Verizon DSL → [connectivity] phone rings = 90% disconnects.... plus there is m

This is a long one. Please give it a look. Thanks in advanced.

I signed up with VERIZON DSL a year ago for the 768k/125k deal. And throughout the year i've been mired in countless disconnections and frustrations. I've contacted VERIZON support 20 or more times (through chat/telephone) and have had 2 "technicians" come to my apartment and look at my setup.

My problem has always been the same problem: constant dropped connections. I've categorized these disconnections under two things: phone call disconnects & mysterious disconnects. The first category is very predictable. When my phone rings I can usually (90% of the time) look at my modem (westell versalink 327W) and 10 seconds after the phone rings the DSL light starts to blink. It usually takes 30 seconds to become solid again and when it is solid, the download speeds has turned into a crawl. A crawl reminiscent of my 56k years (maybe slower). The only way I've resolved this problem is to disconnect my phone cables and restart my modem (which sometimes just gets me 50% of my speed back). The second category of disconnections is pretty self explanatory. Disconnections just seem to happen out of the blue. It happens in the morning/afternoon/evening/midnight. And again, 90% of time, the only way to get some speed back is to disconnect the phone cable and restart the modem.

As I stated, I've contacted VERIZON support numerous times and have been given the same troubleshooting tips. they ask if I have filters on the phones, what kind of cables am I using, how many phone jacks do I have etc etc. and my answers have always been the same. I have 1 phone jack with two outlets. 1 goes to my phone, the other to my modem. A filter is placed between the jack and my phone. I'm using all the cables that were given to me by Verizon. I know my set up is correct. The two "techs" that came to my home also told me my set up was fine. And the conclusion they came up with has always been: "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE MODEM, LET US SEND YOU A NEW ONE."

I was like great, problem will be solved. When I received the new modem the damn thing wouldn't connect. The DSL light just blinked and blinked and blinked. And when it grew tired of blinking the modem reset itself. I contacted VERIZON yet again, went through more troubleshooting and they concluded that it was a faulty modem and sent me another new one. They even sent a tech over to install this new modem and he couldn't get it to connect either. After 4 replacement modems failed to initially connect, I decided to just tough it out with the original modem I received and that's how I've been surfing the net ever since.

Now that my contract is up i'm thinking about switching to cable (charter cable gets terrible reviews in long beach, so i'm in a catch 22. I could wait for FIOS but that my never get to me for a loooooong while). I'm giving it one last ditch effort, by coming here again and taking any advice anyone is willing to give me. All I ask for is patience since I'm not very "networking cables" savvy.

Are there specific telephone cables/Ethernet cables/DSL filters that are more efficient than those given by Verizon? What can I do to fix the problem with disconnections when the phone rings? I live in an apartment complex with very old phone wires. Thanks again.

bump

What modem are you using, and are you using a router?

the one im using is the westell versalink 327w (model B90-327W15-06 Rev:E)

the replacement i still have is: westell versalink 327w (model B90-327W15-06 Rev:F)

in addition and you probably know... that versalink is a modem/router in one.

the replacement i still have doesnt connect at all. the DSL light just blinks and blinks and then resets itself.

The replacement will connect, but you when you swap it out you either have to clone the MAC Address of the old one into it, or leave everything of for a couple of hours. The connection is bound to the first modem and won't accept another device until the IP lease expires. If you understand nothing of what I said, the method for you is to power everything down for 2 hours, swap modems, turn on the modem and let it sync. and then the pc.

Now, since you have a 327w, go here, »192.168.1.1/transtat.htm and copy and paste all of the stats.

Transceiver Revision: 4.2.0.11
Vendor ID Code: 4
Line Mode: G.DMT Mode
Data Path: Interleaved
Transceiver Information Down Stream Path Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 768 160
Margin (dB) 4.0 20.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 63.5 31.5
Transmit Power (dBm) 13.5 11.3

can you tell me how to "clone the MAC Address of the old one into it."

someone already told me about "turn everything off for a couple oh hours" method and it didnt work for me. I left everything off over night and the damn thing still wouldnt connect. i guess i could try it again.

The stats are horrible. When your Downstream Margin drops below 6, you can expect a disconnect. Since your are in an apartment, I'll make an assumption that it's wiring is bad or it's really far from the CO. That is evident by the Downstream Attenuation. It is at the absolute max for getting DSL. That number is a result of both line distance and quality.

