2 edits | Terrible DSL in Wright City Hello Troy, MO. I am about 10 miles SW of Troy. I moved here in September of 02, and have had trouble with Centurytel phone and DSL since. Strap in... my story goes like this:
I had dialup from 8/02 - 11/05 that would disconnect if the ground was saturated. It would slow to a crawl (if thats possible for dialup) on nights and weekends. I called constantly to complain. Ive worked with computers for 15 years. I dont claim to know everything, but I know more than most of their techs I talk to, and get tired of hearing pathetic excuses.
In November of 05, they told me DSL was now available, so I signed up for 1.5mb/256k service for $30/month, as this was the fastest service available. I had trouble immediately after the service was turned on. Although the DSL sync light would be on, I would lose connection, and have to reset the modem. My speeds hardly ever topped 125kB down. I was told that "125 is about right for a 1.5mb service, and really, 125KB is about all that line will handle in that area" to which I replied "you have no business being a tech. Max speed for a 1.5mb is about 187KB/second, and if your line can only handle 125KB then you should be selling a 1mb service, as those numbers are pretty compatible". She told me I was mistaken, and that the max was 125KB - 130KB. I gave her the following link (since she evidently didnt know what she was talking about) '»www.matisse.net/bitcalc/' She told me that link was wrong, that the information on it wasnt accurate. Anyway, my troubles kept on. After 8 months and countless phone calls, I was informed they had discovered a large batch of the modems they had supplied to their customers were flakey, and they sent me a new modem about 6/06. So, after about 10 months of lies and excuses telling me nothing was wrong, when I knew different, and could prove different, they admitted there was a modem issue and sent me a new one. Nice.
I actually went a couple months without connections issues, even though the speed issue was never resolved. In 8/06 I was sold a 3mb/512k service. I never came close to max speed on this service either, topping out around 250KB/sec as opposed to about 375KB/sec. BUT, this proved they were lying as I had always received that "the line would only support 125KB - 130KB" when I had 1.5mb service. I easily surpassed that speed, but once again came nowhere near the speeds I should. It got so bad one night, I was d/l the latest Ubuntu distro and it was only kicking along @ 75KB/sec. I thought maybe their server was flooded, no big deal, had no idea it was my service. With computer d/l @ 75KB/sec, I didnt even have enough bandwidth left to check my email on a different computer....... Thunderbird would simply "time out". That was pathetic.
I immediately called and went through the same BS as always with the tech wanting me to rewire my network so I could have a computer connected directly to the modem and turn off my A/V, Firewall & Spyware blah blah blah. I refused to do this yet again, as I told her first thing what I had done... which was took the modem outside and plugged it directly into their box on the outside of the house, and connected my laptop directly to the modem. By doing this, and still having the same problems, I proved the problem had nothing to do with the lines from the box in, or any network settings, router etc.. She didnt care, and had no business being a tech. She told me, and I quote "you cant plug your modem directly into that box". When I told her that the modem was capped she replied "Ill have to take your word for that, Im unaware that our modems are capped". When I insisted on talking to a supervisor, they finally sent out a tech. The tech plugged his little laptop into the box outside, and couldnt even bring up a connection. Dial tone, but no connection. He brought his laptop inside and I allowed him to plug into the modem, still nothing. I plugged one of my computers into the modem so he could see what I was talking about. We ran tests @ speakeasy. speedtest. here and centurytel's own website, and got a pathetic 600kb - 700kb/sec speed. Half or less of what I pay for. Here is the kicker.... the tech told me that I shouldnt even have 3.0 service, as it wasnt available where I lived. So they sold me a service I shouldnt have even had. He called in and had me knocked back to 1.5 service. Problem was, for 18 months, I had paid for 3mb service, that I shouldnt have had. How sad is that?
To this day, the issues are unresolved. Centurytel flat out does not care. As the person from Troy can attest, Centurytel knows you cant just go across the street to "Acme" phone company, and get a different phone service or broadband service. They have you over a barrel. My phone bill runs almost $100/month for 1.5mb DSL and one residential phone line with an unlimited local toll/long distance package. While this is cheaper than when I had 2 lines, dialup, and paid "X" amount for each call (everything out here is local toll) it is still a lot higher than what someone who lives in a suburban area would pay. It sickens me that people simply cant get what they pay for. I live NE of Warrenton in a small subdivision. I have had 3 neighbors check their speed with the same poor results. I have tested the service of 2 other individuals, and 2 businesses and had the same poor results. Funny, if I call Centurytel, they say nothing is wrong, and they arent aware of any problem. I am to the point now of seeking legal help and possibly initiating class action. After reading all the Centurytel customers on this site with the same problems, I am motivated even more to do so |
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mikehdWhat day is it?Premium
join:2000-07-11
Lebanon, OR | CT service quality is so dependent on getting connected to a competent field tech to help you. I was in a similar state for several months after getting 6MB/512 service. Wet weather made disconnects the standard.
