Last night my DSL at home, Verizon.net, died. Resetting the modem and connection, and then the router didn’t make any difference. So I luckily found a phone number, and called. I used the voice navigation system to let Verizon know that I was having connection problems. The first response from Verizon? Check their web site at onlinehelp.verizon.net. Hello, McFly? I’m having connection problems.
Dealing with Verizon DSL is expensive and frustrating. After paying a professional to install my DSL the wireless function failed in 48 hours. Two calls to tech support yielded a new DSL modem, which functioned for a day. 10 hours of work and tech support calls later, both of my laptops were working DSL, but only one had the security package working.
Right now I’m on hold waiting for a supervisor. I am not happy with Verizon DSL.
I totally agree. Earlier this week the DSL died again. After 75 minutes on the phone with tech support, they told me it should be fixed within the day. If not, they would send someone out to my house. I really think they have no clue what the problem was, but that whatever the temporary problem was would be fixed by itself (probably restarting some equipment at their switch). Yes, it was fixed that evening. No, I’m, not happy with how it was handled. But there is no reasonably-priced competition in my county for high speed Internet access.
Lessons Learned: Ask for a SUPERVISOR. “Kim,” a well-spoken, hard working and persistent woman, has possibly made excellent progress. I should now receive the security pack service for BOTH of my laptops. She is ordering yet another DSL modem–two Actiontec modems having now failed on wireless–and is working out the details of a ‘purchase and credit back’ billing arrangement so I won’t be charged.
I have a hunch that Verizon got a batch of problematic Actiontech modems. Both of them worked for a day or so on wireless, then failed. I’m not sure what brand is coming next, but I hope it will be reliable.
My DSL service was activated on July 18. It is now August 23, I’ve got $150.00 on professional installation and a good 10 hours into tech support and problem solving, and the system is still not working properly. I am being CHARGED for this! They should be paying me!
Oh well, I’m sure there were service delivery problems with Pony Express, too.
Thanks for keeping your blog. Good work.
Glenda Durham
my primary e-mail account-verizon dsl-cannot recieve e-mails but I can send. All settings seem to be correct. Verizon tech support was of no help after struggling for 45 minutes with them. My verizon e-mail siub account works all right.
Suggestions???
To Scott: CALL! If you have Verizon DSL, dial ”o” on your home phone to connect to the operator. Tell her you are having issues with technical on your Verison dsl connection(which this is). They will give you a 1-800 number to call for tech support. Call the number and punch in the number on the computer answering system that corresponds with your number(hint–they may ask you for your verizon account telephone number, if you don’t know it, say ”I don’t know”) then they will connect you with someone who can answer your questions. Depending on the time of day you may or may not have to wait. I just called and didn’t have to wait.
I have to disagree with the others. I have dsl extreme for which I paid a total of 36.00 USD for set-up including the rental of the modem. and pay 16.95 a month. I have been really happy with their service. ALL the customer representatives actually SPEAK English! And in a way you can understand! ALL the tech support for DSL extreme has been free. And I was able to set up the DSL for free.
It does have its problems. It goes down from time to time. But I have had it for 2 months now and it has only gone down 3x. Two of which I was able through tech support to get it reestablished. Tonight I was told by dslextreme that there was an outage in my area only, but it wasn’t listed in the ”systems message” or whatever the thing is called that tells you if one of the phone company systems is down. So I was told to contact Verizon directly since it was on their side. I did. Recieved a new IP and was able to connect to the internet immediately. And this was at 12:00 AM. I really don’t know of another company that offers 24/7 FREE support. and has an alternative when their support can’t do anything due to the phone companies. That is why I went with them. I also know some people who have had netzero dial-up and switched to dslextreme. They have recieved offers (and I think anyone can) for a 5.00/month dial-up connection for when DSLextreme goes down. I haven’t taken advantage of that because I haven’t seen the need.
As for setting up, mine might have been easier(I didn’t have to call anyone out, but was able to do it myself with a little help from tech support over the phone) because I just had one computer, a laptop to set up and one home phone that also uses that line. The more you have going into that connection the more difficult it may be, I don’t know. It just takes a little persistance and asking what else you can do when they say ”you can’t get there from here” and you can sometimes find your way.
I do agree that the fact they have so many outages is a bummer though.
Verizon’s answer to customer complaint and technical problems… they get customers to chase their tails by sending all customer related calls to a Philippine call center that simply reads from pre-response scripts. However, the Philipine customer service center is a waste of time, by design I’m sure.
My advise… switch providers or go out and bang your head against the wall.
Three days ago I went through 11 hours of Verizon Tech Support hell. I’ll try to keep it short, but it *is* a long and miserable story.
My internet speed on DSL had dropped to, maybe, 35-50 Kbps over the last two weeks. I did all the “usual” checks (clearing the browser, etc.) and ended up contacting Verizon “Online Tech Support”. A friendly female “tried” to resolve the problem, re-doing all the “usual” checks I had already done. She then told me to unplug and bypass my router, connecting straight to the modem, and gave me a Support phone number. Of course, this resulted in the loss of the connection. My next contact with Verizon Tech Support was also a female, on the phone, who repeated all of the above steps, then asked to do a “screen share”, which I allowed. It was fascinating to watch a “legitimate hack” at work. She was all over my system, opening this, closing that, resetting the other. The end result was that she said I needed a new modem, and that she would set up a free delivery. She closed the ticket window.
Being a bit suspicious, as the modem *was* working, and I had heard that the tech’s often try to just “end the session” (they are timed), I connected again. This time I got “Ryan”, who went through ALL the above procedures, told me that I needed a new modem, but that I would have to pay for it. I objected. He insisted. By this time I was more than a little frustrated, but had been polite. He then told me that he was done, and that I needed to close the ticket window. I said “No”. “Yes…No…Yes…No…” Boom! HE closed the ticket window. I reconnected and, surprisingly, got Ryan again. He told me that he had nothing more to say, and passed me off to “Jeff”. Jeff told me that there was nothing they could do, and that I needed to buy a new modem from Verizon. I said “no”, and that Ryan had been a jerk. Boom! The ticket window closes. Being a glutton for punishment, I connected again. This time “Melissa” summarily closed the ticket window.
