Orpheus where for art though

[Adrian Crafer]

In comming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.

Presumably a general problem.

Adrian Crafer

[Paul Vigay]

Post by Adrian Crafer
In comming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.
Presumably a general problem.

All appears to be working ok this end.

What email client are you using? Is this via broadband or dialup? Can you
get other sites (such as BBC etc)?

[Dr Peter Young]

Post by Paul Vigay

Post by Adrian Crafer
In comming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.
Presumably a general problem.

All appears to be working ok this end.
What email client are you using? Is this via broadband or dialup? Can you
get other sites (such as BBC etc)?

Here using NetFetch/Hermes. There has been about 15 minutes when mail
and the Orpheus site weren't accessible, but now all is back to
normal. Other websites were accessible. The same thing happened
briefly yesterday; it does seem as if there's an intermittent ongoing
problem.

With best wishes,

Peter.

[Adrian Crafer]

Post by Paul Vigay

Post by Adrian Crafer
In comming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.
Presumably a general problem.

All appears to be working ok this end.
What email client are you using? Is this via broadband or dialup? Can you
get other sites (such as BBC etc)?

All seems to be working again so cannot confirm the web sites issues.

I am on broadband, messenger-hermes for email. The hermes error report
was

Connection to pop.orpheusnet.co.uk timed out

it first appeared at 11:37 with the last one at 11:52 with a
successful email fetch the next time round.


Adrian

[Paul Vigay]

In article <***@orpheusnet.co.uk>,
Adrian Crafer <***@orpheusmail.co.uk> wrote:
[Snip]

Post by Adrian Crafer
Connection to pop.orpheusnet.co.uk timed out
it first appeared at 11:37 with the last one at 11:52 with a successful
email fetch the next time round.

Hmm. Well, I'm logged into the server today, so I shall be keeping a close
eye on it, and I'll know instantly if there are any problems at our end.

Paul

[Russell Hafter News]

Post by Adrian Crafer
Connection to pop.orpheusnet.co.uk timed out
it first appeared at 11:37 with the last one at 11:52
with a successful email fetch the next time round.

Certainly went off here at around that time yesterday. Only
one fetch failed - the next one 12 mins later was OK. Logs
now overwritten.

[Adrian Crafer]

Post by Paul Vigay

Post by Adrian Crafer
In comming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.
Presumably a general problem.

All appears to be working ok this end.
What email client are you using? Is this via broadband or dialup? Can you
get other sites (such as BBC etc)?

All seems to be working again so cannot confirm the web sites issues.

I am on broadband, messenger-hermes for email. The hermes error report
was

Connection to pop.orpheusnet.co.uk timed out

it first appeared at 11:37 with the last one at 11:52 with a
successful email fetch the next time round.


Adrian

[Mr C Price]

Post by Adrian Crafer
In comming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.
Presumably a general problem.
Adrian Crafer

Nothing wrong here in IoM.

Chris.

[Tennant Stuart]

Post by Mr C Price

Post by Adrian Crafer
In comming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.
Presumably a general problem.

Nothing wrong here in IoM.

Everything okay here too.


Tennant

[Paul Vigay]

Post by Tennant Stuart
Everything okay here too.

I've not noticed anything untoward here, ever since I posted my original
comment.

However, if people do encounter any problems, please either email support
at orpheusinternet dot co dot uk or phone the support line.

Paul

[Rod at Orpheusmail]

In coming mail is not working and the orpheus and my hosted sites are
missing.
Presumably a general problem.

I have also been experiencing similar problems; probably 5 or 6 times now.
I cannot connect to web, mail or news. Can't remember the exact messages but
something like "timed out" for mail and news and "Can't resolve" for web
sites.

I've got a Netgear ADSL Firewall Router DG834 connected to a RiscPC700 and a
Windows XP PC. When the problem happens accessing the router status page
tells me that the router is connected; also the phones work OK.

BT won't talk to me as I'm not their broadband customer. "Talk to your ISP"
they say!

Paul has been very helpful but the problem does keep reoccurring from time to
time although it does go away seemingly on it's own occord.

Anyone any idea what might be the cause?

Kind regards,

Rod

[Paul Vigay]

Post by Rod at Orpheusmail
I've got a Netgear ADSL Firewall Router DG834 connected to a RiscPC700
and a Windows XP PC. When the problem happens accessing the router
status page tells me that the router is connected; also the phones work
OK.

