I have always had excellent service when it comes to Verizon DSL. I have never looked at the modem lights until about two weeks ago, when I saw a message "internet connection timed out" on my computer screen. Then I noticed that the "Internet" LED was flickering on and off for random periods of time, and occasionally, the "DSL" LED was also off for random periods of time. The day was extremely windy, and I surmised that there might be a bad connection or noise being generated from telephone wires swaying in the wind. The wires from the NID to my third floor apartment are on the outside of the building all the way to where they penetrate the brick wall of the building. They are essentially incapable of moving, being securely fastened to the building with no slack whatsoever.
All was returned to normal until 2 days ago, when the wind kicked up and the temperatures dropped, Then, the same thing occurred and it went away again. But this second time, the wind died down in my vicinity long before the intermittent signal cleared up.
I am in central New Jersey and I wonder if anyone else has experienced this condition.
Not too uncommon of an issue. If you have voice service with Verizon, see if there is noise on the line when the problem persists. If there is, give Verizon's Voice Repair number a call at their typical 1800-VERIZON number via another phone line and have them check the line for a fault. One should be picked up, and they should dispatch a tech to fix whatever the issue is that is causing the problem. It sometimes takes a few tries to get the problem fixed, so don't be surprised if the first attempt at a fix does not work. I've been down that path for local businesses before in getting their landlines and DSL lines fixed for intermittent issues.
If you don't have a landline, give DSL support a call and inform them of the issues you're having with the DSL dropping out whenever the wind blows. Insist that the modem is not the problem if they try to send a new one out (if they won't give up, have them dispatch a tech with a modem), and have them simply send a tech out to check the line.
You are right on the money as far as thinking about wires swaying in the wind. . Your wires from the NID to your apt may be secured and not the problem. It may be the aerial cable in the network or to your apt building. If you have an aerial drop, which is the cable that services your building, then the Verizon cable is an aerial cable. Aerial cable is affected by weather more so then underground or buried cable. If you have lines on telephone poles then your problem is probably in that aerial network. Underground or buried cables are usually only affected by moisture. Aerial cable is affected by all elements. Usually what happens is the cable pair your service is on has deteriorated somewhat and the copper wires are going to eventually break. We call it an "open". You probably have a "high open" which means you have a wire that is about to go "open" and the wind will affect that. Those types of problems can be hard to find until the cable pair finally goes open. There are different tests a tech can do to try to isolate the trouble but sometimes it is very hard to find until the copper wire finally breaks "open". From my experience, the easiest way for the tech to fix the problem is to change the cable pair if he can figure in which section of cable is being affected. Usually you have a main cable that runs from the central office to a cross-connect box then a distribution cable from the box to your telephone pole and then the service drop from the pole to your building. The trouble could be in any one of those sections, especially if the cables are aerial. Hope this helps to clear up any questions.
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