I recently got Earthlink DSL but soon found out that it is extremely unstable. In the morning hours, I get disconnected many times. Not so much in the afternoon. When daytrading, this is extremely dangerous. Calling tech support is not much help, as all I hear is scripted responses such as check cable connection, keep computer 5 ft away, etc. Then they try to sell you products such as anti virus, firewall, etc. Is there anything else I can do or should I have gone with cable. Thanks
I had ds"Hell" for a while. FWIW-in my case, I had 2 major issues that made the service unreliable. First, I had some bad connectors and a bad section of wire in my home phone wiring. Of course, the phone company could not figure it out, a neighbor who was at one time a phone tech fixed it for me. Second, I lived just beyond the maximum linear feet of wire from the Home Office ( I think this is 15000 feet.) even though the HO was less than a mile from my house. After struggling for about a year, I got cable and it is much better for me. DS ps-there are lots of people who have it and like it very much.
I used E-DSL fo rmany years, it can be good, but I found that it interferred with my tel line and the cust svce as you have found out was very dissapointing. Cable is much better in terms of reliability and FASTER too!
I have had Earthlink DSL (thru Covad) for years and liked it very much. I have cable as a back up and find that while the DSL may be slower for peak speed, its more consistent. The only time I had problems was when I had it on the same circuit as a window AC. When I moved it to another circuit, all disconnect problems ceased. Led me to conclude that DSL can be sensitive to electrical noise and/or sags.
I also had EL using Covad as the ILEC for awhile after my previous ISP got out of the residential ISP business and handed me off to EL. No problems until one day my line went dead. Physically I had an SDSL setup because that's all my ISP had available when I ordered service but EL had my account listed as ADSL for billing purposes (EL SDSL service is big bucks). You haven't had "fun" with ISP tech support until you try to convince them that what they are looking at on their screen is wrong (SDSL uses different modems, doesnt share a line). EL tech support is strictly by the script, they can't/won't think outside the box. Anyway long story short - they werent capable of fixing it and after suffering through excruciating hold-times and incompetent tech support I searched for a replacement ISP with better ratings and came across Speakeasy.net. Been with them about a year now and can't say enough good things about them. They are not the cheapest (by far) but if you want to be able to speak to someone in tech support who really gets it (and speaks English as their first language) then I would highly recommend them. Judge for yourself: EL: http://www.broadbandreports.com/reviews/1050 SE: http://www.broadbandreports.com/reviews/93
Two WAN connections with dual WAN router: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50387
I don't know if this helps but I had similar problems of service cutting out. after updating my router and changing the router set-up,it cleared up the problem I had. Also, you may want to go to www.dslreports.com. Many different forums there that can be of help. Also, diagnostic,speed tests,etc
Thanks for the input. I continued calling tech support and using chat support but no help. It really isn't "tech" support, just check cables, phone lines, reset modem, etc. kind of thing. Went with Earthlink to keep the same e-mail address but probably should have gone with cable. Just can't daytrade with random disconnection. Too scary and dangerous. I will be moving soon, so will see how connection is with DSL. If still the same, then will go with cable.
If you're moving, you might as well go directly to cable. Moving will probably mean cancelling your current plan and setting up a new one . Check with earthlink on this. Cable is much better than dsl and earthlink will probably offer their service through your new cable company. If not, and you still want your earthlink e-mail, they have a plan for only using(unlimited) e-mail for about $4-$5 a month. I currently use that with a non Earthlink ISP. No problem "receiving e-mail" through ISP but to send I have to connect using dialup.