Alarm System Interrupting DSL Internet Service, and a Fix
August 6, 2008
When I moved into our new house earlier this year, we immediately ordered high-speed DSL Internet service from Verizon. In addition, we installed a security system via a Monitronics contractor. While Scott, the Monitronics contractor, was installing the alarm box and hooking it up to a phone line, I asked him if there should be a DSL filter as well. He explained that the alarm system would only actually use the phone line during emergencies, and that it would work without a DSL filter anyway. I took his explanation at face value, and he hooked up the alarm system without using a DSL line.
In the months since then, we’d been having trouble with our high-speed Internet service. It’d shut down / cut out several times a day, mostly at inappropriate times especially during important videophone conversations. At other times, it’d slow down to a trickle and our pages would l-o-a-d o-h s-o s-l-o-w-l-y … I kept trying different things to fix this problem — calling Verizon, paying $$ for a new wifi router, paying more $$ for an all-in-one modem/router from Verizon, shortening the phone / cable lines, tweaking router settings, etc etc etc. Nothing seemed to remedy the DSL service problems, which was quite embarassing to me — after all, I’m a Proud Geek who prides myself on my ability to solve computer and network problems!
Then I had a brain fart, ahem, notion: what if the alarm system was indeed interfering with our high-speed Internet service? After all, it was installed without a DSL filter. So, I emailed Scott and asked him to come and install a DSL filter (that we already had from Verizon) between the alarm system and the phone line. Despite protestations that the alarm system is NOT interfering with our DSL service, he came the next day, charged us $85 (sigh), installed the DSL filter in minutes, and left.
And behold and lo, our Internet service has (miraculously?) improved! It has not shut down even once in the week since Scott’s visit — even during ultra-important and lengthy videophone conversations. Connection stays swimmingly high, and our pages load quickly and consistently. YAY! My Proud Geek reputation stays untarnished!
Moral of the story? Don’t listen when alarm technicians tell you that alarm systems don’t need a DSL filter. If you get DSL high-speed Internet service, insist that alarm technicians do plug alarm systems into a DSL filter then into the phone system.
What are DSL filters, and why do we need them? High-speed DSL service uses the same phone line we use. These phone lines (mostly) have 4 “wires” within each phone cable. (Office phone lines often have six wires for additional phone functions like intercom, conferencing, etc — that’s why office phone lines are sometimes thicker.) DSL service uses two of these wires and voice service uses the other two wires. But when regular telephones are plugged into a phone line that is being shared with DSL service, users can hear an electronic “hiss.” In addition, DSL Internet service users may see interruptions. DSL filters are used in between telephones and phone lines to make sure that telephones use the two wires that aren’t being used by the DSL high-speed Internet service.
As an aside: we had our Monitronics alarm system installed for free, including numerous wireless window sensors, a motion detector, two strobe lights, and an alarm console. We pay $38 a month. If we get several referrals (maybe 2? maybe 4?) of people who then use Monitronic’s alarm system, our first year’s payments are waived. If we get a few more referrals (2 more? 4 more?) after that, then payments for the following year are also waived. If you’re interested in getting the same deal and would like to be one of my referrals (and then you could work on getting your own referrals), email me at josh@proud-geek.com with “Monitronics” in the subject. I don’t get paid nor get advertising dollars for doing this blog, so I’d consider this semi-payment! :-)
August 6, 2008 at 10:33 am
We don’t have an alarm system, but we do have lighted doorbells that go off whenever our neighbors hit the button on their keychains to unlock their car.
Don’t ask how long it took us to figure THAT one out. Suggestions?
August 6, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Does your doorbell system have tiny switches that you can adjust? If so, try changing the switch settings on the transmitter, and do exactly the same changes / settings on the receivers.
August 6, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I could give you dsl filters for free. I got them from Qwest when I ordered HSI package. I do not have alarm system so they are not needed for my computer.
August 10, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Good article – with one correction.
The DSL goes over the same pair of wires that the voice does. It’s not over separate pairs.
