US Telco Support > CenturyLink > [CenturyTel] Setting up new modem with new CenturyLink DSL, sett

[CenturyTel] Setting up new modem with new CenturyLink DSL, sett

Re: [CenturyTel] Setting up new modem with new CenturyLink DSL,

On my old Westell and the 2701hg-d the PPPoE and PPPoA options were selective and different choices. So I'm confused about whether they are a combined choice on your modem or different and you are saying that you tried both settings. The Westell was set to PPPoE and I don't think the 2-wire brand modem worked until I changed the setting from PPPoA to PPPoE.
BTW the PW suggestion could easily be your problem, if you have forgotten what it was way back when. We (meaning me) tend to be lazy and let the modems remember these things... but tech support can reset the PW if need be.

Perhaps the old modem was negotiating a T1.413 connection and the 10 MB service requires a different protocol. One would think a new modem would be up to the task though.
Or like my Westell it can link to the dsl and still be disconnected, requiring you tell it to connect.

reply to nonoitall
Double-checked that the user/password I had were correct and they were. Here's a list of the DSL settings on the modem, with their possible values listed, and the currently selected value in bold:

ATM VC
•VPI: 0-255, 8
•VCI: 1-65535, 35
•QoS
•ATM QoS: CBR, UBR, rtVBR, nrtVBR
•PCR: 0 cells/second
•SCR: 0 cells/second
•MBS: 0 cells

Encapsulation
•ISP: Dynamic IP Address, Static IP Address, PPPoE/PPPoA, Bridge Mode

PPPoE/PPPoA
•Service name:
•Username: ***our username***
•Password: ***our password***
•Encapsulation: PPPoE LLC, PPPoE VC-Mux, PPPoA LLC, PPPoA VC-Mux
•Bridge Interface: Activated, Deactivated
•Connection Setting
•Connection: Always on, Connect On-Demand, Connect Manually
•TCP MSS Option: 1400 bytes (default)
•IP Address
•Get IP Address: Static, Dynamic
•NAT: Disabled, Enable
•Default Route: Yes, No
•TCP MTU Option: 1492 bytes (default)
•Dynamic Route: RIP1, RIP2-B, RIP2-M
•Multicast: Disabled, IGMP v1, IGMP v2
•MAC Spoofing: Enabled, Disabled

reply to nonoitall

Re: [CenturyTel] Setting up new modem with new CenturyLink DSL,

reply to nonoitall
I also looked through the modem's logs, and every 30 seconds there is a log entry that simply says "Call Failed". (Doesn't seem very informative to me, but maybe someone else will know what it means.)

reply to nonoitall

Nope, ours is just an account name with no '@' or domain name. The same is the case for several other CTL customers in town whose DSL I've helped get set up.

Since we're able to get the DSL light, and our SNR and line attenuation look good (at least according to the sticky), would I be correct to conclude that we can narrow this down to either an issue where the ISP didn't get our account set up correctly, or a problem with the modem/configuration?

If that's the case, would it make sense for me to go over to a friend's house in town (who has CenturyLink DSL of this speed working) and try to connect to my DSL account from there, using their known-to-be-working modem? (Should that work, assuming the ISP has my account set up correctly? And inversely, would its not working suggest that the ISP does not have my account set up correctly?)

Have you contacted CTL support about this? What have you asked them, and what were there responses?

The Call Failed message indicates that the modem is not able to establish a valid PPPOE session. Have you tried adding the domain name to your user id? Did they switch you to DHCP?

If you're in an oldtime Sprint / Embarq area - they well could have you on DHCP , especially with the 10M service. I'm positive my area is using DHCP, but I use my Embarq 660 in bridge mode - not router. I also have an old Sprint 645 modem that also works in bridge mode . I'm only on 3M service, though.

reply to Acacia
I talked to Centurylink tech support, and they have switched over to the dynamic IP option (not PPPoE) in some regions. Using the dynamic setting, I am now passing every test except the end to end ping & I still cannot access the Internet. I am about to just rent a modem. Blah.

Rent it for long enough to get the settings correct.

reply to nonoitall
I will check with them and see if they've switched us to DHCP. If that's the case, I assume I'd use the "Dynamic IP Address" option when setting up the modem? BTW, how do they go about authenticating the connection with DHCP? Will I have to give them the modem's MAC address so they can okay it, or something like that?

