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tekwyzrd
join:2009-12-02
Cleveland, OH

tekwyzrd

Member

[Line Problem] AT&T dsl problems - here we go again

I signed up for SBC dsl in 2003 and almost immediately encountered problems due to the old lines on my street. At that time they had measured and planned to run new lines but then SBC became AT&T and it never happened. From 2003 to 2010 I had line problems two or three times a year. The problem would start when it rained and every single time they blamed the wiring inside the house. In 2010 I got fed up, disconnected the existing wiring, and ran cat5e cable into the house. Then I called again using my mother's phone to report my dead phone line. No dial tone at the network box outside, only occasional crackling and noise. When they again tried to blame my wires I filed a complaint with the BBB. A few weeks later a pair of repairmen did a four pair line drop to the corner, fixed some breaks in the insulation down the main road, and I was finally getting the 3Mbps I was paying for.

Everything was fine until a few weeks ago. Now, when the sun sets I see an increasing number of crc errors (millions every night) and periods when the service seems dead. I try to load a web page and have to repeatedly try to load a page. The connection resumes but a few minutes later it happens again. During the day it's fine but at night, every night... It seems I'm seeing the start of the same problem I was having before.

AT&T doesn't seem to care about some of the residents of my town and the poorly maintained lines prevent me from same speed service from an alternate supplier. AT&T provides u-verse service to residents on the main street about 200 feet away and provides service to the high school, junior high, and elementary school about 200 feet from there (farther from the service center than I am). During the interruptions and periods without phone service I never received a discount of any kind and every year I see the prices climb. When I switched to 3Mbps the price was $19.95/mo. Then came the increases and data caps. Last year it was $35.00/mo and I dread next month's bill and the increase I'll see.

I will call and report the problem again but this time if they try to blame my indoor wiring I will immediately file a complaint with the BBB and the FCC. Maybe THEY can get AT&T to replace these leaky 30 or 40 year old line bundles.

StillLearn
Premium Member
join:2002-03-21
Streamwood, IL

StillLearn

Premium Member

What is the purpose of your post?

PeteC2
Got Mouse?
MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

PeteC2 to tekwyzrd

MVM

to tekwyzrd
$35 a month for 3Mbps (in reality, more like 2.5Mbps at best, yes?) is abysmal, even if it was rock-solid.

If you are in Cleveland, OH, surely there are better ISP options out there.

DSL is a dying technology. None of the dsl providers show any intent/desire to upgrade services and are generally letting it slowly die out. While I can't blame you for being mad/frustrated, the most effective response is to simply vote with your wallet andswitch to cable or some other option.

wizkid6
join:2002-03-31
Opelika, AL

wizkid6

Member

said by PeteC2:

DSL is a dying technology. None of the dsl providers show any intent/desire to upgrade services and are generally letting it slowly die out.

Huh? Tell that to U-verse customers, who can get a max of 18/1 (ADSL2+) or 25/3 (VDSL2).

Soon, hopefully U-verse ADSL2+ customers will be able to get at least 30/3 with line bonding and/or vectoring.

Now that's competitive with Charter's 30/4 tier.
tekwyzrd
join:2009-12-02
Cleveland, OH

tekwyzrd to PeteC2

Member

to PeteC2
I live in Cuyahoga Heights, a small inner ring suburb of Cleveland. I could use an alternate provider but would have to settle for lower speed due to the quality of the lines. The fastest service any other dsl provider will offer me is 1.5/256. When things are working right as is the case right now I get a max speed of 3008/512. When the sun sets the crc errors and connection losses start. As for cable, no thanks. The reliability of time warner and wow available in my area isn't much better. I could get a one year discount but at the end of that year I'd be paying more.

PeteC2
Got Mouse?
MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

PeteC2 to wizkid6

MVM

to wizkid6
said by wizkid6:

said by PeteC2:

DSL is a dying technology. None of the dsl providers show any intent/desire to upgrade services and are generally letting it slowly die out.

Huh? Tell that to U-verse customers, who can get a max of 18/1 (ADSL2+) or 25/3 (VDSL2).

Soon, hopefully U-verse ADSL2+ customers will be able to get at least 30/3 with line bonding and/or vectoring.

Now that's competitive with Charter's 30/4 tier.

Uverse and dsl are not one and the same. Same company, different product. DSL is dying out. Many knowledgeable articles discuss AT&T & Verizon's absolute disinterest in continuing/maintaining dsl.
PeteC2

PeteC2 to tekwyzrd

MVM

to tekwyzrd
said by tekwyzrd:

I live in Cuyahoga Heights, a small inner ring suburb of Cleveland. I could use an alternate provider but would have to settle for lower speed due to the quality of the lines. The fastest service any other dsl provider will offer me is 1.5/256. When things are working right as is the case right now I get a max speed of 3008/512. When the sun sets the crc errors and connection losses start. As for cable, no thanks. The reliability of time warner and wow available in my area isn't much better. I could get a one year discount but at the end of that year I'd be paying more.

Time Warner isn't great, I agree, but it still would beat what you currently have based on your post.

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David to tekwyzrd

Premium Member

to tekwyzrd
said by tekwyzrd:

. When the sun sets the crc errors and connection losses start...

That sounds like a dusk-to-dawn light firing up, or that's as least where I would start checking. I had one guy that had a set of coach lights doing it. Only way he figured it out was the stray cat pissed his dogs off the lights went to full power and his dsl modem rebooted and kept full sync, till the time was up then it went back to non-working again as soon as the lights went dim.

his fix, left it at full power.

Another one I had a few years back was a bad dimmer in a bathroom. daughter would go to the bathroom, turn the dimmer all the way on to full power and go use the internet. Told her mother that "for some reason that switch causes our internet to stop working so I just turn it on, and turn it off when I am done." Lady was dumbfounded that her daughter was doing that! Last I heard was she had an electrician come over and fix that problem and others that were "mysteriously going on"

Had one take matters in his own hands and fix his shooting out a street light with a pellet gun. Yea, his son told me about it via IM! That one took a little more co-ordination as it was a power company problem.

Not sure where the guide is around here but supposedly you can sniff these out with a cheap A.M. radio sniffing in the DSL frequency ranges.
tkdslr
join:2004-04-24
Pompano Beach, FL

tkdslr to tekwyzrd

Member

to tekwyzrd
Google FEXT and NEXT...

My bet.. there has been a increase in number of new U-verse customers on your street.. The noise you're seeing is a function of their usage.. It will only get worse, they have relatively short lines and you have a much longer one.

Start looking for alternative I-net access..