The Rest of the Story- I spent the last two days searching the Internet at a snails pace, finding and learning everything I could about my OS, network setup, my router, and my modem. I deleted all my Windows TCP/IP and Network settings, and set them up again “fresh”. I flashed my router firmware, and reconnected the router and DSL modem. My connection is now faster than it has ever been. I am happy, my old modem is purring along, and I am a bit more educated than I was before.
Moral of the story- Do not use Verizon Online Tech Support unless you need to learn how to clear your browser cache, or want to be abused by well-paid obnoxious trolls. Learn, and fix it yourself- it’s sweet revenge.
My Verizon DSL is one of the most frustrating things in the world. I keep having problems with slow speeds. They sent me a new modem recently, and have checked my phone lines, all of which check out. My computer is fine as well, but every day I have to reboot my modem to get fast speeds. I would love to get to the chairman of Verizon DSL and let him know that this is not acceptable. Their tech support is a nightmare!
Wow am going though the Verizon DSL hell as we speak, I got my service in Nov 14th 2006, but when my ready date was up, yup you got it right, it took them over 2weeks to fix the problem,
well last friday 1/12/07 my DSL go’s out for no reason, so i call that uselss 1800 number and they told me there where going to send some one with in 24 hours, well guess what no one ever came no one even called me after calling the 1800 number and been put on hold for over 20mins I got a supervisor only to tell me he dont even know whats going on, wow you dont know whats going on with my DSL put you only work for Verizon, so now again am with out DSL and no one at verizon works on the weekends, you think they would a 24hour phone line I mean they only make about a billion a year?? its1/14/2007 and I have had I dunno how many of thos tickets to tell the dumd ass’s at verizon how many problemS i had since 11/14/06 it’s now 1/14/07 and they still havent fix anything am in the process of canceling my so called service with this bloodsucking verizon DSL people, save your self the time and pain and DONT EVER GET VERIZON DSL………..
Sometime yesterday, my DSL service went out. I too had the Verizon (non) Tech Support nightmare.
I called Tech Support, listened to and followed the prompts, and was connected to a support rep in about 10 minutes. The support rep spoke English with a strong accent (I though possibly at first, a native Spanish speaker, but now I’m thinking Philippines might be on target). Even worse, she hardly understood what I was saying, even though I spoke slowly and tried to pronounce clearly. She was obviously following a script with little to no knowledge of what she was speaking. She asked me which operating system I was using. I explained to her 3 times that I was running Apple (Mac) OS X 10.3.9. She said, “Windows NT?” I said, no…Apple. She said, “We don’t support Apple. You need to talk to Apple.” I asked her if this was a new policy, because when I had problems before, I had gotten support. She wasn’t clear. I asked to speak to her manager. She argued with me, “No, we don’t support Apple.” She finally hung up on me.
Called back tech support again. Got a person who spoke and understood US English a little better, but who still had a strong accent. After several minutes, this person says, “Oh…we need to transfer you to OUR Apple Support Department. Here’s the number that you should call in case we get disconnected.” I mention that it’s the same number I called. She says, “Oh, well, when you get to the Operating System prompt, make sure you chose your correct operating system. Thing is…there was NO operating system prompt!
Finally, I get transfered to their Apple Support Department. Bear in mind that I’ve already been on the phone with tech support for over 40 minutes now, with only now getting to someone who can apparently help me. He is also speaking in heavily accented English, and I have to listen carefully to understand him (and he is having trouble understanding me). He starts following his script -even though I tell him that 1) I have done the standard stuff – three times – because I have had this problem before (although a long time ago) and I know what to do. But…I’m patient, I allow him to go through his script. Finally, he gets to what I asked him to do at the beginning of my conversation with him- reset my password (because months ago, we had connection problems because our password was corrupted).
The password reset doesn’t work. He says, “you’ve got an old modem.” True – because I’ve had DSL with them for over two years! He says I need to call “The Billing Department” the next day and arrange to get a new modem.
So…today I called the billing department. And guess what? I’ve got to BUY a new modem. Right. They’ll give it away to you if you’re a new customer, but if you’re a longer term valued customer that doesn’t switch to cable or another DSL provider, you have to buy your replacement modem.
We are living a verizon dsl nightmare! The dsl has never worked, and now they have cut our landline and say we have to pay to have it repaired!!!!! We now have no landline and and no dsl. A word to the wise – DO NOT SIGN UP FOR VERIZON DLS! Unless, of course, you want to spend the rest of your life either on hold, or talking to snooty customer service.
It’s my fourth day of service, the last three nights, the connection has fallen between 9pm and 2am, i’ve had two technicians come to check the problem but when they get here (by the next morning), the service is up and running, so they just check the lines and reset modem and turn it off, an on again and the line gets steady without no problem(just during the daytime), I don’t what the problem is with the network, i don’t think verizon knows either, i live in copiague, New York, so if you live don’t get verizon!!!
I’m switching to another provider by the end of this month.
