DSL continually stalls momentarily while loading pages or files

[wrdsl]

The short version:  AT&T accidentally disconnected my DSL service for 9 days.  Now that I have it back, it seems like everything other than the most simple webpages or very small downloads hang for a while.  Oddly, the AT&T Speedtest doesn't hang, and my download speed looks fine.  But, for example, if I click on a music video on YouTube, the first 7-15 seconds may play, and then it will stop for 30-60 seconds before resuming.  Google Maps used to work pretty well, but now it takes so long to load that it gives me a "Problems Downloading?" message.  Downloading a pdf document is similar - the download starts, hangs up for a minute or so, and then resumes.  Any ideas of why this might be happening?

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The longer version:  I've had AT&T DSL service for years, and have been quite satisfied with it.  About a year ago, I bought a new computer with 64-bit Windows 7, and because of compatability issues, that meant I had to get a new DSL modem.  I decided on a non-AT&T supported Actiontec GT701D, and installed it without incident.  Everything worked fine for about a year.

Then, in late March this year, my DSL service was accidentally disconnected for 9 days (apparently a service rep made a typo on some other person's order, typing in my phone number by mistake).  Although at the beginning, there was talk "restoring" my old service, what really seems to have happened is that I actually got new service, with my pre-existing email account and IDs being transferred over to it.

And now it temporarily halts when I click on anything bigger than very small chunks of data.

So, there was no physical change on my end - I have the same equipment and the line is the same.  I'm thinking that the problem is either one of two things - somehow some settings in my modem or computer were changed during the re-registration process, or else something changed on AT&T's end.  I did the re-registration with a service rep on the phone helping me through it all (and she was wonderful to work with, even if my service ended up being deteriorated).  We went through quite a lot of detailed settings both in my compurter and in the modem,  I don't remember making very many changes, but of course, just one could mess things up.

I've done a power recycle on the modem to see if that would make any difference,  but it didn't.  I'm thinking of trying to do a reset of the modem to the factory defaults to see if that would work, but worry that it might mess up my connection altogether, and having been offline for nine days earlier, that's not something I want to risk.

Anyone have any ideas of what is causing the problem and how to fix it? 

[Computer-Joe ACE - Master · Accepted solution]

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wrdsl wrote:

The short version:  AT&T accidentally disconnected my DSL service for 9 days.  Now that I have it back, it seems like everything other than the most simple webpages or very small downloads hang for a while.  Oddly, the AT&T Speedtest doesn't hang, and my download speed looks fine.  But, for example, if I click on a music video on YouTube, the first 7-15 seconds may play, and then it will stop for 30-60 seconds before resuming.  Google Maps used to work pretty well, but now it takes so long to load that it gives me a "Problems Downloading?" message.  Downloading a pdf document is similar - the download starts, hangs up for a minute or so, and then resumes.  Any ideas of why this might be happening?

------------------

The longer version:  I've had AT&T DSL service for years, and have been quite satisfied with it.  About a year ago, I bought a new computer with 64-bit Windows 7, and because of compatability issues, that meant I had to get a new DSL modem.  I decided on a non-AT&T supported Actiontec GT701D, and installed it without incident.  Everything worked fine for about a year.

Then, in late March this year, my DSL service was accidentally disconnected for 9 days (apparently a service rep made a typo on some other person's order, typing in my phone number by mistake).  Although at the beginning, there was talk "restoring" my old service, what really seems to have happened is that I actually got new service, with my pre-existing email account and IDs being transferred over to it.

And now it temporarily halts when I click on anything bigger than very small chunks of data.

So, there was no physical change on my end - I have the same equipment and the line is the same.  I'm thinking that the problem is either one of two things - somehow some settings in my modem or computer were changed during the re-registration process, or else something changed on AT&T's end.  I did the re-registration with a service rep on the phone helping me through it all (and she was wonderful to work with, even if my service ended up being deteriorated).  We went through quite a lot of detailed settings both in my compurter and in the modem,  I don't remember making very many changes, but of course, just one could mess things up.

I've done a power recycle on the modem to see if that would make any difference,  but it didn't.  I'm thinking of trying to do a reset of the modem to the factory defaults to see if that would work, but worry that it might mess up my connection altogether, and having been offline for nine days earlier, that's not something I want to risk.

Anyone have any ideas of what is causing the problem and how to fix it? 

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I would suggest a factory reset as well. Press and hold the reset button for 10 seconds. Yes, you will have to reconfigure the modem/router.  To do so, just enter this link: http://192.168.0.1 in your browser.  Choose "Manual Setup".  Choose "PPPoE".  Then enter your user name and password and you should be good to go.  Don't forget, when you enter your user name, to enter your entire email address like yourusername@att.net .

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
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I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
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There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
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“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

[wrdsl]

Thanks for encouraging me to do the reset - I did it and it seems to have helped quite a bit.

An odd thing happened during the process - I used the wrong password (my usual password, instead of the network one) and that triggered an online password reset tool without really giving me any obvious chance to switch to the right password.  But it got hung, and so I took that opportunity to fix the password, and all was well.

[AlexS13]

Been having problems with ATT internet for months, terrible customer service and even worst internet.

[Computer-Joe ACE - Master]

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wrdsl wrote:

Thanks for encouraging me to do the reset - I did it and it seems to have helped quite a bit.

An odd thing happened during the process - I used the wrong password (my usual password, instead of the network one) and that triggered an online password reset tool without really giving me any obvious chance to switch to the right password.  But it got hung, and so I took that opportunity to fix the password, and all was well.

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You never know what you're capable of until you try.

Glad I could be of assistance.

Be sure to stop back if you have any more problems.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

[Computer-Joe ACE - Master]

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AlexS13 wrote:
Been having problems with ATT internet for months, terrible customer service and even worst internet.

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If your having technical problems with your service, someone here might be able to help, if you could provide the details.

If you're having billing and/or payment problems with your service you should send Alex a message and he can put you in touch with the people to address those issues. To see his response, click the little blue envelope, upper right corner of this page.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell