Warning about AT&T internet service. by TwoTails < Journal

29 Comments on this Journal

Leave a Comment...

Shippo

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

I feel this in so many ways!! Can’t even phone anyone else in my own home at times!! 🤬🤬

GreenReaper

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ Shippo

They're also blocking Inkbunny emails to their mail service, just because some of the other servers at our provider are spammy. Which isn't good, but also not something we can do a huge amount about.

EricAdler

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

"	Where's that "affordable internet service for everyone" shit DC has been promising for like a decade?

It keeps getting defeated by one side, since said side is much more interested in stripping women of all rights and agency than they are in GOVERNING.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ EricAdler

To be fair, when the Dems have had majority control, they tended to screw around on details & less important issues.
I mean, yes, they're less detrimental to human rights, but our two parties are pretty much the DMZ vs the KGB/Taliban coalition, woo.
It's infuriating that they kept assuming the right wouldn't have the gall to do a bunch of treasonous shit like what you mentioned & things like handing Vlad everything he wants, including the US.

I'm a bit more independent, I don't pick sides & go off the cliffs with them, kinda feeling like we need a Bipartisan purge, but cant do that without some tiered/ranked voting system or a disaster to piss-off enough people.

EricAdler

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ TwoTails

Yeah, when the Dems get control, they typically get mired in how to clean up the big red mess they walked into, before they start thinking about improving the nation's infrastructure.

It also does not help that passing progressive bills in the Senate require a 60% supermajority (thanks to the Jim Crow era filibuster), while 'defunding' progressive measures only require 50%+1 vote on a 'reconciliation bill.'

(The more you look into American politics, the more you see that the GOP has worked hard to break the systems, to dovetail with their typical talking point of 'the systems are broken, and we will bring change (by breaking the systems even further)')

EricAdler

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

Reminds me of when I signed up for the AT&T phone/internet/DirectTV combo, in Chicago. I immediately noticed the internet speeds were significantly slower that Comcast, and the day after installation the DirectTV was cutting out very badly, due to a LIGHT DRIZZLE, no wind. If the rain was any lighter, it would have been classified as fog.

I switched everything back to the Comcast hardware and canceled the AT&T bundle.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ EricAdler

I'm somewhat near you then, and yes, the weather seems to worsen the connection.
But that makes no sense, it's a wire-based service, it's supposed to be immune to weather problems.

EricAdler

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ TwoTails

The DirectTV was a satellite dish, Not only was the signal crap on a slightly-less-than-perfect-weather day, but the installation was such a crap job the brand new roof was leaking. Thankfully it was the overhang on the back deck, to there was no water damage. After I removed the dish, I filled the mounting holes with caulk, and the leaks stopped.

deleter

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

Depends on where you live. I had AT&T fiber for 18 months at my last apartment and the service was great, only going out when the gardener cut the service line with a weed whacker. $50/month for 400 MB/s service AND I got like $250 in service rebates on prepaid VISA cards.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ deleter

Kinda sounds like the infamous corporate regional favoritism thing - offer great service to just a few key places important to some ratings reviewers, at the cost of everybody else.

Top speeds allegedly available here is 8mbit/sec, I'm lucky if that ever reaches 6.
Upload speed is about 56KB, so this isn't even useful for minimal modern streaming services either way.

deleter

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ TwoTails

Is AT&T the only provider available? Are you using cable or phone line service? A lot of mobile providers these days offer home internet with a wireless broadband modem.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ deleter

There is/was a cable TV company, but they demanded cable service too, was faster but was prone to going offline frequently.
So for $200/mo, fuck no.
I'm left wondering if they're both somehow connected to the same shitty internet hub or whatever.

deleter

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ TwoTails

Again, it depends. AT&T could be LEASING the lines that run underground that provide service to your area. If they actually owned the lines the service would be cheaper and faster. The only cheap option I can recommend would be to get a powered cable line signal amplifier on Amazon. OR go outside your house to the service connection and check if it has a signal reducer and try removing it to see if that helps.

I have Comcast and they run a cable line into my house. The first installer put in a -7 dB dampener and it really made my service spotty. Another installer came out and replaced it with a -4 dB reducer and my signal and service have been rock solid ever since.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ deleter

Ditched the cable long ago, don't even know if they still exist, was one of those formally local companies that got bought out by bigger companies that eventually don't even have a local operating center.
Not much can do about the DSL lines, took me years to notice why older modems were failing, as far as I can tell by their logs it's due to them operating at higher than normal signal power(I'd guess like how amps can get damaged & distorted from extended use at high volume), and some suffering from lots of flash memory errors(and that's becoming a more known problem of device failures, heat & frequent writes kill them faster than expected).

deleter

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ TwoTails

So WHAT KIND of service line do you have? DSL? You may be able to fix the speed by buying a newer used supported router on Ebay.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ deleter