For over a year now I too have had slow connection speed
during peak hours – only to have tech support tell me my
line was clean and nothing was wrong… except for the odd
remarks about my PC and OS being outdated, or that I was
imagining things. This past week I managed to convince a
technician that the lines were bottlenecked during peak
hours and that all my complaints were legit; he called me
back the next day to say that I was right all along and
that he now needs to write an aquisition request for some
additional servers. My service is now what it should be.
this is not a reply, but a plea for help. a good friend of mine uses Verizon DSL and she keeps getting the “Server Busy” message saying that her running application is not the active one or some such, similar thing. It’s very annoying for her. The option tabs at the bottom says: “Switch To”, “Retry”, and “Cancel”. If anyone can help us, I will truly appreciate it. please respond soon if you can help her. Thanks ever so much in advance. I need t know how to disable this notification, but I’m not as computer literate as I would like to admit. I tried Task Manager and Window’s Services, no luck…
To Sean Rader, I would guess that some kind of anti-virus or anti-spyware thing on her computer is causing the pop-up. Sorry I can’t be of more help. I’d have to say try to start up her computer with no other programs running. Maybe hold down the shift key while the computer starts up? Mike
I work for verizon tech support … don’t ask for a Sup.. its level three you want … often its process of elimination with comptuer troubelshooting and we’re not trained in fixing the system …. just the internet and VERY light system support
ok this is how you handle verizon. No matter what is happening tell them that you DSL modem will not power on. No lights at all. If you do this they will send a technician to verify the line as well as send out a new DSL modem (if still in warranty) if you think it is the DSL modem in actuality don’t bother calling them just head to the nearest electronics store and fork out the cash for another modem. They aren’t that expensive. You could always cancel service and wait a week or two and get it renewed along with a new modem. But yes don’t waste your breath or time by talking with them on the phone just use their online chat if you can get to the internet from an alternative source.
all of my friends who have verizon DSL say it is fine, they love it, etc and that they do not have problems. On other websites, users of verizon dsl say the company has been over-selling and the customers who signed on over a year ago get goreat service and those who signed on later, do not. the problem is, its the internet and one does not know who is telling the truth. i mean, maybe you are all AT&T employees trashing verizon; i don’t know. its hard to know who/what to believe unless one reads it in ‘consumer reports’ magazine.
Can one still have a dial-up account with another ISP at the same time/on the same line, if one has DSL with Verizon? Then if Verizon service flunks out for a few days or hours, one can still get online and is not totally parallyzed(internet-wise);is that possible?
@ Appleseed – absolutely take things with a grain of salt. Keep in mind technology problems can be bad one year, then the issues get addressed, and service improves. Or the opposite can occur, maybe a company will “save costs” by getting rid of some of their tech support staff, or outsource it to another firm.
@Mousette – Yes, and if you must have internet connectivity, a dial up account is not a bad investment. DSL doesn’t use the regular telephone line, that’s why you can make a call while online. A modem uses the regular phone line, so you could be online via modem and DSL if you had the right equipment in your home network.
Help!…over 40 hours with Verizon tech support. 13 new password, user names, 5 new modems. Tested 2 desktops (XL, Vista home), 2 laptops (XL, Vista home) and 1 mac, no firewall or virus protection. The modems sayes its a go, the tech swears I have good connection speed still cannot connect to a web page, but I get a positive ping test. Have taken all the above equipment to another house with Verizon dsl hooked it up and it all works. Any suggestions will be truly appreciated.
Marikay
just got dsl from verizon, have not been able to connect to internet for more than a minute or two when i am able to connect, i have called tech service 8 to 10 times and they always seem to get it up and running , i feel like a dope then when i hang up within moments i tquits working. last night i happenned to notice that a download was stuck on 2% and the internet lite was not on on the modem, so i called tech as soon as connection was made the down load started again , i hung up and it stopped and lite went out, i called again and saw lite come on and down load start. i told tech it seems i have to be on phone for my dsl to work, she insists i need to double filter my phone lines , has anyone else experienced this?
Yes – I have had this problem three times. Verizon is not helpful. They have a standard protocol that they run you thru: Disconnect, the modem from the filter, push the reset button on the modem, and turn the computer on and off. I escalated my issue to a supervisor. They suggested that I purchase premium service from them and they will have a higher level tech help you thru the problem. Or, they tell you to hire the Geek Squad. (Seriously.) Then three days after each problem, the service began to work again. Either this is a ploy to gain more business for the premium service or they have a deeper problem with their servers. My plans are to drop Verizon after the contract expires. Very disappointing experience.
Your an idiot, of course they would have you Disconnect, the modem from the filter, its not supposed to be on the modem in the first place. The filters block out dsl dignal so if you put it on the phone line from the modem it will block it out
hi, i’m vanessa . i am currently working for verizon as a tech support customer eperience owner, and i really understand the frustration that some of us have whenever we have a problem with our connection, i mysely is using a dsl service and gets pissed off whenever internet access is down. If you have any questions, i’d be willing to answer all of those. If it is only possible to avoid having trouble in the service but still that’s why we are here, so that we can assist you. But sad to think that there are some tech support agent that is not very patient and not much helpful to really get the issue resolved. The thing is there are some issue with our internet service that if we really check, we will see that its not with the service anymore but with some settings and with our own computer set-up which is already out of the normal support boundaries of a verizon tech support for dsl. Anyways, i respect how some of us share our opinion. And also i want to thank customers like you, because without you my our work is vain and its nothing. We all live and work because of verizon customers.
I have to say that Verizon has the worst support, ever. I have managed teams in the call center and help desk space for 20 years. I have worked with all types of outsource vendors and internal departments and I have never experienced (repeatedly) the complete lack of service, concern and resources offered by Verizon.
I called Verizon support today to simply ask where I can find a verizon store. I am having sporadic issues with my modem (which I have called verizon about repeatedly) and based on a previous recommendation from their tech support, wanted to simply replace it, quickly. This should be a very simple question. The person I spoke with (I can’t tell you her name because after asking her to repeat it several times I still could not understand what she was saying to me) was insistant that she could not tell me where a verizon store was and that I would have to call the billing department on Monday to find this out.
Flabbergasted, I asked to speak with a manager. 45 minutes later I received the address and phone number for a Verizon store. I asked again to speak with a supervisor and waited another 10 minutes. After nearly an hour on the phone I gave up and disconnected.
