🚀 go-pugleaf

Funny I got fed up with PacBell SBC DSL. When I signed up 2 years ago I
thought there would be more choices with DSL especially after the FCC ruled
for open access. But SBC like all the other baby Bells successfully
stonewalled Northpoint and Rhythms into bankruptcy.

Is Roseville serviced by SBC? I must admit SBC tech support improved since
they farmed out their support to ASI and Sunrise Technology. But the level
of support has been changing constantly: probably to the lowest bidder. And
I've heard rumors SBC wants to farm out their ISP functions.

385 kbps is about right for SBC DSL: I did a RxTx benchmark on DSL and Cable
and found the ATHome Cable to be 50 - 200% faster: but in the 4 days I don't
think there was much load on my stub. SBC also changed over last month to a
lousy Prodigy usenet news feed.

SBC was never "always on". They use a stupid PPP over Ethernet dialer
ENET300 to make their connections. Although connections are faster than a
dialup PPP, connection times are noticeable especially with all the
disconnections that occurred.

SBC raised my rate from $35 to $50 per month. Couldn't pass up AT&T's Fall
promotion 6 months for $19.95, free install, and $35.95 per month with a
purchased modem. Of course I had heard about the Excite AtHome bankruptcy
and AT&T looking for buyers for their cable system. But I was never clear
about the confusing relationship between Excite, AtHome and AT&T: they made
it really simple after Friday.

If this keeps up I'll try Hughes or DishNetwork's satellite Internet. At
least I can get away from the lousy Ma and Baby Bell disservice.


"Bruce G. Karnacki" <karnacki@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:YpZP7.8284$L51.27123@rwcrnsc54...
> I just talked to my dad.  At 3PM, he signed up for a DSL installation on
> December 14.  Roseville, CA DSL.  They checked his line at 4PM, and it is
> fine.  Free install, one year commit., and $50 month.  I asked what speed
(I
> guessed the lowest tier, 384kbps), but he didn't know.  Don't know what
> Roseville DSL will be like, but just got fed up with ATT.  Good for him.
>
> Bruce Karnacki
>
> "H Satake" <satakeh@acm.org> wrote in message
> news:tZYP7.174$kN.66901110@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
> > Oh tales of woe. I switched over to AT&T 4 days before the ATHome
breakup.
> > Worked wonderfully for 4 days: much better than SBC DSL. But I've been
> down
> > since Saturday morning. After many hours calling their tech support
number
> I
> > finally got an answer that made sense last night. The new RCA DCM235
modem
> > that they installed a week before happens to be one of the "few" cable
> > modems that are not compatible with the new ATTBI network. Lucky me. So
I
> > have to wait until Friday December 14 for them to switch out my modem.
Why
> > don't they tell all the users with incompatible modems that they need to
> > pull a ticket. I feel like we're back to the Stalinist days of the AT&T
> > monopoly. Call that 877 tech support number and see if your RCA modem is
> one
> > of the few and schedule a swap out.
> >
> > "Bruce G. Karnacki" <karnacki@invalid.com> wrote in message
> > news:ciXP7.8188$Yy.279876@rwcrnsc53...
> > > I have no answer to your problem, but my dad's RCA 205 has the same
> > problem.
> > > And attbi is of no help.
> > >
> > > Bruce Karnacki
> > >
> > > "Robin Burns" <r_f_burns@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:273f0b75.0112061052.795ad1e0@posting.google.com...
> > > > "Warren H." <wholzem@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:<ScyP7.224$w85.15314@rwcrnsc54>...
> > > > > If the cable light is out, you have no RF signal.
> > > >
> > > > I'm sure I have a solid RF signal at the cable modem. I swapped the
> > > > modem for a TV and get a good, clear signal on all channels. I even
> > > > plugged my digital cable receiver into the line at the cable modem
> > > > connector and I get a good signal there. Digital cable doesn't work
at
> > > > all if there's any problem on the cable, but that's not the case
here.
> > > >
> > > > My cable installation is somewhat unusual, however. When I first had
> > > > @Home installed by TCI almost 4 years ago, they couldn't get enough
> > > > signal strength at the cable modem. They replaced the coax run to
the
> > > > neighborhood junction box, but said the line was too long for a good
> > > > signal. They eventually put in a two-way amplifier in the cable line
> > > > where it enters the house and the original Motorola (non-DOCSIS)
modem
> > > > I had then synced with the network and worked fine for 2 years.
> > > >
> > > > Last year @Home switched to DOCSIS modems and an AT&T tech came out
> > > > and replaced the Motorola modem with an RCA DCM205 modem. He had
> > > > problems getting it to sync with the system and found that the
signal
> > > > strength was *too high* at the modem. He put a 9dB attenuator
in-line
> > > > with the cable modem and then everything came up fine. This setup
> > > > worked solidly for 1-1/2 years until @Home pulled the plug last
> > > > Saturday.
> > > >
> > > > When ATTBI restored service on Tuesday, my modem had problems
> > > > connecting, as described in my original post. I changed nothing on
my
> > > > end. Cable TV still worked fine, including digital cable, which is
> > > > very sensitive to problems on the line. I tried removing the 9dB
> > > > attenuator from the line--no go. I tried substituting a 6dB
> > > > attenuator--no go. I tried unplugging power to the amplifier in the
> > > > garage--no go (doing this had a negative effect on digital cable
> > > > TV--it stopped working entirely). Nothing I tried worked, so I put
> > > > everything back the way it had been.
> > > >
> > > > Up until last night, the modem would at least initialize and I'd see
> > > > the activity light flicker, even though I couldn't connect to the
> > > > network (cable light not lit). The ATTBI support techs claim they
> > > > could "see" my modem on the network and that the provisioning
appeared
> > > > to be ok. Last night, I noticed that the modem was constantly
running
> > > > through its initialization sequence (lights one-by-one blinking in
> > > > sequence until all were blinking). It never got out of this mode,
and
> > > > was still doing it this morning. Digital cable is fine as is analog
TV
> > > > when I plug the cable modem connection into the TV system.
> > > >
> > > > This is getting very frustrating and ATTBI "customer support" has a
> > > > different non-answer depending on who I talk too.
> > > >
> > > > Anyone know if the AT&T field techs who service AT&T's cable
Internet
> > > > are the same as the ones who service cable TV? If they are, perhaps
I
> > > > can get a tech out to my house faster on the pretext that my cable
TV
> > > > service is down.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>