Out of interest, do you keep the router powered on all the time, or do you
turn it off when not in use (I generally recommend people leave routers
plugged in and turned on all the time - unless they're going on holiday for
an extended period, or there's danger of thunderstorms etc), as routers
have to negotiate and synchronize with the exchange when powered up. This
can take a few minutes.

Also, power fluctuations can sometimes make routers lose sync with the
exchange, even though the status says connected.

If you lose connectivity, and everything /has/ been working fine up to that
point, the first thing I recommend people do is to power cycle the router -
ie. turn it off, count up to ten and then turn it back on again, and wait
for it to reboot and synchronise (ie. allow 5 minutes or so).

If you still can't get connected then probably best to phone the support
number (as you probably won't be able to email) and I can escalate a fault
report from this end, or run a line test (we now have the facility to do
our own BT line tests, so i should be able to do this whilst you wait on
the line).

Post by Rod at Orpheusmail
Paul has been very helpful but the problem does keep reoccurring from
time to time although it does go away seemingly on it's own occord.

Unless there are local atmospheric conditions, electrical fluctations or
work going on at the exchange, and you leave the router powered up 24/7
then broadband should stay up for months on end. I don't think I've lost
connection here ever since I replaced a router just after Christmas.

To avoid electical issues, I'd recommend plugging the router (and possibly
computer as well) into a surge protected socket, or (if you can afford it)
into a UPS device, which will smooth the power supply too.

[Russell Hafter News]

Post by Paul Vigay
Also, power fluctuations can sometimes make routers lose
sync with the exchange, even though the status says
connected.

Indeed. A couple of weeks agao I had to reboot my router
twice within three hours - the broadband connection just
disappered, though there was nothing on the face of the
router to suggest why!

[Snip]

Post by Paul Vigay
Unless there are local atmospheric conditions, electrical
fluctations or work going on at the exchange, and you
leave the router powered up 24/7 then broadband should
stay up for months on end. I don't think I've lost
connection here ever since I replaced a router just after
Christmas.
To avoid electical issues, I'd recommend plugging the
router (and possibly computer as well) into a surge
protected socket, or (if you can afford it) into a UPS
device, which will smooth the power supply too.

All my kit is connected through a UPS, because until they
rebuilt the local wiring a few years ago we were always
getting power cuts. But the UPS still clicks on and off all
the time, showing that there are continual fluctuations.

[Paul Vigay]

In article <***@walkingingermany.invalid>,
Russell Hafter News <***@walkingingermany.invalid> wrote:
[Snip]

All my kit is connected through a UPS, because until they rebuilt the
local wiring a few years ago we were always getting power cuts. But the
UPS still clicks on and off all the time, showing that there are
continual fluctuations.

Actually, I must confess that although I recommend these, I'm a bit puzzled
by the the workings of UPS devices. I've got a heavy duty Belkin one
powering the servers and Risc PC in my loft.

A couple of weeks ago, we had some thunderstorms and the electricity went a
bit flaky for 20 minutes or so. The lights would go off momentarily and the
UPS would click into action. However, I found that afterwards the Risc PC
lost connection to the internet. I couldn't immediately see why because
everything appeared ok and the UPS had powered everything, including a 3Com
8 port switch.

However, on power-cycling the 3Com switch everything started working again,
so I'm now puzzled as to what caused the switch to momentarily fail,
following the power glitches - everything is powered off the UPS.

There is ample reserve capacity in the UPS to cope with everything plugged
in (two Sun Sparcs, the RPC, a 3Com switch and an emergency 56K modem).
Indeed, I've tested everything by deliberately unplugging the mains to see
if the UPS supplies everything ok - and it should power that little batch
of machines for up to an hour!). So, it's not like the UPS was overloaded.

So, my puzzle is what caused the 3Com switch to glitch out?

[Russell Hafter News]

Post by Paul Vigay
So, my puzzle is what caused the 3Com switch to glitch
out?

Just guessing, but would not electrical storms affect the
phone lines and so disrupt the ADSL signals for short
periods? Enough to ruin the router's lock on the ADSL?

Certainly out here where both mains and phone cables are out
in the open, often share the same poles and so on.

Only a couple of weeks ago the mains transformer up the pole
in the next garden blew a fuse, while there were bright
sparks outside the house across the road.