There’s some good articles about the different frequencies that analogue uses versus digital.
Thanks again.
September 15, 2008 at 10:52 am
Yes I also discovered the same problem as you did as well.
I opened the security alarm panel and discovered an RJ-31 connector plug and basically custom pigtailed out my own leads to a DSL filter.
It was a little tricky decoding the colored wires so I had to use an continutity tester/multimeter to confirm color coded connections between the security alarm panel and RJ-31 jack to create an equivalency conversion table for wiring out the custom pigtailed harness that would silence that interminable alarm’s message “Protest” and incessant beeping.
Basically this is the short story version of a long trial and error process:
From left to right phone connection is:
Black
Red
Green
Yellow
Taking connection and finding the equivalent connections is:
Black —–> Gray (different)
Red ——-> Red (same)
Green ——> Green (same)
Yellow ——> Brown (different)
Once I wired up the above associated color wired combinations (careful the wires are ultra thin tricky to work with) and soldered them up using a cut in half telephone line cord with RJ-11 plugs on end I was set to test.
I used a RJ-11 line coupler to join the two pigtail seperate pieces (one to connect to the security alarm panel side (grey, red, green, brown) and the other custom pigtail piece to connect to the other old security alarm cabling going back to phone connection (black, red, green, yellow) side.
I held my breath after all this trial and error measurement and custom pigtail harness making work- hoping it would work the first time out- hoping for uber geek success and luck.
Voila, I had the security alarm fooled and instead of the alarm displaying the previous “Protest” message and all the incessant beeping it said “Away” and started beeping instead an “Exit” before arming alarm.
Another invaluable uber Geek lesson learned via real life technical trial and error and my techincal uber geek reputation reclaimed for solving technical computer and networking problems and also as well fixing alarm technician and electronics technician problems as well.
Well in this case I saved myself the $85 dollars, had the work done in about three hours, and saved myself from having to talk to less than enthusiastic alarm technician and request the additional work order.
More importantly, now I have taught myself and now know how to fix unanticipated and unforseen additional technical computer/security alarm/electronics technician problems as an added dividend and bonus as well
Additionally, I can also as well now post on a prospective tecnhical resume; as a very surreal real life technical problem solving case study and how it was successfully resolved using learned and applied technical troubleshooting techniques and procedures in an given competitive job interview situation.
It’s a very satisfying feeling to now know this most recent and challenging technical problem was resolvable after all and not as bad as I had first envisioned and imagined. One of the necessary steps of course was tracing out the line connections between the security alarm box/panel and phone lines to do the inital survey and information collecting. So evaluate and plan your own problem solving situation before attempting to tackle the problem head on as you will need some basic electronics tools to facilitate the repair/upgrade as explained above.
September 15, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Wow, Dennis! Thanks for the explanation / comment.
November 24, 2008 at 7:43 am
We don’t use our alarm and have never had any problems with the phone line or our adsl connection until the other day when we came home and the alarm was beeping, not the siren, just the keypad. I managed to make it stop but the service light is still on and the damn thing won’t stop ringing our phone line, making it unusable. Good thing we have VOIP too. I have tried many things as our internet connection was affected as well, but after fiddling around in the alarm box I have managed to get adsl back online. We still have no phone and the security firm who installed the alarm has not responded to my email. Probably because we are not paying them. Haha.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. There is no filter on the alarm line, when I put one on the ringing stopped but there was still no dial tone and the modem drops out. The modem works fine when the phone line in the alarm box is disconnected.
Ta.
K
February 23, 2009 at 7:18 pm
We have cable telephony and internet – could our alarm system be interfering with our phone system – we often hear clicks when talking on the phone, and lose connection for a second – could that be the alarm doing some kind of scheduled dialer test?
May 27, 2009 at 2:09 pm
A tech at my alarm monitoring company told me that the regular DSL filters are not what you want for your alarm system. You want an Alarm DSL filter. He recommended the Home Security Store (they’re about $19).