I immediately called the local verizon store. Amazingly, it turned out to be a verizon wireless store (which does not support “verizon plus” products.) The worker at the store could not tell me where a “verizon plus” store was located. Suprised and somewhat dis-spirited I hung up. Is it really that hard for Verizon to tell me where their own stores are located? They should be embarassed for their complete inability to anticipate their customer’s needs. I was actually told that their DSL support department does not have access to the internet (or verizion intranet) to find this information. Amazing.
I gave up. 20 minutes later I received a call from someone named “Toni” claiming to be a supervisor (also from the Phillippines). She was very insistant that she could not tell me where a verizon store is located and began babbling inchoherently. I stopped her to let her know I could not understand her. She hung up on me.
Guess what? The very next call I made was to Comcast (my local cable company). I will be cancelling my voice and DSL service with Verizon and receiving the following value added services:
1) Comcast doesn’t outsource ANY of their support functions. This means after 7 years of talking to people who don’t speak english and have no idea where I am or what I’m talking about, I will be able to speak to folks in my OWN STATE who SPEAK ENGLISH and who aren’t working off of a SCRIPT.
2) My internet connection will be 10 times faster than what Verizon offers in my area.
3) I will save TWELVE HUNDRED dollars a year on my internet and voice products, with out any aggrevation or being hung up on by outsource vendors who seemly could care less about Verizon’s customers.
I urge anyone who is reading this to research your options and if you have the choice, cancel your DSL/Fiber Optic services with Verizon immediately. Thanks to Local Number Portability, I will be taking my phone number with me.
Good bye Verizon (and good riddence!)
-Mike
I am currently on hold with the cancellation department. I canceled my Verizon DSL in September and noticed today that I have been subsequently billed for the past four months and that my account is still active.
Currently I have been dropped from the line while trying to hold, apparently call volume is too high and they just cannot take my call at this time.
I struggle to understand why this is acceptable. I will be writing to my representatives in Congress and to the Better Business Bureau but I have a feeling that Verizon’s lobbying dollars have more sway than my complaints or letters.
Does anyone have experience with getting a satisfying result to all the work we are forced to put in to resolve customer service issues?
My husband has Verizon DSL and accesses MSN. Recently when I have been going on-line at home I get an error message about the targeted page cannot be found or some other such nonsense. Close and restart and it comes up. Stupid me, I thought I’d contact Verizon live chat with tech support and see if they could clear up the problem. An hour later, the tech had deleted all cookies, caches, and history, changed most settings, and eliminated my home page. Then the best part, the session timed out and she was gone. Luckily, I was able to sign back on (with the same error message – close and restart) and reset the home page and I am still waiting for her to contact me again (had my email address no less than 10 times), apologize for timing out and see if she can help. I am not holding my breath!!!!
Verizon dsl and the support staff are absolutely horrible!!!! Do yourself a favor and pay more for internet service through another company and save big bucks on the headache pills that you need if you have Verizon DSL!!! It took Verizon 4 weeks to get my dsl “working” after it was activated and my equipment was installed. During this time I had 5 appointments for a tech to come to my house. 3 of the 5 appointments nobody showed up or even called. Finally on the last visit they realized that there was a problem with the verizon box that was on the outside of the house. Since then my dsl has been fine….as long as you don’t mind resetting the modem 2-3 times per day when you lose connection. It’s also a pleasant experience to deal with their technical support staff that can barely fu%&%^% speak English. I was on the phone with them twice today alone. The last call was 30 minutes. Within the first 15 minutes the genious on the other end determined that there was a “connection issue.” My 4 year old son could’ve told me that. I then waited for a “network specialist” for 15 minutes who was “going to resolve my issue.” Mr. mother F^%**%* network specialist couldn’t be reached. Apparently the tech support staff takes there calls from outer space where “a connection issue” is an acceptable diagnosis for a connection issue and the network specialist are such specialists that they can’t even figure out how to answer the phone. Now ask yourself a few questions:
Do you want to deal with this BS everyday…you shouldn’t
Where do you think most of Verizon’s business comes from….the US.
With all of the money that they charge for phone service, internet service and cell service can’t they have the decency to connect you with someone you can understand….apparently not.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that the tech support people are good people, they appreciate their jobs very much and it helps provide a better life for their families. But if you’re going to send the jobs to another country, offer a better and more reliable service so we don’t have to deal with people that can’t clearly speak English. Once and a while is no big deal. But 20-30 times in a matter of 3 months is a bit much and you’ll dread making the call because you know what you’re in for.
please, to our dearest cx do not hard reset your modems, or it will just make your problem bigger
and if all of you are complaining about the long call, consider all the factors:
1. customer is not following the instruction
2. customer is having a hard time navigating his/her own computer
3. customer’s computer is not responding that fast
4. multiple issues the customer have
5. customer who doesn’t know where the address bar is, the control panel is, how to turn off his own firewall as well as anti-virus, doesn’t know how to move the mouse.
that’s whay the call is really frustrating, and yet all of us at tech suppoprt, is very patient, help the customer, apologize for the long call, whre just trying to help you, we dont do magic to give you internet access right away, even the navigation of your computer we do support even though it’s not within our support,
we want the verizon customer to be happy, we CARE WE EDUCATE, WE ASSURE. and if ever that in the future there is a miscommintment with a technician please don’t yell at the tech support agent, it’s not his/her fault if the tecnician didnt show, verizon is just hiring those technician to work under verizon that technician is a different company.
we all understand your frustration that’s why we do our best to cater to all of you the best customer service that we could offer, without you customer all of us tech support will be useless, we depend on you
verizon dsl blows. does anyone else have problems with wireless needing to be reconfigured daily? does anyone else go to that special verizon spot numerically in order to fix the problem? i found that by turning off the firewall on my laptopn, then reconfiguring, i would get wireless connection upon restarting the computer. does each customer have and individual 192.xxx.x.x style number to go to in tool bar?
well 192.168.1.1 is the loc. ip address for you to access the modems interface… e-mail me siberian_tiger007@yahoo.com i will try to help you with your problem..