»members.verizon.net/~res ··· 6100.htm In that link, there are instructions for cloning the MAC Address. The whole thing doesn't discuss it, just part of it, so read through all of it first. Basically you want to find it in your current one and place it in the new one.

you said: I live in an apartment complex with very old phone wires.
__________________________________________________________

That's probably your problem. Apartments are notorious for having DSL problems and most of the time nothing can be done.

Cable would be a better option, or at least try it, usually free for a month when you first sign up for cable. Some good deals when you sign up on line.

If at the end of the month you don't like it, you can always sign up for DSL again. At least that's what I would do.

thanks for all the help. i think i'll give the two hour waiting thing another try before i try to clone the mac.

i read through that link and it only had the "find it your current modem" part in it. it didnt really say how you place it in the new one.

please stay tuned for the conclusion. thanks.

so do you think theres nothing wrong with the modem... its just that im in a bad situation environment wise (old apartment telephone wires/distance from CO)? is that number (DOWNSTREAM MARGIN) affected by the fact i was/am downloading a big file and my bandwidth is being used up?

Here's a tutorial on reading your line stats.....

'SN Margin (AKA Signal to Noise Margin or Signal to Noise Ratio)
Relative strength of the DSL signal to Noise ratio. 6dB is the lowest dB manufactures specify for modem to be able to synch.
6dB or below is bad and will experience no synch or intermittent synch problems
7dB-10dB is fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions
11dB-20dB is good with no synch problems
20dB-28dB is excellent
29dB or above is outstanding

Line Attenuation
Measure of how much the signal has degraded between the DSLAM and the modem. Maximum signal loss recommendation is usually about 60dB. The lower the dB the better for this measurement.
20dB and below is outstanding
20dB-30dB is excellent
30dB-40dB is very good
40dB-50dB is good
50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues
60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issues

My mistake. Since I'm PPPoE MAC bonding is not somehting I have to worry about, so I was mistaken in thinking that you could change the MAC Address of the 327w. You'll have to do the power down process. Just remember, turn on the modem first and give it a good couple of minutes to sync up before turning on your pc.

well i did the power down process to change the MAC address but it just didnt work. When i connected my new modem after 2 and a half hours, the DSL light just kept blinking. i left it on for about 15 minutes just like this and it never synched up. Now look at your last post and i cant even manually swap the mac addresses. Do i have other options?

well after having powered down for more than 2 hours and restarted everything, this is probably the best condition (speedwise) im going to have. So i ran a speedtest and checked my transtat again and here are my results respectively:



Transceiver Revision: 4.2.0.11
Vendor ID Code: 4
Line Mode: G.DMT Mode
Data Path: Interleaved
Transceiver Information Down Stream Path Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 736 160
Margin (dB) 1.5 20.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 63.5 31.5
Transmit Power (dBm) 13.5 11.3

Based on the guideline you provided me, with MARGIN (dB) of 1.5 and Line Attenuation (dB) of 63.5, im pretty much in a terrible situation.

You suggested i try cable. Well i couldnt find any deals and i dont think i'll find one. seeing as how im in Long Beach, CA. charter is my cable provider and they probably charge the highest. If you have any links to where i can find good deals, it would be much appreciated if you pass that along.

Thanks for the guide. it showed me what crappy service i can get from DSL.

Here's one thet jumped out at me...

»www.charterspecials.net/ ··· 62d41f9&

Or google..... charter cable internet

On the advertising column on the right side is a list of deals...

I don't know how your apartment complex is set up, but if you could get to the NID with a laptop and your modem you could see what your line stats are at that point, to help eliminate any potential inner wiring problems. That would be helpful.
Probably whistling in the wind though, living in an apartment. Maybe talk to the landlord?

The 63.5 Line Attenuation dictates you're at or beyond loop length distances to to the CO to get any satisfactory results. DSL does have it's distance limitations, unfortunitely.

I feel your pain, everyone in this country should be getting decent broadband services. IMO

good luck dude.

As others have posted 4 dB of download margin is pretty bad and explains why you are having so much trouble. At least your modem is able to sync at the correct rate.

Apartments can be difficult to troubleshoot. Does your building have a door answering system coupled to the phone system? If so that may account for the problem as it is not filtered by the filters in your apartment.

Just to beat the filter question to death you say you only have a single phone. Is anything else connected to the phone line in your apartment such as a set-to-box for TV or alarm system? If is important all non-DSL devices be behind a filter.

How is voice quality on the phone? Any noise/static when first picked up? Hear other voices on the line? If so call Voice repair to fix the line.

If none of these things work either you are either very far from the DSLAM (typically located at the phone company switching office) or copper circuit is in poor condition.

