My battle with Earthlink

Derek Trotter expat.arizonan at gmail.com
Sun Feb 17 22:02:41 MST 2013


I'm not sure which is the gateway my connection is using, but I tried to 
figure it out.

traceroute to google.com (173.194.37.64), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
  1  router (10.0.0.1)  0.318 ms  0.354 ms  0.387 ms
  2  209.179.0.1 (209.179.0.1)  24.542 ms  26.848 ms  28.087 ms
  3  dir03-vl-4.ga-atlanta0.ne.earthlink.net (199.174.117.225) 30.769 
ms  33.331 ms  35.684 ms

I assumed it was 209.179.0.1  so I pinged that.  Each time the transfer 
pauses, you'll see ping missing in the following sequence.

PING 209.179.0.1 (209.179.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=1 ttl=254 time=21.7 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=2 ttl=254 time=21.0 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=3 ttl=254 time=21.4 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=4 ttl=254 time=21.9 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=5 ttl=254 time=21.4 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=6 ttl=254 time=20.9 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=7 ttl=254 time=21.5 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=8 ttl=254 time=21.4 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=9 ttl=254 time=21.2 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=10 ttl=254 time=21.4 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=11 ttl=254 time=21.0 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=12 ttl=254 time=31.0 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=22 ttl=254 time=21.2 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=23 ttl=254 time=21.9 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=24 ttl=254 time=22.4 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=25 ttl=254 time=81.6 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=26 ttl=254 time=48.7 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=27 ttl=254 time=35.4 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=28 ttl=254 time=30.6 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=29 ttl=254 time=34.4 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=30 ttl=254 time=21.7 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=31 ttl=254 time=21.1 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=32 ttl=254 time=22.5 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=33 ttl=254 time=21.9 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=34 ttl=254 time=32.0 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=35 ttl=254 time=21.6 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=36 ttl=254 time=21.8 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=43 ttl=254 time=21.7 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=44 ttl=254 time=21.6 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=45 ttl=254 time=21.7 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=46 ttl=254 time=21.5 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=47 ttl=254 time=22.1 ms
64 bytes from 209.179.0.1: icmp_req=48 ttl=254 time=22.1 ms

On 02/17/2013 09:29 PM, JD Austin wrote:
> In the past when I suspected my modem was rebooting I'd set up a 
> continuous ping to my internal gateway address logged to a text file. 
>  Easy to rule it out that way.
>
> On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 8:57 PM, Derek Trotter 
> <expat.arizonan at gmail.com <mailto:expat.arizonan at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     It's supposedly new.  It arrived a few days before the earthlink
>     service was switched on.  That was in October.
>
>     On 02/17/2013 08:42 PM, JD Austin wrote:
>>     My guess is your DSL modem is rebooting; how old is it?
>>
>>     On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 8:02 PM, Derek Trotter
>>     <expat.arizonan at gmail.com <mailto:expat.arizonan at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>         For several weeks I've had a problem with my earthlink dsl
>>         service.  Anytime I'm doing something that uses all or most
>>         of my downstream bandwidth, all data coming into or going out
>>         of my apartment stops.  At the same time I'm downloading
>>         something a series of updates for kubuntu and listening to
>>         streaming audio, both stop.  If I'm using my windows box to
>>         download something else, that too stops.  After a pause
>>         lasting anywhere from a second or two to 15 or 20 seconds,
>>         the downloads resume.  A few seconds later, there's another
>>         pause.  This cycle repeats itself until the download is
>>         complete or I give up.
>>
>>         Each computer has two nics.  The problem persists no matter
>>         which one either machine is using for it's internet
>>         connection.  If I remove the router, connect the dsl modem
>>         directly to either computer, the problem persists.  I even
>>         went to the closet and got the modem when I had dsl from
>>         AT&T.  I set it to work with the earthlink service and the
>>         problem persists.
>>
>>         Saturday an AT&T technician was here, checked the line from
>>         the cord that plugs into the dsl modem and says the line is
>>         in excellent shape and noise levels are very low.  This is
>>         not surprising since I live less than 1/4 mile from AT&T's
>>         local office where all their equipment is.
>>
>>         Since I've tried two computers, 4 nics, two dsl modems and
>>         removed the router, and the problem still persists, I'm
>>         guessing the problem is somewhere at earthlink's end.
>>
>>         Tonight at 21:30 EST, an earthlink tech support person from
>>         somewhere in India called to tell me they had fixed the
>>         problem.  While he was on the phone I tried downloading
>>         something else and guess what.  The problem was not fixed. 
>>         As near as I can tell, the dsl connection does not go down. 
>>         The earthlink people say it stays up.  The lights on the
>>         modem that are on when the connection is up never go off or
>>         blink.
>>
>>         The man asks me what dns settings I use.  I tell him 8.8.8.8
>>         and 8.8.4.4.  He says I should try earthlink's dns servers. 
>>         To humor him I changed the settings on the windows box and
>>         guess what.  The problem did not go  away.
>>
>>         Maybe I'm missing something, but it's my understanding that
>>         once the download has begun, that dns has already done it's
>>         job and has no further role to play.  One more thing. If I
>>         use a VPN connection, I have no problem with it.
>>
>>         Any idea what's going on?  If you were to venture a guess,
>>         would you say the problem is at my place, with AT&T or with
>>         Earthlink?
>>
>>         Thanks
>>
>>         Derek
>>
>>         -- 
>>         "I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."
>>
>>         Patrick Moore
>>
>>
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>
>     -- 
>     "I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."
>
>     Patrick Moore
>
>
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-- 
"I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."

Patrick Moore

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