Frontier Communications → [DSL] DSL is finally in my area.

Looks like Stanwood, MI finally has DSL available.

Depending on which way the wires go I'm 2.7 to 3 miles from the C.O.
I'm hoping since they just put it in that the CO has fiber to it.

Scuttlebutt said that they had fiber to the CO about 5 years ago when it was still Verizon. I sure hope that's the case.

I dunno if I have convinced the wife to switch from wildblue to it or not but if I do, I'll probably one their first customers.

Any pointers I need to be aware of?

Frontier has a 30 day guarantee...Excellent~! Just looked up Stanwood and the expansion project is complete. Actual address as you seem to be aware is dependant though.

Any idea if the co in Stanwood is backed by Fiber or bundled T1's or T3's?

Depending on the quality of the connection, I have at least two more customers who would be interested on this block.

According to the lady on the phone only 1mbs is verified at this address whatever that means. I would certainly hope they can do at least 3mbs since I'm not that far away.

I don't lnow actually. Best I would be able to do is verify the actual location and the maximum speed you would be able to achieve.

Well, I went a head and ordered it.

I got the self install pack since I have used DSL in the past and installed it for my mother etc. It really is not that hard.

I went with the two year contract and went with their offered modem. The idea is that if there is an issue with the line they cannot say it is caused by unsupported hardware. When I renew in two years maybe I'll drop for for a proper dsl-modem/router from netgear if they will drop the modem rental fee.

Information on the netgear 7550 is SLIM. Even Smith6612 does not have a complete picture of this router. Best I can tell its a redo of the Westell 7500 with minor improvements and backing from Netgear since Netgear purchased Westell. If the router proves to be definite improvement over their past offerings that will be a welcome change.
This is supposedly a dual band N router with 4 Ethernet ports. I'll update with more info later when it arrives. etc.

The 7550 is WAY differnet than the 7500, just looks the same. Most info I've found on it: »joesfrontier.com/news/fr ··· -router/

Great,,,Westell is part of Netgear. I detest Netgear and now I can't buy Westell

Companies can be terrible, change their ways and get pretty good, then get complacent and go bad again. Its very hard to be consistently good.

Car companies are classic examples of this cycle.

So far the Netgear stuff I've been familiar with lately (small switches, wireless routers, and a DSL/wirelessrouter combo) have not let me down. I'd much prefer Netgear after some of the complaints I've seen about Westell who I have only heard of recently.

In past I would have gone Linksys all the way but since they got bought out by cisco some of the quality seems to have dropped.

At work we used to use a new Linksys router for wireless connections (usually turned off), firewall, nat, and internet uplink. That is connected that to a much larger 48 port gig-e switch for the primary backbone for workstations and servers etc. The network was glitchy and I found the router was overheating and very hot to the touch even in an air conditioned server closet. We switched to the Netgear we happened to have sitting in the closet and everything was fine. Since I'm the local hardware guy I also need a switch at my desk for additional ethernet ports and I'm using a 5 port gig-e switch by netgear.

My mom uses a netgear dsl model/router combo we got from Staples and it works just fine even in a hot apartment since she does not have A/C.

I agree with the Linksys gear. The designs on their newer routers are just horrid, ever since they moved to the UFO style case. I know they have new designs coming out such as the Linksys E1200 that run cooler, but nothing really beats the design of the original Linksys routers such as the WRT54G. Unless you were overclocking those things without a heat-sink or the room it was located in happened to be an oven, they never overheated and they still continue to work to this day. Granted, they had much slower CPUs, but they were also less efficient! The new UFO/landing pad units are warm/hot within the first half hour of operation with basic loads. Not sure if this is a Cisco problem or just a new design issue, but as far as I know Cisco's owned Linksys for years back when the units they made were still rather decent rather than cheap things that break.

As far as Netgear goes, I do despise their firmware (in addition to any other stock firmware) but their stuff isn't too bad.

The bad thing is that the three biggest makers of home networking equipment (d-link, netgear, linksys) don't currently have anything that is plain "good". They either have great hardware and marginal firmware, great firmware but over heat, or just marginal firmware and hardware.

I think Buffalo with DD-WRT preloaded is currently the best you can get cheaply but they don't have a box with DSL built-in and these are 50% more expensive as well and I'm on a limited budget.

Trying to find a separate DSL modem that everyone puts their stamp of approval on is hard as well, though I've heard good things about Zoom reading the reviews.

