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Whyohwhy
Anon
2014-Aug-30 12:33 am
[Qwest] DSL service downgraded by CenturyLinkMy sister has CenturyLink DSL. She signed up with them two years ago when the Comcast cable on her street became too unreliable (whole other story!). The fastest download service available was 7Mbps, so that is what she went with. It was fast enough for her light needs.
All was well until recently when she noticed web pages loading much slower than usual. I ran a bunch of speed tests for her at different times of day, all around 1 Mbps. I called CenturyLink.
It seems CenturyLink discontinued the 7 Mbps service without even notifying her. Why they did this, I have no idea. It isn't like she lives in the boonies, she is in the middle of fairly high density neighborhood.
It wouldn't be so bad if she (and everyone else on her street) had other options for broadband. To make it even more infuriating is constantly hearing the CenturyLink ads on TV how they are rolling out 1 Gbps speeds in some markets. Jeesh, she lives in the city and can't even get 7 Mbps!
Does this sort of thing go on all the time? |
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Whyohwhy |
Whyohwhy
Anon
2014-Aug-30 1:14 am
PS: On the CenturyLink website, they are still offering 7 Mbps tiered service at her address.
One other thing: When I called CenturyLink about the low speed, they suggested "CenturyLink Jetpack" (Verizon bundle). Great. Why not just restore her 7 Mbps line? |
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to Whyohwhy
Anyway you can get what model modem she's using & what the line stats the modem is reporting? (i.e SNR, Attenuation, Connection status speed, etc)
Last I checked 7 Mbps is still a speed that's offered. |
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Whyohwhy
Anon
2014-Aug-30 2:35 am
Yes, they are still advertising 7 Mbps at her address, but only 1.5 download is available now according to customer service. |
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Rainia join:2014-07-28 Nathalie, VA |
Rainia
Member
2014-Aug-30 3:01 am
said by Whyohwhy :Yes, they are still advertising 7 Mbps at her address, but only 1.5 download is available now according to customer service. Usually this means they oversold and now have bandwidth exhaust in that area. Hence, they bumped people down to 1.5. |
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Whyohwhy
Anon
2014-Aug-30 4:06 am
I kinda suspected that was the case Rainia. So how about they come out and upgrade our street back to 7 Mbps? They are out there upgrading other locations nearby to 40 Mbps and my sis can't even keep her 7 Mbps. Good grief.
CenturyLink probably over-sold due to the Comcast cable being toasted as well. |
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Rainia join:2014-07-28 Nathalie, VA |
Rainia
Member
2014-Aug-30 4:25 am
said by Whyohwhy :I kinda suspected that was the case Rainia. So how about they come out and upgrade our street back to 7 Mbps? you got me. best i can do is shrug. my area is "permanently bandwidth exhausted" |
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Whyohwhy
Anon
2014-Aug-30 4:53 am
There really outta be a law...
As much as i detest doing business with Comcast, I guess I should be thanking my lucky stars I don't have to rely on CenturyLink as my sister has to. |
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JT @207.119.40.x |
JT
Anon
2014-Aug-30 6:28 am
Contact your own (State's attorney general's office) and file a complaint with them!
This will help prosecute bad company's that scam you within your own state. |
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gapmn join:2013-11-10 Saint Paul, MN |
to Whyohwhy
CL is a business offering consumers a product. If CL no longer offers you a product you like, you have to find the next best product you are willing to pay for or look for a product somewhere else. CL is in the Business to make money, plain and simple. If it does not make economical sense to supply a particular product anymore, they will quit selling it. There is no "law" that will keep a company in business if it forces a company to loose money. Only the government can stay open with a perpetual negative balance sheet (and that can only last so long). |
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to Whyohwhy
It's most likely cost prohibitive to run fiber out to where your sister lives (i'm assuming if Comcast doesnt even want to serve it, CenturyLink wont have much interest either)
Right now, the DSLAM is most likely fed off of T1 lines being bonded together. So they'll either need to increase those and that costs big $$$$ or run new fiber and that cost even more $$$$$$
I've lived in places like this, and i just decided to move somewhere it was cost effective to get the services i want. A huge yard with minimal neighbors is nice, but a fellow geek as myself needs connectivity so i'll deal with a slightly smaller yard and get what I want. |
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1 edit |
to Whyohwhy
Was the modem replaced around the time the service was downgraded? I ask because I was told by centurylink when I got my current modem that if I had centurylink send a new modem my speed would be downgraded from 7mbps to 1.5mbps.
