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one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

Down Again. Please help.

I lost my Internet about 4 hrs ago. I have a 660 Series modem. When the failure occurred, I had 3 lights (power, ethernet, & DSL). So I just power-cycled the modem. Then, only power & ethernet. So, I shut down the PC, unplugged modem & router. Turned on modem & only got power light to come on. Eventually the DSL light would blink (not flicker) at about 1 sec intervals. Sometimes the DSL light doesn't come on at all & occasionally it will burn steadily. But still no internet light.

I called support & she had me go through the usual flipping the RJ6 cable, power cycles, etc. There was a
filter on the jack that's been there since I got DSL years ago. The filter has 2 outs (one for voice & 1 for data). I took the filter out of the equation just to keep the support person happy, but there was no difference.

Nothing has changed with my setup for years. Family who live up the road, are not having a problem with their CenturyLink DSL, but I'm still inclined to believe this has something to with CenturyLink's end.

Support lady says tech may come out tomorrow, but it could be as late as Tuesday.

She was about to have me hard reset the modem, but when I asked her what that would do to my network setup, she couldn't really say. I got the impression that she felt my system was not the issue so she didn't press it.

Often, when there's an outage, there's a recording on the tech support line letting you know they are working on it, but this lady was not aware of any issues.

So, is anyone aware of problems in East Texas (ZIP 75752)?

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker

Premium Member

Given the information provided there is not much we can do on this end.

Can you take pictures of the inside of your nid, or possibly test at the drop line inside the nid with the modem? Do you have on old POTS style phone line?

A million things can cause a DSL outage. Another tech could have erroneously pulled a jumper in a Crossbox which happens very often with ATT. Same thing could have happened in your serving terminal.

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin to one20inna55

MVM

to one20inna55
If the DSL light does not come on, then the modem and the DSLAM are not syncing. That is the problem you need to fix first. Take the modem out to the NID and try it at the test jack. If it doesn't work there, I would take the modem to the relatives house and test it. You could have a modem that is failing.

It is important to note that if you operate the modem in bridge mode, the internet light will never come on. If you operate it in router mode, then the internet light will come on when the upstream connection is good. If you do a hard reset on the modem, it will put it back in router mode.

If you are in a DHCP area, it is a little easier to test. If you are in a PPPoE area, you will need to call CL Support to get your PPPoE username and password to enter in your modem after a hard reset.

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

Thank you both for your responses. It started working again about an hour ago. Nothing I did. My assumption is that it wasn't on my end, but then again I can't prove the modem isn't failing. Everything is working fine, now. This unreliable service is just so frustrating. I just don't have a choice where I live.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker

Premium Member

Unreliable service is usually due to bridge tap inside the home. Can you take a picture of the inside if your nid and possibly behind the jack?

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

Click for full size
nid
said by DataRiker:

Can you take a picture of the inside if your nid...?

I assume this is what you're wanting to see. It would be very difficult to take a pic from behind the jack. None of this has been touched for over 4 years.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker to one20inna55

Premium Member

to one20inna55
That picture is enough to see you have two inside wires connected in the Nid, so you do in fact have bridge tap.

Do you have an analog phone line as well? If not, you can disconnect one of the inside wires, but without seeing the inside of the wall plate I can't tell if that will eliminate the bridge tap.

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

What is bridge tap? Yes, I do have an analog phone on a jack in another room.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

1 edit

DataRiker

Premium Member

bridge tap simply means you have a fork, or split in the line which degrades DSL signal. (since you have two lines connected to one binding post, you have bridge tap)

Bridge tap is not required to be removed for slower and older analog DSL, but you will still reap the benefits if you eliminate it. ( generally a major increase in signal )

You need an ADSL splitter filter installed at the nid, and more than likely have the inside jack worked on, and then toned out to the nid.

