To make a long story short, I was recently upgraded to 6Mbps DSL after years of dealing with painfully slow 1.5Mbps service that rarely got more than 600-700Kbps download. After the upgrade, I was very pleased, I was getting a solid 6Mbps down, speedtests were 5.9-6.3 every time without fail, and I saw no slow downs during peak hours, etc. I assume that may change in the future as more and more customers are upgraded in the local area, but at any rate I was very happy.
This morning I notice the connection seemed a bit slow again, and when I tried to stream an HD video, I knew something was up. I started doing speed tests again and saw a very solid and consistent 1.5Mbps download and 256Kbps upload, exactly what I had before the recent upgrade. I reset my modem a few times without change, and pulled out my old spare modem and set it up just to rule that out, same thing.
So I went to Centurylink's support chat and got the usual scripted answers, how many devices are using the connection, do you use a different router, etc. I played along and tried to explain that I believe my account was mistakenly reverted back to my old 1.5/256 speeds or something, and asked them to check. They refused, and insisted I needed to purchase a new DSL modem from Centurylink. I explained that I tested two modems with the same results, and they replied telling me that my modems are not compatible and I need to purchase a new one. When asked if they could explain how my modem worked fine since the upgrade until now, and is now suddenly not compatible, the rep asked to transfer me to sales so I could get the new modem. I asked to speak to someone else in tech support, or his supervisor, and he ended the chat.
So I opened a new chat session and started over, this time telling them I used one of their Zyxel modems on the list of compatible modems just so we could get through that hurdle, and they ran a couple of line tests and said everything looked good, and they would need to send a tech out which they scheduled for Tuesday.
Talking to the first rep took nearly 2 hours in all. The second one had a ticket opened in about 15 minutes.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue. I'm hoping it's a simple mistake in some configuration somewhere and they can have me back up to 6Mbps asap. ...but why couldn't someone there just look at it from a logical standpoint instead of giving nothing but scripted answers and insisting on selling me something I don't need? Not to mention the unexplained random increases on my bill every month, and errors that take an act of congress to correct and get credit for. I'm SOO fed up with Centurylink as a whole. The local techs have always been super nice and helpful and a pleasure to work with. The support and billing system is absolute garbage though. I was actually waiting for my 12 month agreement to end in October to close my account, when the upgrade happened I decided to renew the agreement and give them another change. A week and a half later here we are... lol I should have known... :( Sadly my only other option for internet service at my home is satellite. I'm at the point where I was willing to make the switch though. I couldn't have been any worse than CL. The promise of 6Mbps DSL was enough to bait me back in I guess... lol
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