Hi, everyone,
I just had a confusing tech support experience with CenturyLink, and I'm curious if anyone has any ideas.
I'm in the Denver (Colorado) area, and I've had CenturyLink DSL for several years here with no problems. I don't have phone service on the line. I have an Actiontec GT784WN modem.
I was out of town for a few days, got back, and found that I had no Internet service. The broadband layer was showing CONNECTED in the management interface, and the green DSL light was on, but the ISP layer was stuck at CONNECTING, and the Internet light was dark.
I tried power cycling the modem several times, with no effect. It came back to the same state.
It was late at night, so I didn't feel like calling, but I opened a ticket online from my phone browser. I got an automated email reply that, for security reasons, passwords couldn't be sent by email, and that I should call. I couldn't see that the problem had anything to do with security or passwords, but, well, fine.
So I just called this morning and talked to a very nice person at an offshore call center. She had me read back the PPP username, then the VPI and VCI, making no changes to any of the settings (VPI and VCI were already at 0 and 32) and then press "Apply" on the Broadband Settings page with the VPI and VCI. The instant I pressed "Apply," the Internet light came on and the connection started working.
I can't make any logical sense out of this. Can anyone guess what really happened here? Would pressing "Apply" on that page (with no changes) have fixed the problem without the phone call, or did they fix something on their end?
Thanks!
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Tech support had me do a no-op to fix my DSL, and it worked?
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File download
We can not download any files and do not get any error messages on our desktop.
I tried to run internet speed test (Speakeasy), and could not even download the program.
A cell phone can download all of these files OK and print. the cellphone is from Centurylink I think.
We have run 3 different antivirus programs 3 different days.
The Internet is VERY slow.
We had a good computer tech out two different times and he thinks is a Centurylink problem.
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How can Centurylink be so bad and still be in business?
I just had to get this off my chest,so please excuse the rant! This is the absolute worst incompetent company i have ever dealt with in my life.How i mean how! do they stay is business???
I have had Centurylink phone/dsl for at least 4-5 years.. I can say the only time DSL has ever worked to potential was the first 6 months i had it but it has been downhill ever since- I pay for a lousy 1.5Mbps and they cant even maintain that!
Since the first 6 months i had it,i have literally had to call every 2 weeks to 1 month for the same problems. The line ALWAYS tests good,so they claim, and its not the physical old copper either. Its always some server issue on their end and every single time they make me disconnect everything,reset the modem,etc... and it has never once been a problem on my end.
Sometimes after i get off the phone its magically working again,and i may get at least 1Mbps,but it never ever lasts long.As i sit here and type this the latest speedof.me test is showing 235ms ping with 70Kbps,sometimes the next test shows 2350ms ping and it wont finish the speed test. I am in the country, I am in a bandwidth exhaust area,but i dont expect perfect dsl,especially in prime time, i am realistic! but all i ask for is a lousy 1Mbps at least. I mine as well go to dialup,its cheaper and not much slower!
To all the other poor bastards out there that have no options but to use Centurylink and have spent half their life on their tech help or putting up with substandard service, i feel your pain.
The last person i talked with tonight was actually an American,or spoke english well enough to fool me. 24% packet loss on their end.. Be nice if they upgraded that old 286 server or whatever it is,or at least get someone in there to maintain it who has a clue. Sigh..
Oh and they have credited me some cost back for poor service on the last 2 bills, but i noticed the lastest bill jumped to $190! wtf.
Mike
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Bridge mode for C2100T modem, VDSL2, IPoE
Well - I know there are a lot of bridge mode questions out there, but none have helped me so far, and I really can't figure this out. I'm trying to get my C2100T modem in bridge mode. I have this modem as I did a trial of Prism TV, but cancelled it after a week, and just kept the internet service. The C2100T is a decent router - it is a 400MHz dual-core AC router - best router I've ever had from an ISP. However, I have 25-30 devices hooked up, and it can bog down. Another issue (a big one for me) is that it ignores custom DNS servers. No matter what I do, it always puts the routers IP as the DNS server ahead of the ones I want. Centurylink is no help with this. I have a Nighthawk R7000 that is more than twice as fast, the DNS servers work, and it has other features I use, like file-vault. So yeah - the C2100T is a pretty decent router by ISP standards, but not what i prefer to use.
