of all lines at your distance).

I would wager there's a bridge tap, grounding problem, or something like that. Call tech support, have them send a premises tech, have him open a helper ticket with I&R (linesmen) to come condition the line and get the max rate up.

If they can't get the max rate up, they'll have to lower the profile to 19/2 which would limit your simultaneous HD channels and maximum available internet package.

The only way to get channels/streams to work behind another router is to use a switch that has a mirroring port capability in front of your router. This is what I do at home. I'll diagram this and post it here later.

[rottielover]

Excellent idea on the mirrior port, should have thought of that...

Anyway, I just ran pingtest.net's test and got this:

I found a phone # for level 2 support, should I go ahead and call them?  Last time I tried to go thru level 1 it wasn't pretty ...   Any advice on how to speak with the tech (keywords that should be used) like "premisis tech" and "I&R" or am I just going to sound too petty...

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

Are you also having issues with TVs freezing or having pixelation? The best thing to do when talking with tech support is to focus on the service problems, not necessarily the technical readings. When the U-Verse premises tech gets there then you can mention the tech readings to him.

[rottielover]

Thanks again.  Let us know when you get that diagram done

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek · Accepted solution]

Here's a diagram showing how you can set it up so that Channels/Streams works behind another router.

2Wire RG
   Coax  ------------ DVR/STB #1
   Eth 1 ------------ STB #2
   Eth 2 ------------ STB #3
   Eth 3
   Eth 4 ----+
             |        NetGear
             |        GS-108T              D-Link
             |        Switch               DGL-4500
             +---------- Eth 1             Router
                         Eth 2 -------------- WAN
                         Eth 3                LAN 1 -------- Computer 1
                         Eth 4                LAN 2 -------- Computer 2
                         Eth 5                LAN 3
                         Eth 6                LAN 4 ---+
                         Eth 7                         |
                         Eth 8 ------------------------+

NetGear GS-108T Ethernet port 8 is set to be the mirror port for Ethernet port 1.  Multicast packets coming into the NetGear switch on port 1 from the 2Wire RG are mirrored and repeated out port 8, which enters your LAN through port 4 of the D-Link.  Your computers can now see the necessary multicast report packets that the STBs sent out, yet no IPTV stream comes to the NetGear switch or the D-Link thanks to IGMP snooping on the 2Wire.

To make sure this works right, it's imperative that the RG's LAN is a different IP subnet than your D-Link's LAN.  You probably have already set it up this way, but if it's not, your computers will bypass your D-Link when attempting to reach the Internet.  If you really want to make sure nothing can bypass the D-Link, you can also configure the NetGear switch to put port 8 in a separate VLAN with a separate PVID.

[rottielover]

A tech will be out this Wednesday to check the line.

So I take it that your UV Realtime does not issue an IGMP join request?  It "listens in" for the multicast traffic, is that right?

The reason I ask is that my D-Link 4500 GL supports Multicast (they call it "Enable Multicast Streams") it even reports the following:

IGMP Multicast memberships

Multicast Group Address

224.0.0.252

224.0.0.251

224.0.1.60

239.255.255.250 Given that the router WAN port is seeing the streams, and I can enable this function, it stands to reason that I should be allowed to see the traffic.  However even when I put my desktop into the DMZ (unfiltered all WAN traffic hit's that port) I don't pickup the streams.  I'm guessing it's not quite as simple as turning off IGMP Snooping and letting the Multicast get turned into "broadcast" traffic on my internal swich .... So given that I've placed the desktop into the "unrestricted group" yet I still can't see the stream, the only thing I can think of is that there is no way to disable IGMP Snooping on this router, therefore the only way to see the stream data would be for my desktop machine to issue an IGMP Join ... Please let me know if I'm off base here.     I've got a switch on order, but I figured I'd give this router a go and see if I couldn't find the magic combo ....

[rottielover]

I apologize, I just had a chance to skim over your PDF doc and of course, you've mentioned in there that Uverse equipment is not infact issuing a standard multicast join message....

Question: So even if you have equipment that supports multicast (IE the D-Link 4500, or you get your hands on enterprise level equiment that has IGMP Snooping), you're going to get the same results I did, and until you can mirror the port over,  does that sound about correct?       I'll qualify that by saying that on the enterprise level switch you'd have to disable IGMP snooping thus causing the multicast streams to broadcast to all ports on the device...

It's a bit disappointing, otherwise some of us could have used various equipment to put our STB's behind other devices and layout the house wiring a bit better...  oh well....

[rottielover]

Update: Premises tech's were out (they sent two).  They took my 2wire gateway and ups battery backup for it and walked down to the post in the neighbor's yard and hooked it up out there.

They came back, said they were still seeing the crosstalk on the line, and that they would need to open a ticket with the linemen to get it checked out and fixed.

I kinda felt bad telling him that when I spoke to T2 on Monday to setup the appointment I told them to create the helper ticket then....   Oh well, he says that they will be out "probably tomorrow" to fix the line and that I should be getting a follow up call sometime in the next couple of days.

Side note, they did replace the grounding block on the ATT service box on the outside of the house. 

oddly, I think things got slightly worse...    Power level is now highlighted in orange in UVRealtime and is at 12.6.  Line capacity has increased from 99.6 to 99.9, bits in use went up to 122.9 ...