This is classic. This person claiming to work for Verizon is blaming the customers for the horribly bad service provided by Verizon:
“1. customer is not following the instruction
2. customer is having a hard time navigating his/her own computer
3. customer’s computer is not responding that fast
4. multiple issues the customer have
5. customer who doesn’t know where the address bar is, the control panel is, how to turn off his own firewall as well as anti-virus, doesn’t know how to move the mouse.”
Right.
I can clearly say that my problem wasn’t ME… it was VERIZON and the thousands of outsource employees who either don’t speak english or are not given appropriate tools/training. I cancelled my service a few months ago and sent a letter to a VP in Verizon’s Marketing department voicing my displeasure with Verizon’s complete lack of service (due mostly to its out-sourcing practices.)
This list (above) of excuses for long hold times is very telling about the true attitude and culture of the outsource companies and employees who apparently feel the need to complain about DOING THEIR JOBS. This is why customers PAY for service and I have zero sympathy for outsource vendors who are clueless about this. I hope that Verizon wakes up and brings its support home for the good of its business.
I’m very pleased with my new ISP, Comcast. They are providing my voice services as well. They don’t outsource ANY of their support and they have done an excellent job in taking care of their customer’s needs. Verizon could learn a thing or two from Comcast’s service oriented culture.
I’ve been with the company for a long time, and I can give you some tips that might help with your problems to save you a call to DSL tech support in the future.
Before I start, though, I’d like to apologize to all of you for the problems you’ve had with our support line and with the technicians that are dispatched to your homes to resolve issues. Unfortunately, the field technicians are sent out by the phone division and we have absolutely no control over them… even though we get the riot act read to us if they don’t do their jobs.
The frontline agents that you speak with for help, however, are another issue altogether. I can’t get into that without my blood pressure skyrocketing.
Oh, and we are NOT well-paid. I know burger flippers that make more money than the new-hires here. Sadly, the agents in foreign call centers – if you take into account cost of living and exchange rates – make twice as much as we do.
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NO SYNC (blinking DSL/ready light): Check to make sure you are using a 15′ or shorter phone cord. Also, make sure there is no filter or splitter on the line for the modem; the filters are for all other devices that use a phone line. Satellite TV boxes, answering machines, caller ID boxes, phones, dial-up modems for other computers… even home security systems…they all get filters (though your security system may require a specialized filter.) Only your DSL modem’s phone line does NOT get a filter. If everything checks out, try the modem at a different jack. Still no solid DSL/ready light? Call us to set up a dispatch for a tech to come out.
NOTE: If you want to cut through all the B.S. and do only one step (and have the means to do it) try connecting your modem into your main phone box’s test jack. If there’s no sync to that main box, we need to send someone out to fix the problem.
INTERMITTENT SYNC: Do all the same troubleshooting as listed for no sync to see if the issue resolves itself. Also, if your DSL only works when you’re on the phone that’s what we call a cross-connect issue and you’ll need a network ticket submitted for that problem.
NO ROUTE (PPPoE): Internet light on modem red? Log into the modem (192.168.1.1). See if you have a “connect” button. If you do, click it. If it times out, it’s a network issue. If it says “authentication failure” or something similar, it’s a password problem. If you don’t have a “connect” button, you’ll have to do some searching to find the page that has it. I can’t post insider documentation (i.e. company-specific modem firmware) for fear of litigation.
NO ROUTE (DHCP, mostly California): If power cycling doesn’t help, reset the modem. Internet light still red? Network issue.
NOTE: If you have a router and your modem is NOT a Westell Wirespeed, resetting your dsl modem will take it out of bridge mode which will cause numerous problems. We have a system that binds to the MAC address of whatever hardware is pulling an IP address from the network. If the MAC address for that device doesn’t match the address in our system, our network will not allow it to connect. If this happens, the only fix is to either turn your modem off for 24 hours or call us to release the “MAC bind”. If the agent is unable to do it due to an issue with our tools (it happens mostly at night and on the weekends, during maintenance) then we will have to set up a network ticket to have your local central office release it for you (they’re not open on Sundays.)
SLOW THROUGHPUT: Log into your modem and try to find the download/upload speeds that the modem is getting. Here’s an idea what you should be getting (numbers may be higher when you check them):
768k connection : 768 kbps down, 128 kbps up
1.5Mb connection: 1500 kbps down, 384 kbps up
3Mb connection : 3000 kbps down, 768 kbps up
If the numbers in the modem are good, it’s either an issue with packet loss on the network or an issue with the PC. If you have multiple PCs, it is very possible that problems can spread over a home network… so just because all PCs have the same problem, it doesn’t necessarily make it a network issue.
Now, as far as packet loss goes… go into the command prompt and type the following command:
ping -t http://www.yahoo.com
After you press enter, your PC will run continuous pings to Yahoo’s servers. Let it run for a couple of minutes, and then press Ctrl+C to stop it. Look at the test results and see if any packets were lost. If you’re looking at more than 5% packet loss, most likely there’s an issue on the network. If there is no packet loss, it’s not a network issue and you need to continue troubleshooting your PC.
Now, what if your bitrates are too low? Check physical setup! Go up to where I put the sync troubleshooting suggestions and try those to see if the bitrates improve. If they don’t, then call us to set up a network ticket. Make sure you keep notes on all of the steps you went through and their results. Slow throughput issues are by far the most tedious and time-consuming issues to troubleshoot.
NOISE ON THE LINE: If you turn your modem off and the noise is still there, it’s not a modem problem. If the noise goes away, try moving the modem to another jack to see if the noise persists. Also, you can try disconnecting all but one phone in your home (make sure to leave the filter connected to that phone.) If still having noise while the modem is on, try swapping the filter on the phone. Still have noise? Call us. We may decide to either send you a new modem or send a tech out to find out what’s going on, but either way the issue should be resolved.