So what is currently considered to be the "Best" standalone DSL modem or DSL modem/router?

To be honest I wouldn't have any opinion over which modem would work fine. Practically every one out there has a router built-in though, but that's nothing that cannot be shut off typically. I would suggest looking at D-Link, Zoom, or consider bridging a Westell though. I use a Westell 6100 on my Verizon DSL line which is bridged, and it works like a charm. My Frontier line has a Westell 7500 and it's been stable. The Netgear 7550 has been stable for me as well, and I have that attached someplace else as I work on a manual for it but it has some bugs, but is stable.

Any sort of bugs I should be aware of?

I use windows XP and 7 machines and I have a WII.

I typically use teamviewer or RDP for remote control and I'll be using skype.

I also use opendns' dns servers.

As long as the modem is bridged completely, the only bugs that will occur will be with your router

I have an old wrt54g the borked one that can't be upgraded to dd-wrt. I dunno if I want to switch completely to the new modem/router or bridge and keep the old one. I suppose I could try both ways and see which one works better for wifi signal wise.

Wife tells me the self install kit just arrived. (yay!)

Yesterday I got everything ready...

I have a shelf in my basement high on the walll for the wildblue modem and the telephone line runs right by it (under the floor above). This means that the modem is only about 10 feet from the NID when plugged in and I can switch back to satellite if I need to.

I cut the cable coming into the house from the NID box and put phone jacks on the ends. Currently phone service is running through a 6ft regular phone cord.

When I install the modem the splitter/filter will allow the rest of the house to be split from the modem and not have to worry about issues in the rest of the house.

Got everything all hooked up aaannnnddd... nothing.
Nada
nope
no dsl service here....

Called tech support but they cannot verify that DSL is turned on so I had to call cust care and they were sure it was turned on...
Called tech support back they suggested plugging it into the NID...
Same issue - blinking DSL light.
Well they are going to have a tech check the NOC and make everything is still correct and then check the NID if necessary.
Should be done by 7pm tomorrow.

DARN....

Bummer

Let's hope it's a case where all of the DSLAM ports get filled before your line gets fixed. Let's also hope you're not too far out.

I'm about 3 miles max away from the noc according to google maps.
The cable could be as short as 2.5 miles but I doubt it.

When they put DSL into the tech left a note that I was confirmed at 1mbs. Though I hope to get at least 3mb/s.

They just started the service 3 weeks ago I highly doubt they are filled yet.

Tech said that it was not hooked up at the NOC which is exactly what I suspected the issue was.

Modem is now working according to the wife and tech.

Will give stats tonight once everything is turned on and I'm using it.

This is a good day.

Don't forget this is Amish country. I am NOT in a big city!

This is also in comparison with Wildblue 500kbps 1000+ms ping times.

Congratulations! Nice to see that you were able to get service. I hope they make good on their word and bring it to my little village by the end of the month as well. Your story has given me hope once more!

Here are the links stats:

Transceiver Revision 4.4.9.13.1.1
Vendor ID Code 4D54
Line Mode ADSL_2plus
Data Path FAST

Transceiver Information Down Stream Path Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 3360 847
Margin (dB) 9.8 7.5
Line Attenuation (dB) 50.0 34.4
Transmit Power (dBm) 17.4 10.8
FEC Errors 0 0
HEC Errors 3822 1973
CRC Errors 3201 0

Based on signal quality can this line go any faster?

I'd say that's the best you're going to get. For the distance you claim the line is, the numbers are patching that and you're not doing too bad at all. Upstream sync is a bit slower than it should be but if the line remains stable and you are not seeing performance hits from it, then leave it be

Thanks Smith!

Btw if you need any screen shots or item descriptions in the config screens for the netgear 7550 let me know.

Will do. Another DSLReports member made it under my attention that specific revisioons of the Westell 7500 from Frontier had some different features or ways to reach or configure the gear. I currently have a Netgear 7550 connected which someone from DSLReports shipped to me, so I am pretty much set, but it doesn't hurt to see if there is some differences between the revisions of the 7550!

Where do I find firmware revision and how do I update it to the latest? I've already found that port forwarding is slightly borked.

They are not available. Smith correct if I am wrong, but I have never seen Frontier make available firmware updates to individuals.

They really should! If everyone is on the same firmware they will know if the issue is firmware or hardware related.

The issue I have with the predefined forwarding rules should be an easy fix.