[Paul Vigay]

Just guessing, but would not electrical storms affect the phone lines and
so disrupt the ADSL signals for short periods? Enough to ruin the
router's lock on the ADSL?

Aha. No. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The DSL line was fine (the router
is on another UPS downstairs).
The 3Com switch is just a dumb 8-port switch to provide extra network
sockets. It doesn't manage the DSL link or anything.

[Rod at Orpheusmail]

Post by Paul Vigay

Post by Rod at Orpheusmail
I've got a Netgear ADSL Firewall Router DG834 connected to a RiscPC700 and
a Windows XP PC. When the problem happens accessing the router status
page tells me that the router is connected; also the phones work OK.

Out of interest, do you keep the router powered on all the time, or do you
turn it off when not in use (I generally recommend people leave routers
plugged in and turned on all the time - unless they're going on holiday for
an extended period, or there's danger of thunderstorms etc), as routers
have to negotiate and synchronize with the exchange when powered up. This
can take a few minutes.

I turn it off overnight and then power-up first thing in the morning. The
only other time I switch off is if I'm goning out for, say, half a day
otherwise its on almost all of the time. It rarely takes long to negotiate
with the exchange. Although there have been times when it negotiates,
connects for a short while (30 - 60 secs) drops out then repeats the process.
I can watch this on the router's connection status screen.

Post by Paul Vigay
Also, power fluctuations can sometimes make routers lose sync with the
exchange, even though the status says connected.

Interesting, living out in the sticks we do have power fluctuations - mostly
on and off!

Post by Paul Vigay
If you lose connectivity, and everything /has/ been working fine up to that
point, the first thing I recommend people do is to power cycle the router -
i.e. turn it off, count up to ten and then turn it back on again, and wait
for it to reboot and synchronise (ie. allow 5 minutes or so).

Yes. I've been doing this and on occasions it has solved the problem. Also,
I've reloaded the firmware in desparation.

Post by Paul Vigay
If you still can't get connected then probably best to phone the support
number (as you probably won't be able to email) and I can escalate a fault
report from this end, or run a line test (we now have the facility to do
our own BT line tests, so i should be able to do this whilst you wait on
the line).

I've rung you when this has happened and left messages and by the next day
the problem's gone away.

Post by Paul Vigay

Post by Rod at Orpheusmail
Paul has been very helpful but the problem does keep reoccurring from time
to time although it does go away seemingly on it's own occord.

Unless there are local atmospheric conditions, electrical fluctations or
work going on at the exchange, and you leave the router powered up 24/7
then broadband should stay up for months on end. I don't think I've lost
connection here ever since I replaced a router just after Christmas.

I've often wondered if a ADSL modem-router-firewall like the Netgear DG834 is
sufficient to protect my machines (i.e. the PC)? Of would additional
precautions be advisable?

Post by Paul Vigay
To avoid electical issues, I'd recommend plugging the router (and possibly
computer as well) into a surge protected socket, or (if you can afford it)
into a UPS device, which will smooth the power supply too.

Yes! I agree! I've used a Belkin SurgeMaster for a couple of years now.
Living in a village the power often goes down or we get cut off altogether
during thunderstorms.

I still don't understand why I get an ADSL connection (aa far as the
exchange?) but cannot get any further.

Thanks for all your help.

Kind regards,
Rod

[Adrian Crafer]

[snip]

Orpheus and hosted sites vanished again just before twelve. The web
sites reappeared at twelve, but are now down again at 3 minutes past
12. The email pop server is also down this is exactly the same as when
I started this thread. All other web and non orpheus emails work ok so
Broadband is still functional.

Adrian Crafer

[Russell Hafter News]

Post by Adrian Crafer
[snip]
Orpheus and hosted sites vanished again just before
twelve. The web sites reappeared at twelve, but are now
down again at 3 minutes past 12. The email pop server is
also down this is exactly the same as when I started
this thread. All other web and non orpheus emails work ok
so Broadband is still functional.

yes, there have been a couple of glitches today. Once when I
first logged on a bit after 0900, the other, I would guess
(logs since overwritten) around the time you say.

Others have been worse though. My self-catering domain
hosted by another.com has not been log-in-able to for over
an hour, and my clara address has been very slow to respond
all day.