My service uses IPoE, and not PPoE. I've heard that you need to get your PPoE username and password to use your own router, so i got this from centurylink. However when I try to set the C2100T to PPoE, and use the username and password, it doesn't connect. If I switch it back to iPoE it will connect right away. So either the username and password they gave me is wrong, is there is some other issue. I've heard others say you don't need a username and password if you have IPoE. Maybe I need to clone my modems MAC?
Other specs in case they are useful
ISP: IPoE
Broadband Mode: VDSL2 - 8A
Transport Mode: PTM
Path Parameter: 201
Service Type: PTM - Tagged (201)
MTU SIze: 1492
MSS Size: 1452
RWIN Size 58089
The modem has a few different options for bridge mode - I've tried them all, along with setting VLAN tagging on my Nighthawk. Nothing has worked. My bridging options are:
Tagged-201
Tagged-0
Untagged
What I thought would work would be to use Tagged-201, and then set my Nighthawk to use VLan tagging, set to 201. That didn't work, but could be because my PPoE username and password might not be working. Should I first get the modem working with a PPoE username and password before trying any other router? Or stick with IPoE?
The username and password CL gave me was myName@qwest.net, while when my modem is working with iPoE, it's has a Centurylink username, with a password I cannot access.
At this point I'm really at a loss. I ordered a managed switch, and I'm going to try to use that to strip out the VLAN tagging next, and see it that gets me anywhere.
If anyone has been able to bridge their router with a situation similar to mine, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm wondering if I should just get a simpler modem, just so its easier to put into bridge mode.
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[CenturyTel] Zyxel 1000c wifi Speed Issue
My normal download speed is 15Mb when my wife and I are the only users; we have about 4 or 5 wireless devices and 4 ethernet connected devices. We now have some house guests and have brought with them another 3 or 4 wireless devices. This seems to severely limit my download speeds. If I go into the modem interface and disable most of the wireless devices, the speed immediately comes up to normal. It does not seem to be a particular device and when I looked at usage, this morning when everyone was asleep, I mostly saw only the ethernet connected machine I was using. What can this be? I tried changing the radio channel; no luck.
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Centurylink service in LV Valley
Hello I am from Nevada looking to retire at an affordable condo or home in the Las Vegas Valley. I have Verizon Fios here and will hate to leave it behind, having a bad experience with Cox already in Northern VA and in general better experience with the ILEC vs MSO I have decided to try and avoid Cox and I'm looking for areas where Centurylink has deplyoed fiber or at least decent Uverse-equivalent VDSL speeds. For TV I will be switching to an OTT option so I need speeds that can handle that and everyday internet and app use. However looking around the valley it seems subdivisions with speeds faster than what Verizon DSL use to bring me (1.5-3mbps) are few and far apart. So can anyone name areas in particular where Centurylink has a heavy VDSL/fiber deployment in the Valley?
I'm also curious as to how CL deploys the fiber and VDSL as it seems very different from around here in Verizon land. Do they do it by widespread deployment in each CO WC like VZ does, or do they cherry pick particular subdivisions and areas within COs? Do they deploy VRAD/RTs to VDSL selected developments while leaving other areas in a CO stuck on ADSL? Thanks, looking forward to purchasing a home and joining Centurylink soon.
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Bonded service with C-Link install
I'm considering upgrading from 12/1 VDSL to 20/2 bonded service and unlike all past upgrades, CL wants to come into my home to connect the modem I'd buy from them. My policy is if I don't install it, I don't want it (for a variety of reasons). If I were to buy and install my own modem, would CL still want to traipse around inside my house? I've spoken to a CL tech who seems knowledgeable and is confident that the CL equipment is up to the task easily. The jack where my modem would be is properly terminated with both pairs on the RJ11 but the cable is 2 pair POTS line, not Cat 5. Thoughts and recommendations welcomed.
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Got odd modem problem & network speed cut in half.
Hi, guys, got two problems not really sure what to do about them. since last winter my network speed been around 5000 or so sometimes goes up just a bit like 5893 or lower the upload stays same I was thinking the cold was doing it so left it as is. but nothing has changed. I got 10 meg speed or 10 Mbps mostly tops around 8000 to 9000 does not even do that now.
the other thing notice is when I go router page it no longer display's download and upload and etc.
I have Westell 7500 modem been really good for the longest time but now this stuff happening not sure how to fix it.
here image of router page. http://i.imgur.com/mscJmwT.png
if need more info please let me know I try to answer what I can. peace.