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If you have any other questions or issues, I will check this thread periodically.
Hello I also work as a tech support agent for Verizon DSL. I to am sorry for some of our agents and mostly for our dispatched techs. The post above me will help fix most issues. See we have line test tools that show us were the problem my lie in your line. Most of the time slow speed issues are due to computer issues that will need to be referred back to the vendor. Infact I would say more then 75% of my calls are computer based issues that we are not able to touch due to policy. I do have I thing to say to most of them people on here and that is follow instructions. If you are installing DSL for the first time read the manual it isn’t difficult it was made so that a 5 year old could do it. Also the best way to be turned away from tech support at any level is being rude and or swearing. If you are mean or rude we will just put the mute button on and laugh and find a way to get you off the phone. The more upset you are the less we will help. I hav myself turned many people away because they ether refused to listen and or are swearing. Look doesn’t bother me if your upset but it is not that techs fault and you just make his or her’s day worse. We are here to help you and are more then happy to do so but only if you are willing to listen because lets be honest you called us for help. Also our phone system I think everyone would agree is HORRIBLE but there is nothing we can do about it.
FROM MIKE Comcast doesn’t outsource ANY of their support functions. This means after 7 years of talking to people who don’t speak english and have no idea where I am or what I’m talking about, I will be able to speak to folks in my OWN STATE who SPEAK ENGLISH and who aren’t working off of a SCRIPT.
======= DUH! DO YOU THINK COMCAST DO NOT OUTSOURCE! YOU BETTER THINK TWICE HAHAHAHA! AND DO YOU THINK FOLKS FROM YOUR STATE WHO SPEAK ENGLISH CLEARLY DON’T HAVE A SCRIPT… THEY ARE THE PEOPLE WHO GAVE US THAT STUPID SCRIPT METHODS AND PROCEDURES..HAHAHA.. AND YOU ARE HAVING A HARD TIMES LOOKING FOR A STORE… YOUR SUCH A CRY BABY.. YOU ALWAYS ASK FOR HELP.. ARE YOU DISABLED? WHO CANNOT SUPPORT HIMSELF…
=======
36Cliche: I needed help only a handful of times and I was always told it was a hardware issue (a problem with the modem sent to me by Verizon.) The fact that no one could tell me where a Verizon store should frighten you. You can toss your insults about the internet… what I have communicated are simple facts.
Your attitude and very poor english skills are very telling. I have not ever needed to contcact Comcast for support because their products work perfectly. I called once with a billing question and spoke with a person who was literally 3 miles from me. That person answered my question quickly and politely. Verizon can’t even come close to providing the quality service I get from my new ISP.
In addition, Verizon’s slower DSL service was costing me over 1200 dollars a year more.
Sorry… compred to other ISPs, Verizon loses every time. I just read a story that Verizon’s employees in Florida are striking over the poor the service customers are receiving. If they (actual employees of the company) think it’s that bad, you should be worried. Especially if you’re an agent for one of Verizon’s outsource vendors. Taunting people who give you honest feedback and saying things like “Duh” to people who are telling you how bad your serverice is doesn’t make your service any better. You just remind all of us who have left Verizon that we absolutely made the right choice.
In addition, I know for a fact that my new ISP doesn’t outsource any of their service functions. Their local call center is 3 miles from my home. They don’t need a script because they’re not complete morons, like most of the outsource vendor employees I had to deal with as a Verizon customer.
Nice try but Verizon has the worst service I have ever encountered.
to all the cx, TIP:
1. if you are a first time installation ask for a technician right away you don’t need to troubleshoot anymore, it’s in the contract that you can request for a tech to install your dsl
more tips
TIP # 2
AS PER MY RESOURCE:
MOST OF THE TIMES THERE ARE MOSCOMMITMENTS IN OUR TECHNICIAN
–THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE VERIZON PRIORITIZRE THOSE WHO PAYS MORE LIKE THE FIOS
–TO THREATEN VERIZON, CANCEL THE SERVICE AND THEY WILL OFFER YOU ALMOST EVERYTHING NOT TO CANCEL THE SERVICE.. HEHEHE
NO ROUTE (DHCP, mostly California): If power cycling doesn’t help, reset the modem. Internet light still red? Network issue.
I have been having intermittent sync problems since I got Verizon service about 1 year ago. For the past 2 months I loose sync at about 9am and it doesn’t come back until 8pm… strange but it is a real pattern. I have had 3 technichans come to the house, check the modem, phone wires and re-splice the lines all the way to the service center. They cannot find the problem. I just called Verizon and ordered a new modem to see if that is the problem. Verizon tech support is horrid – Most of the time I know more than they do. I have had 10 trouble tickets open in the past month – Still no resolution. As soon as my year contract is up I will be switching to another service. Any suggestions as to what the issue could be?
Tara,
I am so sorry that you’ve been through so much just to have your internet connection keep dropping on you.
From what I can assume is happening, everything is set up properly in the home so no troubleshooting would need to be done on your end – you’ve done everything we’ve asked of you. Unfortunately, once an agent at a call center has finished troubleshooting and we submit a trouble ticket the issue is in the CO’s (Central Office) hands. After so many dispatches in a certain amount of time the issue does go to what we call “Presidential Appeals”, but generally they just keep dispatching until either the problem is fixed or they give what we call “best effort” – which means that no matter what we’ve done we cannot fix the issue and the customer will either have to accept the quality of the service they’ve been given or pursue another choice for high speed internet. It’s rare, but extremely unfortunate on both sides as the customer has had to deal with the frustration of not having consistent service and Verizon is most likely going to lose a valued customer.
I would say if they haven’t fixed it by now, it’s probably not going to get fixed and you may want to find another service provider.
Oh, and the company that I work for (who subcontracts the tech support from Verizon) has decided to move all DSL support overseas and switch all of their American agents over to the new Verizon FiOS project.
I’ll continue to monitor and update here, and I wish you all the best of luck.