After continually calling and insisting on a repair tech to visit, I eventually got a local tech to send a field tech to groom the cable pair. They found several bad splices that caused issues with wet weather.
The final solution was replacing the old NID with a whole house splitter/filter NID. It took some convincing but keeping a calm head and being knowledgable (but not a know-it-all) seemed to help the office tech get the NID needed to fix the issue.
Since then, our 6MB service has been rock solid. We're about 2 miles from the DSLAM.
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 IconTime KeeperPremium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Little Rock, AR
kudos:3 | reply to SilverFox66
You should also get more facts on how PPPoE works. Your bandwidth calc doesn't take into account ATM and PPPoE overhead,which is generally about 20%. So a 1.5 line actually has a normal throughput of around 150-160 KB/s. See this link. I'm not saying there may not be other issues w/your line though.
Can you log into your modem and get the transceiver stats? This may require you to hook up directly to the modem. |
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| Thanks for that link. I knew there was overhead, but didnt know exactly what. I would be more than happy with 150K, but I average 100 - 110K. Anything over 90K and Im saturated as I explained. Speedtest this morning showed 1133kb/down, 199kb/up, and 173ms ping (which is normally 230 or more. The only things is on the speed test, it only hits that highest number right at the end of the test, so its not an accurate number. No matter where I do the test, the speed needle jumps around erratically, struggling to climb up the chart, and only climbs over the 1mb mark right at the end. Are these the specs you were looking for?
Line State Up
Modulation ANSI
Data Path Interleave
Downstream Upstream
Max Allowed Speed (kbps) 1536 256
SN Margin (dB) 31.00 28.00
Line Attenuation (dB) 27.50 15.00
CRC Errors 0 1
VPI / VCI 8/35
Protocol PPP over Ethernet VC muxed
In Octets 3588657101
In Errors 0
In Unicast Packets 4096706
In Non Unicast Packets 0
In Discard Packets 0
Out Octets 682862996
Out Errors 0
Out Unicast Packets 3400106
Out Non Unicast Packets 0
Out Discard Packets 13766
In = Downstream
Out = Upstream
PPPoE
Session Status: Up
Server MAC Address:
Session ID: 2758
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IconTime KeeperPremium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Little Rock, AR
kudos:3 | Your line stats look really good, so there shouldn't be any issues between your modem and the DSLAM in the central office. I don't know if maybe they just don't have a speed profile set for the DSLAM you're on, but all of the offices/remotes I work on have a 1792/320 profile, to make up for lost connection overhead. That puts your actual speeds back up around 1.5/256. May be worth a shot to try it out.
Try running the Tweak test here on dslr, and download DrTCP and see if you just need to tweak your connection. |
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| I ran the tweak test, it didnt help anything. It slow me down on my LAN for some reason, so I set it back the way it was. I noticed the SN margin isnt as high this morning as it normally is, and guess what? Im not dropping my connection right and left either. Most of the time that number is 40 - 50 or above, and has hit 70. I dont claim to know it all, but Ive had a feeling there has been a line problem from the beginning, and they just dont want to take the time to track it down. If it were just me, that would be one thing, but my neighbors are having the same problem. |
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IconTime KeeperPremium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Little Rock, AR
kudos:3 | said by SilverFox66:I noticed the SN margin isnt as high this morning as it normally is, and guess what? Im not dropping my connection right and left either. Most of the time that number is 40 - 50 or above, and has hit 70. What value is 40-50? And what does your snr dip down to?
Have you tried running DrTCP? |
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| the SN margin is normally 40 - 50db, or higher. I have no clue as to what snr "dips down to". Ive never seen it lower than it is now. yes, I ran the tweak test and followed all the suggestions and changed some settings with DrTCP. It didnt help my DSL, but slowed my LAN speeds in house, so I set everything back to default. |
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IconTime KeeperPremium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Little Rock, AR
kudos:3 | Your line stats really don't indicate any type of line problem between your modem and the DSLAM. Looks super clean actually. And you must be thinking of another value you've seen that reports in the 40's to 50's, as the snr doesn't report numbers that high. |
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| reply to SilverFox66
Speed up your internet by 20%
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Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes like Windows Updates and interrogating your PC etc
You can get it back from the bastards,
Click Start then Run and type "gpedit.msc" without quotes.This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:
Local Computer Policy
then Computer Configuration
then Administrative Templates then Network then QOS Packet Scheduler and then to Limit Reservable Bandwidth.
Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab i.e."By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."
So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.It works on Win 2000 as well.
