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DSL connection drops and Support has no tech knowledge

I've been having connection issues for a long time (at LEAST since December)

The issue I'm having is that every hour or so speed drops to unusable (it takes several minutes to load a simple page). If I reboot the router - internet disappears completely ("internet" light is off, but DSL is on). If I reboot the router again, the internet is back on and the speed slow but usable (at least I can open Google in less than 10 minutes), but it drops again after about an hour, so I have to repeat the process again.

Support's favorite speedtest.net is either not loading at all due to slow speed, or in rare cases when I can break through the loading screen, shows me adequate speed, even if it just took me 5 minutes to load the speedtest.net page itself!

I contacted verizon support FOUR times by now.

First time the agent told me to replace my DSL cable, but that didn't help.
Second time I got disconnected from chat due to "connectivity issues" while I was talking about those exact issues.
Third time the agent told me that he's "testing my connection" and disappeared for 15 minutes, and when I asked him if he needed any additional information, he said that he's still "testing" and disappeared for 15 minutes again, and then the chat closed due to inactivity (rude...)
Fourth time the agent had a screen-sharing session with me, during which he deleted Internet Explorer browser history and ran a bunch of online speedtests, after which he concluded that the problem was resolved.

This shows me that the agents just mindlessly follow the algorithm given to them without assessing the problem, and have no technical knowledge whatsoever.

First, I JUST TOLD the agent that my low speed isn't constant, but drops about every hour. So how running a speedtest at one particular moment proves that there's no connection problem?

Second, I don't even use internet explorer (which the agent should've realized when I shared my screen because Google Chrome was open), so what is the point of deleting browsing history of a browser I don't even use?

And third, most importantly, how on Earth deleting browsing history from one browser can fix a problem that requires REBOOTING THE ROUTER TWO TIMES?!

Comments

rickryan

Exact same issues here and with others I know! Verizon spits on us and says your bill is due!! We are trapped with no way out because Comcast is just as bad....

smith6612

Could you post some Transceiver statistics for us? From comparison, get one copy of the transceiver Statistics during a time where the connection is working, fresh from a modem reboot, and then get another from a time where the Internet is not working, or is otherwise very slow. It sounds like you're having an issue with losing sync.

If you have a Westell or ActionTec modem, we can get the stats. For a D-Link, it's unknown how to get that yet for me.

Westell modems (old): http://192.168.1.1/transtat.htm

Westell modems (new): http://192.168.1.1/htmlV/transtat.asp

ActionTec modems: Visit http://192.168.1.1/ and click on Status. From here, click on DSL Status.

Simply copy and paste the information from the page, or take a screenshot. Be sure to remove any IP address information you see if you're pasting from an ActionTec gateway.

The default login for the modems should be one of the following if you have not changed it:

admin/password

admin/password1

admin/admin

admin/admin1

admin/verizon

admin/verizon1

If the username and password is admin/password, the modem will require you to reset the password to something else before letting you in.

Also, if you have a landline, take note if your voice service has any sort of noise on it, such as static, popping, crackling, or other noises especially during times where the DSL is having issues. This is a sign of a physical line issue that must be corrected.

alexyar

Transceiver Statistics

Transceiver Revision	A2pB020b3.d20h
Vendor ID Code	4D54
Line Mode	ADSL_G.dmt
Data Path	INTERLEAVED

Transceiver Information	Down Stream Path	Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec)	7104	864
Margin (dB)	7.9 (slow speed) / 8.1 (ok speed) / 11.4 (after reboot)	11 (slow & normal) / 12.0 (after reboot)
Line Attenuation (dB)	32.0	18.0
Transmit Power (dBm)	19.8 (slow & normal) /19.7 (after reboot)	11.9

dsgrey

Same issue here. Had service for years without any issues and I've lost DSL for a total of 3 different days this year. Tuesday, line seems slow. Wednesday it was okay at 11am but basically dead at 6pm. Never loads a page or if I can speed test, my speed is 1/3 normal then service never loads a page after the test. Acts like something is getting overloaded and I suspect the Westell is going bad.

