ATT Tech Confirms Issues

[Dakota]

I have been experiencing the same connectivity problems with my @home service that many of you have been having for the last several (many) weeks.

Two weeks ago I had a tech out and he discovered that there was nothing wrong on my end. The cool thing is that he left me his cell phone number as he just lives a couple of blocks over from me.

After coming home yesterday, just minutes after the Seattle earthquake, I discovered that the problems they told via during a subsequent telephone call and expedited repair ticket, that the problems still existed.

I also did not call last night because I knew they'd use the 'it's the earthquake's fault' excuse. Also, the Tech said that they did actually have some problems resulting from the quake. They also had a major troubleshooting terminal crash, so the 'earthquake' excuses were not all unfounded, but obviously over used.

So, he calls me tonight and says that the problem should be resolved tonight/tomorrow morning. Sidenote: How large an area this effects, I do not know.

Anyway, they did take the system down this morning about 2:15am and finally found the problem. No, I didn't ask what it was, but read further down...

So, they will take it down again Friday morning and get it repaired. We should see a huge difference from then on. He asked that I call him tomorrow night when I get home to let him know how my speeds are.

Not that he's telling us something we don't already know, but he said that ATT has way oversold what they can provide. Last year in Vancouver, WA, they had 5K customers. Now, they have 15K, but still have equipment that's overloaded.

I know this won't help a lot of you out there that aren't in this area, but it does show a ray of hope that maybe there's relief out there through all of this. I hope you all find an ATT tech who really cares enough to follow through. A very rare find indeed.

[Pakled]

Thanks for the info Jim. Hopefully that applies to Oregon City as well.

[?NeedHelpDaily?]

So we're supposed to get a good increase in speed? (Newbie to this stuff)

[Dakota]

The issues that have been stifling speeds in the evenings, during prime time, should be over as of now. Tonight will be the deciding factor, but then Friday isn't the busiest day of the week, so Sunday and Monday evenings will actually be a better test of this fix.

As an aside, on Wednesday night at about 1:00am, I was getting 500 K/ps downstream from a site that usually delivers 300 K/ps. Hopefully that's a sign of what we will see now.

I'll report back after I talk with the tech tonight.

[Buggyman]

I done a tracer and over all it looks better except in San Francisco. still high there so maybe they are rerouting thru there. :D

[Dakota]

Just talked with the tech and this fix only applies to the Vancouver, WA area and maybe some people in Portland.

There was either a bad switch, or an overloaded switch, that was causing the problem at one of the Portland routers that routes us through Portland, then to Seattle and then directly out onto the Net from there. It was repaired early this morning.

I am getting excellent (400 K/ps plus) downstream right now during primetime Friday night.

And, I just got off the phone with ATT customer service after demanding (and getting) the entire month of February refunded.

So, I'll pile up all my notes and diaries and it's off to the Cable Commission meeting on Wednesday night as they give ATT their quarterly review.

I'll definitely be offering a few tidbits of constructive criticism for their future use. ;)

Buggyman: I pinged a few of the SF sites and there does indeed seem to be a clog there, but most of our traffic goes through Seattle, though some does go through SF and SJ, depending on what you're hitting.

I get routed through SF/SJ for Speedguide, but then through Seattle for several east coast sites.

We'll see how permanent this fix is though. That's really the key...How long will it last?