CO question [telecom]

Since DSL works and dialtone doesn't, the break is most likely somewhere between the splitter off the DSLAM and back into the phone switch.

When they put DSL in, your primary line gets moved off the switch MDF and onto the splitter panel for the DSL, and then a new pair gets run back to the switch MDF.

The "some other device in fhe field" is the result of the telcos needing to put DSLAMs out in the field to get them closer to you due to wire line limitations of DSL signalling. These remote DSLAMs are all over. Ie. in my suburban area around my home, I have 3 remote DSLAMs within a short walking distance. You can tell what they are with the telco environmental boxes, with a power meter on them. Ie. here's some pictures of them.

(not the short squat green boxes, those are power transformers for the power company).

The remote DSLAM serves all the customers that are downstream off the CO cable that is feeding that area. This could be a small number, or a huge number. It all depends on how things get fed.

Most likely your voice line pair is lifted or open somewhere after the DSLAM splitter panel in the remote DSLAM RT serving your area, and VZ will have to dispatch out to the field to check the RT and find your voice line.

As to it taking 5 days.. That is something else altogether. Repair time for service companies have been going down hill for some time now. :(

You mean, "What do they mean by 'CO'?"? -- Central Office (where the switch is for your exchange). And apologies if you knew that already.

Cheers, -- tlvp

Thanks for all the answers. Service was restored yesterday-230pm. total outage 52 hours. The recording that called says I will receive a credit. I intend to ask for more than that. Problems was reported as a "cable problem".

Upside was an email from Verizon offering me a reduction in my monthly bill from $77 to $59 and in increase in DSL speed. No negatives. So I accepted. No answer why, if this was available, I wasn't notified before. No retroactive fee adjustments available. After I agreed they told me that my existing modem wouldn't support the increased speed. So they are sending me a new modem. Hopefully before they change the service. Stay tuned. mm

BTW, Since I am less than 1 mile from the CO, I doubt there is a DSLAM between my home and the CO. I've never seen one. I contend the problem was in that building, since I did have battery on the line. mm

A friend of mine just went thru a similar situation.

The remains of Hurricane Irene flooded out the village central office coable vaults.

DSL and dial tone were down for a week.

DSL was restored at the one week mark however it took twelve days for dial tone to be restored.

I was told all the old cable in and out of the vault had to be spliced around because the paper insulation in the original ancient cable was soaked.

In my country (Australia) there is currently a roll-out of a (mainly) Fibre National Broadband Network which will eventually replace all phone services currently provided by copper infrastructure.

There are some people still complaining about the cost, with the old "what I've got is good enough for me, why do we need to change?" argument.

Any explanation about the massive future costs -- just to *keep* the existing infrastructure going -- just doesn't seem to count for them, and they also don't "get it" when similar natural disaster events occur now and take services down.

The bottom-line is that any old comms infrastructure is going to be increasingly vulnerable to problems and increasingly costly to fix - as well as remaining inadequate for future requirements.

-- David Clayton Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a measure of how many questions you have.