Bellsouth advises removing anti-virus software

I just got off the phone with Bellsouth FastAccesss DSL tech support. One of their newer 'things to do' before they will escalate your claim is to have you uninstall your virus protection. Not simply turn it off, but uninstall it. When I asked why, I was told that "at this time the Bellsouth DSL product is not compatible with this third-party software (any anti-virus software)." When I mentioned that this was tantamount to asking people to surf the internet, recieve email, and generally use the Bellsouth network without any form of virus protection, I was assured that most all of the problems they have seen recently were due to virus protection software.

I was also told that Symantec, the makers of NAV, know of the problem. So if I wanted to call Symantec and talk with them about it, I should specifically mention Bellsouth.

I dunno, it seems like Bellsouth is asking for virus-laden computers to ruin their network.

For the record, after 4 hours of callbacks, my DSL service miraculously came back on. Bellsouth contends that is was my computer (even thought all the computers on my network were not able to access the internet - PCs, Macs, and UNIX machines), and they believe that it was probably due to the anti-virus software (even though the software was coexisting nicely with the internet until today, and after I removed the software the internet still didn't work for about two hours until it miraculously came back). I believe that they were having DNS issues in my neck of the woods, and they didn't want to own up to it.

Reply to
Jenn M.
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Symantec products are known for continuing to interfere with port 25 access even when email scanning is disabled, and/or the entire product is disabled.

I see this semi-regularly in my job (win32 mail server support)

Reply to
DevilsPGD

Currently running AVG ver 7.0 Full and that is one thing that has absolutely no effect on my connection. Zonealarm on the other hand...............

Regards

Starkiller©

"To act dishonorably is the most outrageous behavior imaginable to a Minbari. Captain Sheridan destroyed the Minbari cruiser Black Star during the war using mines - a "sneak attack" that earned him the name Starkiller among the Minbari."

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Reply to
Starkiller©

Hell!. Why didn't you just POWER OFF the computers that were running Symantec AV software and show them that you still couldn't access the Internet. E.g. power off all except a UNIX machine. If they still tried to insist it was the Symantec AV on the powered down computers that was having such a magical effect.

Of course they still wouldn't admit to anything. After all they are BS.

Reply to
Rostyslaw J. Lewyckyj

I have been running NAV 2002, with all the latest definitions, with XP Pro with no problems since Jan. 2002. I have DSL Extreme and also run ZA Pro v5.1.033 also with no problems. I would never think of running my pc with AV turned off and I'm surprised that "tech support" would make such a recommendation. It's like telling somebody to walk in a rough neighborhood wearing their most expensive jewelry and finest clothes. You're asking for trouble.

Reply to
G.R.

Reply to
The Quiet One

snipped-for-privacy@mailinator.com (Jenn M.) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

support.

problems

problem.

The first contact level at BellSouth support doesn't have a clue. Next time, ask for a supervisor or manager. If you don't get satisfaction, keep going up the ladder.

Regards, Joe

Reply to
Joe

Virus "protection"? BWAAAAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! :-D

Don't need no stinkin' virus "protection" here. :-P

Gene (e-mail: gene \a\t eracc \d\o\t com)

Reply to
ERACC

That "supervisor" or "manager" is as high as I've been able to get on the phone with these animals. And at that level, they know they're not gonna transfer your call any higher up the chain of command and so they display absolute contempt for the customers who pay the bill that pays their paychecks.

Next time something breaks down on my BS "service" I'm sending something quite plaintive to the snail mail address I've found somewhere on the site for BS corporate HQ, and posting copies of it on the internet for prospective new customers to read.

Reply to
Bob Peters

Is it hard to turn it off, or god forbid lie to the CSR about it being on? How in the world is anti virii software going to bother an ethernet connection anyway? Anyone running a USB modem deserves problems, and the CSR's should tell people how to UN install that crap spyware monitor thing that always says the newsgroups are down. It causes more problems than anything I have ever seen for a PC.

Reply to
kryppy

I can't believe you guys ever call them. I've called three times in seven years, and twice were during hurricanes to complain about no sync....which lasted only four hours! BellSouth is amazing as far as I am concerned, and I come from a time when the bridged connection was up only 50% of the time, and best effort was more than acceptable with unlimited 28.8 dialup. Doesn't the cheap 3MBS cable line run past your house?

Reply to
kryppy

Windows users with an IQ over 95 don't need it either.

Reply to
kryppy

I take it you must have the best network BS has to offer. But you must have also been a good little sheep and waited for the recent repeated and prolonged usenet server outages to be fixed without a peep. Or the occasional nameserver outage where no domain name on the internet can be found.

"And the biggest hard drive available was 5Gb and we liked it."

They couldn't keep their internet service up, so I got a DSL and a TV antenna. With Beavis and Butthead doing "tech support," every malfunction of BS now looks like they're trying to queue up for me to say, "Next."

Reply to
Bob Peters

Was your DSL modem losing its sync light? If it was then that doesn't have a damned thing to do with DNS. If it had sync then what about packet ping traces? If you could ping the CO side of the network but not further along then that, likewise, has nothing to do with DNS being up or down.

While it's entirely possible (even likely) that the support people at BS (what an appropriate abbreviation) are dumb as a bag of hammers it doesn't help to blame something that's unrelated.

Reply to
wkearney99

Must be my magic Alcatel 1000.

Reply to
kryppy

Or maybe...

And that explains it. A customer who was happy paying good money for a DSL line that only works half the time and settling for dial-up at a DSL price half the time is satisfied with the quality of "support" we get.

Reply to
Bob Peters

Yes it was terrible eight years ago when I had these problems. They fully resolved themselves about 1 year into it. Since then the thing has been rock solid with few exceptions, and I can only conclude you people with the constant problems need a computer course, or like to bitch about nothing.

I pull a gig or two from the terrible newservers daily.

Reply to
kryppy

And those of us who like to actually get what we pay for.

Then aren't you the fortunate son? They've been pretty good lately (knocks on wooden desk) but I have seen grossly degraded reliability from time to time on the NNTP server at BS.

Last month I even had to buy a month of service with a third party usenet provider to get what I consider part of my Bell South broadband ISP service. It was the only way I could keep usenet access. Not to mention the periods of "read only" access when I could pull messages but not post.

The constant DNS issue is an annoyance I shouldn't have to put up with, and can potentially produce periods of prevented access to navigating the internet. Some people here have ways to work around it by manually entering in certain domain servers, but every other ISP I've ever seen has no need to jump through such hoops. That's something that's supposed to just work for customers. Especially those of us whose DSL is at the costlier end of the local residential broadband price range.

And if I needed computer training, I would by now be stuck with a near useless home computer from some of the nonsense the underpaid trained monkeys at BS "tech support" have wanted done before being finally persuaded to check and find out that various different problems have been at their end instead of mine.

Reply to
Bob Peters

If usenet is your life, backup servers are a necessity. ISP only service. LOL

I haven't had this DNS issue. So I can't comment.

Reply to
kryppy

I use AVG as well (free version) and have no issues at all. Also, after getting SP2 with firewall, I just uninstalled ZoneAlarm related to the numerous issues with it.

Reply to
Scully

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