[Dr Peter Young]

Post by Adrian Crafer
[snip]
Orpheus and hosted sites vanished again just before twelve. The web
sites reappeared at twelve, but are now down again at 3 minutes past
12. The email pop server is also down this is exactly the same as when
I started this thread. All other web and non orpheus emails work ok so
Broadband is still functional.

Exactly the same here at the same time; then we had to go out. By the
time we came back (1600 nearly) it's now all fine again.

Nothing new on the status page. Any idea why this keeps happening?

With best wishes,

Peter.

[Paul Vigay]

Post by Dr Peter Young
Exactly the same here at the same time; then we had to go out. By the
time we came back (1600 nearly) it's now all fine again.

We're in the process of moving hosted websites onto one of the new servers,
which means that we'll have extra reliability - ie. hosted websites will be
independent to mail fetching (at present mail and web are both hosted on
the same machine).
This will not only make the whole infrastructure more reliable, but will
also indicate where any problems may lie because if you can get mail but
not web (or vice versa) it will help track the problem down, whereas if you
can't get either, it will indicate a connectivity problem elsewhere.

Having said that, I didn't notice anything untoward yesterday because my
Iyonix was left connected all day and no failed connections were indicated
(it checks email every 10 minutes and web every 20 minutes), so even if I'm
away from the computer I should see if there were any problems when I
return to it.

Paul

[Richard Travers]

Post by Paul Vigay
Having said that, I didn't notice anything untoward yesterday because my
Iyonix was left connected all day and no failed connections were indicated

Nevertheless, e-mail was not accessible at 11.50 and 11.53 yesterday.

R

[Lionel Smith]

Post by Paul Vigay
Also, power fluctuations can sometimes make routers lose sync with the
exchange, even though the status says connected.

Exactly and this is why as I have UPS on my systems (3 here) I plug the
power adaptors of the cable modem and the router into an UPS back-up side
socket connected multi-socket strip. The Belkin UPS I use have IEC
(kettle-type) outlets) which can be connected to by wiring an IEC cable
into a strip, Belkin do one already to go but I have never seen such a
shoddy design in my life, most unlike Belkin (as used to be probably - I
have a number of questions about their service now).

Lionel

[Tennant Stuart]

BTW, "Orpheus wherefore art thou" means "Orpheus why are you" ;)


Tennant

[Adrian Crafer]

Post by Tennant Stuart
BTW, "Orpheus wherefore art thou" means "Orpheus why are you" ;)
Tennant

Perfectly correct then Orpheus why are you - not there!

Adrian Crafer

[Paul Vigay]

Post by Adrian Crafer
Perfectly correct then Orpheus why are you - not there!

Still here - but I'm beginning to think that local exchanges are starting
to buckle under the strain of more people getting broadband.

We've had a number of minor glitches reported recently, although all our
servers are working well, and since we got three new servers, probably more
reliably now than they have done in the past.

However, a few people have mentioned seemingly random disconnections for a
few minutes now and then. If you have broadband, you should stay connected
all the time (assuming you leave your router on 24/7) and if you're getting
random disconnections it sounds like either a local line fault, or a glitch
at the local exchange.

If you're concerned about anything, then contact support and I can escalate
a BT line fault, to see if it's anything more serious.

[Dr Peter Young]

Post by Paul Vigay

Post by Adrian Crafer
Perfectly correct then Orpheus why are you - not there!

Still here - but I'm beginning to think that local exchanges are starting
to buckle under the strain of more people getting broadband.
We've had a number of minor glitches reported recently, although all our
servers are working well, and since we got three new servers, probably more
reliably now than they have done in the past.
However, a few people have mentioned seemingly random disconnections for a
few minutes now and then. If you have broadband, you should stay connected
all the time (assuming you leave your router on 24/7) and if you're getting
random disconnections it sounds like either a local line fault, or a glitch
at the local exchange.
If you're concerned about anything, then contact support and I can escalate
a BT line fault, to see if it's anything more serious.

Thanks for your continued help over this, but I think the problem's
not as simple as that. What I, and many others, find is that Orpheus'
pop server, RSS feed and website are inaccessible for brief periods
but news and everywhere else on the web are fine. If all is well with
the servers, and the problem is in the line or the exchange, I think
this suggests that the problem is somewhere between Orpheus and the
exchange; might this give you something to focus on?

With best wishes,

Peter.