What I learned from Verizon DSL tech support today

1,792 Views | 17 Replies | Last: 9 yr ago by boboguitar
Tailgate88
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Quick background story to avoid tldr's

  • DSL works generally ok where I live, usually only have to restart modem every few weeks
  • Suddenly a month ago, it drops 10 times a day, have to reset modem. Interesting - even when pings are failing 100% of the time and no web surfing, VOIP calls stay up. If I don't hang up, but reset the modem, once it syncs back up, I am right back in the call.
  • Called several times but it always came back up, finally just turned off the modem and called, told them the lights were blinking but no Internet. They were mystified and finally dispatched a tech. ;-)
  • Tech replaced modem last Friday
  • Problem still happening this week, so I'm calling every day to report it.

Today the wanted me to go through the usual stuff, and by the time I got through the line was actually back up. I asked if they could monitor it for the rest of the day. (The tech I talked to on Saturday had done that.) So then he tells me we need to turn off the modem for five minutes. Why, I ask? The connection is up and working fine right now. Because, he says.... "even though it's a device, you need to turn it off for five minutes every day to give it a chance to rest. Otherwise it might not work right."

So heads up everyone. Turn those DSL modems off for five minutes every day!

I thanked him for the advice, wished him a nice day and hung up.
EMY92
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Slave driver!

Only giving the modem a 5 minute break once a day, shame on you!
Zombie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Wow. Just Wow.

I had the worst experience with them while at my parents house for a month. I called to have their service upgraded for them since they were using a lot more Netflix and Hulu. They put the order through and I thought everything was fine. Until a few days later and nothing was working. I called them and they said they cancelled the order because my parents did not have phone service with them and in order to get the upgraded speed, they had to have phone service. Instead of just cancelling the order, the disconnected service. After much arguing that this was exploiting my parents and forcing them into a service they did not need, I finally caved and said to go ahead. So they put the order through again. After waiting 24 hours and still no service, I called again and they said that the higher speeds were not available in that area and the order was cancelled. During that call on my cell phone, the house phone rings out of nowhere to confirm phone service. At this point, I have two phones in my hand. I talk to the rep about the internet and tell them well since I cannot get that higher speed, I need to just go back to my old speed and disconnect the phone. They then try to tell me that my original deal was grandfathered in and since I cancelled that by adding a phone, I was now obligated to keep the phone in order to keep dsl with them......THREE WEEKS LATER, I finally got their internet back working and phone taken off. It took over 100 hours of phone time (my cell bill reflected it) and calls all the way to corporate to get it resolved finally. In the end, it worked out for my parents because the amount of credit they gave to them meant they did not have an internet bill for almost six months.

I will NEVER deal with Verizon for ANYTHING ever again
Texags is garbage
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I've worked Tech Support for HostGator and gave some suspect advice due to fatigue, but that's flipping awful.
CDub06
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
They say my cable is faster than DSL. Does it need more rest?
La Fours
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
They say my cable is faster than DSL. Does it need more rest?
Tailgate88
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Update - despite having a new modem and giving it a well-deserved five minute rest each day, my connection issues persisted. A few more calls to Verizon and I finally managed to get another tech dispatched. He found a ground on the line that he cleared, put a whole house DSL filter on and put a dedicated jack in my wiring closet. Fingers crossed.

If this works I may up my modem's breaks to two a day, just to prove I'm not a cyber tyrant.
EMY92
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I bet you work your alarm clock 24 hours a day, too, you heartless #!@$*^&!
TexasAggie_97
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I was unaware that DSL Modems were biological devices that required rest. Did he also mention what they need to eat and drink?
La Fours
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I'm pretty sure distilled water only. Otherwise you'll stunt it's growth.
JMC94
How long do you want to ignore this user?
what about bathroom breaks!!! because of you, now all modems are going to unionize and the rest of us will be screwed. I HOPE YOUR HAPPY YOU HEARTLESS *****!!!!
AggieBQ03
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
what about bathroom breaks

Just put some newspaper under it and change every few days
jeffk
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I, for one, welcome our new modem overlords.
boboguitar
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Is this the bashing verizon tech suppor thread?

