I'm having MAJOR issues with my internet - what could be the problem?

Question

EVERYDAY - without fail - my internet stops working at around 6:30 p.m. and won't come back on until atleast 10:00 p.m. It also stops working at random intervals throughout the day. I own a business and have to do a lot of my bill paying online. Sometimes in the middle of it all my internet stops working and the transcations get messed up. Due to this I have lost THOUSANDS of dollars. I have Verizon DSL. I call them and complain but all they do is guide me through this long process and they don't really help. We do not want to switch our ISP (Internet Service Provider).But we really want to know what's causing the problem. Any ideas? Could someone be jamming or signal - inadverntenly or otherwise? Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

If you've lost $1000s due to this, then you need to get Verizon to provide you with a service level agreement. They need to guarantee you that your service will not go out or they pay a penalty. You would probably have to pay more per month for your Internet access to get this level of service, but it would seem to be worth it. If it's as bad as you say, I'd get Verizon to offer you some other access technology than DSL. Don't look at the consumer offerings, look at the business offerings.

There are really only two things that could cause this.

1. Assuming that the PCs on your network can still communicate with each other on the LAN, but not the Internet. Has your router somehow frozen up? Does rebooting the router bring connectivity back? Who owns the router, you or Verizon?

2. Is the DSL line itself down? Are there any LEDs or anything on the router that would indicate that the DSL circuit is up?

It's weird that this would occur at the same time every day? All Verizon can do is help you troubleshoot it or send someone to troubleshoot it. Your option is to vote with your checkbook and switch providers. Once again - look for a business grade service, not a consumer service.