/Tom

Im not equiped to really do this since I dont have a laptop and even if i did i think my NID is outside and in the 2nd story. I wouldnt really know what to look for. Its looking more like i need to end my contract with Verizon and just go to cable until FIOS gets to me... if it ever will. Any way to check when FIOS gets to me?

Thanks for the help.

Can you take a look at my modem problem? heres the link:
»[modem/router] Possible to swap mac address for Versalink 327W m

My apartment doesnt have a door answering machine. i have one phone jack that has two sockets. 1 goes to my phone (which is filtered) 1 goes to my modem (not filtered). i have no other systems or satellites in my house that would need a filter. As far as i know, my phone quality is pretty good. no static when i pick up and definitely no other voices on the line (other than who im talking to of course lol). How do i determine how far I am from the DSLAM?

my transtat at the moment. Im downloading a file and its taking up about 350Kbps. the line attenuation is still stuck at 63.5 but the MARGIN (db) has shot up to 13.5? does it usually fluctuate like this? what could be causing this fluctuation? i checked every minute for 5 minutes and its staying this way. i know its probably temporary but what would cause it go back down? what causes it to go up?

Anytime you reboot the modem, the Margins should be higher. However, your sync speed is only at 416 instead of 864. When the modem can't hold your rated speed, it will keep dropping speed until it finds one it can hold.

Stupid question but does everything except the DSL modem have a micro-filter attached at the jack? When the Verizon techs came what did they do? Did they get 864/160 on their test modem?

Yes everything (which consist of the 1 phone I have) has a microfilter attached. there is nothing else in my house that needs a filter. no fax/satelite/alarms...anything. As far as the tech goes, everything in his little gadget seemed to indicate i was getting max/proper speeds. the thing was he couldnt get my replacement modem to connect either, so everyone kept assuming my modem replacements were all faulty. I just think its the MAC address. if i can clone my old modems MAC into the new one i think it might connect. However im having a problem doing that. the two hour wait thing didnt work for me, and i have no idea how to clone the MAC into the new modem. i'll probably just shut everything down for a day and see if that will renew my MAC...

If anyone knows how to clone the MAC of a westell versalink 327 Modem please let me know. thanks.

ok, ine thing you could do is first try a direct connection from modem to the main point of entrance of ur phone line. (WITHIN) your apartment. If this doesn't solve your issues, hop down to the main point where the phone lines enter your apartment building, and plug the DSL modem into that point. see if it syncs up faster (i.e. if the DSL LED starts flashing faster.) If so, you may be able to get switched to a better line pair from the NID to your apartment. Incidentally, do you even know where the NIDs are, and if so how far are you from them? Also, since you are losing sync when the phone rings, you may want to try a direct modem-to-wall jack connection, and then use a cell phone to ring your line, and see if the modem drops sync.

From VZ Tech,

The dsl disconnects on the incoming ring because of the NID that you currently have. It is probably an older style. The Half ringer which is located as part of the inside wire bridge located in the NID needs to be removed, or swapped out by a vz tech.

Is this free of charge? how do i go about requesting the NID to be removed or swapped if i live in an apartment? thanks.

I, too, have a lot of problems with dropped connections. I just had Verizon DSL installed 2 weeks ago. I have called many telephone numbers and spoke with countless people and have bben transfered, put on hold for 30 minutes at a time and have had "appointments for technicians to come out on four seperate occasions. None of them showed after I took off from work to be there. I had 1 nice gentlemen that figured out the problem (I have a crossover)but still I could not get a technician out to fix this. I ultimately called the Verizon phone service people to come out at a cost of $140.00 and give me a dedicated line strictly for my DSL and to fix my crossover problem. The DSL service "technicians" are very unreliable. If I had to do it over again I would have stayed with my Comcast High speed service!

You could call you local telephone service and request to have the half ringer unistalled at the NID. That would be the pots side of the equation, DSL service could help by putting the order in, however I doubt they'll make the effort. They probably won't even know what you're talking about.

You may get lucky?

Does anyone else in your apartment complex use DSL? Do you have an apartment manager, office, or the actual landlord that you could run this by with?

I come to realize you need physical help, not verbal help, the physical help is the most difficult to obtain. That's the part that's the most costly, and time consuming. Easier for them to flip you off, then to get them to do what you want done.....The real world

Best of luck..keep us posted if you want to enter that morass...

I work for verizon as a dsl tech. It sounds to me like you need to ask the local tech to put a splitter (filter) at the demark, and run a separate line to your modem. The wire inside the apartment if probably not cat5 wire. It does not have enough twist in in wire and this will cause intermittent sync. A