I have their number memorized- what does that say?
(I usually get someone to whom english is NOT their native language, OR if they speak english they don’t know jack about computers.
I have told them numerous times:
“don’t try to tell me what will and wont work because I’ve been doing it for years”
Now I rarely call because I can do a better job of fixing it correctly MYSELF!!!
This Versalink Gateway is nonsense, but FINALLY I can configure everything with my eyes closed.
Kathy,
I agree with you wholeheartedly that the Versalink is a joke. Unfortunately, the Actiontec (the other wireless router) isn’t any better. If you’re able, I’d highly recommend trying to find an old working Westell Wirespeed (model 2110) modem and getting a separate router for your wireless. The setup is a little more cluttered than an all-in-one solution, but nine times out of ten the reliability of any wireless connections will improve drastically.
In the years that I worked on the Verizon DSL project, I never saw another modem that I liked as much as the Wirespeed. The bonus is that it’s what we call a “dummy” modem – it has no internal settings that have to be configured (if anyone reading this had to call tech support and go through the arduous task of bridging their modem would consider this a godsend.) I wish they had never halted production on those modems.
I’m very sorry that you had to go through all the frustration just to get to a point where you understood your equipment well enough to maintain it yourself. I always felt that Verizon should have supplied an overabundance of documentation on their modems with easy-to-read (and accurate) guides on how to go through the settings that a lot of the agents have customers go through anyway. At the very least, they could have supplied a separate CD that would manipulate the settings for you and make those changes without having to call tech support (the Quick Support software included on the install CD is a joke, too.)
I hope that you don’t have to call for support at any point in the future, but if you ever have a question you can feel free to post here. I can’t guarantee a quick response as I don’t check back every day (or week, for that matter) but when I am able I will respond.
Well, it’s disheartening to simply skim, much less read, all of the above. I subscribed to a Verizon High Speed DSL connection earlier this year and have only intermittently actually had the high speed connection. I can sit and watch the connect light go on and off as my ability to connect to web pages freezes. Verizon has been contacted a number of times and my wife or I have had to sit and go though the troubleshooting procedure over and over and over. It’s more than frustrating because, as far as I am concerned, it’s a breach of contract. I am paying for something Verizon is not delivering. What really frosts me is that when we signed up we were told a technician HAD to do the installation and were required to state a day and time frame to be home. I took time off from work and no one showed up. Or called. When I called in I was told no one was ever scheduled to come and do the installation, although I have retained the email notifying me of the requirement. I suspect if a tech HAD shown up he/she might have identified the connect problem at that time. I notice that my problem seems to be weather-related, i.e. when the weather changes–hotter, colder–more humid, my connection drops more frequently.
If I didn’t stuck in this stupid customer-support loop every time it’d would be somewhat less frustrating but to spend 75 minutes on the phone each time is so distasteful, we’ve pretty much given up. When the year is up, I WILL return to my previous DSL provide, with whom I had no such problem and significantly better service. Just goes to show you get what you pay for. I do not understand where Verizon gets such a good reputation because, based upon our experience, I will never do business with them again.
If your internet connection is dropping out on you try reading the SNR value of your line… SNR means Signal Noise Ratio.
The HIGHER the dB the better!!
If the reading is HIGH like over 15dB you may have a bad wire, or bad filter check your inside wiring…
If you level is low, try connecting your DSL modem directly to the box where the line comes into your house… If you are still getting a low reading there you might want to contact Verizon tech support and get a field tech to check your connections on the pole!!
If the field tech says the connections are good and the signal is good, ask your field tech how far your house is away from the nearest central office or nearest DSLAM device…
That could be a pair Gain device or otherwise…
If he says over 3 miles, ask him if there another nearer connection to the DSL service… Like a Pair Gain device and ask him if he could request a Verizon switcher to get you connected into that (if possible).
If its NOT possible to get a closer connection DOWNGRADE your DSL speed!!
This will increase your SNR values and help stop the disconnects!!
AS with a low SNR value your going to have issues with disconnects, with a HIGH SNR value you wont have to worry about disconnects!!
The lower the DSL speed is the higher your SNR value will be which is good!! The disadvantages of getting a higher DSL connection is it lowers your SNR values significantly!! For example if you had a 786KB download and went to a 1500MB download speed your SNR value would be decreased by about 6 to 10dB!!
By the way: you can bypass there troubleshooting procedures if your firm enough but polite and tell them you have been through there stupid troubleshooting procedure about 10 times now, sometimes they will give in and send a technician out to you!!!
Sometimes it works sometimes it don’t!! if you feel the issue is with your line I have found it easier to get on there website and go to Support and then click on Repair and fill our a repair slip!!
Make them call you, it usually saves lot of time by doing it this way too!!
If you get a GOOD technician who knows there stuff and isn’t one who will just attempt something and go back and say it fixed you should have pretty good luck getting your issues fixed!!
However like I say if you cannot get a closer connection (to a DSLAM device) to your house it will help by downgrading your DSL speed!!
If you go to your DSL modem page, and click on statues most modem now days can show you the SNR value or ALSO CALLED the Current Noise Margin…
Heres an example of what having faster speeds does to the SNR value!
Speed of a 786KB dowload computer:
Current Noise Margin (SNR):
27.0dB Downstream, 29.0dB Upstream
Here the speed of a 1500MB computer who my neighbor who’s having difficulty with DSL disconnects…
SNR: 9.0dB Downstream – 19.0dB Upstream
Notice the Downstream value drop, that 18dB drop, that’s a huge drop!
Plus its all due to being to far away from the central office, and having a 15MB download DSL rate!!
However were trying to get a switcher tech to connect us into a nearby pair gain device that about 500 feet down the road from us!! If they can make the connection we will both get HUGE increases in our SNR values that for sure!!
Plus it will hopefully stop the disconnects my grandfathers been having!!
