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elwaylite
join:2012-09-21
Theodore, AL

elwaylite

Member

[Availability] Ports Full In Theodore, Alabama Area

I live in a 5yr old neighborhood. We moved in almost 3 years ago and ATT DSL was the only game in town. Mediacom is in the area, but refuses to come on my street.

Two months ago, I dropped ATT DSL to try something else out, which I found I do not like. I called in today and was told their system was maxed out with users and they could not offer me HSI. I really did not get this answer, and unfortunately after some searching, I found this was not uncommon. I'm amazed at this point in society a busy area like mine would offer no options for HSI, other than overpriced satellite service, I also wish they would have told me getting DSL in my area was like trying to catch a Unicorn when I called to cancel, I may have not cancelled.

Only viable option I read other than waiting, was a PSC complaint, which I just filed. Doubt that will lead to much. Guess I just need to vent. Ridiculous.

ICanHazDSL3
join:2010-04-19
Griffin, GA

ICanHazDSL3

Member

That is odd, but it could happen. Did you try to sign up online and it directed you to call instead?

The dslam could be full or it could be "capped" because it's at it's bandwidth limit (even though vacant DSL ports are avail).
elwaylite
join:2012-09-21
Theodore, AL

elwaylite

Member

I tried to sign up on line and it only shows phone and directv available. I called twice and used chat like 3 times. When they tell me they are sorry but there is no DSL service at my address, I explain I had it here not long ago. Thats when the "no mo users allowed" comes out. They all just tell me to check back later.

This sucks.

FYI, the techs told me a year or so ago this was a "fiber to the curb" area, with 4 users on a card. And due to that we would probably not see Uverse for awhile.

ICanHazDSL3
join:2010-04-19
Griffin, GA

ICanHazDSL3

Member

Yeah, sounds like you are on DFITL and it's very possible that it's capped due to bandwidth constraints. Either that or the four ports are already in use on the optical unit that serves your area.

As for moving to u-verse, they will have to rip out the FITL-A that is there and replace it. Since you have a fiber DSL solution in your area, they don't do any copper based deployments, hence being stuck :-( Sorry man.....
elwaylite
join:2012-09-21
Theodore, AL

elwaylite

Member

Thanks for the great input. We are a pretty large neighborhood, and I assume they are all direct fiber, so with hundreds of houses, and currently at least 10 under construction as well as several lots sold and being cleared, Id assume ATT will have to get off their but and do something. The street I'm on is not yet complete, it's a loop and can prob hold about 5 more houses.

Thats how I dont get how we got to this point. They are building like crazy, and none of the new areas are serviced by mediacom, so ATT is the only game in town and they should realize it.

Id hope they get this solved quickly, or maybe Mediacom will finally run wire down out street since so many have built now.
elwaylite

1 edit

elwaylite

Member

The boxes all around my area are shaped like this on, but they are real light colored, like an off white, and appear to have these vents or dark squares around the top. Its funny, when I ride I see them even in the wooded undeveloped areas in the weeds.


davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

davidhoffman

Premium Member

Yes, the AT&T fiber markers in the middle of nowhere. I have a friend who has these within 300m (660 ft) of his house. He lives at the end of a dead end street, in a very rural area. The entire street cannot get DSL, only POTS. The odd thing is that it is a 2400m (5280ft) long dead end road. Why AT&T needed to run fiber down a sparsely populated dead end road is another one of AT&T's mysterious ways.
cubguy
join:2010-07-09
Lawrenceville, GA

cubguy

Member

Could it possibly be that the "dead end road" hasn't always been dead end. Some of our phone cables here are older and follow the ROW of the original roads instead of the current ones. There are a few places where it seems the cable runs across a field, but growing up I can remember the original road running there...
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

davidhoffman

Premium Member

No, I do no think the road went past where it stops now. The deep dense tall tree forest beyond the end of the road has never been touched, according to the land owners nearby. It sits in an area too bad to farm according to them. The terrain is not very level and varies too much over short distances. The forested area also acts as somewhat of a wind break, a hunting area, and keeps soil erosion controlled. Many of these people's families have lived on the same land there for several generations. All this adds up, to me, to the road having always ended where it does now.
cubguy
join:2010-07-09
Lawrenceville, GA

cubguy

Member

so it definitely seems as though it was a spur to a new laid fiber cable. It could be that pre-planning was done for your neighborhood but AT&T is playing it close to the vest and installing cards only in blocks as needed. If you can have any luck getting in touch with their engineering dept, you can probably have some take a look and see if its a case of no slots available, or no "cards" available. One is overcomeable, the other isn't without major infrastructure improvements.
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

