Confusion over max DSL speed for my address

[eric212]

Hi, I've had a few telephone conversations with various tech support people or sales staff from Verizon, I am interested in upgrading my DSL speed, some of them say I'm already at the max speed (3 mbps) and some say I can go faster, I even went as far as to "order" an upgrade in speed from one salesperson who said it was possible, but alas, the speed stayed the same.

I find it hard to believe that I can't get one of their faster speeds, as I am literally 2 streets away from the CO. But try explaining that to the tech support person on the other side of the world that barely speaks english right?

Right now the plan I am on says it's for 3.1 - 7 Mbps, and on a good day It will actually test at 2.8 Mbps. It's pretty consistent at that speed or slightly slower. NEVER higher than 2.8 Mbps.

I was having connection issues at one point and ordered a new modem, which solved my connection drop issue, but the speed stayed the same. I also ran a new dedicated phone line direct from my modem to the Network Interface on the outside of my house, and disconnected all the old wiring from the house to the NID, to take all the old wiring out of the equation, but this made no noticable difference. So I know the modem itself is not an issue, nor is the wiring in my house.

Because of the inconsistency of information I've gotten from Verizon support people, I'm lead to believe that a faster speed at my address is possible, and I'm just throttled to 3 Mbps for some reason.

Is there anything I can do to further investigate this? I wish I could get to talk to a local tech who knows my neighborhood and can give me a straight answer... 

??????

Thanks!

Eric

[wiggie116]

Sounds like your still provisioned for 3360, which means would get speed test anywhere from 2.50-2.80. Trying posting up your transceiver statics. I'm provisioned to 7840 which is the 3.1-7meg plan. Here are mine.

Broadband Status
Broadband Parameter Status
VPI: 0
VCI: 35
Broadband Mode Setting: ADSL
Broadband Negotiated Mode: G.DMT
Connection Status: CONNECTED
Downstream Speed: 7840 Kbps
Upstream Speed: 864 Kbps
Retrains: 0
Retrain Timer: 1 Days, 0H:36M:6S
ATM QoS class: UBR
Near End CRC Errors Interleave: 25
Near End CRC Errors Fastpath : N/A
Far End CRC Errors Interleave : 7
Far End CRC Errors Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Near End CRC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Near End CRC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Far End CRC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Far End CRC Fastpath : N/A
Near End RS FEC Interleave : 0
Near End RS FEC Fastpath : N/A
Far End RS FEC Interleave : 0
Far End RS FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Near End FEC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Near End FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Far End FEC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Far End FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Discarded Packets Downstream : 0
30 Minute Discarded Packets Upstream : 0
SNR Downstream : 18 dB
SNR Upstream : 15 dB
Attenuation Downstream : 27 dB
Attenuation Upstream : 11 dB
Power Downstream 15.8 dBm
Power Upstream 11.9 dBm

[eric212]

Thanks for the reply, Here's the Info, and yes it says 3360 Kbps. The modem is an Actiontec GT784WNV.

Broadband Status

Broadband Parameter Status

VPI:	0
VCI:	35
Broadband Mode Setting:	ADSL
Broadband Negotiated Mode:	G.DMT
Connection Status:	CONNECTED
Downstream Speed:	3360 Kbps
Upstream Speed:	832 Kbps
Retrains:	0
Retrain Timer:	1 Days, 6H:49M:7S
ATM QoS class:	UBR
Near End CRC Errors Interleave:	0
Near End CRC Errors Fastpath :	N/A
Far End CRC Errors Interleave :	3
Far End CRC Errors Fastpath :	N/A
30 Minute Near End CRC Interleave :	0
30 Minute Near End CRC Fastpath :	N/A
30 Minute Far End CRC Interleave :	0
30 Minute Far End CRC Fastpath :	N/A
Near End RS FEC Interleave :	0
Near End RS FEC Fastpath :	N/A
Far End RS FEC Interleave :	0
Far End RS FEC Fastpath :	N/A
30 Minute Near End FEC Interleave :	37
30 Minute Near End FEC Fastpath :	N/A
30 Minute Far End FEC Interleave :	0
30 Minute Far End FEC Fastpath :	N/A
30 Minute Discarded Packets Downstream :	0
30 Minute Discarded Packets Upstream :	0
SNR Downstream :	25 dB
SNR Upstream :	10 dB
Attenuation Downstream :	19 dB
Attenuation Upstream :	15 dB
Power Downstream	8.8 dBm
Power Upstream	11.9 dBm

[wiggie116]

You are only provisioned for 3360 which is the 1.1-3 meg plan. If your account states "3.1-7megs enhanced" you should have no problem getting 7megs. I've herd of provisioning mismatch before maybe that's issue.

When was your speed upgraded?

I'm around 3.5 miles from the CO, but my line is connected to a remote terminal. Hopefully your line truly goes right back to the CO. If the RT has not been upgraded verizon won't allow more then 3meg unfortunately.

[eric212]

a few months ago, I have installed the replacement modem since then. 

under "my current services" it says "High Speed Internet Enhanced

3.1 to 7 Mbps"

I have already gone around and around a few times with the support folks on the other side of the globe... either over the phone, or online chat, and hasn't gotten me far, more than once I was promised a resolution, but nothing ever changes.

