Verizon DSL getting worse and worse and fios is not offered in my area

[giltheissen]

   For the past year, my DSL service has been getting worse and worse, but in the past few months it's become intolerable. I've gone through the usual scripted run arounds with customer support but nothing ever changes. I'm experiencing frequent albeit temporary disconnects (during peak times  I lose service for a minute or two as often as 10-15 times per hour)  The problem is not with my modem (I've got a couple and have swapped them out many times) It's not with my internal wiring (I've run the modem directly from the phone line point of entry into my house), the problem is worse  with constant disconnects before and after school hours and absolutely horrible during bad  rainy weather (with connection lost for 15-20 minutes at a time) even though during the late night and very early morning hours, the connection and throughput is rock solid.

   I'm honestly to the point where I think I'm going to switch to cable, but thought I'd give it one more shot at trying to get a better  outside connection that I could live with. Is there any way some moderator could intervene and tell me how I could get some meaningful help?

              Thanks - Gil Theissen

[dslr595148]

Step one: Visit http://www.giganews.com/line_info.html and post up the Traceroute the page shows, if you wish. Be aware that your non-bogan public IP Address will show up.  It might shown up as the final hop (bottom-most line of the trace)  might contain a hop with your IP address in it. Either remove that line or show only the first two octets. What I'm looking for is a line that mentions "ERX" in it's name towards the end. If for some reason the trace does not complete (two lines full of Stars), keep the trace route intact.

For example this what I see

---

    news.giganews.com

    traceroute to 71.242.*.* (71.242.*.*), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
    1 gw1-g-vlan201.dca.giganews.com (216.196.98.4) 13 ms 13 ms 13 ms
    2 ash-bb1-link.telia.net (213.248.70.241) 39 ms 7 ms 7 ms
    3 TenGigE0-2-0-0.GW1.IAD8.ALTER.NET (63.125.125.41) 4 ms 4 ms GigabitEthernet2-0-0.GW8.IAD8.ALTER.NET (63.65.76.189) 4 ms
    4 so-7-1-0-0.PHIL-CORE-RTR1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.20.137) 6 ms 6 ms 6 ms
    5 P3-0-0.PHIL-DSL-RTR11.verizon-gni.net (130.81.13.170) 6 ms 6 ms 6 ms
    6 static-71-242-*-*.phlapa.east.verizon.net (71.242.*.*) 32 ms 32 ms 33 ms

---

Step two: Can you provide the Transceiver Statistics from your modem?

#3 If you don't know how to get that info:

a) What is the brand and model of your modem?

b) If you have a RJ-45 WAN port router connected to it: What is the brand and model of the RJ-45 WAN port router?

#4 If you have a RJ-45 WAN port router connected to the modem, even if you know how to get the Transceiver Statistics from the modem: What is the brand and model of the RJ-45 WAN port router?

[giltheissen]

   traceroute to 108.5.*.* (108.5.*.*), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 gw1-g-vlan201.dca.giganews.com (216.196.98.4) 0 ms 0 ms 0 ms
2 ash-bb1-link.telia.net (213.248.70.241) 20 ms 20 ms 0 ms
3 ash-bb4-link.telia.net (213.155.130.72) 0 ms 0 ms 0 ms
4 ash-b2-link.telia.net (213.155.133.229) 0 ms ash-b2-link.telia.net (80.91.252.93) 0 ms 0 ms
5 GigabitEthernet2-0-0.GW8.IAD8.ALTER.NET (63.65.76.189) 4 ms TenGigE0-2-0-0.GW1.IAD8.ALTER.NET (63.125.125.41) 4 ms 4 ms
6 B100.NWRKNJ-LCR-21.verizon-gni.net (130.81.209.155) 14 ms 17 ms 17 ms
7 P0-0.NWRKNJ-NBWKNJNB-ERXG05.verizon-gni.net (130.81.*.*) 12 ms 12 ms 12 ms
8 * * *
9 * * *
10 * * *
11 * * *
12 * * *
13 * * *
14 * * *
15 * * *
16 * * *
17 * * *
18 * * Max number of unresponsive hops reached (firewall or filter?)

I do note that the IPs in the first line and line 7 are different in my case, even though they appear the same in the example you gave me. The IP in my first line is the same one I see when I look inside my modem.

