• My ADSL stopped working. How can I find out what's wrong?
• What should I do if my modem loses Line Sync?
• Why does my ADSL drop out when the phone rings?
• Why is my phone line noisy when I use ADSL?
• Why do I sometimes have short periods of time (5-20 seconds) with no throughput?
• How can I check my ADSL speed?
• How can I diagnose and fix ADSL performance problems?
  • What do Latency, Packet Loss and Transfer Rate mean?
  • What is an MTU and why does it matter?
  • Does other activity on my ADSL service affect download/upload rates?
  • Can my ADSL device get slower over time?
  • Can software drivers affect my transfer rate?
  • If I feel that performance is not adequate, how can I report it to you?
• How can I contact Internode for support?

My ADSL stopped working. How can I find out what's wrong?

There are a number of reasons ADSL can stop working. To find out what is going on, follow these troubleshooting steps:

1. Reboot your ADSL modem/router.
   Your modem may have stopped working temporarily. Restart your modem and retry your connection after 2 minutes.
2. Log in to your router and check your username and password.
   Make sure that your username includes @internode.on.net - for example: "username@internode.on.net".
   If your username and password are correct and you cannot log in, contact our Support Team.
3. Check your telephone cabling and filters/splitters.
   Make sure there are no loose cables and all telephone devices have a filter/splitter installed. Unfiltered telephone devices can cause ADSL to stop working.
4. Perform an isolation test to check for faulty filters or telephone devices.
   Unplug everything from your phone line - all filters, phones, and adapters - and try your connection with only your ADSL modem connected.
5. Check that there is no noise on your telephone line.
   While everything is unplugged, connect a telephone and check for abnormal noises - such as crackling or static.
6. If you have checked the above and your ADSL is still not working:
   • See our Outage Advisories to determine if your service is affected by an outage.
   • If you are not affected by an outage contact our Support Team.

What should I do if my modem loses Line Sync?

When an ADSL modem loses line sync, it cannot contact the DSLAM at your telephone exchange. Here are some things to check - in order - before contacting Support.

If one step solves your problem, there is no need to progress to the next step.

1. Check that your modem is using the correct ADSL mode.
   There are several ADSL communication modes, and occasionally modems will switch - losing sync each time. This may happen if your modem is set to 'AUTO' or 'Multimode'. To resolve the problem, lock your modem to ADSL2+ mode (sometimes named ADSL2Plus or ITU G.992.5). If you need help, contact our Support Team.
2. Check your telephone cabling and filters/splitters.
   Make sure there are no loose cables and all telephone devices have a filter/splitter installed.
3. Perform an isolation test to check for faulty line filters or telephone devices.
   Unplug everything from your phone line - all filters, phones, and adapters - and try your connection with only your ADSL modem connected. If the problem stops, a faulty filter or other device was at fault. To find out which one, re-introduce devices one at a time.
4. Check that there is no noise on your telephone line.
   While everything is unplugged, connect a telephone and check for abnormal noises - such as crackling or static.
5. If you are using a USB or PCI modem,
   remove and re-install your software drivers. If your drivers are not functioning correctly this could cause you to lose sync.
6. If you have checked the above and your ADSL is still not working:
   • See our Outage Advisories to determine if your service is affected by an outage.
   • If you are not affected by an outage contact our Support Team. At this stage it may be a 'line-level' problem that we will need our wholesale provider to check for us.

Why does my ADSL drop out when the phone rings?

This may happen if an ADSL filter/splitter is not connected correctly or has become faulty. Check that all phones connected to your ADSL line have filters installed correctly.

Why is my phone line noisy when I use ADSL?

This frequently happens if filters/splitters are faulty or improperly connected. Check that all telephones have line filters installed correctly.

• If you have a Panasonic Cordless phone,
  try a different type of ADSL filter or connect two in series. We have observed incompatibilities between certain ADSL filters and Panasonic phones.
• If you have an older analogue cordless phone,
  shift your phone's base station away from your modem, or consider a DECT phone. Modems may cause electronic interference when close to cordless phone aerials.

Why do I sometimes have short periods of time (5-20 seconds) with no throughput?

