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<title>CenturyTel forum - dslreports.com community</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/centurytel</link>
<description>CenturyTel forum current topics</description>
<language>en</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2007, dslreports.com</copyright>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:12:54 EDT</pubDate>
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<item>
<title>westell 6100 modem trans stats / frequent disconnects</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20850342</link>
<description><![CDATA[I have Centurytel DSL 1.5M/256K service.  The modem is Westell E90-610014-06.

The trans stats are:
Data path: interleaved (but Fast at least once)
DSL speed:  1786 down / 319 up
Margin:  31.0 down / 4.0-5.0 up
Line attenuation:  33.0-33.5 down / 16.5 up
Transmit power:  17.9-19.3 down / 11.6-12.1 up

The modem drops the connection as often as every few minutes but at least once per hour.  Connection direct to the NID makes no noticeable difference.

Centurytel admits there is a problem but they are stumped.  They even suggested it was my computer, after it dropped the service man's computer on my line.

Line tests show the line is "good" when it is not disconnected by the modem.  Speed tests show 645-1476 down, 244-258 up, latency 49-141.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20850342</guid>
<pubDate>2008-07-25 22:13:55</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Question from Wisner, Louisiana</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20849469</link>
<description><![CDATA[Greetings,

As of now CenturyTel does not offer any Internet access at all in my area. I currently have a phone line from CT and dialup access from Earthlink. However I'm told that dsl is on the way. My question, after seeing the dslam here replaced recently and assuming that the dsl rollout was the reason, is can I get a dsl line here now? I would just buy Internet access from another provider if so. Or do I have to wait for CT to offer both dsl and Internet access? 

Calling CT gets me an automated system that looks at the number I'm calling from and tells me that no Internet access is available. Which of course doesn't answer my question.

If this isn't possible is there any chance of an eta for when dsl or dsl+access will be available here? 26.4Kbps dialup is wearing very thin.

Thanks.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20849469</guid>
<pubDate>2008-07-25 18:53:17</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Good tech story!</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20834337</link>
<description><![CDATA[This is also known as "not everyone at CenturyTel is clueless, much to my surprise"

I just wanted to give Thomas in Kalispell some credit where credit is due. 

We have had DSL since around when it first came out here. Any time the power went out or sometimes just randomly when it would lose sync, we'd wait HOURS for it to sync up again. Several trouble tickets and every tech just said there were "absolutely no problems", so we got cable as soon as it became available and had lots of problems with it too - but they got it fixed (it took about 8 tech visits but they acknowledged there was a problem and stuck with it until it was fixed)

Fast forward to about a year ago, CenturyTel offered us a GREAT deal to switch back to DSL and we did and they assured us the service was much better than it used to be, and of course, if it wasn't they'd fix it.

And of course, the same story repeated - trouble tickets proved worthless. Technicians just said our line quality was great and we must have an inside wiring problem or a filter issue and closed the ticket.

After days of little power outages and stuff, I was sick of it this time. When a technician came out and promptly decided to close the ticket without even checking it was working I called back and, while I tried to be polite, I told them firmly I expected our TV service contract with them canceled with no fee if they couldn't get it working *today*

So they sent out a real tech! And he called me within five minutes of my hanging up on that call. His name was Thomas, and unlike the first guy whose job was to check that the signal and line quality was good (a fact I never denied...) this guy actually was a DSL tech (who would have thought it'd be a good idea to have a real DSL tech looking at problems at an address with repeated trouble tickets where you know the line quality is good?)

Thomas spent about 1.5 hours, and replaced the filters on the side of the house (the circuit protector, not DSL filters) because he was able to sync up instantly once on the other side of them. Problem was that was a fluke chance, not a repeat performance, so he replaced the card we were on at their end and guess what...

PROBLEM SOLVED. And it runs better. Not sure if that's because we're now ADSL2+ or not (we're on the newer equipment now), but it syncs instantly (within a minute) now!

Oddly, our upstream margin is much worse than before. But it works way better and it's ADSL2+. Here's our stats:

Transceiver Revision: 5.2.2.0&#9; 
Vendor ID Code:        4&#9; 
Line Mode:               ADSL2+ Mode&#9; 
Data Path:               Interleaved&#9; 
Transceiver Information&#9;Downstream Path&#9;Upstream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec)&#9;1789&#9;317
Margin (dB)&#9;31.0&#9;4.0
Line Attenuation (dB)&#9;6.5&#9;1.5
Transmit Power (dBm)&#9;6.5&#9;11.9

So first I'm interested in people's thoughts on why our upstream margin dropped so low with the new equipment (though it doesn't seem to stop it working), and second why they were so hesitant to send a real tech out instead of just covering their ears for *years* and denying that there was any problem based purely on the line quality looking good?]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20834337</guid>
<pubDate>2008-07-22 23:43:59</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>CenturyTel DSL in Lake Dallas, TX</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20821691</link>
<description><![CDATA[Everyone/Anyone:

History:  I have been a CTel DSL customer for as long as I can remember--back into the 90's when high speed net first became public.  I thought at the time that it would be a long time before I would get this service in my little town but I had it long before friends in Dallas proper and the bigger suburbs ever sniffed it.  I am a drive and chip shot from the switching station, so I became their 12th DSL install 10+ years ago.