Is a new DSL modem, the 6th one I think.
The problem worsened over the years, even the new ones start off with significant service drops & lack of maximum speed.
And there's noticeable line noise on practically everything - phone lines sound like long range walky-talkies, stereo & tv has static & crackling noise, can even hear it on both PCs headphones. Is likely a common problem in rural areas, like "dirty power" lines.

deleter

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ TwoTails

Sounds like you need a DSL line filter. Also, add a ground loop isolator to your PC audio out line. Maybe get a couple of dirty electricity power strips.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ deleter

They already use filters, any additional ones probably wouldn't work because can see similar noise on the (CRT) TV as some occasional overly bright lines & random dots, even on the PC TV-out & VCR menu screen, which implies the noise is about the frequencies the DSL line uses too, not just audio.
I tried to narrow this down before, like disconnecting everything but one thing to see of anything is causing it, as far as can tell the noise is everywhere, which might extend into town, which might partly explain why people don't seem to use smartphones around here as much as popular media suggests is "normal", most people even in town complain about spotty service.
Goes back to suspecting the electric grid, no suppressors or supposed AC filters ever did anything, lights still blink & oscillate sometimes.
Electric problems killed the last 2 uninterruptible power supplies, but that was more likely due to the times the power was rapidly going on & off.
When it's really bad it even makes this LCD monitor behave a bit like an old TV - dark fluctuating horizontal & diagonal bands & image ghosting/wobbling.

What was odd was the old LCD TV could pick up tons of loud signals in the upper channels of around 72~122, seemed to be tons of overlapping radio stations & unknown signals with extremely loud popping & buzzing noises, I'd guess digital signals since I remember years earlier they'd be lots of dial-tones on the upper channels around Ch. 83.
Might mean nothing, but since some of those seem to be stronger portions of all the noise it makes me wonder if their towers are screwed up & contributing to this, since noise on equipment wasn't really noticeable until around 2010.
That would be perfectly ironic & unsurprising - bad reception not due to distance, but crappy overloaded transmission systems interfering with each other.

I'm not sure if anything can be done about the grounding, that tends to fail tests, I mean can confirm is directly connected to both the water pipes & gutter/roof grounding anchor but it tends to be holding a bit of an electrical charge of about 14vac, can even feel that sometimes from touching anything grounded.

In short, everything out here is probably screwed up & misrun by morons.

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ deleter

This is drifting from the point though, the electric noise isn't constant, that plus bad weather do seem to make it worse, but the service can and does often fail for no obvious reason.
(and the connection failed right when was writing this)

ZwolfJareAlt306

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

Edited 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Owner

If there is no other wired option, I would recommend Starlink.
I switched to it from my previous rural provider, and I have never looked back.

deleter

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ ZwolfJareAlt306

Ugh, I'm not gonna trust anythink with Musk's fingerprint on it. Plus, $600 for equipment alone and service STARTING at $120/month? Too much 😓

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ ZwolfJareAlt306

That would be the satellite service mentioned.
Also I think that's more meant for phone-internet - the things with the built-in GPS receiver kind of stuff, I'm talking PC internet since I need actual workstation programs.
The advertisements they send out here quote something like $50/mo initially but fine-print is about $150, but for about 1Mbit/s, so no.
Also storms are so bad here I doubt I can keep the damn thing aimed (mini-dish?), and I'm not giving Edong Putz one damn cent.

I've been getting rid of utilities one by one over the years, if the internet keeps getting worse then fuck that too.
I cant care if I go homeless & starve without it, it isn't worth this rage.

ZwolfJareAlt306

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

@ TwoTails

Thanks for the clarification.
Starlink does seem to satisfy all our home internet requirements, such as streaming on pc.

All the best to you, whatever happens!

Beartp

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

Most people seem to have good luck with Starlink startup costs is the big thing. I know was looking at options where I live because Century Link DSL was a joke and they refused to fix the issue. I ended up going with an independent provider for fixed wireless access

TwoTails

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

(sitting here because waiting for the TV shows to finish Downloading(Because some POS forecasters interrupted prime time over some tornadoes that didn't even freggin exist), seems browsers cant accurately estimate slow download speeds ~ like says 18 minutes left for over an hour)
This world is stupid.

Pakyto

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

AT AT its from star wars !

CharlesDragon

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

I Was in the same boat as you. But My Family went back to Comcast Xfintey. 5G and We got better services and They came and Stop the Interruption on Tuseday and got it back running Smoothly too. We had to Reconnect the Wireless Net.

eliteshyguy

1 month, 3 weeks ago

link

I might leave at&t and get mint mobile seeing its way cheaper.

mudpaws

1 month, 2 weeks ago

link

AT&T internet service is a big rip off .

i had them before and had weird charges like , $89.00 ______

any time i asked what the $89. charg was for i'd get no real anusr just a big runaround and they still wanted $89. so i droped them . and my lawer sead i dont have to pay them .

New Comment:

Move reply box to top ↑

Viewed:	124 times
Added:	1 month, 3 weeks ago 19 Apr 2024 05:38 CEST

Inkbunny

Warning about AT&T internet service.

Help

Information

Policy & Legal