A competent tech should be able to do this in about 30 minutes. Or we can walk you through the process is you have a simple tone generator and get a hold of an ADSL nid splitter filter

Forgiven
@embarqhsd.net

Forgiven to one20inna55

Anon

to one20inna55
Howdy neighbor, we too are having problems with our service in the last few days, and we live outside of Athens (same zip code as you) near the Tara Winery. I just found this site while searching on the net about our new problem.

guest
@centurytel.net

guest to one20inna55

Anon

to one20inna55
anytime the internet light is red means the pppoe info given to to you by your Telco is not there to authenticate. if you reset the modem with the little push button in back that did it. you need to go back into the modem most likely 192.168.0.1 or 1.1 and put your info back in. you must also have a solid dsl light at all times. if not have Telco come out and test at nid , they will adjust package from central office depending how far out you are.
CenturyLink
join:2009-03-09
Boise, ID

CenturyLink to one20inna55

Member

to one20inna55
Hey One20inna55, did a tech come out this week or do we need to escalate your concern? Send me your account & contact details so we can get ya back up and smiling.

»bit.ly/TALKTOUS or TalkToUs@Centurylink.com

Thanks,
Rich
Centurylink Help Team

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

said by CenturyLink:

...did a tech come out this week...

No, the service was back up around 2300 that night. I called and canceled the work order the next morning.
one20inna55

one20inna55

Premium Member

Well, it happened again...

Yesterday, we lost electricity, voice phone, and DSL. My assumption initially was that someone cut both lines. Everyone in my area was out of electricity, however, my parents, who live about a mile up the road, did not lose phone service or DSL.

Eventually the electricity came back on, but not before the battery backup supplying my modem and router ran out of juice. I didn't even try to mess with the internet until the voice service was restored, so I submitted a ticket. No tech until the following day. However, the voice service spontaneously returned about 3 hours later. So, I moved on to trying to get our DSL back. Several modem reboots, nothing. Just a blinking DSL light on the 660 Series modem. So I gave up and decided I'd just wait for the tech the next day. But then, spontaneously the DSL returned and speeds were normal (~5 Mbps).

The next morning I attempted to cancel the ticket, but was told I couldn't because the tech was already en route. My wife met him at the door and told him all was well. He told her there were known problems with that particular modem, but she, not knowing what to say to that just told him to leave well enough alone. He obliged. Not even 10 minutes later and the DSL went down again. By this time, I was on my way home and called CenturyLink. They were able to get a dispatcher to contact the tech and send him back out.

While I waited for him, I had a look at the junction box at the end of my driveway. A few years ago, we had similar problems and it was related to a broken wire making intermittent contact and would short out with humidity and rain. The box is a mess as I'm sure many are, but it looked like 2 wires were connected well enough to the posts. However, I still felt like this was the culprit.

I met the tech at the road and asked it he wanted to have a look at the junction box first. He said, "nah, it's got to be that old modem. I've been changing out a bunch of 'em here lately." As I followed him to the house, I figured he'd want to upgrade me to one of the newer modems with built-in router. I really don't want to interfere with my current setup as it was a real pain to get all the laptops with different OS's as well as PS3, XBox 360, 2 satellite receivers, phones, etc. talking to one another. I figured with a new router, I would have to re-setup my network setup. Sure enough he pulled out the new modem/wireless router. I told him my concerns and he said, "Yep, you'll have to re-do all that." At which point, I asked he at least run some testing to confirm my modem is really bad before committing me to that. He then said, "Well, I can just turn off the wireless function of this new one and you can still use your current wireless router. That way, your network will not be affected." Relieved, I allowed him to do so. So after swapping out the modem, the new modem had a red DSL light. He said, "I've seen this crop up a few times. I think they got the lights flipped at the factory, because I'm getting a DSL signal just fine. So, red, in this case means you're all good." While he's doing that, I noticed I had no voice service...no dial tone. He said, "That's not right. What I did shouldn't have interfered with that." So he went to the NID and tested it. He said, "Yep there's a short somewhere before your house." I said, "Now, can we have a look at that junction box." (FYI, when I commented on what you called a 'bridge tap', he said, "That's called 'home runs', that's the best way to do it." I didn't argue.