This may mean you are suffering a complete drop-out of your ADSL service. Your modem has lost contact with the telephone exchange and has to re-synchronise and re-establish the connection.

Consult our FAQ about line synchronisation loss to troubleshoot this problem.

How can I check my ADSL speed?

First, try the Broadband Speed Test - this will upload and download a test file and estimate your line speed. If your computer is an older model your speed test may report slower than it actually is. It may report your computer or network's limitations before reaching the limitations of your ADSL service.

Next, try downloading a file from our Mirror server (http://mirror.internode.on.net).

How can I diagnose and fix ADSL performance problems?

The Internet is not a single network - it is a complex mesh of many networks. There are many potential causes of low performance when using any Internet access service.

We'll explain below some common performance problems, provide guidance, and (if pain persists) tell you how to report a potential performance issue with our Support Team - with enough information to assist in diagnosing the issue swiftly.

What do Latency, Packet Loss and Transfer Rate mean?

First, let's define some terms relevant to performance issues:

Latency

Latency is the period of time taken to move information from one location to another - it is the delay in moving a packet of data. This is commonly expressed by ADSL users as their 'ping time'. Ping is actually measuring the latency in moving a packet from one location to another and back again - the Round Trip Time.

By way of analogy, you might think about latency as being like the time it takes to drive to a destination and return home again.

Packet Loss

Packet loss refers to the percentage of packets which, when transmitted in the network, fail to reach their destination. Packet loss, as indicated by tools such as 'ping', indicates loss in either the outbound or the return direction, but does not indicate the location or direction in which that loss occurred. It is commonly referred to as a percentage, with 0% loss meaning all packets were carried successfully.

By way of analogy, you might think of this as the likelihood that you will manage to drive to a destination and get home again (!).

Transfer Rate

Also called download speed or throughput, your Transfer Rate is the rate at which data is transferred over a connection. It is often expressed as a speed in KiloBITS per second or in KiloBYTES per second.

It is common to confuse these, as they can both be abbreviated to just 'K/sec', and it's important to be clear which one you are referring to at a given time.

It is also important to understand that transfer rates can be expressed in terms of total data rate (including overheads, like ATM cell tax, and IP packet header data), or payload data rate (the resulting download rate for the data you actually wanted to transfer).

By way of analogy, you might think of this as the speed at which you can drive somewhere - something that is constrained by the speed limit, traffic signals, and the potential presence of other cars on the road (and consequent traffic jams!).

The factors that affect download performance are varied and latency, packet loss, and transfer rate are interdependent.

These three factors matter differently to different people.

Someone who plays online games may care more about latency and packet loss than about transfer rate. This is because latency affects gameplay responsiveness - it defines the delay (or 'lag') between instructing an in-game character to take an action, and seeing the results reflected by the game server. Naturally, packet loss also adversely affects gameplay.

However, transfer rate (throughput) is not always affected by high latency or even by moderate packet loss. Internet responsiveness - in terms of web browsing, access to email, and similar functions - may not be significantly affected by higher latency.

The Internet protocols used for most data transfers (TCP) are designed to automatically adapt to the latency and packet loss present in any given end-to-end network path, and to deliver the best possible transfer rate under current circumstances. They are adaptive protocols and benefit from 30 years of performance tuning.

What is an MTU and why does it matter?

Your MTU, or Maximum Transmission Unit, is the configured packet size your computer uses when sending packets of data to other computers. In the context of ADSL, an MTU is commonly set between 1400 and 1500 bytes.

There are some critical sizes for the MTU, and performance problems can arise if your MTU is set too high. Contrary to what might seem sensible, lowering your MTU can actually raise your data transfer speeds (to a point).

Some problems you may see if your MTU is too large:

• Very low download speeds
  On an otherwise 'clean' data path (no packet loss, low latency).
• FTP or file downloads that stall
  Downloads stop after the first 1-2 kilobytes downloaded (including downloading a server file listing in an FTP client, which is actually just another file download and subject to the same issues).
• Some web or FTP sites work fine for downloads, but others operate slowly or not at all
  (the difference being whether the remote site is interacting with the network in a manner that makes this issue show up). In particular, some sites may encounter a problem related to Path MTU Discovery, made worse by a large MTU.

