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General discussion

help me understand

Feb 27, 2008 9:43AM PST

I am at the end of the line for dsl, my next door neighbor is subscribed at 1.5 and getting 1.4+ download speed. The company said I qualified for 768, and the lineman came today and said I would have unstable and fluctuating speeds, anywhere from 512 to very slow and said he was going to see about getting me subscribed for the 1.5 output to see if that would help, and he would be right back. He never came back.
My question, would subscribing to the 1.5 vs the 768 help me with this issue?

Discussion is locked

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Did the company....
Mar 6, 2008 3:34PM PST

...explain why you only qualify for 768 while your neighbor has 1.5 ? Since your neighbor is getting 1.4, i.e. a little over 93%, the line seem uncongested The usual is to get more or less 75%, (i.e. aount 1.2) and that is considered excellent, but at the end of the, you would probably get 50% or less...

Was the linesman trying to sell you something ? Maybe your neighbor has SDSL instead of ADSL ?

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here's what I think I know
Mar 6, 2008 11:20PM PST

Papa Echo,
I am approx a half mile further on the line than my next door neighbor, putting my neighbor at 2 miles, and me at 2.5 miles from the switch as the curvy road goes, the telephone lines have a straighter route.

What I do know is the neighbor across the street, who happens to be a company lineman, climbed the pole and did something according to my next door neighbor so that they could get dsl. She doesn't know what he did, but I've been researching and this is what I think he did: cut the bridge line / tap "cut dead ahead" to me so that the dsl hits a wall making the digital stream build up and accumulate there so that he and my next door neighbor get all the extra build up of dsl current, as I understand it to work.

I do know that both my neighbors are subscribed for 1.5 and getting it! And the lineman who was here telling me I could get 512 but fluctuating and unstable left here saying he would be right back, never came back. He didn't try to sell me anything, he just ran. The company just says I must be too far away. I have not told the company what the neighbor lineman has done. Yet. Will give him the opportunity to undo whatever he did first.

If you can add any insight into what I'm talking about, or tell me if I'm wrong in my thinking, that fixing the cut bridge will help me get the dsl. Much appreciated.

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Didn't I already answer this for you?
Mar 7, 2008 9:41AM PST
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dsl can be confusing
Mar 7, 2008 10:30AM PST

For starters; Every customer on dsl has their own copper pair. So, whatever the tech did to your distant neighbors line will not affect yours. I wonder if perhaps your phone line does not run the way you think. Often times copper cable does not go along the road straight from town. Sometimes the phone cable takes a detour here and there before it gets to you. I have seen people 2 miles from town actually be 4 miles by phone line. This isn't really too far fetched. Towns don't always expand the we they originally planned so engineers just keep adding on to the line. Or the phone engineers in your area might be on a tight budget. Instead of engineering the Lines in the best way they instead engineered the lines the most economical.

And yes; if you had a bridge tap it should be removed. But speaking from experience; no one climbs a pole if they can help it. Especially in the winter....