Finally, at the junction box, he discovered the little plastic tabs they use to connect/splice the wires were popped loose resulting in intermittent contact. He said there are 2 wires, one for DSL, and one for voice. He said the DSL would work if one wire was connected, but it wouldn't work well. He agreed this was my problem. He therefore re-did the connections cleanly and dial tone was restored. Miraculously, the red light that he thought was a factory screw-up was now green. He said, "We're learning something new about these new modems every day. Apparently the red light just means there's a fault, but it can still work if the DSL is intact."

While this guy is a very nice, respectful person, I quickly started to lose confidence in him.

My phone service is currently working fine. My DSL is working fine with speeds near 5 Mbps. My LAN is unaffected.

Now, a question. I've been getting flyers saying I can get 10 Mbps now. When I originally signed up several years back, 5 was the max. I've been hesitating in upgrading to the 10 Mbps for fear they'd force me into a new wireless modem/router. Now that I have said modem with the wireless function disabled and my own wireless router connected to it, will I be able to upgrade to the 10 Mbps without much fuss? Does a tech even need to come out in that scenario?

I appreciate your patience with my elementary questions.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker to one20inna55

Premium Member

to one20inna55
There is no plural "home runs" and you certainly don't have a home run from the picture.

The tech should have removed the inside bridge tap for you.

Without a true homerun 10 megs is doubtful.

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin to one20inna55

MVM

to one20inna55
Log in to the modem and finds the connection stats. SNR and Attenuation are the most helpful. Those will help to determine how well a 10mb upgrade will work.

A technician does not need to come to your house for the 10mb upgrade. They update your profile with the new speed settings, and then you reboot your modem so that it syncs at the new rate.

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

said by billaustin:

...SNR and Attenuation are the most helpful..

SNR Downstream 26.8 dB
SNR Upstream 16.0 dB
Attenuation Downstream 22.8 dB
Attenuation Upstream11.5 dB
Power Downstream 19.9 dBm
Power Uptream 12.5 dBm

Anything else I should note?

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin

MVM

Those are all good. You should be able to handle 10mb without any problem.

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55 to billaustin

Premium Member

to billaustin
said by billaustin:

... A technician does not need to come to your house for the 10mb upgrade. They update your profile with the new speed settings, and then you reboot your modem so that it syncs at the new rate.

When you say reboot, you mean just power cycle, correct? I won't have to reset the modem, will I? Trying to avoid resetting as it will turn the wireless function back on. (I'm using my own wireless router).

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin

MVM

Yes, power-cycle.

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

Thanks. Do you think I'll notice much of an improvement going from theoretical 5 Mbps to 10?

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin

MVM

It all depends on the type of traffic across your connection. It usually is noticeable, especially for images and large file downloads.

one20inna55
Premium Member
join:2008-01-05
Athens, TX

one20inna55

Premium Member

Cool. Well, I just chatted with CenturyLink and for $10 more per month, they're upgrading me to the 10Mbps service. They told me to power-cycle the modem after 7PM eastern tomorrow. I assume there won't be an interruption in service when they actually flip the switch?
one20inna55

one20inna55 to billaustin

Premium Member

to billaustin
And one more question: The only reason I'm upgrading to the 10Mbps is because the tech said this new modem is compatible with it where my old 660 series was not.

I had him disable the wireless router function of the new modem so I could keep my current standalone router and thereby avoid having to re-setup my network. Will the fact that the wireless function of the modem having been disabled and I'm using my own wireless router conflict in any way with them upgrading my speed?

The last thing I want to hear is that, "Oh, by the way, you'll need to put your modem back into wireless router mode and eliminate your standalone router to benefit from the speed increase."
one20inna55

one20inna55

Premium Member

Woohoo! I was checking my internet remotely from work (from my phone, actually) and I noticed it was down. I didn't expect the upgrade to be done so quickly since they told me wait until 7 pm eastern to reboot the modem. It just rained a little, so I feared it was a short at the box again. So, I came home. I encountered a technician leaving my driveway. He said he'd taken me offline for about 15 minutes as he did the upgrade, and he checked it at the house and all was good. I told him I was going to power-cycle the modem, but he said that wouldn't be necessary. I came home, and all the appropriate lights on the modem were lit. Then I ran this speed test. Looks good to me!