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Intermittent noise, attenuation and sync issues (Virginia)
The location is west of Charlottesville; the issue is a once extremely reliable service circling the drain. In over ten years I’ve experienced a handful of downtime or sync issues, and always received a full 10M down. Noise levels were good - 15db down and up - and steady, with attenuation running 20-24.
After dropping the landline to save money there were some hiccups, but still good service. However, in the past couple of months the issues have skyrocketed. I also now sync at half my rated speed, and routinely have issues maintaining sync for a day here and there, and then it will clear up and stay solid for awhile before repeating this cycle.
I thought perhaps a line issue as rainy days made it worse, but it rained all last weekend and the service didn’t go down as it did the previous rainy spell. Also, at some point the 911 service I was supposed to have on the line wasn’t there and then returned, so something was going on. I've also pulled a new IP on a different netblock from what I was on for a very long time.
I finally called and because CL no longer supports my modem (660) I get nowhere other than they report no issues in my area.
TS is adamant a new modem is what I need to fix the problem, but I’ve heard that before and when I’ve had perfect service.
When the service acts up, I’ll log-on to the modem and watch the noise go from 0 up to 20 db and back like a yo-yo. It will sync up with a 20db downstream level and then I'll refresh that screen and watch the signal nosedive until it drops.
I’ve synced as low as 2.5M with a 4db downstream noise and stayed online for hours with that noise level. Attenuation usually doubles during the bad spells, up to the high 40s. The attenuation is 37 right now with a 13db downstream noise / 10 upstream, from what used to be mid 20 attenuation. I’m synced just under 5m down and a terrible 200k up but it’s been solid like this all weekend.
The only correlation is that a couple of homes near me hooked up with CL right about the time this all began. I know this from the dishes in the yards and the new drops to the houses. Also, the number of visible access points has gone from none to two.
Before I bail out and call Comcast I was going to take one last shot and buy a modem unless someone can talk me out of it. I should take my modem to the NID but I’ve done that whenever there was a lasting problem and it was never the house line, which is a single line run from the NID around the house and into the room to the 660 modem. I have another 660 but it won't sync. It used to, so I don't know if they're using MAC addresses now or if that modem crapped.
TIA for any replies, and I apologize for the long post.
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Mount Vernon MO-area construction?
Hello all, was wondering if there was anyone on this forum that was familiar with any of the new construction I have been seeing in the Mount Vernon, MO area?
Specifically I have been seeing cabled layed on Hwy 174 from near I-44 east to at least the Lawrence/Greene County line.
Familiar story...1.5M DSL "High Speed Internet" here for many years, with no evidence or prospect of upgrades...until now maybe?
Been lurking here for years, thanks to all the folks that contribute here.
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Upgrades in the CFL Area
Any word on fiber upgrades in already built-out copper areas in the Central Florida market? Best they can offer me now is 8 mbps dsl at $64.95 a month (and they sit there and wonder why they are losing customers) and my only other competition is Spectrum.
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Gigabit slower download than upload
Recently picked up symmetrical Gbps service from CenturyLink here in Holly Springs, NC. It is a recent service addition as we have only had 100/50 as the highest tier.
After a few weeks of tests and calls, my speeds typically are 675-750 down but consistently 910+ upload. I have never hit over 750 down. CL has also tested and seen the same directly connected to the ONT on the house.
They came out again today and said they will look further into and get back to me. They say programming, fiber quality and light quality is all good. Not sure where the bottleneck for the download is. I have seen speed tests in other towns where they can show 900+ parity between DL/UL but cannot seem to ever see that here.
Anyone else have similar issues? We do not use a VLAN setup here as I have seen elsewhere. It is straight from the ONT to my home router using DHCP to pick up my WAN IP.
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best modem for bonded vdsl2?
I'm in the process of getting upgraded DSL from CenturyLink and figured to buy my own modem to save a buck or two. Here are the "approved" modems that CL says that they support and I was wondering if there are better choices in this list or alternatives that are very good as well. Service promised is 20/2 bonded VDSL2:
Modems for bonded vdsl2
Actiontec C1900A
Actiontec C2000A
Actiontec C2000A-D
Technicolor C2000T
Technicolor C2100T
ZyXEL C2100Z
Thanks for the combined wisdom of the users.
