Problem with DSL connection

[Kompu Kid]

I am trying to help a friend with her DSL connection.

She says her connection which has been great for month is now terrible:
Frequent disconnects, crawling speed, etc.

She has a Siemens Speedstream 4100 modem.

Once in a while the "DSL" LED light on th modem turns red. Is this
normal?

Thanks!

Deguza

 

[Kevin]

I am trying to help a friend with her DSL connection.

She says her connection which has been great for month is now terrible:
Frequent disconnects, crawling speed, etc.

She has a Siemens Speedstream 4100 modem.

Once in a while the "DSL" LED light on th modem turns red. Is this
normal?

Thanks!

Deguza

No. Red is bad. Green is good. Check the system for malware. Inquire
about firmware upgrades for the modem. Do not install them unless you
contact the technical support for her DSL service first.

 

[Mike Easter]

I am trying to help a friend with her DSL connection.

You can look at the http interface, but you can't run the advanced
diagnostics.

She says her connection which has been great for month is now
terrible: Frequent disconnects, crawling speed, etc.

She's paying someone for her DSL connectivity -- it would seem they
would be responsible for troubleshooting whether it is the modem or the
dsl service.

She has a Siemens Speedstream 4100 modem.

Siemens doesn't seem to want to make an online manual available, only a
scanty .pdf brochure.

Aha. I found it
http://subscriber.communications.siemens.com/documents/4x00UG_English.pdf

But I haven't read it. I'm gonna have a beer instead.

Once in a while the "DSL" LED light on th modem turns red. Is this
normal?

I think that might be its authentication process.

You can reset or power off/on to reset.

 

[Dan Evans]

I am trying to help a friend with her DSL connection.

She says her connection which has been great for month is now terrible:
Frequent disconnects, crawling speed, etc.

She has a Siemens Speedstream 4100 modem.

Once in a while the "DSL" LED light on th modem turns red. Is this
normal?

What was the last red light you saw that meant "normal"?

Dan





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[Mike Easter]

Once in a while the "DSL" LED light on th modem turns red. Is this
normal?

According to the manual, the 4100 is ethernet only, the 4200
usb/ethernet. There are 4 LEDs on the 4100, pwr, dsl, & enet. The 4200
also has a usb led.

Only one of those can turn red - the pwr when the POST fails or during
POST after powerup or reboot.

If you are seeing the pwr light turn red under some other circumstances,
then there must be a PS powersupply problem, like a loose connxn,
causing it to POST because it lost its power and got it back.

Now where did that beer go?

 

[Oldus Fartus]

No. Red is bad. Green is good. Check the system for malware. Inquire
about firmware upgrades for the modem. Do not install them unless you
contact the technical support for her DSL service first.

Do you want to explain how malware on the computer can affect the DSL
light on the modem?

For the OP's information, if the DSL light is flashing red, it means an
ADSL sync signal is not detected.

 

[Kompu Kid]

Hello All:

Thanks for your responses.

I downloaded the manual Mike found. It is interesting that a table on
the manual says "n/a" for the DSL led going red! There are no other
refernces for this state of the led.

I searched through the arcives of several news groups and a few years
back one person had written that it was because of a bad filter.

I will change the filter ans see what happens with her connection.

Deguza

 

[Oldus Fartus]

Hello All:

Thanks for your responses.

I downloaded the manual Mike found. It is interesting that a table on
the manual says "n/a" for the DSL led going red! There are no other
refernces for this state of the led.

I searched through the arcives of several news groups and a few years
back one person had written that it was because of a bad filter.

I will change the filter ans see what happens with her connection.

Deguza

If you have a look at
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/amfaq/2.4 Efficient 4100 modem it
says "3 The DSL light indicates the status of ADSL sync. When the modem
is synchronized with the ADSL line card at the other end of the
circuit/loop. The DSL light will be steady green. It may take up to 70
seconds for the modem to synchronize. When the DSL light is flashing red
the modem cannot detect a ADSL sync signal, if its flashing green the
modem is trying to synchronize."

I would suspect a line fault, either between the wall socket and the
modem, or between the household and exchange, or even in the DSLAM in
the exchange.

 

[Mike Easter]

If you have a look at
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/amfaq/2.4 Efficient 4100 modem it
says "3 The DSL light indicates the status of ADSL sync. When the
modem is synchronized with the ADSL line card at the other end of the
circuit/loop. The DSL light will be steady green. It may take up to 70
seconds for the modem to synchronize. When the DSL light is flashing
red the modem cannot detect a ADSL sync signal, if its flashing green
the modem is trying to synchronize."

That link, and specifically the table there described as "The table
below is a key for the lights on the front panel of the SpeedStream
5100b and 4100 DSL modem after the initial power up." and the DSL LED
section even more specifically makes sense and fits with what Kompu is
saying/seeing -- whereas the manual at the Siemens site does not fit at
all with Kompu's observation.

The DSLreports link also mentions a firmware upgrade 53 [actually
005-D240-A5F-SBC53-4100.upg] which can be found at Siemens
http://subscriber.communications.siemens.com/subscriber_networks/upg-4100.shtml
-- That .upg is dated 2005 Dec

The firmware upgrade doesn't mention a change in LED conditions,
however, and the zipped file only contains the .upg firmware fix, no
documents.

So, I would conclude the manual at the siemens site is in error

 

[N. Miller]

So, I would conclude the manual at the siemens site is in error

I believe that the manual at the Siemens site is for a retail version of
the SS4100. Nobody has established whether the OP is referring to a full
retail version, or one of the ISP specific versions of the SS4100. The
ISP specific versions differ in some of the details from the full retail
version.

 

[NormanM]

I am trying to help a friend with her DSL connection.

She says her connection which has been great for month is now terrible:
Frequent disconnects, crawling speed, etc.

She has a Siemens Speedstream 4100 modem.

Once in a while the "DSL" LED light on th modem turns red. Is this
normal?

The SS4100 comes in several versions. A full retail version sold by
Siemens direct to retailers, and at least two ISP specific versions. I
am reasonably certain that the ".53" firmware upgrade mentioned
elsewhere in this thread is for the SBC specific version only; please
don't try to upgrade any other SS4100 with that firmware if you don't
want an ugly black brick.

When the DSL LED turns red, the modem has lost synch with the service.
The problem can be anywhere between the modem and the DSLAM; but it is
not caused by malware.

If the premises has a NID with a test jack, try running the modem
connected directly at the NID. That will help determine if the problem
is on the premises, or in the network. Also, check for problems with the
voice circuit; static, or crosstalk. Voice line problems can have an
adverse impact on the DSL service. If it appears that there are problems
with the voice circuit, get the telephone repair service to fix the
problem. I am an at&t Yahoo! HSI customer, and I have seen three times,
in the last two years, where static on the line, or an open on one side
of the loop (no dial tone), degraded the DSL service.