Forgiven
@embarqhsd.net

Forgiven

Anon

Well neighbor, I'm jealous! Our connection is so unreliable lately, my wife has to work like mad on the internet to get something done before we lose it again! We have had reliable service for over a year, up until about a month ago. The same technician comes out over & over and can't seem to fix it or figure it out. He has switched out the box/modem/wireless router for a new one, and has been in the box on the outside of the house. It has been suggested that CenturyLink has "oversold" the area, and that's why we keep getting disconnected or "knocked-off" the internet constantly. The problem seems worse right after we get rain or humidity, and especially during the weekend, which of course is when my wife needs it the most.
Every time I call it in, I talk to some of the nicest people I could hope to speak to. The technician that has been here several times (many many hours spent here already), is super friendly, but has tried everything he knows to do. I hate to keep calling it in, as I feel we are running in circles. We need help!
Forgiven

Forgiven

Anon

Well, it happened again yesterday evening and again last night! It started raining again here outside of Athens, TX. where we live, and sure enough...the internet goes out again.

It did come back on for awhile, and then went off again last night for awhile. Eventually, we could get back on, but it was terribly slow.

We used to have satellite internet before CenturyLink offered their service to us out here. Since this started happening to us about a month ago, we have started missing the old satellite internet system! It was alot slower, but we never had problems like we are having now.

ewth8tr
Premium Member
join:2005-04-03
Salt Lake City, UT

ewth8tr to DataRiker

Premium Member

to DataRiker
said by DataRiker:

There is no plural "home runs" and you certainly don't have a home run from the picture.

The tech should have removed the inside bridge tap for you.

Without a true homerun 10 megs is doubtful.

said by DataRiker:

There is no plural "home runs" and you certainly don't have a home run from the picture.

The tech should have removed the inside bridge tap for you.

Without a true homerun 10 megs is doubtful.

You are misuing the terms, bridgetap is not multiple runs of IW, it's a T in the lines where the pair splits in different directions. (»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_tap)

Of course there are plural home runs, all a home run is is a direct run from the jack to the nid rather than it daisy chaining. If he only has 2 outlets in the house, it very well could be that he has 2 home runs.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

4 edits

DataRiker

Premium Member

Click for full size
He has two 2 IW's on the SAME BINDING POST feeding the inside of the home, which means bridge tap. Look at the picture again.

The only home run in this situation with pots is to use an ADSL2 splitter filter, which is not present.

Not trying to be contrary, but your 100% wrong. I have spent lots of time removing bridge tap for VDSL (Uverse). In fact this situation is textbook and by far the most common out in the field.

ewth8tr
Premium Member
join:2005-04-03
Salt Lake City, UT

ewth8tr

Premium Member

Sorry, that is not bridge tap.

»DSL FAQ »Bridge Tap?
»www.pcmag.com/encycloped ··· dged-tap
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_tap
»encyclopedia2.thefreedic ··· idge+tap
»www.wisegeek.com/what-is ··· -tap.htm

I also spend lots of time removing bridge tap for VDSL (Centurylink). They are still both home runs, thus placing a homerun filter at the nid to filter out the others.

»www.siemon.com/us/standa ··· sary.asp
Home-run Cabling: A distribution method in which individual cables are run directly from the horizontal cross-connect to each telecommunications outlet. This configuration is also known as star topology.

»computer.yourdictionary. ··· home-run
An inside cable and wire star configuration in which each telephone or data jack connects directly to a common point, such as a demarcation point (demarc), wiring closet, or key service unit (KSU). The alternative is a shared loop that connects multiple jacks to one or two pairs that connect to the demarc or KSU. See also daisy chain and loop.