Note: This trick works ONLY for windows xp sp2 professional and windows 2000 professional.It does not work on windows xp sp2 home edition. |
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mikehdWhat day is it?Premium
join:2000-07-11
Lebanon, OR | How about uninstalling the QoS Packet Scheduler service from the Network connection? |
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1 edit | reply to Labrat87
While Ive never heard of that, I wouldnt argue that point. They are sneaky. But.... I am typing this from a Ubuntu machine as I have a mixed home network w/M$ & Ubuntu boxes. I have the same trouble in Linux that I have in XP. This is definitely a Centurytel problem, as M$ isnt to blame for me hitting 400 - 600kbps on a 1.5mb service. |
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1 edit | reply to SilverFox66
OK..... after several months of being told they cant find anything wrong to explain the crappy speeds and high ping times....... Centurytel FINALLY admitted today that they over sold what their MAIN PIPE could handle! They just kept selling DSL accounts and raking in all that money, and kept lying to their customers (like me) who called in with terrible problems. They had no problem raking in that monthly $30 or $40 though did they? If you arent familiar with this area, this wont mean much to you, but if you are.....
the main pipe feeding the main Wentzville facility isnt big enough now that they have sold all these DSL accounts..... plain and simple. They dont know if they are going to put in a newer and bigger pipe or put in another pipe in with it. Anyone that knows computers KNEW this was the problem. When you have a dedicated line from your home to the office, but speeds (which are nowhere near what they should be at ANY time) suffer terribly during rush times...... then that right there tells you their backbone cant handle the bandwidth requests once they get off that dedicated line in their office and join the backbone.
This disgusts me to no end. If you or I ran a business like this, we would have a class action law suit filed against us, and be splattered all over the news for fraudulently screwing our customers.
The bad thing is, the dont know when they are going to fix it. Until then, I am calling every month to get a $20 credit. I suggest those having the same problem do the same. This doesnt just affect Wentzville. Since Wentzville is the main facility, it affects whatever that facility serves.... Foristell, Wright City, and Warrenton etc... to the west. Im not sure about what it would affect to the east. |
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 dsldude08Premium,VIP
join:2008-01-03
La Crosse, WI
kudos:2 | This should be fixed within a week or so as they add another pipe, just waiting on the installation that's all, but the eta is not guaranteed at this moment, just the latest update. These type of things do take time and money to do, obviously this was oversold but sometimes it happens without knowledge right away because the service does sell so fast. As for the internet help desk, they should have known this and been able to tell you what the issue was.
As for you calling to get that credit, more power to you, this shouldn't have happened. 
If anything else comes up, I'll be sure to repost on here for you. In the meantime, hang in there, CenturyTel is a good company, but Missouri is growing like crazy and the company happens to service many of those areas that are growing so fast it's hard to keep up. |
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| Im glad you know so much more than they do themselves. They hadnt even decided yet whether to replace that pipe with a bigger one or add another one. I understand they take tie and money.. but dont use that as an excuse or expect me to feel sorry for them. They had NO trouble collecting that money fro me each month for a service they them self over sold. And no, there is NO excuse for it. The fact is every ISP over sells their bandwidth because they only figure "X%" of their customers only at any given time, so they only need to support "X%" amount of bandwidth. This time, it bit Centurytel in the ass. They know what they can support, and how many accounts they could sell.... but they just kept selling more accounts and raking in that money even though they couldnt support the bandwidth they were selling. They are lucky they dont get sued for fraud and investigated by the FCC. |
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IconTime KeeperPremium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Little Rock, AR
kudos:3 | Not to justify oversold bandwidth, but if you read the fine print for most ISP's, you are sold an "up to" connection, that doesn't guarantee a certain level of speed or x amount of uptime. That pretty much kills a lawsuit. And DSL isn't regulated like dial tone, and doesn't come with all the regulations that the FCC has on telcos. |
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| Oh Im aware of that, and it sickens me. Nowhere in any ad you see on tv or hear on radio does it say "up to speed "X" and only at times we designate, and only for any time length we deem fit and anything PAST that time length (say 60 minutes straight) we will throttle your speed back". "Fine print" is a company's way of saying "this is all the stuff we do NOT want you to know before you enter into a contract with us. This is all the stuff that might come up later that you wont know about. THIS is us trying to screw you, or we would have made all this clear up front and NOT have put it in fine print". Fraud is fraud, whether regulated by any government body or not. No matter what someone's outlook is on this issue..... when you pay for 1.5mb service, but hit a high of 75kbps.... thats right...... 75 kbps...... well, thee is NO excuse for it. Here I thought things were bad when I was only hitting 400 - 700kbps. Last night was a new low. |
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| Your area is about to get an OC3 pipe. |
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| if thats true...... thanks for the heads up, cuz that would be GREAT! All I know is they have to do something, and soon. |
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| Troy MO bandwidth issues, OC3 link being added bewteen Troy and Wentzville |
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