DSL speed has been dropped to 1.5 mbps

[justRLuck]

I have been a customer of Verizon phone service for over twenty four years. In 2006 I opted for DSL service at the introductory rate of $14.99 / month for 798 kbps download speed. Service was fine and I used my computer to work at home with a combination of landline and computer access. In 2009 my business opted to use VOIP for communications and I upgraded my DSL to a faster speed of 3.0 mbps which (with my hardware and location) toppped out at about 2.9 mbps. The rate was $24.95 but after a year it began to creep up to the $34.99 it now costs. 2.9 mbps has been the normal speed for over two years up until this week. My speed suddenly dropped to 1.54 mbps and I assumed it to be a temporary glitch and reported the drop in speed. Verizon has not contacted me but today I looked at their website and found an offer of .5 to 1 mbps for $39.99 and I realized my speed has been throttled back to 1.5 mbps permanently with no notice or warning from Verizon. If your DSL has dropped to 1.5 mbps it isn't a glitch or a problem with your network or computer. Verizon controls your speeds at the network. You're now stuck with half the speed at the same cost. Contractually you agreed to this when you signed up. 1.5 to 3 mbps according to the system and hardware in your neighborhood. I know my system is capable of faster speeds. On occasion my modem exceeded 3 mbps. It may be a coincidence but my neighborhood was just added to the FIOS enabled areas. I am shopping for better service but it won't be Verizon FIOS.

[gremlins]

Well  I can say I feel you're pain. In balt. md we are not alowed to have fios. dsl is what you get. In balt comcast has a contract with balt city that gives free time to elected officals. Monopoly is the crrect word.  Now my problem is the sell me 7meg speed wich cant be delivered because on my distance from the provider, after so many feet you're signal degrades. I get on a good day with low trafic almost 5 meg. The worst part is when it rains and water gets into the blocks' conection cabnet on the pole nobody has even dsl. No one will corrcet the problem. Verizon will send out a teck who says box needs to be replaced. But no one will replce the box. how is the saying the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing, well thats verizon.

[JoyBoy]

My speed was also dropped to 1.5Mbps. It turns out that was done by an "optimizer" that "sets your speed to what the line can handle".  It only downgrades and wont go back to up until verizon resets it manually.  My HSI is a bit sensitive because I am on the edge of the distance to Central Office required for 3Mbps.  It turned out the my downgrade was due to a problem with the line not detected by the "standard" line tests.

See the latter posts of my thread:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/High-Speed-Internet-DSL-and-Dial/Intermittent-HSI-connection-Line-atten...

[MysteryB]

I've just been forced to downgrade to 1.5 today because of congestion on my street.  They should care about customers and upgrade thier equipment instead they don't care.

[justRLuck]

Verizon did contact me and sent a new modem. I connected and got the exact same speed as before. No change. Verizon has apparently changed their system and those of us who purchased the 1-3Mbps are now stuck with 1.5Mbps from now on no matter what your system is or was before, no matter what they tell you about your lines or traffic in your area. My older modem measured line attenuation and reported my line at 49db - not great but good and stable most of the time. The new modem is the same speed but more stable - especially during a thunderstorm. Verizon's new plan offers include Plan 1 @ .5 to 1 Mbps (G.lite), Plan 2 @ 1.5 to 8 Mbps (G.dmt) and "enhanced" plans up to 24 Mbps (ADSL2+). The new Plan 1 costs $39.99 here in Florida so I guess I need to be satisfied with 1.5 Mbps at $34.95 - I'm not.

I re-connected my old modem to view the line attenuation with the new phone line Verizon sent (the new modem does not report line attenuation) and did receive a lower db rate (47 instead of 49) but the older modem will no longer connect to the internet thanks to Verizon's configuration of the new one.

I happened to search global high speed internet and discovered Japan has ADSL @ 50 Mbps for $35.00 and FTTH (Fiber to the Home) now up to 1TB (yes, terrabyte) per second at $90.00

Compare that with any provider here in the US.

[MysteryB]

They are fraudulently selling 3.0 to customers, and also "optimizing" speeds to the lower setting that you pay for without your knowledge.  Guess what needs to be done???  I've started the process on my end. 

[justRLuck · Accepted solution]

Today a call from Verizon and a remote re-boot of the new gateway got my speed up to 3.4Mbps.

My new modem doesn't have a transceiver statistics report but my old modem reported I'm getting a G.dmt mode ADSL signal with 47db line attenuation. Well within specifications for 3.0 Mbps

Problem solved.

[GilV1]

In 2007, when I moved to rural Virginia, I opted for the same DSL discounted package you signed up for at $14.99/month. I immediately noticed it was slower than the DSL I previously used in Cincinnati with Cincinnati Bell. I still have that discounted service, but it is getting even slower, downloads at .4 Mbps, occasionally getting up to .5 in low usage periods, like after 1 AM. This service is the only thing Verizon offers in this area. I get ads for FIOS, only to find it is still not available. I am considering switching to satellite service.