Major DSL Problems in Virginia
GMUHistorian
Enthusiast - Level 1

I've experienced major problems with Verizon DSL service since last night. It frequently times out trying to load some pages, and takes longer than it ever has previously to load other pages. It took me 3 attempts to get Speedtest to load. I'm currently staying with relatives, but I believe the package they have is 768 down. Currently, Speedtest can't even get a download speed tested, just a Ping of 284 ms between my location (Lynchburg, VA) and Greensboro, NC.

The person who's paying for this connection claims that DSL's slow all over "because people are downloading Windows 7." He claims this impacted Internet connection speeds at his office all day yesterday as well.

Frankly I find this to probably be a completely wrong answer. IMO somebody's leeching this connection (it has a password, but it's not a very strong one) or there must be a technical problem. Verizon's web page does not report any outages in my area though.

Anybody from Lynchburg, VA or close to here experiencing anything like this? I'm very suspicious of any claims DSL is slowing because of some area wide thing associated with the launch of Windows 7.

Since I need a stable Internet connection to get work done all day today, this issue is really frustrating.

EDIT: I finally got Speedtest to work.

I got these horrid speeds: .02 mb/s download and .13 mb/s upload.

Anybody got any ideas what the likely cause of this mess is?

Tags (2)
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
joyner
Newbie

Sadly, I do not know what is causing the problem but I am experiencing the same problem here in Westmoreland County, VA, (near Potomac River) an even more rural area then Lynchburg.  When I tried calling Verizon to get help, I got someone in India (again) who couldn't even find my home telephone account, much less my broadband account. 

I have been having problems on and off since going from dial-up to broadband with Verizon one year ago but it has gotten especially bad for the past month (30 days) or so.  It's as slow as dial-up and I'm ready to quit broadband and save myself $60 a month.

I've written a note to Verizon via there 'contact'  heading but not hopeful they will respond in a timely manner or be able to help me.  I just think they've gotten too big and can't handle the number of customers. Thanks for complaining. At least I know I'm not alone.  joyner

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
GMUHistorian
Enthusiast - Level 1

Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone in this.

If DSL gets as bad here in Lynchburg as it apparently is where you're located, I'm definitely going to have to do something about it. I can't get work done hardly at all with these kind of speeds, and my relatives refuse to switch to cable even though it would be beneficial to everyone in the house to do so. 

I'm simply stumped as to why it's all of a sudden like this. It's never been great speeds, but I've always been able to listen to pretty quickly load web pages, listen to web audio and watch web video. Today, I can't get a web page to load correctly, and web audio has to buffer every 2-3 minutes. This is actually worse than dialup! 

I initially definitely thought it was probably due to somebody leeching the connection. I still think that's the likely cause. Unfortunately since I don't pay for things, I can't do what needs to be done to eliminate potential causes. I was kind of hoping somebody from Lynchburg would post and tell me it's area wide. I'm probably in no such luck though. 

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
jr7107
Newbie

Speeds in the evening have dropped from 2MB plus to below 200K.

There were major outages in Arlington mid-October. The network has either become very slow or there are continuing problems. I am going to put a call into customer care.

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
jr7107
Newbie

http://infospeed.verizon.net/index.asp

Test your speed. Here is what I just ran:

2x ISDN 128K  -> 190.1KBits Down 23.8KBytes Up

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
dsluser804
Enthusiast - Level 2

I've had some DSL speed problems that are actually with the line or the line equipment that has had to be fixed by the local telco.   Most recently,  see DSL Modem Thruougput Issue thread.  My download was down to 500 kbps or less instead of the usual 3Mbps.

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/High-Speed-Internet-DSL-and-Dial/DSL-Modem-Throughput-Issue/td-p/107406

If you hear static or noise on your phone, that can definitely affect the DSL.  Even without, as in the referenced thread, it quite possibly is the line.

Try calling or sending e-mail to the telco repair contact and ask them to check the line equipment.  Mention your DSL is being affected so they do more than just run a line test.

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
jackle
Newbie

what do you know 😛 im in christiansburg VA and my modems internet light keeps going out every 5mins sometimes it sits ok for around 1 hr and will start to act up again... havent bothered contacting customer support cause i have anohter thread with someone attempting to help me with the issue...

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
saintirish
Newbie

Dude, I just did a google search because I was having a problem similar to yours with Verizon DSL.  I didn't even mention Lynchburg in my search, but your post came up at the top of my google search.  I live in Forest, VA so I have to think that our problems are related.  My issue is mainly that when I'm browsing, it's like the Internet just disconnects for about 30 seconds at a time and then comes back.   I'll get a lot of page cannot be displayed, and then all of a sudden I can browse again.  I tried doing a ping the last time this happened and a ping would not work either, but then suddenly it started working again too.  So it seems there is definitely some kind of issue in the Lynchburg area with Verizon DSL.  Fix it Verizon!!

Does anyone have any ideas for me to try??

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
jr7107
Newbie

The problem is pure speed. It is 2MBs in the morning, and like clockwork 200 kbps in the evening.

It has been like this now for at least 2 weeks, when I started noticing it. The speeds are very slow. So slow that for the first time in 9 years with DSL I am considering cable.

The problem is located in Arlington, VA. 4 minutes to download iTunes is not acceptable.

0 Likes
Re: Major DSL Problems in Virginia
blakeva
Newbie
I'm still having MAJOR problems with DSL speeds. It started a few weeks ago and it is terrible. Does anyone know what is going on????
0 Likes