Terrible Verizon DSL - The Plot Thickens

[senso]

When I had ADSL, getting a decent TP Link modem/router was a god send, went from 1Mb to 2Mb just because the modem part was so much better than the crap the ISP offered with the contract.

But I also had to call them every day for 2 weeks until they came and replaced 800m of cable that was behond degraded..

So, getting a decent modem would be the first step, they cost around 40$, just set it up and enjoy a much more stable connection, then using the modem stats like others are saying, you can prove them that the line is a POS.

And dont forget the stupid bits vs Bytes thingy.

If anything on your PC is trying to download an update, it will drop your speed even lower, if they say you have some 600Kb, and you download at 30kB, there is something else either download or your SnR is so bad the modem is dropping packets left right and center.

[Ampera]

May I suggest an EEVBlog POTS BBS for the internet impaired?

I have Verizon FiOS and they have been fine, but that's about all I can say. DSL always has the potential to leave you with the short end of the stick.

[madires]

As already mentioned, one cause for DSL problems can be the combination of DSL modem and DSLAM. Some devices don't get along very well. If possible try a different DSL modem/router.

[BrianHG]

May I suggest an EEVBlog POTS BBS for the internet impaired?

I have Verizon FiOS and they have been fine, but that's about all I can say. DSL always has the potential to leave you with the short end of the stick.

If you run EEVblog forum without any javascript support, or a javascript blocker, it operates on a fraction of the bandwidth.  Though some functions are missing, you can use this forum with dialup except for large external images in posts.

When I say fast, I mean 33.6k without javascript will outrun 1mb with javascript.  The page load and topic switching is truly that much faster.

[Cyberdragon]

I run double adblockers. It actually runs a lot faster than the schools website (I'm at school doing online classwork).

I don't know if I can use another modem as they have to "activate" it every time we get a new one. It was crap on the last one too though. They scammed us $60 for this POS though, they'll rip you off if you want a new modem. If it is, I'm complaining they sold us an incompatible one and they should give us a free replacement!

The phone box is out on a pole in the yard...I'd have to run a power cord all the way out there to plug it in.   And, like I said, they alreadt replaced the phone lines in the house. They said we are in range for at least a megabit, which means it has to be their wires, or a bad modem config.

There's no overload, this is 24/7 shitnet on every device. I went to the advanced router page and the only piece of additional info it gave was it claimed no dropped packets. I'll repeat NO MODEM STATS EXIST.

[rdl]

Since your neighbor's have it, you could give Comcast a try. I have them and don't like them at all. I'm looking to switch for AT&T now that it is available as an alternative. Be advised Comcast will give a good rate for the first year then jack it sky high. You have to call every year and renegotiate. I did have to get a bundle last time for the lowest price, but it was only standard definition TV with Internet. I just don't use the TV part. They've never tried to force a full TV, phone, internet bundle on me.

[Cyberdragon]

We only get standard TV anyway. So a TV and internet package would be fine. The problem is both need the coax cable but there's only one for each TV, and the landlord probably won't allow more wiring to be done on the house. Do they have a combination TV and internet box? I don't care if it then has to then be connected to a separate router, as long as the system only requires one input (and that both TV and internet work at the same time).

[Zucca]

Have you tried the modem without the filter, I mean moden connected directly to the wall?
In my case without a filter I got +2MBit in Download.

Then I replaced the old ADSL smelly filter with a new one and got 16Mbit in Download (was 14Mbit).
I'm happy like a puppy.

[rdl]

They gave me a cable TV box that had cable in/out connections. The cable went to the TV box then out to the cable modem. I only used it that way for a short while before running the cable direct to my modem and storing the TV box away in a closet.

[Cyberdragon]

Have you tried the modem without the filter, I mean moden connected directly to the wall?
In my case without a filter I got +2MBit in Download.

Then I replaced the old ADSL smelly filter with a new one and got 16Mbit in Download (was 14Mbit).
I'm happy like a puppy.

What modem filter? I've only ever heard of phone filters. (Obviously we don't have this mysterious device.)

They gave me a cable TV box that had cable in/out connections. The cable went to the TV box then out to the cable modem. I only used it that way for a short while before running the cable direct to my modem and storing the TV box away in a closet.

Yes, this is what we need. Did you remove the TV box because you didn't need it or because it caused problems?

[Zucca]

What modem filter? I've only ever heard of phone filters. (Obviously we don't have this mysterious device.)

Yes the phone filter. In my case the phone filter was so shit it was bringing down the signal at the modem.

[rdl]

I just don't watch much broadcast TV. I remember now I also used it for a while with a splitter right at the wall. I don't recall any problems either way. That was a few years ago, so I also don't remember why I spent money on a splitter. This all reminds me that I haven't called to renegotiate in quite a while and the monthly bill has gone up 60% in that time. What I really should do is get back in touch with AT&T.