I spent 2 hours with tech support last night and while I explained I had this issue using a LAN directly into the Westell, they wanted me to change the bridge option to shift the control to my Netgear router and when I had the issue on my Netgear device Verizon wanted to blame Netgear and tell me to contact them! No, we changed everything back and removed Netgear from the equation then when we weren't making any progress I heard a disconnect on the phone. The tech actually hung up and never called back!

So I'll be calling them again tonight and may plug directly into the box outside since they seem good at attempting to find non-Verizon equipment issues. I really can't believe this guy tried to pass off the issue with my Netgear equipment when I wasn't using it on the initial call - removed as many failure points as possible since this is basic troubleshooting but he wanted to add a non-Verizon item into the mix for blame.

irispatchmr

Request a new modem and keep requesting new modems till they fix the problem

smith6612

I suspect what you're seeing here is a slow sag in the quality of your connection at the 7.1Mbps speed. What you'll want to do in order to fix this is the following:

1: Please be sure to double check all devices attached to your phone line. The filters cannot be installed backwards, otherwise this can affect DSL even though it's technically filtered. I've seen it, and fixed it too, only to be rewarded with better, more solid stats.

2: Consider performing a NID test to see if the stats are any better than the ones you get after a reboot. If they are, we can go from there. Alternatively, if you ask Verizon nicely, you can have them stop by and install a DSL Homerun. This is basically where Verizon filters out DSL from your entire home, and dedicates one unfiltered set of wires, or jack, towards running your DSL modem on. At longer lenghts per higher speeds such as what your line is doing, I always suggest this. Doesn't help much, but it's helpful none the less. In most cases, Verizon will install this for free, and in the past all 5M and 7.1M installs required a tech dispatch to filter the line.

3: Don't ask for a new modem. If you've got an older Westell 6100 modem, those tend to tolerate marginal connections a lot better than the newer D-Links or Westell 7500s. If you've got a 7500 already, hang onto it.

4: Ask Verizon for ADSL2 or ADSL2+! This is something they can change for you, and while they typically only supply it to those getting 10-15Mbps service, they will supply it if you ask/push. Yes, it is free. Your line shows it's currently using the first generation ADSL technology, which is limited to about 8Mbps/900kbps. ADSL2+ can do 24Mbps/3.3Mbps on Annex. G mode (you won't find this anywhere except Australia and Europe), and in addition improves speeds and stability on longer lines thanks to better noise handling and broader use of frequency. At your distance, you're running rather close to the max of ADSL for speed, so I do expect some stability issues. You're roughly 8,000 feet out in copper length from the CO which is at the edge of 7Mbps territory.

dsgrey

Update. Spent 2 hours with the guy who wanted to reconnect my Netgear equipment and blame it before we magically got disconnected and he didn't call back on Wednesday night. Tried calling Thursday night but the call quality when transferred to offshore was so bad, couldn't understand anything. Opened a chat session and received an offshore resource. After 30 minutes in chat we had established my modem model number and the lights were blinking correctly. Seriously! This person was multi-tasking with probably 6 other chat sessions and would require 3 - 5 minutes before responding to anything. It would have taken 12+ hours to get to the same spot with the previous guy.

Called again and got a US resource who actually knew something. Basically they can't reset my connection and opened a ticket to have this resolved "around" Saturday night 9pm (48 hours). We're 12 hours AFTER that cutoff and the ticket still shows as open. Shall we take bets on whether it will be Tuesday or Wednesday after the holiday before anything MIGHT be done?

The call/chat resources are of widely varying quality. It's a shame when you have to call multiple times before you actually can find someone who knows something about their network. The first 2 times were people just reciting a script. The first person said no issue when they did a test but the third person actually watched the line when attempting to use it and saw issues.

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