Anyway, on to my question.  I am fairly savvy about technical stuff but with regard to DSL, it has always just worked and never concerned myself with it.  I would occasionally go to speed test sites and check the speed if I thought things seemed slow, but never concerned myself with tweaking anything because I was always satisfied.

Well, last week, in an effort to cut some unnecessary costs, I contacted all of my service providers (phone, satellite, etc.) looking to tweak my services to get lower cost or at least better value.  The CT rep said that there was nothing I could cut or do to lower my cost but she said she could bump my service to 10k kb service from 3k kb service for the same monthly cost.  Who was I to argue.

Anyway, I have noticed a significant increase in speed but when I run a speed test my down comes in just under 7k kb and up just under 700kb.  OK, it is significantly faster but I found this site and thought I might query the experts whether there is something I need to tweak, get a new modem, or if this is just reality.

As far as my setup, I have a separate DSL box outside that splits my phone and DSL before coming into a homerun pad (i.e. no jack filters).  My DSL runs into a Westell B90 modem.  This is only the second modem I have had and only replaced my original, still working Westell because back when I bumped to 1.5 service CT sent it free.  DSL is routed through DLink gigabit wired/N wireless router to various locations throughout house.  Main PC runs Vista and wireless laptop runs XP.

I guess that about covers things.  Can anyone offer any advice or should I simply contact CT for more information.  Thanks in advance for any help.

P]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20821691</guid>
<pubDate>2008-07-20 18:59:39</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Lightning Disconnects</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20485396</link>
<description><![CDATA[[mpoll]Have you experienced disconnects associated with lightning?, Yes, No, Not sure[/mpoll]

If so please post as much information about your modem as you can get along with your DSL package. Thanks!  :)
--
 Ofallon, Mo Weather]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20485396</guid>
<pubDate>2008-05-15 03:18:03</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Pure Broadband (dry DSL)</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20435582</link>
<description><![CDATA[I was just wondering if anyone here has the "pure broadband" option with CenturyTel (aka dry DSL). I called last week on tuesday and I was told that it was available and they tried to set it up for me but they were having problems getting it switched over. I called back on thursday and they were still unable to get it switch (told me computer problems again). I then waited until today to try to switch it again and I was told they are still having problems to call back in 2 to 4 hours. I am currently on hold now trying to get it switched over but I'm not exactly confident. I also tried to website www.givemepure.com and I can't get the page to load when I click order online. I was just wondering has anyone else ran into this problem trying to get dry DSL?
--
1.5/256 CenturyTel PPPoE DSL line]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20435582</guid>
<pubDate>2008-05-05 16:47:02</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>327W won&#x27;t connect to CT</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20815416</link>
<description><![CDATA[My continuing saga.
Bought a used Westell 327W on Ebay. It seems to work fine except I can't get it to connect to CT.  I did a reset, entered with admin and password and entered my logon and password into the profile.  It saves it fine and tries to connect but will not.  What am I missing here?  My leased Westell 6100 wired modem works fine and so did 2wire before lightning killed it.
Any help greatly appreciated - I'm a computer idiot so please go slow.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20815416</guid>
<pubDate>2008-07-19 06:50:02</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Static IP addresses</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20571721</link>
<description><![CDATA[I've been using a single static IP for a while now. For some reason, I have to keep pppoe enabled. I'm assuming CT uses "sticky" IP's like AT&T does.
Well, I'm moving my mail server and web server "in-house". I switched to the 10M package which includes 6 ip's. So I want to use my 5 useables on various servers. Can anyone recommend a good router to do this? The pppoe thing has me a little concerned because CT's IP, subnet, and gateway information don't jive with most normal routers.
I've been looking at the Netopia 3300 series. Anyone have any other "up-and-running" solutions?
--
All we need now is a car that runs on milk.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20571721</guid>
<pubDate>2008-06-01 04:10:54</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>10 mb profiles</title>
<link>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20501315</link>
<description><![CDATA[Can anyone of you guys tell me what is the max profile speed for a 10 mb connection. I understand that my modem might sync at a lower speed. I just want to know what is the actual speed set at the CO, and what is the highest profile available.

eg. My 10 mb connection looks like
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 12474 894 

while tstolze looks like
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 12538 894

Thanks]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20501315</guid>
<pubDate>2008-05-18 11:18:56</pubDate>
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