I meant to say in my comment number 46 is that if you have a LOW SNR value and if its HIGH on the Telephone interface Box, you may have a bad line or filter…
Also Verizon has a NEW Telephone Interface Box out there… If the box needs replacing have them replace it with one of there new boxes… Make sure you ask the tech who install it to install there Phone and Data line connector into it!!
Its a special connector that allows you to hook your modem directly to the that box!! You have to run a wire however to your modem…
They will connect your line to your Phones into the phones port on it, but you will need to run a 2 wire line to your DSL modem, and after that done connect it into the Data port!
If you have the line already run the Verizon Tech will hook it in for you!!
But the NEW BOX will allow you to remove all your DSL filters in your WHOLE HOUSE!!
If you have an old box you MUST have a filter on everything except your modem!!
BUT YES if you have the NEW STYLE BOX, and you have that SPECIAL connector that a Verizon tech will put in for you, remove all your DSL filters on all your phones, etc… You wont need them anymore!!
The only filter you need is built in the device in your Telephone box!! So the new boxes are actually VERY HANDY!!
But anyways you WANT A HIGH SNR value reading on your line!! The higher it is the BETTER!!
I have Verizon DSL and now I wish I did not. On the most part I have had no problems with my DSL and I have had it for over 2 years now. It has worked fine. But the tech support is horrible and so is all of Verizon. During the summer I started having problems with my old modem. So I call Tech Support and they send me through the typical paces. They swore up and down my line was OK and working. So they talked me into ordering a new modem. Well then my old modem started working again. So I attempted to cancel the order for the new one. I saw no reason to pay for something I did not need anymore. It had not arrived yet so I saw no reason why they could not just cancel it. I was informed they could not do that and in fact I’d have to still pay for it. I refused to sign for the unwanted modem and had UPS send it back to Verizon. BUT the charge still remained on my bill. I kept calling to tell them to take it off but they would not. They knew I had not recieved the new modem and had sent it back but they just wanted to bill me for something I never recieved.
OK fastward to December 2008. My old modem finally broke down and never came back to life. I had to order a brand new one. I made the dreaded call to tech support. They sent me through the paces they do of shutting off the modem to reboot and so forth. They they put me on hold for 45 minutes while he talked to another person about my problem. OK I just need a new modem and it did not take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Just send me to the place I need to go so I can get that done. BUT now they put me through this for 45 minutes. OK being way to patient I put up with it. They I got fed up with it and hung up. I called another department to attempt to get it done. BUT she started to defend the tech support and got made at me and sent me to an extention that was no longer in existance. I was officially angry and wanted to complain to someone. Well, that started 2 1/2 hours of phone rotations/main menu suffering. Everyone kept sending me back into the main menu and never where I needed to go. I finally got a hold of a human being and informed them that If I did not get to a complain office I’d cancel Verizon NOW. They sent me to some “customer solution” office. Where I was hung up on. OK I then called other companies to get prices. I then called Verizon back and demanded to talk to someone now and informed them why. I was sent to some Esculation department and this nice lady finally took care of me.
Then I got my new modem. Guess What?! It did not work. So I had to call back to the dreaded tech support people in some country and barely speaking english. This lady then proceeds to tell me to open my internet. I then tell her I don’t have internet access cause my NEW MODEM does not work!! She then wanted me to open up my computer tab. I don’t have a My Computer tab and I tell her and ask her how else can I get to the information she needs. She promptly tells me that she cannot help me and the phone went dead.
I had to call someone else. Now the modem is working. I have spent time telling and emailing Verizon that the truth is in my area they are not the only game in town and I demand better customer service. I expect a company to treat its customers better than I was treated by Verizon. Period. Verizon’s service is horrible and a nightmare. Anyone who says differently apparently has not had much experience with them or else they’d know that.
Two questions for the gurus out there:
I’m in Indiana (formerly GTE territory) and have had DSL with them for about 12 years now, through various incarnations. The current 768K service to my house is through a Fujitsu R14 modem, which I run to a Belkin router/wireless router, then to an 8 port switch. The router uses local DHCP and NAT. This works fine for many computers (for everything – web browsing, email, SSH, VPN, FTP, Ping, skype, etc). However, I now have a problem: I am trying to access a web hosting site for a domain I own, and I cannot get to it by http, ping, or ssh from either of my two home computers (XP Table on one, Fedora Linux Core 6 on the other). In all cases the connection times out. I can access it (HTTP and PING) from 4 other places on the internet – everywhere else that has been tried. The Hosting company claims there is no problem on their end. Traceroute from any location that works shows that the hops go to time out eventually, but that the last IP listed is the same (so the routes used join at that point) – seems it can’t be a verizon routing problem. Since the problem shows up on two different computers with two different OS, and every other IP works fine (except those on the same hosting server), I suspect the DSL service (or my modem and router). So far no luck with tech support at solving this issue (it is not a “lite” tech issue). BTW, the problem was not always present (last year this worked), but nothing has changed on my end since then. Rebooting computers and/or modem or router does not help. My DSL speed is fine, and has never varied much. Ping normally never drops any packets, either (to other IPs). The DNS has the URL decoded to correct IP for the problematic web sites, and I still get time out when pinging, SSH, or browsing to this specific numeric IP from my home. Normally both computers are wired to the router (cat 5) but the problem (again, just for this one IP address) also shows up with a wireless connection to the router. Also, the DSL connection seems to be DHCP, not PPPoE. Any ideas on what might be the cause?
Q2: I want to eliminate the belkin router from the soup, but when I connect my tablet PC directly to the modem with a straight thru cable, it struggles to get an IP, and eventually gets a public IP but no DNS or Gateway from the modem. This happens with resets before or while connected. Is this a result of not releasing the modem MAC lockout, and the fact that my computer and router have different MAC addresses? If so, if I power everything down overnight, then bring up the modem with nothing connected, then connect to my Tablet PC, will that work?
Thanks for any help.