Dropping connection

[#1]

As I've said before every night I lose a connection somewhere between 9pm and 11pm.  Tonight I have sat up until now and though I didn't note exactly the first time the connection dropped I believe it was around 11pm.
Twice more in the early hours I have dropped the connection.    This is really puzzling to me.  The wiring is correct and I checked the SNR immediately on reconnection and it was 7 or 7.5 dB (at the moment it's showing 6.5 dB's). 
I hoping that the new router and microfilters that will be coming as part of the changover to BBYW Option 3 may improve the situation as I'm at a loss to see what is wrong.
I never had this problem before until I upgraded to DSLMax in mid February.
It's more annoying than anything else.

[#2]

A new router may fix things depending on how good it is at maintaining sync with lower SNRs.
It may be that with your current router it has a problem if the SNR drops below 6dB and it drops the connection.

[#3]

Basically there isn't anything wrong. That's the way DSLMax is designed to work. Your router attempts to sync at the highest speed possible whilst maintaining a target 6db SNR. Noise usually increase slightly at night and so the SNR drops, the router starts to see the error rate increase as the SNR gets lower and eventually it loses sync and reconnects at a lower speed to give a better SNR.
Will your new router/filter improve things ? maybe. Some routers are better than other at handling errors at low SNR values so they may actually keep the connection up at around 6db whereas others will drop it. If your new router is compatible with the DMT tool then you can 'tweak' the target SNR ( look at this post http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php?topic=407.15 ). Setting the target upwards slightly to say 9db will give you a slightly slower speed but may eliminate the dropouts. With the DMT tool you can experiment to find a target SNR that gives you the best combination of speed versus dropout performance.

[#4]

Quote from: coastergrotto

… and I checked the SNR immediately on reconnection and it was 7 or 7.5 dB (at the moment it's showing 6.5 dB's).

As stated in a earlier post, after reconnection the SNR margin should always be around its target of 6db.  The important number is the sync speed/data rate/line speed - whatever it is called on your router.  Normally after disconnection that will reduce to restore the SNR margin back to 6db.  Seeing it as high as 7-7.5db strikes me as strange.
If the sync speed doesn't reduce when the connection is restored it suggests either your router is faulty or that there are sudden, brief bursts of noise on your line which cause loss of sync (hence disconnection), but have disappeared by the time your router re-syncs and reconnects.
Do you have a record of the sync speed history?

[#5]

Thanks all for your replies, I remember Ian, from the old forum when I first raised this issue.
I was rather frightened of messing about tweaking the SNR on the Belkin router as you suggested the last time as I didn't want to see the speed drop.
I'm moving from Premier to BBYW Option 3 on August 19th and should be getting the BT Voyager 2110 router in the next few days so I'm waiting to see if that, along with fitting the new microfilters supplied with it (I hope) makes any difference before attempting to make changes.
As regards synch speeds - It depends whether or not I connect via ethernet or wireless.  Wireless averages around 3700 kpbs whereas ethernet is around 5500 kpbs
Just run the BT Speedtester with the following result:
IP profile for your line is - 6000 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)  7616 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 4799 kbps
Please bear in mind that I'm no whizz kid and sometmes struggle with all the technical jargon used on these forums.
Having said that I'm always grateful for everyone's advice.

[#6]

Yes , wait and see what the 2110 performs like before changing anything. I've just checked and the DMT tool does work with the 2110 ( see here for guide to using with that router http://www.kitz.co.uk/tute/voyager2100_DMT.htm )
I know no-one wants their speed to drop but in reality with a sync speed like yours at 7616 a drop to say 7000 is not going to be very noticable and may be a small price to pay for a more stable line. You are unlikely to get a sustained IP throughput above 5000 anyway as you can see from your speed test.

[#7]

Thanks for that very helpful post Ian.
I'll see how everything goes with the new router first but I'll definitely download that DMT tool.

[#8]

You must have had a sync between 6816 and 7360kbps to get an IP Profile of 6000.  7616 which you have now will give 6500 (and it should automatically increase to that if you stay synced above 7392 for 3-5 days).  Sync speed shouldn't be affected by how you connect to the router, I assume the figures you mentioned are actually the "throughput".  You might be interested to read this post on the subject of wireless throughput being much less than Ethernet.
It will be interesting to hear your experiences with the new router and filters.