I admit these aren't huge numbers here, but the summary is that for now, they made things just slightly worse... 

Guess I'll have to see what the next couple of day's brings.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

In order to have multicast packets cross a router, the router must run some type of multicast routing protocol, like PIM, or must run simultaneous routing and bridging (bridge multicast but route unicast).

It's easier and requires much less configuration to simply set up the switches to bridge like I've shown.

[rottielover]

Now what? Uverse side submitted line ticket, linemen said "tested no issues" uverse side closed my ticket.

Everything on UVRealtime is the same, problem still there. But this time Level 2 says "all my tests are green sir". Really?? My bitloading is awful there's still crosstalk but everything's fine?!?

[rottielover]

Update:  3 calls to Tier 2 and a few tests with "ufix.att.com"  I managed to get a T2 who listened to me...

The next set of Uverse Techs were here again this afternoon.  This time he tells me that he's un-willing to open a line ticket becuase they get in trouble if they open tickets with line and there are no issues.

So instead they replaced my old original 2Wire Gateway with the new slick looking black one.

Stats;

Error Page:

Bit Loading:

As you can see my bit loading appears better than it was with the new router, but I have taken some errors now, and "ufix.att.com" still says I have an issue with my line.

I just can't understand why it is that AT&T own internal Tech tools are reporting "Crosstalk" on the line, yet they are unwilling to fix it.

The Uverse tech out this afternoon told me that his tests did not show any bridge taps, and that all my stats look fine and that I'm in the top 10% for speed in my area ......

I'm totally perplexed....

[rottielover]

Also have noted that I'm now unable to get greater than 13 mb down on my 18mb down service....

Prior to the gatway swap I could test at 17 1/2 with speedtest... 

NOTE: original speed test from my opening post was before I tried upgrading to 18 meg service, it was still set to 12.   In the middle of all this I upgraded it hoping that would spur action on AT&T's part.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

You still have a bridge tap on the line.  The 3801HGV is a better unit, but it's just masking the true problem.

Click the tab in my signature below that says AT&T Links, and on that signature panel there is a link that says AT&T Social Media Support Team. This will take you to a page with contact information for David, who is a tier 2 specialist. Follow the directions there to e-mail him, he will get to the bottom of the problem.

[rottielover]

Acknowleged.   I've sent a properly formatted email to David's contact address.

Thank you again for your help with this matter!   I will be sure to come back and post an update soon!

[ATTAlexCM]

---

rottielover wrote:

Acknowleged.   I've sent a properly formatted email to David's contact address.

Thank you again for your help with this matter!   I will be sure to come back and post an update soon!

---

Thank you SomeJoe7777!

@rottielover - If we can help, please shoot me a Private Message.

Regards,

Alex

[rottielover]

PM sent, thanks!

[rottielover]

Well, after speaking with managers, level 2, and having the same UVerse tech come back out, here's where I stand:

Thursday they replaced the modem, Saturday Level 2 tested and said they saw something and needed to send the tech back.  The same Tech as Thursday came back said that all the tests are showing fine now.

As you can see from the screenshots above, the data from the router remains the same.

I honestly haven't used the Uverse service very much since Thursday, I've been very busy these last few days.  I plan to try and watch a lot of HD shows this week and use the internet a lot, and we'll see how the service holds up I guess.  If there is some kind of issue with my line, it would appear that it's more difficult to find than ANYONE imagined.

[rottielover]

Here is the bitloading screenshot a few minutes later, I got an incomming phone call and the call was dropped mid-conversation.  I do not know if the call dropped due to issues on my end or the caller's end.  They called back and it was fine.

I've got a bunch of HD show's scheduled for this week.  I guess I'll see how I'm doing in the next few days....

[rottielover]

Had more issues this week. Phone calls dropped and HD pixels, even got dropped from an online game session.

I heard from T2 a few days ago that they would continue to look into my issues.

Thus far my UV Realtime stats look the same as I posted above. I've done the standard stuff like restarting my router. Hope they can track down the issue.

Just want to say a big Thank You to those at AT&T that have been working on this. Unfortunately you seem to be carrying the ball for a couple of individuals that say things like "well your service is good enough".

[rottielover]

I have not gotten a status update on my issue yet.  Could someone please ask that nice Manager to ask about a status and have someone let me know what's going on??

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

Please send a private message to ATTAlexCM, he can check the status for you.

[rottielover]

Thank you,  I sent the PM

[rottielover]

Sorry, another question SomeJoe...   Please take a look at these screenshots and give me your opinion...

Profile:

Bitloading:

Thanks!

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

OK, that looks a lot better. Please post the Error Table tab also.

[rottielover]

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

OK, well, it looks like there have not been any significant errors for 7+ hours, which is good, but there were some other errors earlier.

What you might want to do is clear the error stats on the modem by going to this page:

http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=C_1_0

and clicking the "Reset Statistics" button at the bottom. Then wait 48-72 hours for error stats to be collected, then post another shot of the Error Table tab. That will tell us if the errors are now fixed or are still intermittently occurring.