Total outage a week ago, preceded by intermittent speed drops. Chat-based CSR blamed "area outage" and I was up within a few hours.
Since then, frequent speed drops to a couple hundred Kb/sec and occasional PPP and/or DSL outages.
Location -- Zip 23111 (Mechanicsville VA, NE side of Richmond metro) {edited for privacy}.rich.east.verizon.net
Additional problem as Verizon phone-based CSRs cannot locate my Vz. account number and I am dry-loop DSL while their systems do customer lookup based on phone numbers. No phone number, no luck.
Is there any way do to Vz trouble-shooting via email? Phone tree folks are no help.
Via Vz In-Home-Agent 8.0361, my router's IP address is 141.152.31.235
Note -- Vz. chat-based CSR's tools require that customer have Windows XP+ or Mac OS ***with*** Java installed. Normally use Linux, not Windows/Mac. Booted Win XP.
Since Java is considered to be a security risk, I didn't have it installed. Installing it on a degraded connection takes quite a long time.
Suggestion: before chatting with VZ, reset modem and install/configure Java while you temporarily have a good connection. Makes it easier for you and Vz.
#1 Visit http://www.giganews.com/line_info.html and post up the Traceroute the page shows, if you wish. Be aware that the final hop (bottom-most line of the trace) might contain a hop with your IP address in it. Remove that line. What I'm looking for is a line that mentions "ERX" in it's name towards the end. If for some reason the trace does not complete (two lines full of Stars), keep the trace route intact.
#2 Can you provide the Transceiver Statistics from your modem?
If you don't know how to get that info:
a) What is the brand and model of your modem?
b) If you have a RJ-45 WAN port router connected to the modem: What is the brand and model of that RJ-45 WAN port router?
#3 Even If you know how to get the Transceiver Statistics from your modem and you have a RJ-45 WAN port router connected to the modem: What is the brand and model of that RJ-45 WAN port router?
Thanks for the info. Problem appears solved. Don't know if chat-based CSR caused any actions to be done or whether CSR-suggested modem-reset helped somehow. Had to wait for completion of lenghty Java D/L in order to do reset.
DSL has been fine since the evening of 11/23 -- normal speeds, no disconnects. To my knowledge, this is the first time I've ever used the reset button. (Of course, I've had to power-cycle it occasionally).
My modem/router/gateway is a Westell Versalink 327W. Only thing attached on WAN side. Worked fine for quite a few years.
FWIW, final stanzas of the current traceroute --
5 0.ae2.RES-BB-RTR2.verizon-gni.net (152.63.34.74) 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms
6 so-6-0-0-0.RIC01-CORE-RTR1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.20.169) 5 ms 5 ms 5 ms
7 P3-0-0.RIC01-DSL-RTR3.verizon-gni.net (130.81.4.26) 5 ms 5 ms 5 ms
8 * * *
Didn't record the stats at the time of the trouble. Current stats --
Transceiver Revision: 1.0.9.0
Vendor ID Code: 4
Line Mode: G.DMT Mode
Data Path: Interleaved
Transceiver Information Down Stream Path Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 1792 448
Margin (dB) 8.5 18.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 56.5 31.5
Transmit Power (dBm) 16.7 11.0
Note: Seems incredibly short-sighted to require Java-based tools for any network troubleshooting. Many people uninstall Java because of proven security and maintenance issues. Initial problem determination should be done, where possible, with web-based tools. This would also allow assisting iOS, Android, and Linux customers.
Note: I had much better luck on two occasions using chat-based CSRs rather than phone-based CSRs. Phone based folks could never locate my dry loop DSL account info! The chat-based CSRs noted that I was logged in on my Vz account and tried to assist. No language issues and they worked hard to be helpful. Next time, I will skip phoning Vz and use the chat.
Note: Vz requires a phone number to log in for chat-based assistance. What about dry loop DSL customers? I had to creat a phony phone number in order to login. Incredibly stupid!
[Edited to fix typo]
@secdroid wrote:Note: Vz requires a phone number to log in for chat-based assistance. What about dry loop DSL customers? I had to creat a phony phone number in order to login. Incredibly stupid!
If you get a bill: Perhaps the account number on the bill?
I read the Vz account number directly from my bill to two different Vz phone CSRs. Neither could locate my account. One even transferred me to Frontier, who had no idea why I was transferred. (IIRC, Vz sold some New England customers to Frontier and I assume that the Vz CSR thought my account had been sold.)
When logging in to chat-based assistance via http://www22.verizon.com/content/contactus/ then Internet, HSI, and Connection Issues and Live Chat, I was presented with a page that required a phone number. Could not proceed without a phone number. As I recall, the page did have me enter my account number, but I can't test that now as Live Chat is currently unavailable.