[#9]

I received my Voyager 2110 router just after lunch time today and have managed to get both laptops up and running on both wireless and ethernet connections and have enabled MAC control to restrict the use to my two laptops whether connected by wireless or ethernet.
Tonight should be the true test as last night with my Belkin Router I dropped connection 3 times at 9pm, 10.30pm and 00.53am.
The router stats currently are:
                              Downstream            Upstream 
Line Rate                8096 Kbps                448 Kbps 
Noise Margin              9.6 dB                    22.0 dB 
Line Attenuation        27.0 dB                  12.5 dB 
Output Power            19.8 dBm                11.8 dBm
The BT Speedtester gives the following result:
IP profile for your line is - 6000 kbps
    DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)  8096 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 5427 kbps
The following was achieved using the ethernet connection

This was achieved by wireless

I'm hoping that all will be well tonight.

[#10]

Hopefully I have but how do I check?  It says the BT Voyager 2110 is preset with wireless security using 128 -bit WEP and I entered the network key that was on the coloured label on the base of the router.
Is that sufficient?

[#11]

I think the Voyager 2110 comes with WEP enabled by default and having to enter the key confirms this.  There is usually a wireless network manager icon in the notification area by the clock, double-clicking this to open the application should show your connection status.  If you click View Wireless Networks it shows a list of networks available with a security message and type below its name.
WEP is regarded as poor (experts can crack it in a very short time); WPA-PSK is better (and WPA2-PSK better than that, but would need an XP patch).  I think the 2110 supports WPA-PSK but not WPA2-PSK.  Do you have a manual (on the CD?) to check?

[#12]

Thanks spraxyt.    I think it supports WPA-PSK (for Home/SOHO), though it shows me more options than that.  It then gives me a choice for Data Encryption - TKIP or AES or TKIP+AES
After that comes Format - Hexadecimal digits or ASC11 characters (this one has been pre-selected).
Now we come to the Pre-Shared key box which is empty,  What the heck do I put in there?  On my Belkin Router I just put in my password and it self generated a key.
Any help would be appreciated?
I didn't bother with putting the CD rom in - I just set everything up from the instructions.

[#13]

I'd certainly recommend changing to WPA-PSK.  I'd opt for AES encryption too, rather than TKIP; AES is used by the US Government.
Go for ASCII characters, easier to enter (and spaces & special characters are permitted).
The pre-shared key is a pass-phrase, anything you like but more secure if you make it a string of unconnected words with the odd typo; "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" is easier to guess once started than "Rain parice chocla%it Che&e@#seburgers albatross".  But re-typing that might be difficult, even when you know what it is.
Bear in mind you'll lose wireless connectivity once the change is committed, so best set up using Ethernet.  Then the wireless connection will need the same key entering.

[#14]

Thanks for that.  Glad you explained I had to put a phrase in the pre shaped key.  Does that self generate a key, or is the phrase itself the key?
I'll not be tackling this tonight though, too late!!  However I will do it whilst connected via ethernet tomorrow and go for WPA-PSK as you say and AES encryption.  Will I need to enter the same key on my other laptop when I need to connect via that both for wireless and ethernet?
Incidentally (fingers crossed, touch wood) I have not dropped connection once tonight with this new router.
The SNR did drop down to 6.5 dB at one stage but it held the connection.  At the moment it's 7.2 dB so hopefully the change in routers has done the trick.

[#15]

I think the ASCII phrase is converted to a hex string, but that is all internal and hidden - to us mortals the phrase is the key.
Once set on the router *all* wireless connections *must* be set to use the same (new) string.  So, yes, you will have to enter the new key for wireless connection on your second laptop.  Ethernet isn't affected by the wireless setting, no change is needed there.
That's good news about your connection staying up.  You shouldn't have troubles unless SNR margin drops below 6db.  I would expect 5.5db to be OK, possibly a bit lower.  Some routers hang on and work well below than (even to zero has been claimed).  Remember it's SNR margin referred to here, not the SNR itself.