AT&T Yahoo DSL Doesn't Work But Phone Line "Good"?

[someday]

I ordered AT&T-Yahoo DSL and it doesn't work yet.
The modem DSL light blinks red for 9 seconds, blinks green for 8 seconds, and is a steady green for 6 seconds. Then it repeats that sequence and never connects to the Internet.

I have been on the phone for a week with the AT&T and SBC telephone people and they keep trying to send me and "inside house" technician and charge me $150 (or more) to figure out the problem.

Two technicians came and reported back to their company that the phone line was good outside the house. I was able to catch one of them by accident as he was about to drive away (they come and go fast and don't tell anyone when they are there).

Anyway, he told me that his "Sunrise Telecom" meter showed that the DSL signal was good and at about 1.2mbps speed which was good. We connected the modem (a Speedstream 4100) to the outside line with the house wire disconnected and it still did not get a solid green DSL light and just blinked as above (the DSL light would stay green for about 6 seconds).

He said maybe the modem was bad but as far as he was concerned, the phone line was good. When I spoke with the AT&T Yahoo people, they said that the line was good and I needed an inside technician (Arrggh!). If they sent me a new modem and the original one was good, they would charge me for the new modem and a service tech.

It does not seem likely that the modem is bad because it's new and seems to be acting just like it should (and would) work if the DSL signal was too weak, which is what I suspect.

To check this I again connected the modem directly to the incoming phone line with the house disconnected and still no steady green DSL light. When I connect a DVM to the line on the 1000 vdc scale I read 46 volts with no change in the DSL light. If I switch to the 200 volt scale I read 45.9 VDC and the DSL light starts blinking red and never goes green. This tells me that the voltmeter is loading down the already weak DSL signal.

However, I can hang 9 telephone devices on the line and they all work fine.

I read in one post that the DSL signal is only good for about 2 miles from the central office or DSLAM. Is there any way for me to tell exactly how far away I am from the center?

Is it possible that the Sunrise Telecom meter that says the line is good has a high impedance and does not actually put a realistic "Load" on the line?

Is there any way that I can look at the phone line DSL signal with a oscilloscope or something to prove whether or not the signal is really good?

Any info you can give me would be appreciated.

[johnwill]

First off, I'd cancel the service and order from someone that has real tech support. Since you connected the modem outside, you have seemingly eliminated the interior wiring. If they supplied the modem and the service, how is it they can charge you for a service call?

FWIW, if you have that many telephones with filters on one line with your DSL, it's not likely to work that well.

This is how I install DSL.

Purchase a DSL splitter and install it at the telco service entrance. Run a direct line from the DSL port on the splitter directly to the DSL modem. Connect all of the other phone instruments to the telephone output of the DSL splitter.

This is as good as it gets for DSL installations, and will usually solve in-house wiring issues.

[someday]

Thanks Johnwill. I have considered cancelling the service but don't want to do it until I am sure that the service will not charge me an early cancellation fee of $99 or $150. That is, THEY have to admit ar agree that the problem is their fault, and as it stands now, they are saying that they are not at fault because the line "checks good" at the telco service entrance.

I will try the splitter if I can find one cheap enough. I just didn't want to invest any more money in the service if I was going to cancel it anyway.

I should mention that the cost for the AT&T Yahoo DSL service is only $12.99 a month which is good for a year. I don't see any place else that is a cheap as this so I would like to try to get it working and then cancel it in a year when the price will probably be $49.95 a month or more.

Thanks again for the advice.

[ang_hammarad]

Did you use the set-up disk to install the DSL service? Is the modem programmed with a valid username and password? To find out, Go into the GUI of the modem. 192.168.0.1 You should see your username and password if it is in there.

If the tech came out and told you that you were getting 1.2 at the network interface, he is stressing the line with his sunrise and authenticating with a valid username and password. The sunrise acts as a modem.

As far as finding out how long your loop is, you can call in and they can tell you.

[someday]

The modem was bad!
I was not able to get the AT&T Yahoo people to send me another modem without my agreeing to let an "Inside House technician" come and check out the problem (with subsequent service charges).

So I went to Circuit City and bought one for $75. It's the same model Speedstream 4100 and the DSL light stays on steady and I was able to connect to the Internet. It's been on steady now for about 8 hours and works even with all kinds of house junk (phones, answer machines, caller IDs, etc) hung on the line. It's still hard to believe that the original new modem was bad (weak?) but its true.

I'm still P.O.ed at AT&T SBC Yahoo DSL people for running me around for almost two weeks and not sending me a new modem and for constantly pressuring me to buy other services but I'll make sure they hear about it.

I have since received the rebate for the modem and a credit for the time things were not working and decided to keep the modem I purchased for a spare "just in case". As of July 23, 2006 everything is still working fine.

Thanks to all who posted suggestions and helpful ideas.
Someday 060723

[johnwill]

I'd still find a better service and tell them why I was cancelling theirs.