| CenturyLink predictably disrupting my service...? As if CenturyLink wasn't screwing with me enough having given me less bandwidth than I signed on for (see this thread »Is CenturyLink engaging in unfair practices? ). Now, for the past week between the hours of 4 PM and 6:30 PM, I get a predictable service disruption. My connection gets cut, my DSL lights do nothing but flash. Powering off the modem does nothing. I don't need to call CenturyLink to know that they will tell me the problem is a) the "lines," or b) my modem (not possible because these disruptions are happening at exactly the same time every day except weekends), or c) the phone line in my house connecting the modem (again, not possible unless the cable has a mind of its own and knows exactly what time to short out every day). Never is there a disruption in the morning or later evening.
Which of these is likely the cause:
a) the repairperson in the field screwing with my connection at the end of his work day because he has easy access to the lines even though the initial repair ticket a week ago was closed. This guy was rude when he came into my home, and he will never come in again. I get the feeling the guy wants to get in again and confront me because he knows I mentioned to customer service that he was rude. My guess is he can get away with doing this if he's looking for revenge.
b) a very lame attempt to "train" my adsl modem. After the initial checking of the outside lines, I do not know (and can't get an answer for this) if CenturyLink routinely tries to reconnect to maximize the transfer of bandwidth, or quite possible to make sure that I do not get more bandwidth than I'm supposed to be getting. Why they'd need to do this for a week is unclear.
c) the NSA (and for all I know someone reported me for "suspicious activity").
d) the Internet gods hate me.
Modem stats are not going to help in this case because the issue is not bandwidth this time. Before and after the disruption I have exactly the same bandwidth according to a speed test. |
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nonymousPremium
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ
2 edits | You would be surprised at the number of things that can cause time of day repair issues. Need a tech schedule to be there during the time it is most likely to occur. So if you do a repair schedule it for that time frame.
Also, what are the modem stats when the issue is occurring? |
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| reply to Concerned101
Why is everything a conspiracy to you?
I highly doubt customer service ever even passed on your comments to anyone else. |
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| said by TAZ :Why is everything a conspiracy to you?
I highly doubt customer service ever even passed on your comments to anyone else.
Exactly. Nobody has time to fool around like this and there's no point in it to begin with. |
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| reply to nonymous
said by nonymous:You would be surprised at the number of things that can cause time of day repair issues. Such as? --and don't simply tell me a congested line because of high traffic at this time of the day. Before my new plan started just weeks ago I was not having an issue like this.
Also, keep in mind I am talking about a predictable service interruption that occurs between 4 PM and 6:30 PM only on weekdays. The service before is perfect and then gets restored exactly the same (including bandwidth). |
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 dondude
join:2005-09-15
Lehigh Acres, FL | You have to post your line stats when service is out. |
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| reply to TAZ
said by TAZ :Why is everything a conspiracy to you?
I highly doubt customer service ever even passed on your comments to anyone else.
They didn't have to. The repair person was already angry when he walked in my door. He was apparently phoned by tech support before he showed up at my home and they must have asked him what the heck he was doing. That was enough to make the guy angry. He seemed to be someone who needed to make it clear to me that because he was an expert with many years in the field, I had no place questioning his assessment that a 15 foot phone cable running from the phone jack to my modem was somehow impairing the bandwidth (in fact, even a tech support person who read this in the report after the repair ticket was closed said to me, "I've never heard anything like that before.") When he thought I wasn't cooperating with him he said, "I'm not gonna argue with you." I wasn't arguing; but I made it clear that nobody is giving me any answers to my questions. I know it sounds strange and paranoid, but the guy indicated he really didn't like me. People can have personal issues in which they get "triggered" into not liking someone at the first meeting. Bottom line is none of you actually know the guy, and you do not know what he is capable of getting away with. He could have a permit to carry a conceal weapon and do so because he's afraid of going into other people's homes unarmed. When it's just you and someone else in a home nobody's there to act as a witness if someone impulsively gets violent. Better to be safe than sorry, so the guy is not coming into my home again. |
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| said by Concerned101 :They didn't have to. The repair person was already angry when he walked in my door. He was apparently phoned by tech support before he showed up at my home and they must have asked him what the heck he was doing. Why would tech support contact him? Tech support doesn't follow up. You called them, they determined a tech needed to be sent out, they scheduled a tech visit, that's it for their involvement.
