[SGVLUG] [SGVHAK] new DSL configuration

Sat Oct 5 01:12:00 PDT 2013

Jess, max theoretical speed for ADSL2+ is 20 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up but it
really depends on distance from Central Office, line quality both on the
street and in the house, filters, old loading coils, etc.  AT&T sets
different limits based on the tier you pay for.  DSLExtreme's Fusion places
no limits.

John, I do have a test plug outside at the demarc.  I should either run a
long cable direct to the modem or better yet haul everything outside with a
short cable and see what my speeds are like.  I was switching both my voice
and DSL at the same time so I did not have the option to trying bonding or
pinging each other.   Before I had DSL installed, I had a separate line
just for dialup and I remember being able to ping myself and connect back
in for a short while before canceling the 2nd line.  I do recall that the
installation took several hours and the tech had to use my 2nd line to
request changes on the other end because his cell phone didn't have good
reception.

So this evening I checked and my modem was still synced at 4028/1923 and
getting the same results from various speeds sites.  I called 611 and using
the IVR, I set my line back to back to Annex-A or download priority. It's
been at 9084/892 the last few hours. Ookla speedtest is reporting 7.7/0.7,
Speakeasy says 7.8/0.7 and Xfinity says 7.7/0.7.  But dslextreme always
seems to show the slowest at 7.3/0.6.

We'll see how long this lasts but I have a new tool when I want to resync -
instead of hitting the power switch and hoping I don't lose my current IP,
I just dial 611 and follow the voice prompts.  It will even report current
status which is nice.

Ask me in a month after a full month of service.

Thanks to all for suggesting DSLExtreme and bypassing Uverse!

Claude

On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 2:16 AM, Jess Bermudes <jbermudes at gmail.com> wrote:

