TL;DR: Can any VDSL connection be bonded?
Background:
I've had CenturyLink since I moved into my current neighborhood about 6 years ago. Started with an Actiontec GT701-WG modem at 7Mb/? (can't remember what the down speed was, maybe 500ish Kb). Signed up to be notified faster speeds, and eventually got 12Mb/896Kb. I believe I had to do a firmware upgrade on the GT701. Still signed up to be notified for faster speeds, but never heard anything.
Recently did a chat with a rep and asked if there was any information or plans for higher speed. I was told 20Mb was now available at my address, but that my modem would need to be upgraded. $100 to buy one from them, plus $60 install. I mentioned that the specs say the GT701 is good for up to 24Mb down, and they said I needed VDSL2 modem. I said I'd look around for my own modem and contact again later.
I did a bit of searching here and found that the ZyXEL C1000Z was a fairly high rated modem that seems like it would do what I needed. For me that meant being able to be setup for my current speeds in the mean time, and be able to handle the new service. Found a used one on Craigslist for $20 and got it installed. I also did a bit of reading in general since I hadn't really kept up with DSL technologies for a while.
Contacted via chat again and asked about upgrading to a faster speed. They asked me about my current modem and I told them I have the C1000Z. This is what I was told:quote:"Okay, great! Let me see if that is compatible with 20M+, all of the ports for 20M have been taken already. I do see that you will have to pay a tech install charge of $59.99 to upgrade to the 20M+."I then asked about the install charge since I had a working modem and compatible modem. I was told:quote:If the 20M was available, you would be able to upgrade with no tech fees. Since you would have to upgrade to the 20M+, you will have to have a tech come and configure your line for the upgraded speed. With 20M+ you get more than 20M download speed and 5M upload speed.This was actually better news for me, as I didn't realize the upload speed would be 5Mb. I also realize now that it makes sense that they may have to do more work if it means verifying the lines for VDSL, and that if it's wasn't VDSL my older modem would have probably worked just fine. That also got me thinking more about what I had been reading and I was wondering if pair bonding was available to get me to something like 40/5 or 40/10. I also realized that the C1000Z I just got wouldn't work for pair bonding, but I asked if it was available anyway. I was told:quote:You will not be able to do any pair bonded speeds because you are not in a GPON area. Which basically means, fiber Internet is not available at your address.So I agreed to the 20/5 increase and was told it will be a couple weeks out for a tech to do the required upgrade work. I came back here and did some more looking/searching, but I'm still a little unclear on the requirements for pair bonding. Just wondering if what I was told was technically true, policy, or just wrong.
Other information that may or may not be useful. I just use the modem/router in transparent bridge mode to feed my own wireless router. My connection from the CenturyLink box on my house to my phone jack is cat5, about 20 feet long to my phone jack, then directly to the modem.
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