A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO I HAD AT&T INSTALL fiber internet connectivity. It replaced a slower wire from the same company.
A few days later, a Comcast tech cut the AT&T wire and I was out of service.
Called AT&T.
The CSR and I played “20 Questions.”
Since the box on the inside wall showed Power = Green
I knew it was an Outside Premises Equipment (OPE) problem.
Alarm = Red
Data = Red
Translation: AT&T’s problem.
HAVING GONE THROUGH this exercise earlier this week – the service tech was here Monday (8/20) and the cable burier was here the next day – I knew the drill. (To his credit the tech showed up early.)
I have a background in telecom; at one point I was point man for customer service for a PBX manufacturer. Let me tell you some grounding stories.
As I had just gone through the “no connectivity” exercise, when I tried to tell the Customer Service Representative (CSR) – who I barely could understand – that I had “been there and done that,” she just kept reading from her script.
She said she tried to “ping” (connect with) the Outside Premises Equipment (OPE) on my wall. If she did try to “ping” the box, she got zero response.
Translation: No ping = OPE problem.
IF there is a cut where I think it is – and I may be wrong – then the problem STILL is AT&Ts. The wire was above ground rather than buried. Like Comcast (I watched the guy as he tried to bury my neighbor’s cable on my property), Comcast and AT&T “bury” their wires in a very shallow trench. In fact, it’s so shallow it doesn’t deserve the term “trench.” Barely “scratching the surface” is more appropriate for the depth of AT&T and Comcast “trenches.”
IT’S FRUSTRATING
(a) I already have gone through this process
How many times did I have to repeat myself over the nearly 20-minute call? Too many.
(b) I actually already DID what she is asking me to do (reset the modem/router and power off and on the OPE box)
(c) I already TOLD her the status of the OPE box’s idiot LEDs (Green-Red-Red)
On top of that, AT&T assumes all customers have smart phones (I don’t) and text messaging.
The only number on my AT&T internet bill is to a general number that ends up with a Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that would drive a good person up the proverbial wall.
By the time I finally reached the internet CSR, my frustration level already was rising.
AND THEN I encountered the apparently deaf script reader.
She read from her script but apparently failed to hear my response to her questions.
Had she had ANY initiative, the nearly 20-minute call could have been cut in half.
She said a service tech is slated to come out Sunday morning. She also said that if it is a Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) problem there will be a $100-plus service charge. (Never mind that everything is under warranty.) In any event, WHAT CPE? The AC that powers the box on the wall is fine (the box shows a green POWER LED.)
Again, WHAT CPE?
The power to the AT&T modem/router is fine (another green LED).
The AT&T-supplied cable between AT&T’s “3-LED box” and the AT&T modem/router is securely connected at both ends.
Power to the computer is OK; I’m using it as I wait for the AT&T tech.
The Ethernet cable between the modem/router and computer is OK; I get a “Gateway Authentication Failure” pop-up telling me something I already know.
I was ready to contract with Comcast for lesser speed and lower cost (but still faster than what I had with AT&T prior to fiber) but the Spouse wanted fiber speed. (She WhatApps with our distant daughter and our grand kids. Using the house internet she avoids data charges.) According to the family CTO, Comcast’s 25 Mbps would have been fine – and for two years, far less expensive.
Contracting with Comcast would not prevent service interruptions; I’d just be calling Comcast CSRs instead of AT&T CSRs and having Comcast techs come out rather than AT&T techs.
Back in the day when I was a tech writer/CSR for PBX companies, we learned from our engineering mistakes and corrected them. Apparently that is foreign to 800 pound gorillas (AT&T, Comcast). Perhaps it’s a “make work” project for installers and the guys who bury the wires. (I’ve never seen a female burying wire.) Adding a little depth to the “trenches” would save lots of $ervice call$. (Of course it might mean a few more inches of cable. What’s more expensive? $ervice call$ or wire?)
TO BE CONTINUED
Sunday, 11:15 a.m.
The CSR said a tech would show up “between 10 a.m. and noon.”
At 11:15, Luc the Tech makes an appearance.
I introduce him to the cable I suspect is the problem; he agrees it is AT&T wire.
(Luckily for Luc it’s only two wires, not real “fibre” as in “fibre optic cable.” Fibre optic cable contains hundreds of “threads” of optical wires that, when cut, take a group of techs hours to reconnect. Been there, done that when a back-hoe operator cut the fiber to a defense contractor that engaged my services. That was one of the risks I pointed out to the employer – risks the employer wanted to ignore.)
Since Luc seems to know what he is doing, I suspect he’ll be on his way before 12:30. It’s a pretty warm day, so I’m sure he’ll be happy to get back into his air conditioned truck.
IT TURNS OUT that in addition to the cut cable, the main box (about 4 blocks away) also had a problem.
Together I am beginning to wonder if there is someone on the loose that hates AT&T. (Lots of people do, but to the point of attacking customers?)
ANYWAY, once again (and for how long?) the internet is available.
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