Ahhhhhhh!

[Huge]

Have no effing clue; I thought that was the prefix.

 

[Huge]

It sounds like a wiring problem.

Why would BT not be able to find a spare pair?

Three possible reasons -

1. When the GPO / BT were building the local telephone infrastructure, the internet was not even thought of. Nobody had more than one phone line in their house. These days it is not uncommon for people to have two or more phone lines in their house. Also business use of telecommunications has increased hugely over the last 20 years. So sometimes when someone requests an additional line there are simply not enough pairs in the ground.

2. Copper pairs are subject to corrosion and can occasionally fail. In this case BT are obliged to repair the fault quickly and for the reasons above may be unable to find an unused pair.

3. Sometimes, even when spare pairs exist all the way back to the exchange, there may be a lot of work involved in connecting up the pair. The engineer may have to visit several cable junctions, some of which may be at the top of poles, some of which may be in green BT cabinets, some may be underground and some may involve stopping traffic etc. to lift manholes. In such a case it is often easier for a lazy engineer to DACS an existing pair.

 

[Professur]

The exchange is where your local phone switch is. Here it's usually a 6' tall wide brown or green metal locker, sitting at the street edge. In a Met area, it'll probably be down a manhole. Even see those holes in the sidewalk covered in 6'x6' steel plates? That's ususally one. Or an electric transformer.

 

[Huge]

Well the guy just left; our cables are fine.

He suggested it might be the router. ...whch is what I've been saying all along...

If I didn't have to go into work early today, I was going to pick up another one.

 

[Professur]

The cables are always fine. It's my experience that most Dsl problems are in the DSL modem. Usually the ethernet interface, which the telco never, ever checks.

 

[Huge]

Anything I should look for? You wanna come fix it?

I was thinking of getting this router; supposed to beam b/g signals half way to the moon (not really but you get the idea). http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=33-124-170&depa=0

 

[Professur]

It's not bad, but it's not gonna help if the modem is the problem. Beg, borrow, or steal another modem.

 

[Huge]

I'm supposed to be on with yet another tech tomorrow (they called today but I was ).

 

[Huge]

Well, all signs are pointing to the router/modem.

I guess I never spent much time on the router's home page; this was happening the entire time I was on the phone with verizon. Basically it would be up 60-90 secs, then down 30-45 secs, rinse, repeat.

 

[Professur]

Have you tried changing the line filter?

 

[Huge]

Yep.

Strange; the connection seems to be stable now...

 

[Huge]

Woke up to a new box from verizon; guess the new router's here now.

 

[Huge]

FUCK VERIZON!!!

They sent me a dsl modem (not a modem/router) that does not work!!!

"Hello RR, does your customer service work?"

 

[Professur]

Wait. They sent you a modem, not a modem/router. That means that the modem needs to be logged in by your computer. Before, the router was handling the PPPoE connection for you.

 

[Huge]

I ran the stupid install program just to be sure; no packets were coming in. Did I miss something?

 

[Professur]

Yeah, like perhaps logging in.

 

[Huge]

*hands case of Molson to prof*

You're not going to believe this; the power transformer is completely dead. And I can't use the old one.

*sigh*

 

[Inkara1]

What's the required voltage? If it's a multiple of 1.5, then chances are good your friendly local neighborhood RadioShack can help you.

 

[Huge]

Nope; it's a weird voltage (something like 12.6V).

Thank you, Mr. Radio Shack repairman ...shit, I'm 2 drunk. No, really...

 

[Professur]

12v will manage fine.