I'm a homeowner with CenturyLink POTS. Just hit my 4th week with intermittent dialtone and ADSL2+ Sync'ing issues. All testing done from the NIC, no IW connected, Modem and Buttset only, all hanging outside on the wall. I am in the 509-996- (Winthrop WA CO). 4 different modems (including a tech loaner of the ZyXel Centurylink CT-1100-T)

When it works, all is good. 4 trouble tickets now, 1 DSL 6 Subscriber Card replaced at the Remote, 1 dialtone card replaced at the CO and Tech shot the last mile of copper pair and rolled me a better pair yesterday. No improvement. Tech said we are all Fiber from the CO to the remote (DSLAM I think the term). I have about 7300 ft of original underground cabling from there to the house.

When the intermittent loss of dialtone when on-hook occurs, line is sitting at about ~ -1 VDC, no hum, noise, or clicks. I if I call into my line number (from a cell phone or VoIP), it may ring, it may be busy or the ringing may seize the line and auto answer (but no voice path is made). Normal operation is -52VDC on-hook, 25 mA off-hook loop current at about 6VDC through an old BellSouth 1996 483 telephone set.

When there is no dialtone, it takes out the DSL sync, sometimes will resync at 147k Uplink (normal is 892k). This can last for minutes or 12 hours, very randon as to when the intermittent clears. Forced retaining of the sync seldom improves the uplink speeds. I can't complete a Century Internet Speed Test as it fails on the uplink testing.

Here are is a clue that my service tech doesn't seem to umm, "consider"...

1) Each trouble ticket placed for no dial tone, appears to clear the line for awhile about 30 minutes after the ticket is generated, coincidence maybe, tech sez he doesn't know what is done upstream of him. In every case, when the online ticket repair system checks my line, the line passes the test (though I have no dialtone) so I must agree to pay $85 to generate the ticket if it is an IW problem. All testing is from the NIC with no IW connected.

2) There is a 30 sec cadence of voltage clicks that provide somewhere between 6-48 Volts (to short to measure with a digital meter, analog meter on order, actually a Tempo Sidekick 7B), there are 2 quick clicks every 30 seconds indefinitely...this happens with or without the modem powered up and again, at the NIC, no IW).

So my tech sez he doesn't know what more to do. I said I'm going to rip out all my IW, put the modem back outside with an old Princess phone and keep it there so he can see it is not IW. But he also admitted he heard the clicks at some point (I assume from the CO or some place in between). But the the intermittent has not happened while he has been onsite.

So he finally gave me his cell and I can now call and leave a message when it starts again and then when it quits. He is very busy (I believe the only tech out of our CO), he said I'm killing him with these trouble tickets (make him look bad, that is why he gave me his number).

So now we are going to play the report it directly as it happens and when he can look at it, he will and hopefully run down this problem.

While waiting for this to get traction, I thought I'd throw this out to the group. I'm hopeful that the 30 seconds of 2 voltage clicks will point me to where to point the teck.

BTW...the off-shore Internet Support sucks, the online ticketing for phone repair is slick and I have yet to see how this will end up being billed.

If it seemed to be moisture related I would say it was the underground cable.

If you haven't already; the next time you lose sync, take the modem outside and plug it straight into the NID and see if it comes back up. It might be possible that there is something in the NID that is causing an issue. (NID - the box on the outside of your house)

All testing was done from the NIC/NIB/NID/Demarc. Everything described was at the demarc with no IW.

I did forget to mention that the NIC was replaced yesterday as well after the tech rolled a new pair that shot well.

Update from yesterday...

One other thing I've found in testing at the Dmarc is that when going back on-hook, battery goes to 44 VDC for about 2 seconds before returning to the 52 VDC idle. I think this is normal and may have something to do with Caller on Hold or Conference, which I do subscribe to.

So yesterday...I get a call from the tech...he said he was going to try something...and since then I've had 19 hours of DSL Sync, no retrains and about the fastest bandwidth in memory as well as good dial tone that doesn't kill the DSL sync when going off-hook or on incoming calls.

The tech replaced the dial tone card, this being the second card during this 4 weeks. I don't know if these are new cards are a stack of old cards that were pulled for various issues and they just go with the random swapping to fix a customer's issue at the moment. We will test for one more day before I return the loaner DSL modem and go back onto IW.

I think now this is solved, though pro comments are welcome. Looking forward to getting the Sidekick to help out here in our little HOA community.

Not to belabor this time-waster...the second dialtone card swap at the CO fixed dialtone and DSL issue related. I can only wonder if these cards from from the recycle bin or out of new stock.

I would haphazard to guess the cards get put back on the shelf until something definitive, say perhaps smoke being released, proves the card is the problem.

Or the sticky note on card falls off and nobody knows if its good or intermittent until its pulled and used again.

🤣