So this happened monday night. We pay for 50mbps down and up and I noticed things were going slow. I ran a speed test and saw that I was getting 1mbps down and up. Obviously this is a problem. I went to my router, wired my surface and did another speed test. That test was giving 50+ down and up. So I went to the online tech support chat. I told him I was getting 1 mbps down and up wirelessly but its normal wired. He gave me the shpeal about too many connected devices, etc. I told him that this computer was the only thing drawing anything significant from the internet. He looked up my connections and saw I had a chromecast, apple tv, nest, my wifes phone, her ipad, and this computer connected. All of those things except my computer weren't in use so they are using very little bandwidth.

We go on through him checking various things on their end; I end up giving him remote access on my end to mess with router settings and nothing. So after he's done everything he's trained to do, he tells me again. Several devices connected can slow down internet speeds and he recommended I go by a wireless booster. I was pissed now because this jackass is trying to get me to go buy useless crap that wont solve the problem now. I tell him I'm going to go disconnect every device he listed and run the speed test again, if it's back to normal, I will go buy a booster but if it's not, it is the fault of verizons tech or end. I did as I said and lo and behold, no improvement. As I was still on remote view, I told him to have his supervisor call me and I screen shotted the entire conversation(as he watched me do it). He quickly decided that maybe a new router would work and ended with that. Got the new router yesterday, plugged it in and guess what, it ****in works because there was nothing I was doing to slow an internet speed form 50 to 1.

****ing idiots.
OkinTexas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
quote:
Is this the bashing verizon tech suppor thread?

So this happened monday night. We pay for 50mbps down and up and I noticed things were going slow. I ran a speed test and saw that I was getting 1mbps down and up. Obviously this is a problem. I went to my router, wired my surface and did another speed test. That test was giving 50+ down and up. So I went to the online tech support chat. I told him I was getting 1 mbps down and up wirelessly but its normal wired. He gave me the shpeal about too many connected devices, etc. I told him that this computer was the only thing drawing anything significant from the internet. He looked up my connections and saw I had a chromecast, apple tv, nest, my wifes phone, her ipad, and this computer connected. All of those things except my computer weren't in use so they are using very little bandwidth.

We go on through him checking various things on their end; I end up giving him remote access on my end to mess with router settings and nothing. So after he's done everything he's trained to do, he tells me again. Several devices connected can slow down internet speeds and he recommended I go by a wireless booster. I was pissed now because this jackass is trying to get me to go buy useless crap that wont solve the problem now. I tell him I'm going to go disconnect every device he listed and run the speed test again, if it's back to normal, I will go buy a booster but if it's not, it is the fault of verizons tech or end. I did as I said and lo and behold, no improvement. As I was still on remote view, I told him to have his supervisor call me and I screen shotted the entire conversation(as he watched me do it). He quickly decided that maybe a new router would work and ended with that. Got the new router yesterday, plugged it in and guess what, it ****in works because there was nothing I was doing to slow an internet speed form 50 to 1.

****ing idiots.

I HATE it when they try and claim it's something its not so they can get off easy. You did a service for us all.
Garrelli 5000
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I wish the <insert service provider>'s had a button you could press for "I've tried every f'ing thing you can think of" to bypass the automated "is it plugged in? Is the power on in your home? Did a family of raccoons nest in the device? did you turn it off and go for a jog?" crap you have to listen to before they'll let you speak to someone who still reads from a script.
The Fife
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Crap, racoons? I haven't checked for that yet. Let me just peek inside...
HECUBUS
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
We had 20 Mbps, no problems. Then we had a big slowdown and continuous drops. It turns out they bumped us to 50 Mbps without warning. Our old airport express could not handle the new "N" mode WiFi. We upgraded to the AirPort Extreme and now have 200 Mbps at the modem and the devices (that can run that fast).

So, at some point, the "it's your router" claim is possibly true and highly probable after a speed bump. We also get 200 Mbps by multiplexing two 100 Mbps Mac addresses, so at some point it can be your modem also.
boboguitar
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
We had 20 Mbps, no problems. Then we had a big slowdown and continuous drops. It turns out they bumped us to 50 Mbps without warning. Our old airport express could not handle the new "N" mode WiFi. We upgraded to the AirPort Extreme and now have 200 Mbps at the modem and the devices (that can run that fast).

So, at some point, the "it's your router" claim is possibly true and highly probable after a speed bump. We also get 200 Mbps by multiplexing two 100 Mbps Mac addresses, so at some point it can be your modem also.


It's a router/modem combo and its theirs.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.