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Re: [PLUG] DCANet DSL Offerings (WAS: Speakeasy/COVAD outages yesterday)
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On 02 Jun, 2006, at 15:34, Ben Dugan wrote:
William H. Magill wrote:
Unless things have changed in recent years, COVAD buys or leases
"dry- pairs" from Verizon and then connects them to their own DSL
equipment.
What does it tell you if the DCA guy says "The Covad outages
experienced
in the past few weeks were related to a DS3 problem in one of the
Philadelphia COs"? That is: (a) What does "DS3" refer to? and (b)
If its
in the CO, does that mean its Verizon's problem, or could the Covad
equipment actually be located in the CO?
DS3 is a "fat pipe" -- 45meg baud. It's the circuit from which 15 T1
lines are made.
DCAnet on the other hand is simply reselling Verizon DSL.
And they're simply reselling Covad, too, right?
Yes.
COVAD, I believe, is a CLEC -- Competitive Local Exchange Carrier.
DCAnet is simply an ISP -- Internet Service Provider. (As is Speakeasy.)
Verizon is both an RBOC -- Regional Bell Operating Company, als known
as the ILEC, Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier -- as well as an ISP.
RBOCs and CLECs are regulated by the FCC and State Public Utility
Commissions (or whatever name is used). ISPs are unregulated.
"Dry pairs" are a tariffed service. DSL is not.
Ok.
Both COVAD and DCAnet are still dependent upon Verizon to "roll a
truck" if there is a problem with the "last mile" wire (which they
have to pay for). In COVAD's case, they can send their own tech out
first to verify the problem is in the local-loop before calling
Verizon.
Can Covad go into the CO and swap boards or otherwise troubleshoot
stuff
there?
COVAD, like Cavtel (Cavalier Telephone) "purchases" the copper
circuit for the last mile (from the CO to your home) from the ROBC.
Once that circuit is "deeded" over to the CLEC, it is terminated in a
separate location in the CO facility which belongs to the CLEC. In
that facility, for DSL lines, is located the DSLAM -- Digital
Subscriber Local Access Module. It is owned by the CLEC. A DSLAM,
like the old modem pool cards, typically has either 4 or 8 local
loops connected to it. That DSLAM and each individual port on it
belong to the CLEC who can maintain them however they wish.
Typically, the DSLAM has some kind of remote management capability.
DCAnet simply calls Verizon. (Both of them go through the
dog-and-pony nonsense of playing with your Windows PC before they
even bother to admit there is a problem.)
On this point I have to say: Speakeasy has been very good about not
putting me through useless exercises. When I tell them I have no
DSL, it
only takes them a few minutes to confirm it. And they don't check my
Windows credentials or anything either.
I know with Verizon circuits, DCAnet has full remote diagnostic and
reset access to the Verizon DSLAM. I don't know what hardware is in
use, so I have no idea of the remote management capabilities available.
Some problems are quite obvious -- the most common being that the
DSLAM port needs to be reset to force the remote modem to "re-sync."
T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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