BellSouth = BS ??? (DSL disconnects)

I have had Bellsouth DSL for two years. About a year ago, I started having problems with losing connectivity, although part of it was initially caused by upgrading a firewall. However, after resolving the firewall problem, I have noted that over the past year that increasingly I have frequently encountered periods of time when connectivity is still a problem. Specifically, the connectivity loss may be minimal for a day or so, then for several hours, I will get disconnected numerous times -- I also experience decreased throughput during these times, with everything emulating what to me is characteristic of problems with the ISP's performance.

BUT, BS techs deny this. They infer that the problem is line noise, interference, etc., etc., but mostly blame it on the modem (Alcatel Speed Touch Home Ethernet), saying that I need to purchase a new one from them to (attempt to) fix the problem. To me this theory is bogus -- if it was the modem, the problem should be consistent, not highly volatile.

Yes, I have had "connection manager" installed twice, both times it was inferred by BS tech support that it was the problem, and to de-install it… Altho that does help the disconnects somewhat, it does not come anywhere near eliminating the problem…

SOOOO! The reason I am posting this, is to try to get some feedback from my compatriots out there, to determine if anyone is/was in the same boat, and what your experience has been… Are they sitting there "turning the screws" trying to get me to fork out $ for a modem, or do they simply have intermittent internal problems with connectivity?

 

Hi keywester

Intermediate connection speeds, connection loss can be frustrating and difficult to isolate. Your on DSL, they say some of the problem is line noise, are they not responsible to provide a clean line? I'm on cable... for modem I can provide my own or rent $5.00/month which is what I do. Ask them to provide a modem for a one month trial. If it clears up the problem... problem solved, if not... hopefully they will be more receptive to the problem being on there end.

 

Hi keywester

Check out this article from LangaList (2) Using WinIPcfg To Solve Connection Woes . Also XP has issues / corrections to this problem (313896)

 

Empathy ......

Here's my story. Not bragging, but I'm pretty good with hardware and OK with networking. I have your same BS DSL service and am running a Linksys 8 port Router with 2 seperate print servers/4 port switches and a wireless access point. Have same Alcatel Speed Touch Home modem. Multiple machines running at all times.

Starting October 29, 2001 when BS upgraded their software to acomodate XP, I started encountering periodic (once every 4-6 weeks) problems with their tunneling protocol for ADSL - only solution is to have them rebuild the port, thus clearing all open connections within their system. This is a relatively simple procedure but it will take forever for you to convince Customer Support to do this.

Fast Forward - about a month ago, I started encountering "no link light ", no service periods with increasing frequency. Swore it was BS problem. Had a service tech come out to check my line. (yes they will do this for you) No problems found at the time but I had a good connection before and after he was here too. At that time I was advised that for roughly $100.00 they could run a "home run" (direct line to DSL modem with no filters required) if my problem persisted. Within a week I had this done too. Still encountered problems that I wasn't going to tolerate re: connectivity. Brought the service tech back out a third time (we are friends by this point in time) and he replaced my modem after agreeing that we had eliminated all other potential causes. End of story. No more problems.

Modem was the culprit. If you are nice, they will replace it for free.

 

Thanks for the input Rockster2U, very informative.

Two things.

One, what is a "no link light "?

Two, sounds like your connectivity problem was also variable. It would seem that if the source of the problem was the modem, hardware, that the problem should have been consistent, not highly variable...

 

Thats exactly what I thought and why I didn't suspect the modem. I've seen these things go before and they are usually, as you describe "consistant ".

Link light is your second light from the far right - Line Sync. If its blinking, you do not have line sync with your provider, BS. This is commonly termed, link. And, technically - thats probably bad slang.

Good luck. Hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction.