[Hidden-tech] A technical question about DSL

[Robert Heller]

At Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:28:51 -0400 jwerner at jwdp.com wrote:

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> I have been using a Verizon phone services and DSL bundle since 2004. 
> Last December, I signed up for a year at a new and slightly lower bundle 
> price that raised my maximum DSL speed from 1.5 Mbs to 5.0 Mbs, which 
> they assured me my line would support.
> 
> Since then, I have had sporadic problems with the DSL service.  One is 
> disconnects. My router (D-Link) and the Verizon supplied modem appear to 
> be remain connected, but I there is no service until I perform a manual 
> disconnect and reconnect. This happens irregularly and I usually go for 
> weeks without a disconnect, but there have been a few periods during 
> which I have had to reconnect several times a day.
> 
> Mostly, my d/l speed has been about 2.8 to 3.0 Mbs, but last month, I 
> started to experience speeds as low as 50 kbs for extended periods. 
> After checking and eliminating any of my own devices and connection as 
> the cause, I placed a service call to Verizon.
> 
> The technician verified that my problems originated with Verizon and not 
> my hookup and went off to investigate further.  He called back later and 
> said that I was about 2000 feet too far away to handle 5.0 Mbs, but that 
> my circuit would support 3.0 Mbs. He said the problems I had been having 
> came from their compensation circuitry trying to adapt to 5.0 Mbs and 
> that if my service were changed to 3.0 Mbs, the DSL should work much 
> more reliably.
> 
> Verizon, however, refuses to downgrade my service from 5.0 Mbs to 3.0 
> Mbs unless I either sign up for an additional 12 months or pay a $120 
> early termination fee and forfeit bundle pricing.
> 
> Before I take this any further, I would like to know if what the 
> technician told me about compensation circuitry makes any sense to the 
> DSL experts here. I'm not sure I completely believe it, but I'm not an 
> EE and he was wearing a nice red shirt with a big V on it.

OK, DSL is *supposed* to work over 18,000 feet of copper.  This assumes
that the copper is 100% up-to-spec.  Most of *Verizon's* copper in
Western Mass is old.  Really old.  Not in good shape, etc.  Leverett and
Shutsbury recently got DSLAMs put in for *some* of their phone lines. 
It was discovered that the DSL failed to work beyond 2 miles (like
10,000 feet) because of the terrible state the copper is in.

Unless you are in a 'downtown' location (read: really, really close to
a Central Office (CO)), there is probably a lot of copper between you
and either the CO or the DSLAM (this is the roadsize box used as a
concentrator for more remote DSL service in suburban and rural
locations). 

Verizon has NOT been maintaining the copper cables to anything like the
proper specs.  The field techs know this and are told (by the 'suits')
to do the minimum that they can 'get away with'. Many of the techs are
not really happy about this, partly because *they* have to deal with
irate customers who lose phone service due to cheap repairs, etc. and
I suspect there is some lost pride as well.

I expect that the 'compensation circuitry' is something being used to
compensate for the old and/or poor quality phone lines, which are not
up to 21st century specs (some phone lines here in Western Mass are
like 100+ years old).

My guess is this: the office/sales idiot you talked to 'sold you a bill
of goods' with the 5.0 Mbs bundle deal and did not really know the
technical reality that your copper cannot support it. Probably the CO's
line cards can handle 5.0 Mbs, but your copper cannot and the
office/sales idiot just noted your exchange which maps to a CO, but
that does not really say much about what is between the CO and your
location. I once was offered 'high speed internet' when talking to a
customer rep (about something else -- turning off 'call waiting', which
was interfering with my dialup internet) -- *I* knew that DSL was not
actually possible on my phone line (I am seriously too far from the CO
and there is no DSLAM in Wendell and Verizon has no plans for
installing one either) and told the customer rep so, but she still
seemed to think she could offer me the service anyway -- the
*office-bound* sales people have no real clue about what is
*technically* possible or not.

I would trust the field service guy.  I don't know whether you can make
the claim that the sales person screwed up when offering you the 5.0
Mbs bundle deal, which Verizon cannot deliver.  Making you pay for a
service they cannot deliver is just plain wrong and you may have some
kind of legal case.  I would suggest you should fight the early
termination fee.  Be sure to CC any correspondence to the DTE, Sen.
John Kerry (this is important -- Sen. Kerry is 'leaning' on Verizon to
get them to clean up their act), and your state reps.

> 
> Jan Werner
> 
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