DSL is DOWN!!

[06pvibe]

On the third day now.... AT&T, in their (lack of) infinite wisdom has again dropped my DSL connection. It seems that they are so big and stupid that when one office knows something they do not share it with any others. Aren't they in the communications business? I even asked one person that question... very tongue in cheek, much like this post. What a surprise I didn't get the answer I was looking for, huh?Billing knows we have DSL on our second LAN line and we are charged for it w/o fail. However tech can't even see we have a second line unless we push them to look further. And then they see that line does not have DSL provisioned for it.Some "simple" changes made to our account a few months ago has caused AT&T's worm software to not recognize our DSL and when it searches our number simply drops us off. Nice, huh? And we get to pay for the privilege too.I spent my entire afternoon on Thursday, 2PM to 6PM being bounced around, recalling after being instructed to, dropped calls, etc only to have to start all over again w/each new person (or nonperson ) I spoke with AND have nothing be resolved.My wife spent another 2hrs w/them yesterday, but of course it was "too late" to fix it by then.Think of the old SNL skit w/Lilly Tomlin: "We're the phone company and we don't know WHAT we're doing... AND WE DON'T CARE (as long as we get YOUR money.)"I have this little Netbook on 3G (exactly like the one that crapped out on HPL a few months ago) that is a PITA to use and is as slow, or more so than I remember dial-up being. Since I rarely use this for Internet access, I don't have all my tools and links available on it either.This is not my first roundup w/AT&T-SBC and I can honestly say that their CS and especially their CS system SUCKS ROCKS!! I have never spent less than 1hr of my time on the phone w/them and they are making it harder and more involved all the time. I stayed fairly calm for the first three hours the other night, but after having to explain everything over and over again, and that I had run all their std tests before I called the first time on several occasions, I was, shall I say(?), a "little testy" after that. It's a damn good thing I don't own any assault weapons.

[wt2ga]

[djkeev]

SO sorry for your troubles.Funny, with all the AT&T hatred swirling around I've never had a second of problems. Either with my Cellular (I know not part of the big picture) or my home service which was upgraded from DSL to FIOS several years ago.I've nothing but good to say about FIOS. Trouble free, F A S T !!!!!!! and it all works. My TV interacts with my computers seamlessly not to mention with Netflix and all the other wireless devices all working together in what could be a major wireless mess but it isn't.Sure it costs a few dollars but the speed and trouble free service are all worth it to me.Hope you get it straightened out soon. Dial up SUCKS!!The trouble with AT&T is that it is SO BIG that there really is no one that can be found at the top of the heap to take responsibility for problems or to implement practical changes. It can be frustrating when everyone is a small indian and the chiefs are insulated from the everyday running of the company.In my home wireless system which includes Apples wireless Air Play along with wireless printers, iPhones, iPad and other "toys" the only glitch is how iTunes grabs ahold of my wifes HP dv7 laptop and slows it to a crawl. No problems with my Toshiba running basically the same programs. Need to figure this out!This is today's speed rating with my FIOS, this is why I'm willing to pay just a little more .....Dave

[keithvibe]

I feel your pain brother!!!I am currently going threw something simm with USPS... SINCE NOVEMBER!Going postal is not a term I ever thought I would use, but IMO I say good god no wonder they are losing money every year. They even lost a piece of mail that was sent from my local usps office to their claims office...

[Water boy]

At my old house, on DSL, sometimes someone at the center would reset the switches. I would loose connection. It took 6 different techs to figure out that my info at the switch center had been entered wrong. It seems that I was on one switch but my paperwork said I was on another switch.Of course nobody fixed the error. They just turned me back on and went onto the next call.Over time I was able to write down the switch error info and had to call it in to the tech.It seems there is an unwritten rule that no tech shall ever be dispatched to a previous call.

[kostby]

Just signed up for AT&T DSL in December. They emailed me the WRONG ACCOUNT NUMBER in the confirmation email. The one they emailed was for a closed and unpaid account in another name. Then, it turns out that the Mac Safari browser has some incompatibility and does not complete the sign-up process, so I had to READ all my info to an AT&T 2nd-level support tech who retyped it. But (so far), the DSL service is 6x faster and the same price as what I had before with the local utility. Honestly, I'd still be with the local utility, but I moved, and they didn't offer the same service (Broadband over Power Lines) in my new neighborhood.

