Guys,
I posted a thread a while back about our troubles with AT&T DSL service and got some great info. Unfortunately, our service has continued to degrade. We've had techs out several times, but they always tell us they are only linemen and not trained to work on DSL. They do what they can, but there is no improvement.

I work from home and the problem has gotten bad enough that, as of today, I simply cannot get work done. I used a Firefox plug-in called "Broadband Speed Test and Diagnostics" to measure our up and down rates. Down is running ~600kbps, which is probably fine. It's at least DSL speed. However, I ran the upload test about a dozen times and the results ranged from 6-40kbps (translating to something like 0.7-6 kB/s transfer).

What could cause an issue with upload rates without affecting download rates?

I've wasted somewhere aroun 15 hours now meeting techs, waiting on hold, being walked through the same scripted instructions to make sure my ethernet cable is actually plugged-in, etc. Does anyone have a magic email address or phone number I can use to get someone who actually gives a damn that the customer service rendered thus far has been a disaster?

Thanks in advance, guys.

Upload speeds are capped in the modem.  They do this to keep you from running a server or so they say.

It sucks.  I have a server in a server farm but uploading info from home takes forever.

I'm not a tech guy, but pretty sure it's what your paying for. Ask the company what your up/down speeds should be. If they are not giving you the speed your paying for, it's their responsibility to come out and fix it. I'd do a google search on the specific carrier your using. I also think some changes to your system settings might have something to do with it. Google is your friend...or, at least until it becomes aware and turns on us!  

Brad

From the information you have supplied I am going to guess you have a plan similar to this:
http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=10934

Either way, your upload speed is far to low.  Does anyone else in the home share the connection?  I would call back to AT&T no matter what and explain how long you have been experiencing this and you want to speak to a higher level tech.

Have you tried switching the DSL modem out?

Correct–– that's the exact plan we're using.



Not during the workday, but it's just as bad in the evenings.

Yes, to no improvement. We've also pulled a home-run cable, replaced the service entrance box on the side of the house, had our linemen switch us to several different pairs, pulled the router and switch out of the network and run the cable straight from the modem to my machine.  

It's bad enough now that I sometimes cannot send email at all, and it is virtually impossible to upload images (50kB to 500kB) to a hosting service.

check out www.dslreports.com and run their tests

check the forums for other people having the same issues in your service area
http://www.dslreports.com/forums/all

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/ilec,bels

hmmm,,,,
Xtreme » Any possible way to get a faster upload speed? (: 1 2 3 4 e) by elchar

There is a worm out there infecting DSL modems and various types of routers.  Find out if it is susceptible (Try slashdot.org, there was an article about it a couple of days ago).

Reset the DSL modem with a power cycle, then reset all other devices up the chain in sequence with a power cycle.

Make sure you are using the correct type of shielded cabling.  Regular radio shack phone cord is NOT the stuff you should use to run the line from the wall to the DSL modem, you want shielded wiring.

Make sure you don't have "dirty wiring", exposed copper, extra dead end runs, corrosion, kinking, etc. on the wiring on the way in.

Try removing any other branches of phone wiring in your house and see if speed improves. (Reset the DSL modem before testing)

Find out how far you are from the connection point.  Some people will be so far out the DSL connection starts to degrade from the distance it runs along the street.  You probably can't do anything about that besides switch to a different technology.

Even considering the up/down speed difference, you are not getting a good upload speed at all.

distance...15yrs with at&t .....dsl/uverse and cable repair qualified......hit me back with your number and i can run test 4 you, cant do full test till tuesday but can get a distance for you. Also all are uploads are around 750ish with 1.5 download but depends on what u got. also make sure all filters are in and in good working shape....check all phones and see if you hear the modem syncing up, if you hear this you have a bad filter. They could of split it at nid as well but hit me back and i can see what i can do....i can also do a neighbor check as you might have some t1's or circuits interferring with your bandwidth.,......let me know

 

Guys,
Thanks for the input so far.

Onesht, I'll IM that info. Service tech said we're sitting right at 5,000ft. Thanks for offering to help.

Other answers to questions:

1. This is dry-loop service running on a single home-run cable. Service comes in from the street on an aerial, down to the box on the side of the house, then goes straight to our office on a single Cat-5e. All other lines in the house have been disconnected and do not go anywhere but to another old box on the side of the house. There's no service to this box, and it doesn't tie into the new DSL box or the Cat-5e.

2. In our office, the Cat-5e feeds directly to the DSL modem. This is our third modem in as many months, and hasn't changed the speed of the connection.

3. We've had them switch pairs at the street several times, and also once had them switch us at the big box down the road. Supposedly, we're in a problematic area with a lot of splices and large run of old cable that had a road built over it a few years ago.  Service is worse when it rains, and improves a little when it dries out. This has been true on every pair we've used. There's no water getting into the box on our house, but the techs have said it's possible that there's a problem with some splices in the aerial over the street. Of course, they've been out here numerous times and haven't replaced those.

4. I've run the speed.fastaccess.com test before. In fact, every time I call into support they make me run that test. I'm pretty suspicious of the results it gives. I've had to reload that page after timing out half a dozen times when on the phone with a tech, and then it will take a couple of minutes to go through only to say my up and down rates exceed the program we're on. Very frustrating, because all the tech on the phone cares is that the page says we're blazing fast. It's reporting 640/132 kbps right now, which I think is believable because it seems to be working ok right now.

check im

Thanks for trying to run that trace. We're out in the boonies, but we hear that Uverse is heading our way soon.