Rain and internet connection

[Steptoe]

Would the rain interfere with my internet connection.

I've just noticed, it seems like every time it rains my connection drops on and off repeatedly. Or is it just co-incidence ?

 

[Fanum]

Unlikely, but possible.

what sort of internet connection is it?

If it relies on a dish at any point (way back before it gets to you) it's possible, but its more likely that if it's raining, people spend more time watching porn on t'internet, so useage (contention rate) per street link is higher.

 

[MattW]

Water is good at absorbing radio waves, so if you're on wi-fi and there's something that gets wet (trees are a favourite - wet leaves are a great rf screen) between your computer and your router, then its quite possible you'd see problems.

However, if your computer and router are all nicely inside then ignore the above

 

[Timolgra]

Unlikely, but possible.

what sort of internet connection is it?

If it relies on a dish at any point (way back before it gets to you) it's possible, but its more likely that if it's raining, people spend more time watching porn on t'internet, so useage (contention rate) per street link is higher.

You should get a job at a helpline centre

 

[turbine_2]

Could be water entering the ducting where your cable lies, causing problems. Trouble is that could be anywhere from your home to the exchange, but it's most often the home end.

 

[Steptoe]

Could be water entering the ducting where your cable lies, causing problems. Trouble is that could be anywhere from your home to the exchange, but it's most often the home end.

The old fashioned way, telephone cable exits half way up the buildling, then goes to a telegraph pole further along the street.

 

[bowser]

If the cable has been in place for a while, then it it is very possible that there is a break in the outer cover letting in water, as a general rule the long lenght of the the cable will be fine its where the stain on the cable is taken that you get breaks in the insulation, so the point at which it attaches to the house or the pole, or the point where the cable enters the ground and goes to the local box.

The only other thing is has there been any work localy to the roads, as utilities are not unknown to damage underground cables and say nowt to the phone companies and just hide the evidence, so if the problem has only just started and you can link it to road works then it may be possible that has happened. Either way its down to the service provider to sort out.
You might want to try checking the quality of voice calls at the same time as the internet is poor, if voice quality drops at the same time it is very likley to be a line fault.

 

[Buz]

Could be water entering the ducting where your cable lies, causing problems. Trouble is that could be anywhere from your home to the exchange, but it's most often the home end.

The old fashioned way, telephone cable exits half way up the buildling, then goes to a telegraph pole further along the street.

Sounds like you could have a damp joint somewhere that is dragging the line down, report it to your SP and they will test the line, best to do this when the fault is on. They will also ask you to disconnect any 'customer provided' internal wiring.

Years ago when there was shared service lines (press button on top of telephone to get dialtone) a Customer had the opposite problem, earth was supplied from a wire on the pole (went down pole and into the ground) in periods of fine dry weather the earth would go HR and the Customer was advised to water the base of the pole to get it working. Wonder if she is still doing it

 

[brassmonkey001]

If the cable has been in place for a while, then it it is very possible that there is a break in the outer cover letting in water, as a general rule the long lenght of the the cable will be fine its where the stain on the cable is taken that you get breaks in the insulation, so the point at which it attaches to the house or the pole, or the point where the cable enters the ground and goes to the local box.

The only other thing is has there been any work localy to the roads, as utilities are not unknown to damage underground cables and say nowt to the phone companies and just hide the evidence, so if the problem has only just started and you can link it to road works then it may be possible that has happened. Either way its down to the service provider to sort out.
You might want to try checking the quality of voice calls at the same time as the internet is poor, if voice quality drops at the same time it is very likley to be a line fault.

The cover has fallen off my junction box and all the wires are hanging out. Been like it for months now. I've told TalkTalk about it until I'm blue in the face but they've done nothing. I'm sure it was the weather affecting the wires that was the root cause of all my internet woes earlier in the year.

 

[Buz]

The cover has fallen off my junction box and all the wires are hanging out. Been like it for months now. I've told TalkTalk about it until I'm blue in the face but they've done nothing. I'm sure it was the weather affecting the wires that was the root cause of all my internet woes earlier in the year.

Thats one drawback of going with an alternative SP, I assume it is a BT supplied Line? If so you would have originally been able to report it to BT and it would have been dealt with. Now it has to go via Talk Talk

You could possibly try reporting it to BT as a third party who was walking past said house and noticed the lid was fallen off and it is a potential fault liability, they may raise it against one of the dummy fault numbers and respond (Thats if it is a BT supplied line)

 

[LPB]

I had the same problem - thought I was dreaming it at first!

Turned out the cable was shot between the house and the pole. Mind you it took an age to persuade BT it was their fault and not my equipment - bastards!

Lloyd

 

[Loiq]

we've had the same problem it was the cable going into the green box which needed new connectors crimping on

best of luck

 

[wessie]

I had a similar problem - intermittent connections. My ISP (Bethere/O2) got BT to check the line out at their expense as I convinced them the problem was not inside my house. BT said the line was "within spec". It wasn't until the fault worsened enough to affect voice calls that BT (who bill me for the landline) actually traced a fault. There was a damaged underground cable about 200m from the house. Sine they fixed that voice & broadband have been fine.

In a similar situation, my sister had to switch her broadband from AOL to BT before a fault was fixed.

Competition is supposed to lead to better service. Seems to be bollocks in many cases as you end up in an "it's not our fault pissing contest".

 

[shugie]

Being a high frequency signal (when compared to voice) broadband is more likely to suffer poor performance with cable damage letting in water when it rains. The voice circuit requires both wires to be intact, but the broadband circuit uses both wires and earth, which is why water rarely stops the voice circuit working.

Is the box half way up the wall likely to be leaky?

 

[turbine_2]

The old fashioned way, telephone cable exits half way up the buildling, then goes to a telegraph pole further along the street.

Ah, as above, just as likely, plus there's additional stress on the cable as it has to support its own weight. It's one of the reasons that they prefer to bury cables now.

 

[judge]

You should upgrade to my one which is only affected by thunder and lightning - rain is so passée