Ordered DSL from AT&T and they're only allowing me 768Kbps basic. Tech support said the "port has been capped" Any reaso

[luv2hike]

I asked and they didn't have an explanation, only that someone with a faster connection has to move out of the neighborhood or cancel service before I can upgrade. I've had DSL from them before in a different location, and from my experience their tech support is pretty clueless. Is there an actual technical reason why a port would be capped at the bare minimum speed while others in the neighborhood can get a 6MB connection?

[jon_mac_usa_007]

It means in the area you live, there are plenty of older connections at slower speeds, and only a limited amount of faster connections which are all in use. So you must wait for some one, or a few people to cancel as to free up those higher speed connections.

[Paladin]

There are three ways of getting Internet from AT&T -- from a DSLAM in the Central Office, from a Remote Terminal, a small shed or a vault in the neighborhood, or from a new U-Verse terminal next to your B-Box.

I got my DSL in 1999, from the C.O.. I am about 3 miles from the C.O. and I could get about 600KB.
In 2007 I had a new line, from the RT, just 1.3 miles from my home, and now get about 5.5MB.
U-Verse is available, that box is about 0.4 miles from my home.

That's me. I know where the C.O. is, considering I worked there for about 15 years. Where is your C.O.? You can ask Justin at http://www.dslreports.com/coinfo

If you are 2+ miles from the equipment you cannot get a reliable signal over 768KB, which is why they cap it. (They used to allow more speed, but it was unreliable and they had too many complaints.) Your neighbors have their service from an RT. But they stopped making RTs when they started putting out U-Verse Which is why you have to kill a neighbor if you want high speed. Not that even that will work -- they will not tell you that a port is available from the RT and will connect it to a new subscriber in the house he bought from the deceased neighbor.

Tech Support is bad because only one in four have any idea of what they are doing. These three are script readers. The scripts were written by management people, not technicians. Management did not understand that the technicians told them. Whatever! You have a 75% chance of getting one of the idiots, 25% chance of getting help, which is why "their tech support is pretty clueless." Why not fire those 75%? DUH! Get rid of them and management will be out of a job also -- so they keep the idiots.