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CL C1100Z + Netgear R7300DST (AC 1900) Bridge mode woes
Current setup: Century Link C1100Z modem/router + Model R7300DST (AC 1900)
Relative history:
1. Initially, Century Link A1000C Modem/Router
2. Device was insufficient for our home. ~1 year ago purchased the Nighthawk DST. Geek squad bridged the Nighthawk DST to the C1000A and setup the DST adapter elsewhere in the house. Wireless as broadcast by the Nighthawk was to my current location Century Link spec of ~12 Mbps down, ~0.84 up.
3. Several months ago Wi-Fi speed down ~1/2. I called Century Link they said the modem was at spec and was not in bridge mode.
4. After the call I ran some tests on my own. My laptop Ethernet to the modem resulted in spec speed. Ethernet to the nighthawk 1/2 speed, Wi-Fi to the Nighthawk 1/2 speed.
5. This is when I realized something was screwy with the setup. The A1000C was indeed not in bridge mode since the Wi-Fi light was blinking away. The Nighthawk was Ethernet to the A1000C and the Nighthawk was blinking internet connect and Wi-Fi broadcast.
6. Yesterday, called CL support (onshore). She confirmed that their modem was not to spec now, she reset something from her end and after booting the device it was working a bit above spec. We then put the A1000C in bridge mode and booted both devices. And this is when the situation went further south.
7. The AC1000C booted up in bridge mode, not transmitting. However, the Nighthawk, despite the status light indicating that it had acquired the internet, a browser could not connect to the internet either using Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Neither the CL agent nor myself knew enough about the Nighthawk to determine if one of its setting required configuring.
8. I decided to go back to my situation prior to calling her. She could not get the A1000C to boot back not in bridge mode and see the internet.
9. She dispatched a field service person that arrived (unbelievably) 3 hours later.
10. They installed a new C1100Z and it performed to spec. We set the device to bridge mode, connected the Nighthawk and the same problem as when I had initially called support. The Nighthawk is at ~50% of spec.
11. As of this moment both devices are still connected. Both devices (including the remote DST) are transmitting wirelessly, both devices show internet connections. Ethernet to the C1100Z = spec, I havent tried wireless speed with the C1100Z, both Ethernet and Wi-Fi from the Nighthawk = ~1/2 speed.
Two Questions (at least):
1. Most important, how do I get the Nighthawk to work in bridge mode with the C1100Z and at the same spec speeds as the C1100Z? Is the Nighthawk somehow broken or is there a setting(s) within the Nighthawk that must be configured differently in addition to setting the C1100Z to bridge for both devices to function at spec?
2. If the C1100Z is not in bridge mode, how can the Nighthawk be seeing the internet?
Mark
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[CenturyTel] 25/5 DSL
I see CenturyLink has 25 down-5 up service at least some places. I have 25/2 but need more upload for video conference and security cameras. I am within 2200 feet of the DSLAM and on vdsl2 single pair.
They absolutely will not increase my upload speed unless I go to 40/5 or 60/5. Both speeds on bonded. I do not need that speed, extra expense or the hassle of bonded.
The centuryLink installer tells me that 25/5 is not available to any customer in the county. I am not too far from the DSLAM, they just do not offer 25/5. Why is it not offered in Pennsylvania?
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Modem SNR And Powerline Adapters
Idk if this is a necessary post, but I found this interesting - some may as well. In another thread I talked about how when I'd use any download/upload my downstream SNR would drop a good 1 to 1.5dB. Come to find out it was the powerline adapters I had plugged into the same outlet. I ended up running cat6 from the modem to my room upstairs, and now I see absolutely no variance in SNR while saturating the down/up stream.
So if you're using powerlines to feed your house DSL, maybe try putting them on a further/different outlet to avoid dipping your SNR if you're hurting for signal?
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Updated Minneapolis speed test map
I re-ran the addresses contained in the map in this thread: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r29723767-Minneapolis-Centurylink-Speed-map-Including-Fiber-rollout-
(Direct link: http://www.easymapmaker.com/map/6347814ae5d946a2fcc4cd60647ca456)
New map from data gathered last night: http://www.easymapmaker.com/map/cl_speed_1-15-2015
So there are now traces of gig internet in Hopkins and St. Paul (uncheck everything but 1000 at the bottom to see them).
I have a python script that runs the addresses to check their speeds, and I hope to update the map from time to time to see the progression of CL fiber.
