I first reported speed issues with my DSL to CenturyLink back in September and it is now mid-November, speeds constantly going up and down. It constantly drops down to lower than a dial up connection speed. I first contacted them via Twitter, then by phone calls, and even sending an e-mail to the Executive Headquarter Offices of CenturyLink.
After several attempts by techs to fix the problem, and experiencing some things that were said and done, that were unpleasant in my opinion ( I could go further here, but will leave it unsaid, for now ). Nothing has changed, and the problem is not fixed.
I am paying for a 3.0mbps subscription, and get at most 1.50mbps. It is as if a faucet is being turned on and off, from a slow trickle, to a faster stream. This morning, the speed was at one point 0.11mbps, which is 14.0kbps, far less than a 56k dial up connection. then it will be back up to 1.48mbps.
I am asking CenturyLink to repair the problem. To give me what I am paying for.
This has been taking way too long. This should have been resolved a long time ago. I am not even being offered a credit on my phone bill, or a refund, or any other alternatives.
CenturyLink DSL is the only hi-speed internet option in my area, unless I want to spend exorbitant amounts of money on Satellite Internet, or Cellular Data Internet service. I am disabled, and am on a low fixed income, and can't afford anything else.
Being disabled, the Internet has become a lifeline. Connecting me to the world, to my family, and to my friends. I have found much enjoyment, entertainment, and education because of it.
Now, I feel like it has been taken away from me.
CenturyLink, can you please fix this problem?
After several attempts by techs to fix the problem, and experiencing some things that were said and done, that were unpleasant in my opinion ( I could go further here, but will leave it unsaid, for now ). Nothing has changed, and the problem is not fixed.
I am paying for a 3.0mbps subscription, and get at most 1.50mbps. It is as if a faucet is being turned on and off, from a slow trickle, to a faster stream. This morning, the speed was at one point 0.11mbps, which is 14.0kbps, far less than a 56k dial up connection. then it will be back up to 1.48mbps.
I am asking CenturyLink to repair the problem. To give me what I am paying for.
This has been taking way too long. This should have been resolved a long time ago. I am not even being offered a credit on my phone bill, or a refund, or any other alternatives.
CenturyLink DSL is the only hi-speed internet option in my area, unless I want to spend exorbitant amounts of money on Satellite Internet, or Cellular Data Internet service. I am disabled, and am on a low fixed income, and can't afford anything else.
Being disabled, the Internet has become a lifeline. Connecting me to the world, to my family, and to my friends. I have found much enjoyment, entertainment, and education because of it.
Now, I feel like it has been taken away from me.
CenturyLink, can you please fix this problem?
My first reply to a commenter ( and further replies and comments ):
http://www.wolfcrane.com/2013/11/centurylink-dsl-problems.html?showComment=1384743065294#c8567907876069900155
They have been to my house several times. Tested the lines inside and out. They admitted there is a problem with the lines along the road, and supposed to have fixed one problem, but apparently there are others.
The lines along the road are also very old.
No storms. The problem happens through out the day and night. One minute at 1.50mbps, the next minute it is down to nothing. I certainly never get the 3.0mbps that I pay for.
There are several other things that were said and done that were pretty upsetting to me. I won't mention them for now.
Despite my having a lot of experience with computers, I was made to feel otherwise. I wish I had some of my tech friends here to back me up.
All I want is what I am paying for. I would also like a credit for the interruption in service that I have experienced over the past few months.
http://www.wolfcrane.com/2013/11/centurylink-dsl-problems.html?showComment=1384808864536#c213835395214917863
Within the last 30 minutes, it bottoms out at 0.01mbps, then goes back up to 1.19mbps within 15 minutes. This goes on non stop.
What bothers me is that CenturyLink doesn’t reach out with assurances that they will fix the problem, and credit my account for the lack of service.
http://www.wolfcrane.com/2013/11/centurylink-dsl-problems.html?showComment=1384913472044#c6981064656822207095
After reading my posts online at Twitter ( I am @wolfcrane on Twitter) and on Google Plus, and at my
website, CenturyLink decided to bump my connection speed down to:
768k. They said after reading one techs notes, that they felt I
couldn't get better speeds than that. Despite the fact that it used to
be better, and despite the fact that one tech told me that I should be
able to get 3.0mbps, and that they were working on the problem ( when
that would happen, is a mystery to me ). I replied back, and Cc'd the
executives at HQ. The Centurylink Supervisor for this county called and left a message, which we returned this evening but it was too late in the day.
I am dealing with some serious health issues and disabilities, and this has caused a great deal of stress for me. My wife has no time to deal with it, as she is working.