davidhoffman

Premium Member

AT&T spent big money to put in a new cellular tower a couple of miles away. Verizon is expanding LTE in the area. My friend uses Millenicon's resale of Verizon cellular EVDO 3G service. He is hoping to upgrade to a Millenicom or similar company's LTE service in another year. As far as we know, no one within 3 miles of his little side street, going up and down the main road it connects with, has DSL or cable service. Since that is about the wireline distance limit for decent DSL, we figure the fiber is for something else, some cancelled upgrade, or some far future project. One guy thinks it is one of many redundant, geographically widely separated, fiber optic cables connected to the federal and state law enforcement centers in the area. There are fenced off antenna towers marked as federal or state property in a lot of places, some in areas where some of the fiber markers are. I have driven up to the boundary of some antenna towers and it only takes a few minutes until a state trooper or county deputy comes driving up to investigate who is there. I have never been questioned, but you get the message to leave by them showing up so fast. I guess if you are still on the side of the public road inside your vehicle, they are instructed to just watch you and see if you quickly get the clue to leave. There is a lot of fiber in the larger area that has no one getting DSL service. We have pretty much decided AT&T is using it for something other than DSL. Cellular and satellite will be the area's only choices for internet service for the foreseeable future.
decifal7
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN

decifal7 to elwaylite

Member

to elwaylite
The fiber supplying pots in the area runs above ground pole to pole by my house.. No dsl, nor uverse here.. They ran fiber from my Remote terminal to another down the road and they got uverse. Serviced from my RT.. From there the fiber further runs down to a tower, i'm guessing for ATT or verizon/sprint leasing the fiber.. Either way, its a lovely taunt/F#$! U to me from the death star.... so close, yet soo far...

What can I do? /shrug.. Doesn't matter it seems.. Looks like ATT wants to ditch landlines altogether...
cubguy
join:2010-07-09
Lawrenceville, GA

cubguy to davidhoffman

Member

to davidhoffman
They installed alot of fiber here about 18 months ago. Most of it went right past our neighborhood to the AT&T tower and the Doppler Radar Site a few miles from here. They are also running alot for rural schools here. It's so "here and there" here. For example, where the closest AT&T tower is from here, there is no DSLAM, just a junction box for POTS, yet they put a new DSLAM about 4 miles away and never turned it up. There was a guy on here from, I think NC or somewhere who was telling about them running fiber right past his community to the next one over to provide service, yet nothing in between has High Speed. You would think that it would make sense to cover as many people as possible for better returns but I think it has to do with the fact that they don't plan to deploy any new locations for DSL, only upgrade what they have for either UVERSE. They even are trying to call the 3.0 DSL, Uverse now once they completely upgrade the DSLAM its in.

MeTooLoL
@sbcglobal.net

MeTooLoL to elwaylite

Anon

to elwaylite
This is funny I found this post. My husband and I just purchased a house in Theodore and my realtor who lives on the same street told us she has At&T for internet and Direct TV for satellite TV so we followed suit.

I called to get Direct TV, that was no issue and they said they bundle with At&t in our area and gave me their number (I also currently have At&t at our apartment) I called to get internet service hooked up and they said it's not offered on our street...when clearly it is but for whatever reason they aren't allowing anymore customers.

I've spent countless hours trying to get a logical answer no one has an explanation, it's definitely frustrating. To top it all off Mediacom has internet caps and that is the strangest thing I have ever heard, honestly. With gaming, everything being online these days, I just am totally confused. I also run and online business and am constantly online doing emails, etc. I have a big family who all use the internet and it just isn't possible to not exceed the internet cap, the customer service rep referred me to their commercial CSR?!

I come from the Midwest and we have around 5 different cable companies with no issues at all like i'm having down here. Our neighborhood is fairly new and definitely occupied with lots of families. But now we are left with no internet options.

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

Hayward0 to elwaylite

Premium Member

to elwaylite
said by elwaylite:

I live in a 5yr old neighborhood. We moved in almost 3 years ago and ATT DSL was the only game in town. Mediacom is in the area, but refuses to come on my street.

Two months ago, I dropped ATT DSL to try something else out, which I found I do not like. I called in today and was told their system was maxed out with users and they could not offer me HSI.

Well in modestly provisioned areas, that is a danger.

No offense but you should have sucked up the double service cost for a month til you found out, new was good or bad.

Now you need to go out and canvass for enough people to make requests, to make them think upgrading makes economic sense. Unless a lot of people without service though could be tough. Maybe before you there was one person who couldn't get it and now they have it because you lost your slot.
medbuyer
join:2003-11-20
Memphis, TN

medbuyer

Member

said by Hayward0:

said by elwaylite:

I live in a 5yr old neighborhood. We moved in almost 3 years ago and ATT DSL was the only game in town. Mediacom is in the area, but refuses to come on my street.

Two months ago, I dropped ATT DSL to try something else out, which I found I do not like. I called in today and was told their system was maxed out with users and they could not offer me HSI.

Well in modestly provisioned areas, that is a danger.

No offense but you should have sucked up the double service cost for a month til you found out, new was good or bad.

Now you need to go out and canvass for enough people to make requests, to make them think upgrading makes economic sense. Unless a lot of people without service though could be tough. Maybe before you there was one person who couldn't get it and now they have it because you lost your slot.

+1 couldn't agree more...

I did the same with my move from ATT to Comcast, I overlapped ATT with Comcast to test it and when I knew I liked it better, I cut my ATT after a month...