Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
 ·Comcast
|  Down In Michigan!
I sent an IM to ElnkTra but she hasn't been here in over 2 days.
RE: Ticket #610725
Covad CID: 101-205-739
It's like DSL got disconnected yesterday at 2:08PM EDT. No sync on 3 modems at the NID. POTS is good and audibly clean.
Raybro (Covad Direct Forum) reports he sees no training starts at all.
* Coincidence? (a 2nd 1 year contract just expired).
* Someone kick the DSLAM connection out?
* Line? Dialup syncs at 50.6k (pretty good!) but we did have rain and T'Storms 12 hours before.
I'd appreciate any help. TIA!  |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| I hope lightning didn't hit the Line Card or DSLAM. 
Make them run a new copper line to you. 
Regards,
Doctor Olds |
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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
·Comcast
1 edit | Hi Doc. Best I can tell, 2:08PM didn't have any bad weather but it rained hard around 4PM. T-Storms were around midnight - well before.
Rain is in the back of my mind because I had POTS go bad with rain a few years ago (dry pair for DSL). Took 2 weeks to get a good line!
The other interesting thing is it shut down suddenly, no spits and sputters whatsoever. No resemblance to past sync issues at all. |
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ElnkShaun
VIP
join:2004-01-30
Atlanta, GA
| reply to Bill_MI
Earthlink Electronic Support Response
This is a response from EarthLink Electronic Support.
This is a response from EarthLink Electronic Support.
Hello Bill,
Tra was not here when you sent a message to her two days ago. The hours that we are likely to be present are posted on the site under the The Official EarthLink Techs link: »EarthLink DSL FAQ » Who are the Official Earthlink Techs that Post Here?. I will be happy to assist you with your issue.
Regards,
Shaun O.
Electronic Support
EarthLink Inc.
ElnkShaun 
For live online support please click on the following link
»support.earthlink.net/chat |
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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
·Comcast
| Hi Shaun and thanks for the followup. Doesn't look like Tra was here yesterday on her posted schedule (Wed) - maybe vacation?
Boy, it sure looks like the service got yanked or similar. Looks like I'll be getting a truck roll (ready with NID power & 3 modems ).
Thanks! |
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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
·Comcast
4 edits | Up and Running again... Blessing in Disguise!
Lots of good things happened on this outage. I got to know the awesome help of ElnkShaun . See: »Thanks ElnkShaun!
I also made a good contact at the phone company (that got me an AWESOME line.... best since '97 as far as I can tell!).
Can't forget Raybro over in the Covad forums who is always there to help, too!
Looky this snapshot from a Westell B90-220010-04...
BEFORE:
Line Mode: G.DMT
Data Path: Fast
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec): 1536/384
Margin (db): 9.0/12.0
Line Attenuation (db): 63.5/18.5
Transmit Power (db/Hz): 13.0/9.0
AFTER:
Line Mode: G.DMT
Data Path: Fast
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec): 1536/384
Margin (db): 15.0/12.0
Line Attenuation (db): 55.5/18.5
Transmit Power (db/Hz): 7.0/5.0
If you're marginal like I've been, these numbers speak for themselves. This is what you call a blessing in disguise - worth 2 days down! |
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jtudor
Xm 60's On 6 Freak
Premium,MVM
join:2002-12-07
Morganton, NC | Hmmm Maybe I need an outage here in NC too...
Great news Bill |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
1 edit | reply to Bill_MI
said by Bill_MI :
I also made a good contact at the phone company (that got me an AWESOME line.... best since '97 as far as I can tell!).
AFTER:
Line Mode: G.DMT
Data Path: Fast
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec): 1536/384
Margin (db): 15.0/12.0
Line Attenuation (db): 55.5/18.5
Transmit Power (db/Hz): 7.0/5.0
If you're marginal like I've been, these numbers speak for themselves. - worth 2 days down!
Wow, you should ask for 3.0 now. 
Regards,
Doctor Olds |
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Hall
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH | reply to Bill_MI
15dB noise margins... you've only *heard* about those before |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:
2 edits | LOL..nice one Hall.....sorry Bill couldn't resist:) Actually I think Bill probably saw those noise margins with his old SDSL line;) |
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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
·Comcast
| Well, I have a new baseline to measure going forward. No doubt about it, the SBC CSS had an expertise (and equipment) I never saw before (ADSL since 1997).