What's the best way for me to address this?

I guess it matters if I go straight to the CO or to an RT, not sure how I could find that out...

Thanks again

[eric212]

doing a little more digging, I looked up the name of the CO in my town, (NATNMAMA)

then I went to this page: http://www.giganews.com/line_info.html

and I see listed near the end some central office from another town 20 miles away. (SPFDMAWO) etc. Does that mean anything? Shouldn't the last hop be from the CO in my town?

results are below, I don't really know much how to read it other than I recognised the names of the central offices.

news.giganews.com

traceroute to {edited for privacy}, 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 gw1-g-vlan201.dca.giganews.com (216.196.98.4) 0 ms 0 ms 0 ms
2 216-166-96-117.fwd.datafoundry.com (216.166.96.117) 0 ms 216-166-96-113.fwd.datafoundry.com (216.166.96.113) 0 ms 216-166-96-101.fwd.datafoundry.com (216.166.96.101) 0 ms
3 ash-b1-link.telia.net (62.115.42.153) 0 ms 0 ms 0 ms
4 ash-b2-link.telia.net (213.155.130.91) 0 ms 0 ms ash-b2-link.telia.net (213.155.137.231) 0 ms
5 TenGigE0-0-0-10.GW1.IAD8.ALTER.NET (152.179.50.233) 5 ms 5 ms 9 ms
6 T0-1-1-0.SPFDMA-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net (130.81.168.15) 19 ms T0-1-0-0.SPFDMA-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net (130.81.168.13) 19 ms T0-1-1-0.SPFDMA-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net (130.81.168.15) 19 ms
7 P12-0.SPFDMA-SPFDMAWO-ERXG02.verizon-gni.net (130.81.46.207) 20 ms 21 ms P9-0.SPFDMA-SPFDMAWO-ERXG02.verizon-gni.net (130.81.44.111) 20 ms
8 * * *
9 * * *
10 * * *
11 * * *
12 * * *
13 * * *
14 * * *
15 * * *
16 * * *
17 * * *
18 * * Max number of unresponsive hops reached (firewall or filter?)

[wiggie116]

I'm in Pittsfield Ma, I just ran mine it's basically the exact same locations. 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
2 216-166-96-105.fwd.datafoundry.com (216.166.96.105) 0 ms 216-166-96-117.fwd.datafoundry.com (216.166.96.117) 0 ms 216-166-96-113.fwd.datafoundry.com (216.166.96.113) 0 ms
3 ash-b1-link.telia.net (62.115.42.153) 35 ms 35 ms 35 ms
4 ash-b2-link.telia.net (213.155.130.89) 0 ms ash-b2-link.se.telia.net (80.91.245.223) 0 ms ash-b2-link.telia.net (213.155.130.89) 0 ms
5 TenGigE0-0-0-10.GW1.IAD8.ALTER.NET (152.179.50.233) 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms
6 T0-1-1-0.SPFDMA-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net (130.81.168.15) 22 ms T0-1-0-0.SPFDMA-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net (130.81.168.13) 22 ms T0-1-1-0.SPFDMA-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net (130.81.168.15) 22 ms
7 T0-2-1-0.SPFDMA-LCR-21.verizon-gni.net (130.81.151.102) 23 ms T0-2-0-0.SPFDMA-LCR-21.verizon-gni.net (130.81.151.100) 23 ms 23 ms
8 G2-0.SPFDMA-SPFDMAWO-ERXG05.verizon-gni.net (130.81.198.1) 21 ms G2-1.SPFDMA-SPFDMAWO-ERXG05.verizon-gni.net (130.81.198.125) 21 ms 22 ms

[eric212]

hi neighbor!

huh, guess it doesn't mean much then.... Springfield is far from Northampton but even FARTHER from Pittsfield! So there must be more to it.

[wiggie116]

Hello there,

I saw another person posting from Peru recently to. Hope you have some
Luck getting your issue squared away.

[eric212]

my issue has been resolved, and I thought I'd post up what happened, in case it can help someone else. 

A google search brought me over to a website called dslreports.com there is a forum over there called "verizon direct" where I posted the same info I did here. A verizon rep contacted me based on that post and sorted the issue out for me very quickly! I can't believe the runaround I got from their normal tech support and sales people, countless phone calls and lots of frustration... dealing with this "ecexutive" rep was such a breath of fresh air! If all the support reps were this helpful Verizon would have a much better reputation!... I actually felt like I was talking to someone who had some knowledge on the subject, not like the others who sound like they're just reading the info off of a screen.

Anyway... It turns out I was definitely close enough to the CO to qualify for a faster speed, but my line was connected to some "older" equipment at that facility that could only handle 3 Mbps (this is why I couldn't upgrade through the traditional channels). However, this rep made a phone call and they switched my line to a "newer" piece of equipment at the same facility that allowed me to get the faster speed. So it sounds like that facility was mid-upgrade at the time.

So overnight I went from 3 Mbps to 7 Mbps. Very happy with that!