The following are my DSL and Transceiver info

Line State    Up   
Modulation   ADSL2+ Mode
Data Path      Interleaved
     
                                                          Transceiver Information
          
                                            Down Stream Path                             Up Stream Path

DSL Sync Rate (Kbits/Sec)     4119                                                        786    
SN Margin (db)                         7.5                                                           9.0    
Line Attenuation (db)                32.0                                                          17.0    
CRC Errors                                10687                                                      0

My modem/wireless router is a Westell Versalink 327W and I have a gigabit switch made by  Allied Telesyne (AT-GS900/16) attached to the Westell.

   The traceroute and the transceiver stats were generated during a period when my connection was pretty decent and my throughput ranged from 1.5 Mbs to 3.5Mbs depending on the server.

                                                                Gil Theissen

[dslr595148]

Ok.

#1 An original or very old style NID with a spark gap and ground wire can even get spiders in it that could cause an issue. Inspect the NID first before thinking of changes or wiring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_interface_device

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_point

Running a good quality wire CAT5, no need for CAT6,  directly to the NID for the DSL modem jack may help. That is what I had done with mine. Depending on the number of loads or amount of wire in the house could also cause issues. But if the user's signal quality is not being pulled low due to a wiring issues, it would usually indicate a problem elsewhere. Unless there was noise being picked up on the premises wiring. Wire DSL directly to the NID and install a filter there for all other in house wiring may help. There used to be available what was called a NID Filter, and I am sure you can still get them.

Ideal Connection if house wiring is an issue, or very old, and lengthy. Install a filter / splitter at the NID.

Run CAT5 directly to the NID location, and install a dedicated jack for the DSL modem.

Remove all in house wiring from the NID.

Connect piece of CAT5 from the NID to the filter / splitter input

Connect all existing phone lines to the phone side of the filter output.

Connect the new DSL CAT5 directly to the NID before the filter / splitter, or to the DSL side of the filter / splitter, depending on the device purchased.

This will take all the existing premises wiring out of the picture unless there is a short circuit or excessive load somewhere in the house.

At this point all the single filters could be removed because the DSL is filtered at the NID.

http://www.homephonewiring.com/dsl.html

#2 You can test outbound to Giganews. But giganews has/had a test that will check your inbound connection from their servers to you.

I heard from another user that

---

Giganews is being watched very closely because of multipart binaries, and pirated material. MP3s and Video Content. 7 years ago you could get 10-20 MP3 albums in a single day, and that was with a 15/5 fios connection. So they started providing an encrypted connection service for an added fee. I have not messed with news groups for a very long time. Now with deep packet inspection, and other enforcement, I would not even think of it. No news I want there. But there may be content that people want? They may even be checking and limiting speed from that domain. Never tested. But let me see. It looks as if reverse trace routes and speed tests are being blocked by Verizon from Giganews to my router.

        Reverse Traceroute

        Tool news.giganews.com

        traceroute to *.*.*.*, 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
        1 gw1-g-vlan201.dca.giganews.com (216.196.98.4) 0 ms 0 ms 0 ms
        2 te0-0-0-7.mpd22.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (38.122.67.49) 0 ms 0 ms te0-7-0-9.mpd22.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (38.122.62.193) 0 ms
        3 te0-0-0-4.ccr21.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.105) 0 ms 0 ms te0-2-0-0.ccr21.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.101) 0 ms
        4 uunet.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.13.138) 28 ms verizon.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.10.226) 40 ms uunet.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.13.138) 28 ms
        5 0.ae1.RES-BB-RTR2.verizon-gni.net (152.63.32.157) 41 ms 41 ms 0.ae2.RES-BB-RTR1.verizon-gni.net (152.63.34.22) 13 ms
        6 * * *
        7 * * *
        8 * * *
        9 * * *
        10 * * *
        11 * * *
        12 * * *
        13 * * *
        14 * * *
        15 * * *
        16 * * Max number of unresponsive hops reached (firewall or filter?)

---

#3 Have the provider run a local loop test to see if any problems are indicated. If there are, then they could run the test with everything in the house disconnected, except the new DSL modem connection. If issues are still indicated, then the DSL provider needs to make connections on the local loop. Another user told me that they had issues when it rained, and it was because construction had left a splice box open on a line somewhere.