Here is my latest post at G+:
https://plus.google.com/+JamieTodd/posts/GXY5N1o1sAV
I tried to find an alternative for Internet service, but the options are pretty sparse, and some are quite expensive.
Thanks for your advice, it is much appreciated. Take care.
http://www.wolfcrane.com/2013/11/centurylink-dsl-problems.html?showComment=1385067518254#c3999603499581521681
The CenturyLink Supervisor for this county called yesterday afternoon.
He said they would research the issue. He did not give me a time frame of when it will be fixed, or what the problem is.
For additional information, read the comments and replies below this post ( or just click this link ):
http://www.wolfcrane.com/2013/11/centurylink-dsl-problems.html#comment-form
To see my previous posts regarding CenturyLink issues:
http://www.wolfcrane.com/search?q=centurylink
and: http://www.wolfcrane.com/search/label/centurylink
The links provided here are all public links easily found via their website, search engine, or social network sites:
http://www.centurylink.com/
http://www.centurylink.net/
https://twitter.com/CenturyLink
https://www.facebook.com/CenturyLink
CenturyLink #HashTag Results:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23centurylink&src=hash
https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/centurylink
https://plus.google.com/s/%23Centurylink
___________________________________________________________________
ISP Speed Test Logs:
Additionally, I have decided to keep a log of the speeds, and post them when I am able to :
1. 08:54 a.m, Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.21mbps.
2. 12:15 p.m., Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.78mbps.
3. 02:39 p.m., Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.55 mbps.
4. 05:36 p.m., Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.02 mbps.
1. 08:54 a.m, Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.21mbps.
2. 12:15 p.m., Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.78mbps.
3. 02:39 p.m., Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.55 mbps.
4. 05:36 p.m., Sunday, November 17, 2013 : 0.02 mbps.
5. 01:16 p.m., Monday, November 18, 2013:
Connected Laptop directly to CenturyLink DSL Zyxel Router via ethernet cable.
Speed Test Results:
Using:
Last Result:
Download Speed: 638 kbps (79.8 KB/sec transfer rate) AKA: 0.64 mbps.
Upload Speed: 201 kbps (25.1 KB/sec transfer rate) AKA: 0.20 mbps.
Latency: 2116 ms
11/18/2013 1:16:59 PM
Approx. 10 minutes later at 01:25 P.M.:
Using:
Download: 1.56 mbps
Upload: 0.16
Ping: 481 ms
Going back to:
Last Result:
Download Speed: 1606 kbps (200.8 KB/sec transfer rate) AKA: 1.61 mbps.
Upload Speed: 180 kbps (22.5 KB/sec transfer rate) AKA: 0.18 mbps.
Latency: 162 ms
11/18/2013 1:30:15 PM
At first, the connection was so slow the speedtest pages wouldn't load. I had to wait a while, then refresh the page.
6. 03:43 p.m., Monday, November 18, 2013.
Download: 0.01mbps.
Upload: 0.11 mbps.
Ping : 3959.
7. 11:06 a.m., Wednesday, November 20, 2013: download : 0.16mbps aka : 19.6kbps.
Upload : 0.48mbps aka: 60kbps.
Ping: 93ms.
8. Using: http://spdtst-dlls.tx.centurylink.net/
I got this result:
Last Result:
Download Speed: 510 kbps (63.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 193 kbps (24.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 404 ms
11/21/2013 3:50:33 PM
Last Result:
Download Speed: 510 kbps (63.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 193 kbps (24.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 404 ms
11/21/2013 3:50:33 PM
Using: http://www.speedtest.net/
I got this result:
DOWNLOAD
0.52Mb/s
UPLOAD
0.14Mb/s
PING 317 ms
11/21/2013 at 3:52 PM EST
I got this result:
DOWNLOAD
0.52Mb/s
UPLOAD
0.14Mb/s
PING 317 ms
11/21/2013 at 3:52 PM EST
9. Using: http://www.speedtest.net/
DOWNLOAD
0.77Mb/s
UPLOAD
0.23Mb/s
PING 171 ms
11/22/2013 at 12:33 PM EST
10.
Despite being told that my service would be dropped down to: 768kbps ( which I did not ask for them to do ), I checked my account at CenturyLink, and see that I am still listed as: You have CenturyLink High-Speed Internet services. Speed:3.0Mbps. But I am getting this speed:
http://spdtst-dlls.tx.centurylink.net/
Last Result:
Download Speed: 754 kbps (94.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 373 kbps (46.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 77 ms
11/23/2013 11:51:29 AM
http://www.speedtest.net/
DOWNLOAD
0.76Mb/s
UPLOAD
0.39Mb/s
PING 54 ms
11/23/2013 at 11:54 AM EST
11. via www.speedtest.net
11-24-2013
3:09 P.M. EST
36 KBPS
They need to check the lines to your home and if they are good, the lines inside your home....Since DSL is not a shared access data stream, there shouldn't be large variance in speeds.