JT, I have a pair of wire cutters...
Doc, ElnkShaun says I'm eligible for 3.0. I'm too conservative and want to see this over a few days first. Hey, safe mode is 2018k!
Hall, that was typical *SafeMode* before.
GDM, you couldn't rile me now if you tried .
Other things I learned:
Except for the 22-question form, Live Chat was very efficient. "Cody R." made a ticket about as fast as he could. I have NO horror story on Live Chat.
Besides being on top of everything, ElnkShaun has a wonderful accent.
Broadxent Briteport 8120 has inflated noise margins. In safe mode my other modems reported 18-20db while the 8120 said 31db!!!
Local SBC has their act together on ADSL... finally! Teresa was a CSS with truck and a DSL meter - never saw this in the past... bravo!
Of course, my data taking will continue. |
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Hall
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH
 ·EarthLink
·AT&T Midwest
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| said by Bill_MI :
Besides being on top of everything, ElnkShaun has a wonderful accent.
I assume you mean she has a "drawl" |
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rolfp
join:2001-09-12
Oakland, CA
·Comcast
·EarthLink
| reply to Bill_MI
Bill, do I correctly gather that your phone line completely failed, you were assigned a new pair, and that your long-term travails with sync/rate are over? Is your line still stable?
I've also had a chronic problem with sync that is intermittent since being re-provisioned to line-share: »Power-Cycle UHP Modem?
A lot of effort has been put into my issue, including by Raybro, ElnkRobert, several house visits by Covad, a visit by SBC, and the removal of a neighbor's drop crossing mine. Now, I have 3008/384, with lower margins but pretty good stability, interspersed with static/sync problems that seem to occur under certain environmental conditions.
Over winter (at 1536/384), there was a period of no sync problems that ended on the first hot day of Spring. Since then, there seems to be a pretty solid correlation between hot days/late in a hot day and the static/sync-degradation/sync-drop when I pick up the phone. My IW is a new, short, single home run from a POTS splitter that I installed early on, so I suspect some fault in the line or CO that is temperature-affected.
If this is an accurate description of conditions, does your experience suggest that someone like ElnkShaun could get to the bottom of this, or am I, also, waiting for my line to fail more completely? |
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Hall
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH | »Down In Michigan! |
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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
·Comcast
| reply to rolfp
Hi Rolfp. Only DSL went out on the shared line. POTS was always up and sounded clean. Here's the whole thing...
Once Raybro (Covad Direct) confirmed I didn't even have training starts and there was no maintenance going on I opened a ticket via LiveChat.
ElnkShaun tracked my ticket with experienced eyes, keeping me informed, etc. She did express a surprise the path it took but I'm not exactly sure why (maybe she can clarify).
Did Cody R. (LiveChat) enter something unique. I reported no sign of the DSL signal "at the NID on 3 modems".
I replied to Raybro's suggestion I get a ticket with my ticket #. Since (I'm pretty sure) it goes to Covad anyway, did Raybro get the right buttons pushed? He did have my #.
But THIS is the key I haven't seen in 6+ years of DSL...
Enter the SBC CSS Teresa. She's a DSL knowledgeable specialist with tools, truck and a DSL test meter. She already had swapped the main line and something at the CO and was testing at my NID. When she hooked it back up to my house (I had my wireless laptop looking at the modem) I was saying "Holy Cow!... never saw this good!". Then she said she had found an "aerial" (overhead) line with better ground leak she could switch to. Ten minutes later she was back and I had this huge smile on my face that hasn't gone away.
So here I am saying there really were good lines between here and the CO (the main run from CO to 1/4 mile from me has to be 60+ years old). In the past I don't think I ever talked to an SBC line person even aware how DSL performance is measured, yet alone picking a line with DSL in mind.
You need to find your local Teresa somehow. Her title is CSS (Customer Service Specialist). |
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rolfp
join:2001-09-12
Oakland, CA | Congratulations, Bill, and thanks for the detailed explanation |
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