Qwest fixed whatever problem was causing the DSL to fail to carry a connection.
I spent well over an hour on the phone with technical support--each and every one of them spoke with an accent. Each time they put me on hold the call was disconnected, requiring me to call again. Finally, I told the last support guy I talked to that if the call disconnected to call me back. Fortunately, he did.
I also spent time trying different wall jacks and testing the DSL on two different computers.
All told, I probably spent about 3 hours doing different things, some at the behest of Qwest support representatives, and sitting on the phone with support.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
This sucks!
Qwest DSL has been down repeatedly the past half-hour. I haven't been able to use the internet for more than a few minutes.
I did a Yahoo and Google search for "Qwest DSL sucks". As you can imagine, I found plenty of results. So I tried posting on a few blog results to share my experience. From the time I start writing a short post to the time I post it, Qwest DSL will drop several times.
I've had enough. If those clowns at Qwest don't fix it SOON I am going to cancel it and devote the rest of my life to bashing the company and their crappy service. I AM SICK OF THIS!
The SNR (signal-to-noise) ratio keeps dropping to zero. The Local RS Corrected statistic shows lots of errors. None of these are the fault of anybody but Qwest.
From the time I started this post to the time I posted it Qwest DSL dropped several times. I better post it quick before it drops again!
I did a Yahoo and Google search for "Qwest DSL sucks". As you can imagine, I found plenty of results. So I tried posting on a few blog results to share my experience. From the time I start writing a short post to the time I post it, Qwest DSL will drop several times.
I've had enough. If those clowns at Qwest don't fix it SOON I am going to cancel it and devote the rest of my life to bashing the company and their crappy service. I AM SICK OF THIS!
The SNR (signal-to-noise) ratio keeps dropping to zero. The Local RS Corrected statistic shows lots of errors. None of these are the fault of anybody but Qwest.
From the time I started this post to the time I posted it Qwest DSL dropped several times. I better post it quick before it drops again!
Qwest DSL dropped right after the previous post
The Qwest DSL connection dropped AGAIN right after I made the post prior to this one.
Update: The connection has dropped several times in the past 10 minutes. I am trying to download a 300 MB service pack from Microsoft and I can't do it because this horrible DSL keeps dropping!
Update: The connection has dropped several times in the past 10 minutes. I am trying to download a 300 MB service pack from Microsoft and I can't do it because this horrible DSL keeps dropping!
Qwest DSL problems continue
I am still having problems with Qwest's DSL service. Every day I've experienced the same problem of the Qwest DSL connection dropping every few minutes.
This evening when I first booted up the computer, I was unable to train for a good 15 minutes. Finally, the modem trained. But I only got about 10 minutes of time on the internet before the connection started dropping continuously again.
I've been having this problem for the past week. I saw a Qwest van in the neighborhood and since that day, the DSL service has been nothing but trouble. Sure, we had problems with not being able to get a connection during rain or thunderstorms and the connection dropping on incoming phone calls, but the connection would always return when the rain passed or shortly after the phone stopped ringing.
Now Qwest DSL is largely unusable. On the bright side, I was able to spend 3 hours on the internet the other day before the connection dropped. But then it kept dropping continuously.
I am lucky I was able to log on to the internet so I could make this post! That's how shaky our Qwest DSL service is.
Ultimately, I would like the people at Qwest to pull their heads out of their butts and fix this problem. I will probably spend another frustrating half-hour or longer on the phone with support either today or tomorrow listening to them try to tell me that it isn't their fault, but mine. A frustrating experience, to be sure.
This evening when I first booted up the computer, I was unable to train for a good 15 minutes. Finally, the modem trained. But I only got about 10 minutes of time on the internet before the connection started dropping continuously again.
I've been having this problem for the past week. I saw a Qwest van in the neighborhood and since that day, the DSL service has been nothing but trouble. Sure, we had problems with not being able to get a connection during rain or thunderstorms and the connection dropping on incoming phone calls, but the connection would always return when the rain passed or shortly after the phone stopped ringing.
Now Qwest DSL is largely unusable. On the bright side, I was able to spend 3 hours on the internet the other day before the connection dropped. But then it kept dropping continuously.
I am lucky I was able to log on to the internet so I could make this post! That's how shaky our Qwest DSL service is.
Ultimately, I would like the people at Qwest to pull their heads out of their butts and fix this problem. I will probably spend another frustrating half-hour or longer on the phone with support either today or tomorrow listening to them try to tell me that it isn't their fault, but mine. A frustrating experience, to be sure.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Still Having Problems
After I got off the phone with Qwest technical support this morning I shut down the computer. I booted it up again around 6:30 PM or so. The modem was able to train and connect to the internet without problem.
As of this writing I have been online for about an hour. During this period of time the Qwest DSL connection dropped twice. I was logged into a website and when it dropped I had to log-in all over again for every page I had open in different browser windows. What a pain.
If there was more competition in this market, I would never use Qwest. I'm not going to pretend that Qwest DSL service is the worst thing in the world. But when you are paying $50 a month for something you damn sure expect it to work right.
I detailed my complaints in the first post of this blog. I will continue to update this blog with the problems I am having, if I continue to have problems, that is. If things start going well, I will post that, too. My intention isn't to bash Qwest so much as it is shine a public light on the quality of their service. Good or bad, I will share it on this blog.
If the service ends up becoming reliable again, I will be sure to post about it. If there is a large gap between posts, you can assume that the DSL service is either working well or not working at all.
