4 replies to this topic

[Col.K0rn]

Howdy all, I'm a new member to the board.

I was directed to this board to do a speed test by 1 of my ISP's (that's right, I have 2 at the moment, other post will be why I have 2) Wild Blue... so, my speeds suck. I decided that I would call AT&T to see if DSL is available in my area. My wife's grandmother lives 2 miles from us, and it just so happens that there's several 'boxes' about 5k feet away from her house at the end of the road. Lucky woman, I think the "boxes" are DSLAM units.

I'm approximately 2 miles from a major highway, where if you make a right turn, and head north about 1/2 mile, they just installed another 'box' at an intersection, and I know that they buried about 15 miles of new fiber over the past few months.

So I've been seeing all this development around me, yet when I call Customer NOService, they tell me that it's not available at my residence. Their website says that it is, and the humans I speak with say it's not. I asked multiple times for someone to connect me with someone who might be interested to hear about customers in the area who want the service; a waiting list even. Nobody hears that, and I feel like I'm not being heard.

I filed a complaint with the FCC, and stated that I can't get an answer from them since it seems like it's available everywhere around me, except to my house! I hoped that might get some attention of someone who might pay attention. Well, about a week later, I got a copy of the complaint that I filed, and in another week, I got a call from someone in the CS department. She told me "Our Engineering department had a look at the installation in your area, and advised me that the copper lines are old. There are no plans to upgrade/enhance in your area. Sorry."

What a load of crap. There are houses in a metro area 30 miles north of me that were built in the 1920's that have aluminum electrical wires, and they have the audacity to tell me that my 7 year old house has "old copper"???

Anyways, I'm looking for the name of someone to stand on their desk, send e-mails, call and leave voicemails. etc.  Any help you can provide is appreciated.

[zalternate]

Might you happen to have a DSL reseller in the area? 'Dry loop' or 'dark DSL'.
They might be able to tell you one way or another(don't sign anything before full confirmation, such as modem blinking happily away). Even though it is still AT&T that provisions the DSL connection. Unless you are in one of those places where DSL went around you.

You could also inquire as a potential business line customer(phone business number).   A 'potential' home office, since you do not yet have a business number. Gets you past the screen reading drones. Note that your phone number and address may show on their screens as already having asked for DSL.

Also if you see an AT&T truck/tech in the area. Ask him/her. They know more than phone support on where the lines are. Or a slight wire direction change may allow you to be within the 15,000 foot limit.
Removal of a 'bridge tap', may bring results.
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Bridge_tap

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Bridged tap or bridge tap is a long-used method of cabling for telephone lines. One cable pair (of wires) will "appear" in several different terminal locations (poles or pedestals). This allows the telephone company to use or "assign" that pair to any subscriber near those terminal locations. Once that customer disconnects, that pair becomes usable at any of the terminals. In the days of party lines, 2, 4, 6, or 8 customers were commonly connected on the same pair which appeared at several different locations.

There are no active components in a bridge tap, just a “T” (or branch) in the cable. This T causes an unwanted Signal reflection (echo) as the signal travels along the unused branch.

Digital subscriber lines (DSL) can be affected by bridged tap, depending on where the tap is bridged. The farther from the customer's location, the better. DSL signals find an impedance discontinuity at the unterminated end, which reflects back through the cable pair, much like a tennis ball against a brick wall. The echo signal is now out of phase and mixed with the original, creating, among other impairments, attenuation distortion. The modem receives both signals, gets confused and "takes errors" or cannot sync. If the bridged tap is long, the signal bounces back only in very attenuated form. Therefore, the modem will ignore the weaker signal and show no problem. One method of fixing this problem is to ask the tech to "cut dead ahead" your line. This removes the extra cable past your house and can improve DSL performance and stability.

See also

[tommie gorman]

I tried that a few times, and was told I'd get DSL when the phone company was good and ready, and not until. Best of luck with this. 

[compuguybna]

Ummmm, filing a complaint with the FCC wont get you DSL any faster (or at all). That route is a waste of time.

I can not get DSL where I live either.  They said I was out of range, and the customer base versus cost is not justifiable....

Also, just because you see a DSLAM, it doesn't mean that its serving your address or your area.

Do, you might as well stop complaining, it isn't going to help . .. 

[Col.K0rn]

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Do, you might as well stop complaining, it isn't going to help . ..  

Well, it's not my point to come here and complain, even though sometimes the only reason that people join boards is to vent their frustration... I'm looking for those members who might have some contacts, have been in a similar situation and had success in resolving a situation that might be similar to mine.  I'm not afraid to have intelligent discussions with people who listen, and step over those who don't.

I also never argue with an idiot. People can't tell which one is which from a distance.

Members of the Ruby Ranch neighborhood in Colorado did complain for a bit about a similar situation, and then they took action. Read about it here:---> http://www.rric.net/ If it comes to this, I'll do something similar. I've already put in a request to have a cell tower put on the property... then they'd have to run a head-end here...

Thanks for the input zalternate. I had a situation like that at a previous address and my dB was horrid at the drop. Turns out I had 2 drops to the house, and both were on. 3 techs later, I finally got someone who wasn't a contractor, and I showed him what he needed to look at. Within 30 min, he found I had a dead loop on my street, cut some wires a few houses down, and "viola!" all was well. Except when it rained