ReplyDeleteMy bet would be either they have bad hubs that are along the path or the lines themselves are bad and need replacing.
One question....When the speeds started dropping off, where there any really bad storms in the area?? If so then they have a line problem and are afraid to admit they can not find the problem.
They have been to my house several times. Tested the lines inside and out. They admitted there is a problem with the lines along the road, and supposed to have fixed one problem, but apparently there are others.
DeleteThe lines along the road are also very old.
No storms. The problem happens through out the day and night. One minute at 1.50mbps, the next minute it is down to nothing. I certainly never get the 3.0mbps that I pay for.
There are several other things that were said and done that were pretty upsetting to me. I won't mention them for now.
Despite my having a lot of experience with computers, I was made to feel otherwise. I wish I had some of my tech friends here to back me up.
All I want is what I am paying for. I would also like a credit for the interruption in service that I have experienced over the past few months.
Within the last 30 minutes, it bottoms out at 0.01mbps, then goes back up to 1.19mbps within 15 minutes. This goes on non stop.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me is that CenturyLink doesn’t reach out with assurances that they will fix the problem, and credit my account for the lack of service.
With my experience with Charter when I had bandwith problems, the tech guys they sent here actually talked to me and between the 2 of us we figured out the problem......It was a combination of bad lines and a bad hub.....Though I was lucky and got the same tech 3 times so we pretty well knew each other and he knew my abilities...
ReplyDeleteBad lines and a bad hub will really kill your bandwith.....Both will make it look a bit random as weather and just plan ol' spikes coming down the line will create bandwith changes on a wide range......If it is something that they are not going to admit....Unless you can get an expert to actually look at the lines and maybe trace things back to the hub you are out of, it will be really tough for you to get them to admit anything.
After reading my posts online at Twitter ( I am @wolfcrane1 on Twitter) and on Google Plus, and at my
Deletewebsite, CenturyLink decided to bump my connection speed down to:
768k. They said after reading one techs notes, that they felt I
couldn't get better speeds than that. Despite the fact that it used to
be better, and despite the fact that one tech told me that I should be
able to get 3.0mbps, and that they were working on the problem ( when
that would happen, is a mystery to me ). I replied back, and Cc'd the
executives at HQ. The Centurylink Supervisor for this county called and left a message, which we returned this evening but it was too late in the day.
I am dealing with some serious health issues and disabilities, and this has caused a great deal of stress for me. My wife has no time to deal with it, as she is working.
Here is my latest post at G+:
https://plus.google.com/+JamieTodd/posts/GXY5N1o1sAV
I tried to find an alternative for Internet service, but the options are pretty sparse, and some are quite expensive.
Thanks for your advice, it is much appreciated. Take care.
The CenturyLink Supervisor for this county called yesterday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteHe said they would research the issue. He did not give me a time frame of when it will be fixed, or what the problem is.
Using: http://spdtst-dlls.tx.centurylink.net/
I got this result:
Last Result:
Download Speed: 510 kbps (63.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 193 kbps (24.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 404 ms
11/21/2013 3:50:33 PM
Using: http://www.speedtest.net/
I got this result:
DOWNLOAD
0.52Mb/s
UPLOAD
0.14Mb/s
PING 317 ms
11/21/2013 at 3:52 PM EST
Thanks to Virtual Photo Walks @ www.virtualphotowalks.org for showing their support by posting this: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+VirtualPhotoWalksTM/posts/eQ1GRdpczMA
ReplyDelete#CenturyLINK will not answer my email, there's no communication. The last I heard, was a phone call from the CenturyLink local supervisor for this county, saying that he would ''research'' my problem. This connection went from a 3.0mbps subscription to 0.29mbps ( 36 kbps), as of right now. It still fluctuates up and down, at most 70kbps approx.
ReplyDeleteGiven their lack of communication, and action in regards to fixing this problem, it makes me wonder if they are just trying to make it bad enough for me to cancel my service, and take my business elsewhere. Believe me, I would if I could, if we had plenty of options, and I could afford the more expensive options.
I am just as tired of complaining about this situation, as they are of hearing from me.
The lack of customer service is pretty disappointing and disheartening.
https://plus.google.com/+JamieTodd/posts/LrfVKtjh3HK
ReplyDelete