As of this writing I have been online for about an hour. During this period of time the Qwest DSL connection dropped twice. I was logged into a website and when it dropped I had to log-in all over again for every page I had open in different browser windows. What a pain.
If there was more competition in this market, I would never use Qwest. I'm not going to pretend that Qwest DSL service is the worst thing in the world. But when you are paying $50 a month for something you damn sure expect it to work right.
I detailed my complaints in the first post of this blog. I will continue to update this blog with the problems I am having, if I continue to have problems, that is. If things start going well, I will post that, too. My intention isn't to bash Qwest so much as it is shine a public light on the quality of their service. Good or bad, I will share it on this blog.
If the service ends up becoming reliable again, I will be sure to post about it. If there is a large gap between posts, you can assume that the DSL service is either working well or not working at all.
Half Hour With Qwest Technical Support Today
Sick and tired of the inability to get an internet connection, I called Qwest DSL technical support this morning.
I called, got the annoying voice prompts for a couple of minutes, then finally got a woman on the phone. She took my phone number and name and told me she would transfer my call to support.
Ten minutes later, a man came on the phone with a thick accent. Yes, he was a foreigner. He sounded like he was from India. There was a short delay between when I said something and when he responded, so I knew he was a great distance away from me.
The first thing he told me was what Qwest support always tells people: it is probably a problem inside your house. No, it isn't. I explained to him that I tried plugging the modem into three different wall jacks and still had the same problem. He then told me he would need to put me on hold for 3 - 5 minutes while he ran some line tests.
Ten minutes later he came back on the phone. He called me by the wrong name, which gave me the impression that he wasn't running line tests, but was handling other calls while he had me on hold.
During the time he had me on hold, the modem was able to train properly and maintain a SNR margin of 16 - 17. Prior to putting me on hold, it would vary wildly every few seconds from 0 to 18.
When the Qwest support person came back on the line we talked for a few more minutes. I explained that the modem was now able to train, which was consistent with the problem I was having the past few days in which the modem would be unable to train for half-an-hour or longer then train and be able to establish a connection for half-an-hour to an hour before dropping repeatedly again.
He asked me to connect to the internet. I did. Everything seemed to be working fine. He really didn't do anything other than run some line tests, if he actually did that.
I haven't had to call Qwest support for years. But the last time I did they were able to do something to the signal to make it train or not train. This support guy did nothing.
All told I spent over 30 minutes this morning on the phone with Qwest support. Interestingly, the support guy gave me the name of a website that I should go to if I have any trouble. With his acceent, I couldn't understand the URL. But it doesn't matter anyway, because if I can't connect to the internet the last thing I can do is go to a website.
I called, got the annoying voice prompts for a couple of minutes, then finally got a woman on the phone. She took my phone number and name and told me she would transfer my call to support.
Ten minutes later, a man came on the phone with a thick accent. Yes, he was a foreigner. He sounded like he was from India. There was a short delay between when I said something and when he responded, so I knew he was a great distance away from me.
The first thing he told me was what Qwest support always tells people: it is probably a problem inside your house. No, it isn't. I explained to him that I tried plugging the modem into three different wall jacks and still had the same problem. He then told me he would need to put me on hold for 3 - 5 minutes while he ran some line tests.
Ten minutes later he came back on the phone. He called me by the wrong name, which gave me the impression that he wasn't running line tests, but was handling other calls while he had me on hold.
During the time he had me on hold, the modem was able to train properly and maintain a SNR margin of 16 - 17. Prior to putting me on hold, it would vary wildly every few seconds from 0 to 18.
When the Qwest support person came back on the line we talked for a few more minutes. I explained that the modem was now able to train, which was consistent with the problem I was having the past few days in which the modem would be unable to train for half-an-hour or longer then train and be able to establish a connection for half-an-hour to an hour before dropping repeatedly again.
He asked me to connect to the internet. I did. Everything seemed to be working fine. He really didn't do anything other than run some line tests, if he actually did that.
I haven't had to call Qwest support for years. But the last time I did they were able to do something to the signal to make it train or not train. This support guy did nothing.
All told I spent over 30 minutes this morning on the phone with Qwest support. Interestingly, the support guy gave me the name of a website that I should go to if I have any trouble. With his acceent, I couldn't understand the URL. But it doesn't matter anyway, because if I can't connect to the internet the last thing I can do is go to a website.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Regular problems with Qwest DSL internet service
These are the constant problems I have with Qwest's residential DSL service. Our phone lines run above ground, in case you are wondering.
Anyone who subscribes to Qwest DSL or is considering subscribing should be aware of these issues. Because if you work from home or need to rely on a steady internet connection, Qwest DSL is not for you.
- Qwest DSL connection drops with incoming phone calls 100% of the time.
- DSL internet service is non-functional when it rains or when there is a storm.
- Internet connection drops randomly through the day often, usually retraining quickly and performing satisfactorily afterward. Any large file downloads can be interrupted, requiring you to start all over.
- The past few days Qwest DSL has been unable to maintain an uninterrupted connection to the internet for more than an hour. It will work for a while, then the connection will drop and will drop continuously for half an hour or more, training and then dropping again every few seconds.
Anyone who subscribes to Qwest DSL or is considering subscribing should be aware of these issues. Because if you work from home or need to rely on a steady internet connection, Qwest DSL is not for you.
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