Here’s the update on the first two weeks of ADSL:

When it’s hot, it’s hot, and when it’s not, well…..

Initially, I was thrilled with BellSouth ADSL. I am cautious about calling it “access”, or “service”, as both of those have been lacking. It’s been up more than it’s been down it’s just that I wish it was down while I was at work or asleep, and not evenings and weekends.

So far, there have been 3 or 4 outages, most around 5 hours long, and the last started mid-afternoon 1/9, and lasted until late evening 1/10 – about 30 hours. Very disconcerting for only 14 days of “service”.

Seems IP addresses are assigned via DHCP. This is because there are a finite number of IP addresses available. This works great if there are enough addresses to handle the normal amount of users at a given time. It doesn’t work so great when the server that’s supposed to be handing out the IP addresses doesn’t work.

About six hours into the last outage, I decided to call 888-321-ADSL for some “support”. I told the tech, to whom I was connected instantly(!) that I was calling less for tech support and more to ask “When will this stop happening?” He admitted(!) they were having problems in some IP blocks and asked where I was located.

He asked if I would go thru the Release All/PowerOffModem/Shutdown Computer sequence and bring it back up. I knew it wouldn’t help, but did it anyway. It didn’t help.

He said they were having Alcatel, the ADSL modem manufacturer, come in to tell them why this was happening with their modems. I said, “You mean the modems at the CO end?” I’m not clear if he really said yes to that one or not. I don’t think it’s the modems.

I said it was nice to get tech support that didn’t just blame my end, even if he couldn’t fix my problem.

Today, 1/11/99, it’s been up since last night with no apparent problem. I will keep you informed.