[rrinker]

 With cable available you couldn't pay me to use DSL. It's just too finicky. I've had Comcast for years an no problems. There's no huge rate increase at the end of the contract - no more than any of the other providers do. I just call and generally get something for the price I used to pay, without dropping services - you just have to pay attention. With no change in price, I've had my speed upgraded twice - I was originally at 100Mbps, then they upped it to 150, and finally I now have 200. You rarely get 200 to anyone outside of Comcast's own servers, but it's still well over 100Mbps. They don't require bundles here, although I have TV as well, and the last go around, the package with voice was cheaper than keeping the internet and TV package I had. Truly, the pricing models make absolutely no sense - you are going to give me MORE services for less money than the package with fewer services?  Eh, whatever. I purchased my own cable modem so I do not have to pay the ridiculous and ever-increasing rental fee. I've had no real problems, except last year when I started getting slow speeds and horrible signal levels as shown by my modem. The tech they sent would have eventually found it without my help, but his troubleshooting skills were just horrible. Firs thing he did was cut off all my neatly crimped cable ends and put new ends on, despite the signal quality on his tester showing poor BEFORE the splitter any of this was connected to. He had good signal at the line from the pole ahead of the lightning arrestor, but poor quality at the other end of the cable that went across the most inaccessible area of the house. Of course you can see where this was going, but when he proposed running a new line in the space, I pointed out that he did not check the signal after the arrestor but before this portion of wire. Sure enough - 5 minutes later, after wasting a half hour before that, everything was back to normal and I had my 200Mbps back. Other than that though, I've never had service problems, and whiel the bill has crept up (I'd really ditch most of the TV stuff if I was by myself), there never were any giant leaps and I've had no hassle, didn;t have to threaten to quit or anything, to negotiate a better rate at the end of each contract period.
 No chance in this world or the next I'd ever swap what I have for Verizon or AT&T DSL. Someone wants to run fiber to my house, I'll consider it. What's funny is how they keep advertising Version FIOS locally, but I guess that's now just their branding for anything, not just fiber, because they are doing no new fiber buildouts. ANd I love the FIOS commercials that complain about cable jacking the rates at the end of the contract, when a look at the FIOS regular and introductory rates shows at least the same price increase after the initial contract.

[Zucca]

With cable available you couldn't pay me to use DSL

+1

Anyway when the tech is around I'm checking him like a cop with a prisoner. They just don't care.

Last time I come back home and no internet. 5 second later I knew it was something outside my home. I called in, lost time, the tech arrived of course 2 days later and we discovered some professional tech had disconneted my line just for fun in the attempt of giving service to a new customer.

If you are an EE always check the tech if you can.

[Cyberdragon]

What modem filter? I've only ever heard of phone filters. (Obviously we don't have this mysterious device.)

Yes the phone filter. In my case the phone filter was so shit it was bringing down the signal at the modem.

Um...as far as I know, the phone filter REMOVES the DSL signal. So if you put it inline with the modem...it won't work anymore.

With cable available you couldn't pay me to use DSL

+1

The problem is convincing my technology challenged mother to get past their marketing wank bundle shit and just get SD TV and internet. No idea how much it will be, but Verizon is already ripping us off. They want an extra $40 for that 1MB to 1.5MB increase (which is not going to work anyway).

[Zucca]

So if you put it inline with the modem...it won't work anymore.

I never wrote that.

Forget about the phones, just connect the modem directly to the wall. Don't use the filter.
This will tell you if the filter/phones are doing funny business.

I suppose in your case it will not help, but in my case it did.

[Cyberdragon]

What? There's nothing from the modem to the wall. They told us putting any filter on the modem itself would cause it not to work at all because they remove the DSL signal. So there is definitely no filter.

[rdl]

The AT&T here that is competing with Comcast is fiber and it's also faster and cheaper than Comcast. Attached are pertinent sections from two of my Comcast bills. I don't have any older, but I know for certain I was paying under $50/month in 2011 because that was the price I got the first time I called to renegotiate.

[Cyberdragon]

I don't even know if we get AT&T here. Plus, we need to have it bundled with the TV due to the only one connection issue. I would be a PITA to switch TV providers.

Verizon's already charging us over $200 for Cell, hardline, and internet Shiternet^(R). So Comcast might still be cheaper, not sure though.

[BrianHG]

An I thought we had it tough with Canadian ISPs.  I got lucky at my new apartment.  I got ADSL2 bottom end 15mdown/10mup 40$ service and the telco central hub is 2 blocks away (I can go up to 25/50down/10up).  Meanwhile all my neighbors who lived here before me went from the old sluggish ADSL went straight to 90$ fiber + a little extra for TV& phone package, and their speed is only a hair faster than mine since they were never told they can just upgrade to ADSL2 by changing modems and going from a 45$ package down to a third party 40$ ADSL2 package.

[Zucca]

What? There's nothing from the modem to the wall. They told us putting any filter on the modem itself would cause it not to work at all because they remove the DSL signal. So there is definitely no filter.

If the cable from the wall go straight to the modem then the problem is 99.9% outside your home, and you have VOIP.
Just to make sure, here one example of VOIP



and here analog phone line (about 300-3,3KHz from the wall)



If you have VOIP you don't need a filter and you can ignore me. Please consider this ADSL/phone filter too:



even if it looks like there is no devices between the wall and the modem, the filter is ALWAYS connected in PARALLEL to the modem line!

This is the ADSL/phone circuit:



If you have analog phone line you need the filter and bad quality filter can cause signal quality problems.

[Cyberdragon]

OK, so they've managed to boost it to 400KBs actual speed. But it's being unstable for upload, and certain ports. They said the "fix" won't be finished till friday evening, so we'll see if it overloads and dies.