Anyone have BellSouth DSL?

[Chaotic42]

I just got it, and so far it's been the worst internet experience I've had. It's flaky (BF1942 DC .7 has died 3 times now), slow (I got 12Kb up / 22Kb down on DSL Reports a few minutes ago), and expensive.

This is the only broadband that I know of in our area that I can get.

On DSL Reports, people can't stop talking about how much they love Bell South. This leads me to belive that I have a problem somewhere on my end. I just ran it again and got 604/220, which isn't the 1500/256 I'm supposed to get, but it's ok. The thing is that it's so erratic. Some stuff loads quickly, some never loads at all.

Any ideas about WTF is going on? I miss my 3.5Mbit cable connection.

 

[NumbersGuy]

I had it, would hang for several minutes, was slow and the CSRs didn't know anything.
Note that the further you are from the phone building the DSL gets less effective.

Changed to Earthlink/Mindspring, works great. Check them out.

G/L

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: NumbersGuy
I had it, would hang for several minutes, was slow and the CSRs didn't know anything.
Note that the further you are from the phone building the DSL gets less effective.

Changed to Earthlink/Mindspring, works great. Check them out.

G/L

That's the problem I have. It just hangs there and crawls.

I already bought the modem, I suppose it will work with Earthlink?

<---DSL newbie

 

[Alkaline5]

Cable isn't available on my street, so I'm stuck with BellSouth also. Usually I do get the advertised speed, but when something does go wrong (at least once a month) their support is entirely useless.

The only advice I can give you is to just keep calling until you find someone that can actually help you. And if the 'Lite' package is available in your area you may want to downgrade since you're not getting full speed, anyway.

 

[NumbersGuy]

Chaotic42:

The Earthlink model is different, has an ethernet connector, so you can connect it to a router and have multiple computers on - they give it to you for free.

My BS modem was USB, no other connections, extra money for family plan. May be different now.

It's an Evil Empire.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: NumbersGuy
Chaotic42:

The Earthlink model is different, has an ethernet connector, so you can connect it to a router and have multiple computers on - they give it to you for free.

My BS modem was USB, no other connections, extra money for family plan. May be different now.

It's an Evil Empire.

Mine has an ethernet port and a USB port. I would have raised hell if it didn't have an ethernet jack on the back.

 

[AnyMal]

Search the web for local providers. Sometimes there are small companies that you've never heard about offering DSL in your area. I was going to go with BellSouth too but found a small company localy that gave me ADSL connection (versus PPPoE crap) with 5 static IP's, free modem, and rock solid service.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: AnyMal
Search the web for local providers. Sometimes there are small companies that you've never heard about offering DSL in your area. I was going to go with BellSouth too but found a small company localy that gave me ADSL connection (versus PPPoE crap) with 5 static IP's, free modem, and rock solid service.

Yeah, I don't know much about PPPoE. My Windows network connection still says it's using DHCP though. Maybe I have to set something new up? I don't know. I'm reluctant to boot to Debian to see how it handles this.

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: AnyMal
Search the web for local providers. Sometimes there are small companies that you've never heard about offering DSL in your area. I was going to go with BellSouth too but found a small company localy that gave me ADSL connection (versus PPPoE crap) with 5 static IP's, free modem, and rock solid service.

Yeah, I don't know much about PPPoE. My Windows network connection still says it's using DHCP though. Maybe I have to set something new up? I don't know. I'm reluctant to boot to Debian to see how it handles this.

No, you don't need to change anything, it's just a "nature of the beast". In essence, PPPoE is still a form of dial-up and you need to have DHCP enabled as BellSouth will not assign you static IP address. Some things that will come into play is wiring infrustructure in your neighborhood. It's not uncommon to have slow or intermittent DSL speeds because of an outdated and "noisy" telephone wiring.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: AnyMal
No, you don't need to change anything, it's just a "nature of the beast". In essence, PPPoE is still a form of dial-up and you need to have DHCP enabled as BellSouth will not assign you static IP address. Some things that will come into play is wiring infrustructure in your neighborhood. It's not uncommon to have slow or intermittent DSL speeds because of an outdated and "noisy" telephone wiring.

Yeah, the people who had the apartment before us trashed the phone lines. We had to get a repair dude out here for an hour to fix it. I guess he didn't do such a good job...

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: AnyMal
No, you don't need to change anything, it's just a "nature of the beast". In essence, PPPoE is still a form of dial-up and you need to have DHCP enabled as BellSouth will not assign you static IP address. Some things that will come into play is wiring infrustructure in your neighborhood. It's not uncommon to have slow or intermittent DSL speeds because of an outdated and "noisy" telephone wiring.

Yeah, the people who had the apartment before us trashed the phone lines. We had to get a repair dude out here for an hour to fix it. I guess he didn't do such a good job...

Have you tried calling their CS and see if they can send someone out to check the line?

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: AnyMal

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: AnyMal
No, you don't need to change anything, it's just a "nature of the beast". In essence, PPPoE is still a form of dial-up and you need to have DHCP enabled as BellSouth will not assign you static IP address. Some things that will come into play is wiring infrustructure in your neighborhood. It's not uncommon to have slow or intermittent DSL speeds because of an outdated and "noisy" telephone wiring.

Yeah, the people who had the apartment before us trashed the phone lines. We had to get a repair dude out here for an hour to fix it. I guess he didn't do such a good job...

Have you tried calling their CS and see if they can send someone out to check the line?

Well, the guy said that everything was ok. When I run a traceroute, I get problems on their end...

 

[StageLeft]

I had it. It was decent, but my current cable with comcast is not only more reliable, but also faster.

 

[Savij]

Nashville,

Had an almost unusable service with Comcast. In the two years I've head Bellsouth DSL it's gone down on me twice (that I know of I guess it could have gone down while I wasn't home) and i think the grand total was maybe 8 hours of down time. Oh and one of those was caused by a hurricane wiping out their office or something like that.

 

[GreenGhost]

I have it for almost 2 years. No problems at all, very reliable, and I'm in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Cable God]

I've had it for a year now. Was on several Tier 2 and 3 Cable Providers before it. All were pretty good. BLS DSL has been better than my cable experiences though.

 

[CtK]

i have Bellsouth DSL and i have to restart my modem every 6-12 hours?!?!
they tested the line and they said it was OK
so they are sending me out a new modem
hope it fixes it

 

[Compton]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I just got it, and so far it's been the worst internet experience I've had. It's flaky (BF1942 DC .7 has died 3 times now), slow (I got 12Kb up / 22Kb down on DSL Reports a few minutes ago), and expensive.

This is the only broadband that I know of in our area that I can get.

On DSL Reports, people can't stop talking about how much they love Bell South. This leads me to belive that I have a problem somewhere on my end. I just ran it again and got 604/220, which isn't the 1500/256 I'm supposed to get, but it's ok. The thing is that it's so erratic. Some stuff loads quickly, some never loads at all.

Any ideas about WTF is going on? I miss my 3.5Mbit cable connection.

I had it for about 6 months in Baton Rouge, LA. I was not very impressed with it. I never had any major problems, but it wasn't nearly as fast as cable.