PS It may have been 256k not 1.5mbps if they supplied the modem. |
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Whyohwhy to brad152
Anon
2014-Aug-30 6:16 pm
to brad152
Sis does not need fiber, a plain ol' 7 Mbps DSL would get her by. Apparently that is too much to expect from CenturyLink.
As far as CenturyLink making a business decision: If CenturyLink cannot find a way to make money providing DSL service in a high-density area, and compete with Comcast, I really have to question their business model. I won't even get into their incredibly horrible customer service.
Comcast does have a cable here as required by their franchise agreement with the City. Unfortunately, there must be something wrong with the cable. Before everyone switched to DSL internet/satellite tv, there was a Comcast/Xfinity repair truck parked on the street almost every day. This went on for years and years. Really, the people on this street should take their case to the City and see if they can get any action there. |
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Whyohwhy |
to chevyowner
chevyowner, same old modem she has used for the past two years when she first signed up. |
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nunyaLXI 483 MVM join:2000-12-23 O Fallon, MO ·Charter
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to Whyohwhy
I find it difficult to believe that the Comcast service is worse than CenturyTel. I guess every situation is unique. Ordinarily, cable blows DSL out of the water. It's been a few years. Perhaps your sister should give Comcast a 30 day trial. If things work better during the trial period, tell CenturyTel to shove off. |
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gapmn join:2013-11-10 Saint Paul, MN |
to Whyohwhy
Brad152 was explaining that your sister's DSLAM is probably not fiber fed and is probably congested. Thus, that is probably why she was downgraded in speed. |
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As a technician I can tell you this is probably not the case.
What is far more likely is something is causing the SNR to take a nose dive and the customer was forced to a different profile. A half way decent tech would have troubleshot the issue instead of taking the nuclear option.
It could (and probably is) be something as simple as bad and or pulled on cross connect at the Xbox. |
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gapmn join:2013-11-10 Saint Paul, MN |
gapmn
Member
2014-Aug-31 7:50 pm
Yes, that is very possible. If they would post the line stats, it would help with trouble shooting their problem. |
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to Whyohwhy
Well if Comcast and CenturyLink are both "bad" on the street, then there is something wrong with the clientele there.
I do know parts of Phoenix that has just awful infrastructure from both Cox and CenturyLink, but those are parts that are old and are full of less than desirable customers (lots of unpaid disconnects, cord cutters, etc)
So either the neighborhood has awful customers, the node/DSLAM is simply congested and needs new fiber ran (i see this all the time back east on CenturyLink), or it's a bad pair (or an issue at the crossbox as mentioned before)
but since she was on a 7Mbps profile, i'm assuming it's an ex-Qwest area so it's most likely fiber-fed already so i'm going to lean more to a bad line pair or internal wiring issue. |
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Whyohwhy
Anon
2014-Sep-1 11:17 pm
It is indeed an "ex-Quest" area. It is a decent enough neighborhood, but I sure wouldn't leave my door unlocked Whatever the problem, I do not expect to see any resolution any time soon. Even CenturyLink suggested she sign up for wireless. Myself, I would take another gamble on Comcast (as I have done). A fast connection that mostly works most of the time is better than a slooooooow connection that sorta works most of the time. |
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jmiller join:2013-06-25 Minneapolis, MN |
to gapmn
said by gapmn:CL is a business offering consumers a product. If CL no longer offers you a product you like, you have to find the next best product you are willing to pay for or look for a product somewhere else. CL is in the Business to make money, plain and simple. If it does not make economical sense to supply a particular product anymore, they will quit selling it. There is no "law" that will keep a company in business if it forces a company to loose money. Only the government can stay open with a perpetual negative balance sheet (and that can only last so long). As much as I dislike CL and dislike the idea of what happened to the OP, you are correct. A business like CL is not obligated to provide any level of broadband. |
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