> 5-6 Mbps on the Fusion service? I thought they were advertising up to 20
> for that particular package?
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 2:13 AM, Claude Felizardo <cafelizardo at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Mixed.
>>
>> I eventually got the supplied Comtrend CT-5072T out of bridge mode so I'm
>> currently using the built-in firewall, NAT, port forwarding, etc.  Seems to
>> be a step up from the 2-wire modem.  However my speed is not as fast as I
>> would have liked.
>>
>> Speed keeps dropping over time so there might be a problem with my line.
>> Don't think it's the inside wiring as we had run a brand new line from the
>> pole to the wiring closet a few years ago and my filter is in the demarc.
>> When I reset the modem, it starts off between 5-6 Mbps but eventually drops
>> down to around 3 Mpbs which is what I was getting with AT&T but at least
>> the upload with DSLExtreme has been slightly higher than AT&T so they were
>> definitely capping my speed.  I suppose it could be noise in the house as
>> we have a few halogen lights, etc.
>>
>> Oh hey I just figured out how to enable Annex-M!   Looks like they have
>> recently disabled it from their website under member settings but I saw
>> from a few forums that I can dial 611 and use option 2 to toggle between
>> the default Annex-A (download priority profile) to Annex-M (upload priority
>> profile).  Supposedly they did this so you can always use 611 to toggle
>> instead of relying on a web page which would be hard to reach if your modem
>> fails to sync up.  Both the IVR and my modem currently report 4028/1923
>> Kbps and various speed tests show me with 3.4 Mbps down and 1.6 Mbps up.
>>
>> So that's about 2x faster upload and my phone/ISP bill has been cut in
>> half but I did give up my static IP.  I believe I have the modem configured
>> to update my IP on the dyndns website but I've been getting the same IP the
>> last week so I'm not sure if working.  I have quite a lot of regular
>> traffic so it's not likely that the connection will timeout.
>>
>> I'll have to experiment with sending some large files between home and
>> work.  Cloud backup might be back on the table.
>>
>> Claude
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:33 PM, Matthew Campbell <dvdmatt at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Hey Claude, how did it all work out?
>>>
>>> Matt
>>>
>>> ---------
>>> *Matthew Campbell*
>>> Storage Solution Consultant
>>> Storage Design and Engineering
>>>
>>> *Kaiser Permanente*
>>> IMG-Systems Integration
>>> 99 S. Oakland
>>> Pasadena, CA 91101
>>>
>>> 626-564-7228 (office)
>>> 8-338-7228 (tie-line)
>>> 818-314-9897 (mobile phone)
>>> Green Center 3-North, 031W29
>>> ---------
>>> *kp.org/thrive*
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 6:32 PM, Claude Felizardo <cafelizardo at gmail.com
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Wow they were prompt.  My activation time was scheduled for 11 am so I
>>>> opted to stay home and swap things as necessary.  Email reply from
>>>> DSLExtreme tech support this at 9 am said I would have to use my own router
>>>> and leave the modem in bridge mode.
>>>>
>>>> So I booted up my old RT-311 router after trying a dozen passwords and
>>>> started trying to change the configuration to work with DHCP.  Internet
>>>> connection died about 11:05 as did the phone.  Modem sync light flashing
>>>> red.  Moved telephone line over to the new modem and it got sync within
>>>> 10-15 minutes?   Couldn't get the router to work so I connected the modem
>>>> to one of the desktops and eventually got that working after a factory
>>>> reboot which put it back to bridge mode and DHCP.  Got dial tone and was
>>>> able to call out about 11:24 and the caller Id seemed to look good but when
>>>> I tried to call the home number it just rang.  A few minutes later I was
>>>> able to call in and out w/o problems.  Maybe the tech was just wiring it in
>>>> and I managed to zap him with bell ringing current and voltage; :)
>>>>  Eventually got my old router working by configuring it to use DHCP and
>>>> just wait a while for the modem to hand out an IP.  The problem is some of
>>>> this stuff won't allow you to access or save certain settings until the
>>>> current step is completed.  Got enough working so my family would have
>>>> access when they got home.
>>>>
>>>> Just as I'm leaving, I got an email reply from a tier 2 support tech
>>>> saying to reconfigure my 2-wire modem for DHCP. I'll try that when I get
>>>> home tonight just to confirm that my original modem will work.  Otherwise,
>>>> I still want to see about using the new modem in non bridge mode and use it
>>>> as a router which has got to be better than my 14 year router.
>>>>
>>>> Also need to see about getting my IP updated via DynDNS.  IIRC, my old
>>>> router was using an older API that might not be supported anymore.
>>>>
>>>> Claude
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 4:53 PM, Jess Bermudes <jbermudes at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I do remember having to go through that bridge-mode stuff when I first
>>>>> signed up. I could take a look and see what settings it's set to if that
>>>>> would help but I'm not sure if there's some specific data in there that's
>>>>> geared toward my regular DSL service as I'm not on Fusion.
>>>>>
>>>>> Also I should note that I brought my own modem when I signed up so
>>>>> I've been using an old SpeedStream 4100 that connects to my WRT54GL running
>>>>> Tomato to do all the other fancy stuff. Although come to think of it, I'm
>>>>> not doing anything terribly fancy with it to begin with.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Claude Felizardo <
>>>>> cafelizardo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I decided to opt out of static for now, thought I'd make use of the
>>>>>> DynDNS account i signed up for years ago will work.  Looks like the modem
>>>>>> will support IF i disable bridge mode.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My original firewall was a DIY Linux box, did that once, worked fine
>>>>>> until the computer overheated in the closet.  Having to deal with two
>>>>>> networks cards was a pain.  Much prefer COTS solutions now.  While I do
>>>>>> have a linux fileserver still, I'd rather not put it in the middle.
>>>>>> Besides, I'm not sure if I have NIC that would work in that computer.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 10:41 AM, John Kreznar <jek at ininx.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In a mail purported to be from Claude Felizardo <
>>>>>>> cafelizardo at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> but lacking a digital signature, it is written:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> > Okay, I have signed up for DSLExtreme fusion, DHCP.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks for the update!  Please keep us posted.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> > I had a static IP before so the configuration is much different.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Is static not available with fusion, or did you not opt for it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> > I can connect to the new modem but attempts to configure it for a
>>>>>>> > static IP and DHCP were failing.  I could get it to sync but not
>>>>>>> dish
>>>>>>> > out IPs.  I suppose I could use my original Netgear RT-311 from 14
>>>>>>> > years ago.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Keep in mind too that a Linux box positioned as a gateway can do
>>>>>>> these
>>>>>>> functions -- and give you more flexibility.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> OpenPGP key: http://ininx.com
>>>>>>>  John E. Kreznar jek at ininx.com 9F1148454619A5F08550
>>>>>>> 705961A47CC541AFEF13
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
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