-----------------------------------------------
Edit 5/11/2016:
Instructions on how to run this yourself using Vagrant, Ansible and VirtualBox:
https://github.com/mtdoyle/CLSpeedPhantomJS/blob/master/README.md
I have included my giant list of addresses that will be downloaded as part of the instructions above.
Let me know if anything doesn't work!
NOTE: running this script with a large amount of addresses takes a LOT of bandwidth. Each run for me eats up somewhere between 20-40Gb of data. If your internet is capped, you might want to only use a smaller subset of addresses.
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Requesting Fiber
Hello,
Is there anyone that I can send a request to to have them look at adding fiber to our neighborhood? Century Link has fiber right outside our neighborhood, they are ripping up our streets so it would be a perfect time. Regular CL support isnt helpful. Thanks
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Mediacom and Century Link at same Location
Mediacom has been getting worse and worse over the past few months since they release 1gig in my area. I am wondering if I can have CenturyLink and Mediacom service at the same residents. Has anyone done this?
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[CenturyTel] Recommendations for replacing ActionTec PK5000
I have big problems with trusting CL and for good reason with years of game and lies from CL with down throttling. So for me to call them was like the last thing I wanted to do. Like one guy said he would rather have a root canal than call CL. I totally get that.
My Actiontec PK5000 wireless went out yesterday but the Ethernet still works on it. When I got this unit via Qwest they gave me IP number so I could look at my modem software. When CL took over then one day I was not able to access the modem software. Instead, up pops a window asking for user name and password which I was never given. So for years now I have been locked out and not a word to me about this change. Also when I called ActionTec years ago to see if I needed up dates they said CL controls all updates. I don't like the over reach of this company with the modem and updates.
So with this new modem I want to lock CL out. I want to control updates.
So I chat with CL today got passed around 3 times. The first one said I could use ANY VDSL2+ modem. No sure if she knew what she was talking about since my experience has been in the past (and even today proved that once ) that the staff can be clueless. The second guy knew nothing more. Then I go to a tech gal. This was really disappointing. She gave me another IP number for the modem and I couldn't see it, it would just time out and fail. I gave her the IP that used to work fine for years and showed her how you have to have a username and password to get in now that I am apparently locked out and I don't have the username or password.
She keeps telling me to use the username on the modem on the back of the modem. I tell her I have a key pass phrase but no password and no username. She just talks in circles and I ask her if she can get into my modem then what does the password and user name say and just says it is on the back of the modem. She then just wants me to buy a new modem from them since she says it is because the modem needs to be replaced is why I am having problems. Well I am using the Ethernet and it is working fine. She doesn't answer many of my questions either. I asked her if my modem was up to date with updates and she didn't answer. I wonder if they really can't see much on their end and maybe with these off shore chat people they have limited access to our accounts and only can address things in theory. She doesn't say so who knows what was her problem.
Not much has changed since the last time I attempted to get a straight answer out of them and it has been years. I wish there were better options since I wouldn't have to think twice on that. I don't see a need to up sell with speed since Netflix with CL is just a hair over 3Mbps in April but it used to be dead last at just over 2Mbps. I use UnblockUs to get from 7Mbps to 12Mbps for 4.99 a month for my computers but it doesn't work for my tv since Netflix won't allow the VPN on the tv.
I really don't want to spend anymore than I absolutely have to with CL. I am just waiting for something better to break from the pack and ready to sprint to them asap.
I really do not like their corporate management. The CEO was bragging how he was able to stiff his home town of all sorts of things to get them to stay there. He is also investigated by the feds for stock in improprieties. He has been with them for 30 yrs and seems to have a choke hold on it all. I don't think other companies would hire him. I dealt with their escalation department and this guy was literally YELLING and sounded more like a staff Sargent than anyone with any business degree. He sounded like he didn't have any degree at all. They like to intimidate and some of the things he said and how he said it was really unprofessional. This company operates like no other I have interfaced with before. I don't trust them at all. The less control they have over my modem the better. They used to be dead last for streaming Netflix but now they are a tiny bit higher in April but I don't see any need to up sell my account due to all the down throttling with streaming services.
https://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/country/us/
So if in fact I can use ANY VDSL2+ modem (please correct me if this is wrong) and I need a router that will play nice with that modem what would you recommend? Can you explain how I am suppose to set modem up without having to spend two hours on the phone with CL for a simple set up?
Thank for any insights you can provide.
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