Try lowering your MTU to resolve these issues.

Does other activity on my ADSL service affect download/upload rates?

Yes, it does.

For instance, peer-to-peer file sharing can completely consume bandwidth - preventing browsing and other use. Performance may remain low even after exiting P2P software. This is because other P2P users attempt to connect to your system for some time after you have disconnected. These attempts will consume ADSL capacity and affect performance.

You should also expect that concurrent uploads will have a significant impact on download speeds. This is a particular concern with ADSL, which has less capacity for uploading than for downloading.

All data transfers send information in both directions. When you download a file, a stream of 'ACK' (acknowledgement) packets flow in the return direction. This manages data flow and ensures that your download works properly.

Typically, ACK packets need 1/4 to 1/8 of your download transfer rate (this varies significantly). For example, if you are downloading at 512 kilobits per second on a 512/128 ADSL connection, your ACK packets may take up 64–128 kbps of your upload capacity. That's up to 100%! If you upload a file while downloading, this places more demand on your upstream capacity - slowing the ACK packets and your entire data transfer.

Because of the asymmetrical nature of ADSL, you should expect download speeds to be seriously impacted by any file uploads you are undertaking at the same time.

Can my ADSL device get slower over time?

Unfortunately, yes - some ADSL devices may get slower over time.

ADSL works over copper telephone lines - which are imperfect transmission paths. Your router determines which parts of the copper line 'spectrum' are usable, and confines activity to those parts. Normally there is enough 'good' spectrum to allow ADSL to run at its full rated speed.

Occasionally, external factors may degrade copper lines. For example, moisture may work its way through defective insulation around copper wires and affect line quality.

ADSL devices compensate for these situations by confining themselves to working parts of the spectrum. This reduces your throughput, and some ADSL devices don't always 'spring back' once the problem has cleared. Because of this, it's worthwhile power-cycling your ADSL device if your performance has degraded.

Can software drivers affect my transfer rate?

Yes, some software drivers affect ADSL performance.

All USB or PCI-based ADSL devices need software drivers to work. However, some of these drivers aren't written well - contributing to low speeds or variable latency. For example, you may see poor performance during games. As the game demands more resources, it leaves insufficient CPU cycles available to your ADSL device.

To minimise the need for special software drivers, we recommend Ethernet-based ADSL devices.

If I feel that performance is not adequate, how can I report it to you?

If you feel that your ADSL performance is below expectations:

• First, wait a little while.
  The Internet is not a single network; it is a global network of networks. It's normal for there to be periods when performance to some destinations is lower than usual, due to factors beyond your ISP's control. Don't jump at every performance 'blip' - they'll likely be gone again by the time you report them. These blips are just a part of life on the Internet, and the flip side of the Internet being such an affordable and accessible network.
• If 'pain persists', make sure that your expectations are realistic.
  Consider other issues noted in this FAQ - for instance if you are uploading a file, expect downloads to be slower.
• If you have left a P2P connection program online,
  or if you are running servers, you should expect these to affect your performance.
• If you still feel that there is something wrong, well, there may be
  and we may well be able to provide advice and assistance.

If you wish to report a performance issue, please contact our Support Team online. Make sure you are as specific and accurate as possible in your report. Please provide the following information:

• What specifically is the problem?
• When does the problem occur?
  Is the problem present all the time, or only during evenings? How long has this been happening, and (if possible) when did it start?
• Your Internode username
  (so we can track back to your account information and check it.)
• The IP address currently allocated to you.
  This is helpful but not mandatory.
• The Australian state or territory that you are located in.
• If you are familiar with 'ping' and 'traceroute',
  it is tremendously helpful if you can provide ping and traceroute results to one or more network destinations. This helps illustrate your problem, and in the absence of this data we may be unable to provide significant guidance.

How can I contact Internode for support?

Internode prides itself on exceptional customer service - it is one of the most important things we do. There are a number of ways to seek support:

• Contact our Support team through our online contact form.
• Call our Support team during listed support hours.

Your issue should be addressed in a timely manner by our staff. You also have the option to escalate should you need to - for more information, see Complaints Handling.