Talked to them and confirmed that we should still be on PPPoE. I'm still wondering if it would be conclusive for me to try this at a friend's house who has CTL DSL and see if I can connect to our account using their known-to-be good line and modem. I mean, everything I've read suggests that a DSL modem shouldn't be rocket surgery to set up, and I can't help but wonder if CenturyLink might not have all their ducks in a row.

Okay, they said you should still be on PPPOE. Did they pull up your account and confirm that you actually are? Did you verify the username and password you should be using? Did you do any troubleshooting with them? Were they able so see your modem connected, or attempting to authenticate to the PPPOE server?

DHCP does not require authentication. They do not need the MAC address of the modem. Embarq was in the process of removing PPPOE and switching everyone to DHCP when they merged with CTEL. PPPOE just adds another layer of complexity that is not necessary when only your customers are connecting to your network. Did you try the DHCP option?

Take your modem to your friends house. Put in their username and password and see if it will connect. If it does, the modem is good. If not, return it as defective. If it does connect, then try your username and password. If it doesn't connect, you need to call support and get a new username and password. If it does connect, then you need to get support to come out and check your circuit.

reply to nonoitall
The saga continues...

I took the modem over to a friend's house who lives a couple blocks away (and who also has CTL DSL) and was immediately able to connect using our user/password from her house, both on her modem and on ours. So, the modem is good, the configuration is good and the account is good. Something is wrong at the residence.

We unplugged everything from every phone jack in the house, connecting only the modem itself to a jack. Still no go at our house. DSL has worked just fine and dandy at our house for the past seven years, and the house itself is only about ten years old, with far newer wiring and closer proximity to the telco office than our friend's house. I find it more than a little odd that something in our house would coincidentally break on the exact day that we were supposed to get our upgrade.

Any thoughts on what the cause of this might be? I'm starting to think that CenturyLink is purposely cutting off our house until we lease a modem from them.

EDIT: In addition we called tech support again, and all they would tell us is to make sure our user name and password were correct since they don't support modems that they haven't personally ripped off their customers with. If there's something precise I can ask them to do that clearly falls outside the scope of our modem, I might have better luck. (Ask them to check our circuit I guess?) The woman I talked to earlier said they're in the middle of getting a bunch of their tech support stuff overhauled and have limited access to information they'd normally be able to pull up. (Yeah, sure, perfect.)

You verified the modem works, and your username and password are good. Plug the modem in at the NID and see if you get DSL sync. If you do, see if you can get to the internet. If not, call support and tell them you need a circuit check. Tell them you just upgraded to a higher speed package and can no longer connect.

While the modem is connected, pull up the status page that shows the SNR, attenuation numbers, and link speed. It is possible that they upgraded you to a speed your line won't support, or your profile is hosed and needs rebuit.

Hooked up the modem directly to the NID and got the same results as our phone jacks: DSL sync, but no internet. For those to whom it is meaningful, our line info as reported by the modem is as follows (downstream is the first figure in each row, upstream is the second):

SNR Margin: 14.9 db 13.5 db
Line Attenuation: 28.0 db 11.9 db
Data Rate: 12480 kbps 894 kbps
Max Rate: 18108 kbps 976 kbps
POWER: 19.3 dbm 12.3 dbm
CRC: 0 0

Will call them up tomorrow and tell them we need a circuit check. (Do you recommend their internet help number for this or is there another department/number I'd be better off calling?) If they still refuse, I'll borrow our friend's modem (which is leased from CTL) and back them into a corner. Hopefully they'll be willing to cut to the chase and won't make me act out the "Okay you need to go to Start and then Control Panel" script.

Call the internet help desk. Tell them you ordered a speed upgrade, and since the upgrade went into effect you no longer have internet access. Tell them you bought a new modem and tested it on another circuit to verify it works and have the correct user name and password. Tell them your attenuation and SNR look good. Ask them to check your profile. More than likely, it just needs rebuilt. If they can see your modem attached to the port, they should be able to get you connected. If they can't get it resolved, have them send a technician out to do a circuit check and verify the port is good and your service is operating as it should.