[ale] bittorrent issues with Bellsouth

[Smeadspam]

Geoffrey wrote:
> Smeadspam wrote:
>   
>> Geoffrey wrote:
>>     
>>> I've done a bit of research on this issue and apparently there are a 
>>> number of ISPS that are throttling bandwidth when users are using 
>>> bittorrent.  Apparently this shows up as a high number of tcp-resets.
>>>
>>> What I've recently experienced is my connection is actually dropped and 
>>> I have to power cycle my modem to get the connection back up again.
>>>
>>> I don't think this is a coincidence as it's happened twice in the past 
>>> week and only when I had bittorrent running.
>>>
>>> Anyone else with Bellsouth seen anything like this?
>>>
>>>       
>> I recently switched to AT&T/BS I have seen connection drops where the 
>> PPP bundle dies. The link is up and brigded but the PPP protocol has 
>> terminated.  This usually means a recycle of my westel and a restart of 
>> the PPPoE for me.  My tactic has been to confirm my side of the line as 
>> best as possible. In doing so, I have found my Signal to Noise levels 
>> near the mimimal tolerance and correcting this has shown a marked 
>> improvement.
>>     
>
> This describes my problems exactly.  So what is it that you did to 
> address your 'signal to noise level???'
>
>   
 First I'll say that most of these steps cam from researching Bellsouths 
"My connection keeps dropping" FAQ.  There were several suggestions


1) Use the modem's transciever stats to report on the Noise Level (Mfgr 
Minimum is 6db)
2) Disconnect all house DSL filters to get a baseline noise level and 
see if adding filters lowers the margin
3) Disconnect nearby electrical equipment that could create noise on the 
phone line
4) Running a dedicated line to the modem (a.k.a a "homerun")

In my case, I already had a "homerun" from my Speedfactory days.  
However, I had tapped that line for a fax with a DSL filter. It was the 
fax and connecting phone that were introducing large levels of noise on 
the line. My baseline noise levels are marginal at best (13db) and the 
added fax + filter was driving that down to 4db at times.   I've 
disonnected the entire tap for the fax and have seen a return to the 
baseline noise levels.  That still doesn't mean I get perfect uptime.  I 
never had this type of problem with Speedfactory (although they had once 
said my noise level was bad on this line).  My SWAG on this is that the 
encoding used to achieve 6MB offers less margin for error than the 3MB.  
However this is purely a SWAG. I've not researched the DSL encoding a 
bit to offer a genuine hypothesis.

William