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Is 'connection dropping' the same as being 'disconnected'?

Cagney1994
Rising Star
Posts: 402
Thanks: 11
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎28-07-2013

Is 'connection dropping' the same as being 'disconnected'?

Hi all
Sorry for being rather naive, but what's the difference between the connection dropping and being actually disconnected from the internet ? - or is it the same thing ?
Thanks.
2 REPLIES 2
sjptd
Grafter
Posts: 494
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎01-09-2014

Re: Is 'connection dropping' the same as being 'disconnected'?

There are various reasons your connection might drop: noise on the line, glitch in the router, ....  Also, on fibre, different levels at which it can drop.  It is usually very temporary and the system reconnects almost at once (often without your even realizing it).
People would usually use 'being disconnected' if the connection dropped and for some reason could not be reconnected.  That might be because of a more severe hardware issue  (I was disconnected when local tree people dropped a branch through the telephone line) or human intervention: maybe someone connecting wrong wires in the cabinet by mistake, or even your ISP cutting you off (non-payment of bill, or more likely some internal systems error).
So, no hard and fast difference, but that should give an idea ...
JayG
Pro
Posts: 1,145
Thanks: 143
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎30-10-2011

Re: Is 'connection dropping' the same as being 'disconnected'?

There are two processes which both need to be functioning for you to be able to connect to the internet - synchronisation with the exchange ('broadband' or 'ADSL' light steady green) and authentication of a PPP session with your ISP ('PPP' or 'internet' light steady green, although it will flash when data is being transferred.)
If sync drops (light goes out) you will automatically also lose your PPP session as you have lost contact with your exchange for some reason.
If the internet light goes out or turns red, you have dropped your PPP session, which can happen without actually losing sync (some people do it deliberately by disconnecting/reconnecting via the router interface to try to connect via a more 'favourable' gateway.)
The result is the same - no internet is available until the situation resolves, and as Sjptd has explained the reasons can be many and varied.
Occasional drops of either are not seen as being a problem, and may happen without you even noticing them, although some members on here report unbroken connection periods of several months rather than just days.  ;).