When I say my modem is failing, IT MEANS MY MODEM IS FAILING. That is all.

[frau kaleun]

First of all, the icon for this thread should be a big fat , not just a sad face. Because dammit!

So I get my hi speed internet through the local phone company's DSL service. Since about mid-July there's been a problem with connectivity which comes and goes, and by "problem" I mean I boot up the computer and all the lights on the modem that should be lit are lit until something happens that actually requires activity over the modem, i.e., I go online for something. At which point the internet light goes out and and then it and the DSL light will blink off and on with the connection coming and going for maybe an hour before it dies completely. A few hours later I come back and it will be fine until I shut things down.

The first couple of times this happened we were having really bad weather and since the connection eventually returned and was maintained I didn't worry about it. THEN starting the middle of last week I had seven straight days of it. The first two evenings, again, really bad weather in the area so I was, like, whatevs. But then over the weekend the weather cleared and I was still having problems. They seemed to be limited to what I would consider the "peak" usage hours - early evenings during the week and then afternoons and evenings on the weekend. But then again my computer usage usually follows the same general schedule from day to day, so it was hard to say if the day/time really had anything to do with it, or it was just happening based on when I happened to turn on the rig and tried to get online which doesn't vary all that much.

Anyway when Monday rolled around with no improvement I called support and they had me do a bunch of stuff (most of which I'd already tried) and checked a bunch of stuff on their end and still had no clue what was wrong. My gut feeling was that the modem was failing and needed to be replaced, but at any rate they decided a service call was in order. Fine, come out and test stuff, if there's a problem find it, while you're here you can replace my modem or at least verify that the modem isn't the problem. Couldn't arrange an appt. until this afternoon so I was kinda stuck with the issue until then.

Tuesday night and Wednesday night I had the same problems and was just tearing my hair out. Kept checking my wireless network to make sure no one was on there doing anything, it's password protected so - no. I reinstalled the router and changed everything just in case. It all works fine but still I have a bad connection. All local diagnostics are telling me it's the modem anyway.

Thursday I stopped to get some Chinese carryout and there's a little locally owned computer shop near there, I've bought and sold stuff there before and they are very knowledgable and friendly. So I figured I'd follow my hunch and see if they had a used DSL modem for sale that had been tested and definitely worked. They did.

Brought it home and between then and the time the tech got here spent numerous hours switching between the two modems. Results: modem provided by phone company, no stable connection; spare DSL modem from shop, rock solid connection. I'd have the old modem on there, boot up the computer, go online, watch the lights blink out and when the connection died, replace it with the new modem and as soon as it got up and running my connection would be back. After 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted connection I'd put the old modem back on and *boom* no connection, just like that. Rinse and repeat at random and/or any time the connection died on the old modem with the same results. Seems pretty conclusive to me.

So the tech calls this afternoon to confirm the appt. and I say, fine, come on out, but I think the modem is failing and I've been testing the connection with a spare one and it's fine, it's only a problem using the modem you guys gave me. You can check everything else but the modem needs to be replaced. Guy arrives, I tell him the same thing, I even demonstrate it by switching out the modems in front of him so he can see that the connection is there and fine, but their modem is not working while the spare one (I told him I "borrowed" one because I didn't want him to think he didn't have to provide a replacement for their busted one) works fine on the same connection with no other variables involved.

He then plugs the line into his phone company tricorder and tells me that there's a problem with the connection into my apartment, he will have to check all the jacks and the lines that come into the building from outside. I end up having to empty out two bookshelves and move a bunch of furniture so he can do the work on the jacks, he decides the problem is in the jacks in my apartment, plus he's telling me that I shouldn't have this hooked into that or be running one thing through another and I say, okay, but I've had things set up this way for YEARS and it's never been a problem. And none of that explains why everything works fine with *this* modem but doesn't work with the one you guys gave me. "Yeah but when you do this and do that eventually the errors build up and then you have a bad connection and look the speed into the building is this but you're only getting that and that's because of this that and the other thing and I'm gonna take care of that and you should be fine."

OKAY WHATEVER. So he does whatever he does and then shows me on his tricorder how much faster it is now that he changed this and that, great. I'm trying to sort out all the stuff I moved and start putting it back and he's says I'm good to go, well thank you kind sir and out he goes.

I sit down at the computer about 45 minutes later and click on something in my Favorites menu to hit up a web page and wouldn't you know it, my internet connection dies. I look at the modem, which is stuck off to the side cuz I haven't had a chance to put anything on my desk back the way it was. The internet light is out, the dsl light is blinking furiously, and it's the SAME DAMN MODEM I HAD WHEN HE GOT HERE because after all of that the one thing he did NOT do was replace the modem.

Edit: I'm so irritated I just hit the Submit button by accident. And it submitted my post and here it is. You know why? BECAUSE I'M NOT USING THE BUSTED MODEM THE PHONE COMPANY CAME ALL THE WAY OUT HERE NOT TO REPLACE. That's why.

Anyhoo at least I do have a modem that works, but they are supposed to provide me with a working one, I'm not supposed to have to buy one for myself because theirs only last a couple years and then crap out which they won't admit even when you demonstrate it to them in person. So I've emailed support saying they need to send me a new modem. We'll see what happens.