Kudos to the chat-based CSRs. Not so much for the phone-based people and the supporting Vz web pages.
Back again with my third outage in three weeks. Learned a few things that might be of interest.
Alternate internet wasn't available, so I tried phone CSR again -- this time successfully. (Typo in previous post -- 1-800-837-4966 is the correct number)
Vz automated agent recognized my account number this time. Didn't last time.
Vz phone CSR recognized my account number this time. Two different CSRs didn't last time.
CSR told me something important -- dry loop DSL accounts have an associated phone number. He gave it to me and requested that I make a note of it. (That number is not on my Vz bill.)
CSR was not interested in any status info from modem web pages. He was interested in the modem lights. I think that he found the fact that the Internet light on my Versalink 327W was slowly blinking to be significant.
He told me that there was a Central Office issue, requested a call back phone number, gave me a trouble ticket number, and an estimate time-to-repair of 24-48 hours. Very professional.
Within five minutes, I was back online. I did nothing, but modem connected PPP automatically.
FWIW, here's my symptoms -
- DSL connected at good speed, PPP timeout on every connection attempt.
- Modem power cycle and modem reset did not help
- Transceiver Stats:
DSL Speed 1792/448
Margin 7.0/17.0
Line Attenuation 56.5/31.5
Transmit Power 16.7/11.0
Now that I'm connected, my stats are the same as above.
Interesting Ars Technica article "Why I pay extra for 'business-class' broadband at home"
Article contains the following: "Calling an ISP's technical support line can be a horrible, frustrating experience. Understanding that businesses are on the hook for more money than consumers and that they need reliable support, ISPs treat business-class accounts far better. All ISPs have separate support lines for business-class customers; some, including Comcast, actually assign dedicated account representatives, eliminating the need to wait in the phone queue for most questions. In addition, business-class customers usually get priority over residential customers when scheduling technician visits."
Something to think about...
Things working well for now. Proper DSL connect rates & PPP up.
Follow-up to my last post --- "CSR was not interested in any status info from modem web pages. He was interested in the modem lights. I think that he found the fact that the Internet light on my Versalink 327W was slowly blinking to be significant."
In fact, the current pattern of modem lights is unchanged from when I had a good DSL connect rate but was unable to connect PPP.
Page 9 of the Westell 327W User's Guide isn't much help:
"Internet LED
"Solid Green - Internet link established
"Flashing Green - IP connection established and IP Traffic is passing through device (in either direction).
Note: If the IP or PPP session is dropped due to an idle timeout, the light will remain solid green, if an ADSL connection is still present.
If the session is dropped for any other reason, the light is turned OFF. The light will turn red when it attempts to reconnect and DHCP or PPP fails)."
My failure mode was DSL good & PPP down. Should not have had flashing green, per above. LED did not turn red.
So, I guess the moral is that you need to note the modem lights before contacting Vz support, but the 327W manual may not be much help for the end user
Problem is back. PPP dropped in the middle of an active session. Finally got it to reconnect, but speed is down.
Years ago, my landline phone was very noisy. Eventually, I persuaded Pacfic Bell to move me to a different pair. Problem solved.
Can anyone suggest a way to get Verizon to fix my DSL problem for real? I had enjoyed reliable DSL from Verizon for many years, but I'm just not getting my money's worth now. If we can't get this fixed, I'm going to have to find a different provider.
My Westell 327W stats --
Transceiver Revision: 1.0.9.0
Vendor ID Code: 4
Line Mode: G.DMT Mode
Data Path: Interleaved
Transceiver Information Down Stream Path Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 704 448
Margin (dB) 11.0 18.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 56.5 31.5
Transmit Power (dBm) 15.2 11.0
Traceroute --
1 gw1-g-vlan201.dca.giganews.com (216.196.98.4) 0 ms 0 ms 0 ms
2 te0-7-0-9.mpd22.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (38.122.62.193) 0 ms te0-0-0-7.mpd22.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (38.122.67.49) 0 ms 0 ms
3 te0-2-0-0.ccr21.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.101) 0 ms te0-0-0-4.ccr21.iad02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.105) 0 ms 0 ms
4 verizon.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.10.226) 0 ms uunet.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.13.138) 0 ms verizon.iad01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.10.226) 0 ms
5 0.ae1.RES-BB-RTR2.verizon-gni.net (152.63.32.157) 0 ms 0 ms 0 ms
6 so-6-0-0-0.RIC01-CORE-RTR1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.20.169) 5 ms 5 ms 5 ms
7 P3-0-0.RIC01-DSL-RTR3.verizon-gni.net (130.81.4.26) 5 ms 5 ms 5 ms
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