And why would they ask him "what the heck he's doing"? Visiting your house in response to the work order... ?
said by Concerned101 :He seemed to be someone who needed to make it clear to me that because he was an expert with many years in the field, I had no place questioning his assessment that a 15 foot phone cable running from the phone jack to my modem was somehow impairing the bandwidth (in fact, even a tech support person who read this in the report after the repair ticket was closed said to me, "I've never heard anything like that before.") Realistically it probably wouldn't make a difference unless the cable itself was of very poor quality. Remember that the signal has already traversed probably a few thousand feet of cable, perhaps in varying condition (I don't know what area you live in or how old the phone wiring is), as well as gone through your inside wiring which itself can be of varying quality depending on how old it is and who installed it. 15 ft. added to that isn't going to make any real significant difference; sure, smaller would be better if not just because of less clutter (unless you're actually running that modem 15 ft. away from the jack) but if it's such a big deal then just swap the cable yourself.
said by Concerned101 :Bottom line is none of you actually know the guy, and you do not know what he is capable of getting away with. He could have a permit to carry a conceal weapon and do so because he's afraid of going into other people's homes unarmed. When it's just you and someone else in a home nobody's there to act as a witness if someone impulsively gets violent. Better to be safe than sorry, so the guy is not coming into my home again. None of us know him, but really, don't you think it's a big jump to "this guy's mean, so he might harm me"? Sure, if he was rude to you then don't let him in your house, it's your house after all. But come on... |
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| reply to Concerned101
said by Concerned101 :Such as? --and don't simply tell me a congested line because of high traffic at this time of the day. Before my new plan started just weeks ago I was not having an issue like this. It's not a "congested line." The circuit between you and the DSLAM is _dedicated_. The DSLAM's uplink ports can become congested (in your case, if you have 7M available but not 12M or higher, it's probably one or more DS3s), but that would not affect your trained speeds or cause DSL disconnections, whatsoever.
said by Concerned101 :Also, keep in mind I am talking about a predictable service interruption that occurs between 4 PM and 6:30 PM only on weekdays. The service before is perfect and then gets restored exactly the same (including bandwidth). I've heard of cases like that before where it turns out to be some source of interference that happens to be activated around the same time. Now, I'm not a telco tech so as far as actually trying to troubleshoot that, I can't offer much assistance. But it would be a possibility to look at, at least.
It's "possible" that a tech is messing with you, too, just as it's possible I could win the lottery. Very unlikely though. And I guarantee you it's not an official practice of CL/Qwest to do that - what would the motive be? |
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 NormanSI gave her time to steal my mind awayPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
kudos:9 | reply to Concerned101
e) A local business on a pair in the same binder with your pair is uploading a massive volume of "end-of-day" financial data.
An SBC tech offered that as a weirdness in his DSL repair experience.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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| said by NormanS:e) A local business on a pair in the same binder with your pair is uploading a massive volume of "end-of-day" financial data. An SBC tech offered that as a weirdness in his DSL repair experience. Thank you for that, but it doesn't make a service disruption that occurs every day okay. CenturyLink is still not providing reliable networking for its customers.
Yesterday, the interruption lasted for about 1 minute only, but still within the same time frame. |
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| said by Concerned101 :Thank you for that, but it doesn't make a service disruption that occurs every day okay. CenturyLink is still not providing reliable networking for its customers.
Yesterday, the interruption lasted for about 1 minute only, but still within the same time frame.
Then call them and have them get it fixed? |
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| reply to Concerned101
It's nothing to do with "reliable networking". These things happen in broadband, since at some point it's all a shared connection.
And if CenturyLink is your "only option" in your area, that means the DSLAM is really loaded as that's all that's available to people.
It's like here in Phoenix, Cox Cable makes agreements with apartment complexes so the residents are not allowed to order CenturyLink for even POTS service, so the Cable Internet in those places are just terrible since the node connecting 200+ apartments cannot handle the influx of peak demand between VoIP, Internet, and Digital Cable. That's why i research any place i move too to ensure i have options before moving there so i do not end up stuck in one of those situations.
For me, CenturyLink paired with Dish Network has been 10x more reliable than cable, and a lot cheaper to boot! |
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NormanSI gave her time to steal my mind awayPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
kudos:9 | reply to Concerned101
said by Concerned101 :Thank you for that, but it doesn't make a service disruption that occurs every day okay. I offered an explanation which indicates that you might not have "angered" some tech, or deity, into taking personal interest in annoying you (as your list suggests).
I have no standing to complain about poor service to CenturyLink; only you can do that. Streetlights, neighbor's treadmill, whatever. You take that information to CL. If, then, they blow you have, that is poor service.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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| reply to brad152
said by brad152:And if CenturyLink is your "only option" in your area, that means the DSLAM is really loaded as that's all that's available to people. He's not even complaining about congestion, which would at least be an issue I could understand him complaining about. He just wants to bitch and not actually do anything to get it fixed. Because, you know, CenturyLink is out to get him (and just him)! :P
said by brad152:For me, CenturyLink paired with Dish Network has been 10x more reliable than cable, and a lot cheaper to boot! Same out here (actually 10x might be too low of a number LOL.. Comcast is BAD, there's a reason CL was able to sell every single ADSL2+/VDSL2 port on their DSLAM here!). When you're on an Ethernet-fed DSLAM CL is perfect. |
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Reviews:
·CenturyLink
| Well i was comparing with Cox Cable. I was paying them $180/mo for 25/5 internet and basic cable with whole home DVR. Dish set me up for $56/mo for a hopper/joey system, hbo & showtime, top channel package, and 40/5 CenturyLink DSL service for $30/mo so around $100/mo cheaper in reality. |
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