[09vGT]

We used to have AT&T DSL. We switched to a better deal through our cable company, bundled with phone and TV. The connection is 3X as fast as our DSL was, and I don't find myself having to go unplug the router, counting to 30, and then plugging it back in again to reestablish a connection!Check with your cable company.

[ColonelPanic]

They're fairly hit-and-miss as I have noticed over the years. But they are saints compared to the scam artists at the cable company. When we moved into our house, we made them come out and remove their cable from the pole to the house. They still send weekly offers to get us to sign up with them - uhh, no...Haven't had any trouble with our DSL service. We could also get uverse, freshly installed in our neighborhood... But meh... Too expensive. We have Go phones through them as well, they let you call people occasionally so I guess that's good. If you think the internets on 3G is bad, try to pull up a page on one of those things.

[06pvibe]

Unfortunately we don't have too much choice where we are. we have two LAN lines because we could only get dial-up here 7 yrs ago. 4-5 yrs ago when it finally became available I decided to keep the second line exclusively for the DSL. This has worked out well since now we have a monitored alarm system that also uses our "voice only" line. I was told they could work together, but also having our satellite using that line, i felt there would be conflict at some point. We can also use the other line for voice should it become necessary.We have satellite because no cable is available here either. We are only +/-15 miles from Dell territory yet are hard pressed to get the technology or the choices of technology here that Austin proper enjoys.As far as as Uverse is concerned, I have only heard horror stories about that too.What ever happened to the days when if you had trouble you simply called the operator who took your information and sent someone out... usually the same or next day.This is progress??

[djkeev]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »What ever happened to the days when if you had trouble you simply called the operator who took your information and sent someone out... usually the same or next day.This is progress?? It was called DEREGULATION of the Phone industry.More specifically...Telecommunications Act of 1996While it cleared the way for massive private industry advancement in the communication industry, it also created media giants that control the industry, killed small operator opportunities and it also killed customer service.Oh, did I mention that if you aren't a prime customer, the cream of the crop financially, you actually get to pay MORE for the services provided to you now?Yep, things are a bunch better now!!! Given all that, the new communication methods and opportunities are pretty impressive though!You gets some, you loses some.Dave

[06pvibe]

Quote, originally posted by djkeev »It was called DEREGULATION of the Phone industry.More specifically...Telecommunications Act of 1996While it cleared the way for massive private industry advancement in the communication industry, it also created media giants that control the industry, killed small operator opportunities and it also killed customer service.Oh, did I mention that if you aren't a prime customer, the cream of the crop financially, you actually get to pay MORE for the services provided to you now?Yep, things are a bunch better now!!! Given all that, the new communication methods and opportunities are pretty impressive though!You gets some, you loses some.DaveHmmm. And who was in power in '96?I know big business pays less for the eqivilent services. As far as more and "new" opportunities are concerned: I have a cell phone. It's basic and simple and I carry it when I think I might need to use it. Other than that it usually stays at home on the charger.I see way too many people talking absolute BS on cell phones or texting but don't seem to know how to communicate face-to-face any more.Again I ask, this is progress? The communication age has caused or allowed much talk w/little substance IMO.Thanks for the input, Dave.

[jake75]

I had a separate dsl line and a couple of times it got disconnected because the people working on the lines thought it was not in use. The problem then was convincing the dsl service provider that the problem was not in my set. They had me doing all kinds of stupid things. I played their game - said "ok. I did that and it still doesn't work." The last time I had trouble I was told it was my problem and I said, no , it's your problem because I am switching to cable dsl. The cable people were out within 24 hours and got me hooked up for a good price, and no charge for installation and the cable modem was provided free. I went to Firefox and gmail instead of IE. I like having all my email in a "cloud" as it makes it easy to work when I am away from my home office. With gmail I will never have to change email address again. Have total back up using BackBlaze at $50 a year.

[psiu]

Good luck. Have dealt with them twice in similar situations. So far the cable company has been better every time we've had one (been through 3 different cable co's). But I know the potential for joy and happiness lies within them too