DSL problem...please help:(

I went through the same problem. Turns out the Speedport W 500V is programmable and will not connect until after it is programmed. If you have green lights, but a red "online" light, this is most likely your problem. You have to go to a special web page, all in German (of course), to program it.

Before doing so, uninstall all software that came with the device (and T-Online). This software is not needed, and evidently, according to the agent, will not work correctly with other than German language OS's. Once the Speedport is programmed, you will use your standard browser, email program, and so on, not the special T-Online software.

By the way, that German Language software will handle the process of programming the Speedport automatically - Germans rarely have to go the the programming web page. However, according to the agent, this is the part that appears not to work correctly with other versions of the OS. We, without that software, have to program the Speedport manually.

Next, contact T-Online's technical support and ask to speak to an English Language agent (they work during normal business hours only). Once you get an English agent, you will be passed around a few times to someone familiar with the process. Once you get the right person, he will walk you through the entire process of programming the Speedport (each page of the website and how to upload it to the Speedport). Once this process was completed, my Speedport connected immediately (orange instead of red light) and has been going strong ever since.

In short, contact technical support and be determined, but polite, until you get the help needed. The agent I finally talked to was friendly, understanding, and very helpful. Take care

Stewart

sorry stewart, what a load of pap mate.

you been had.

more than likely they activated your modem while u were being sent around the houses.

if anyones getting DSL, i recommend 1und1, theyve been great unlike the nightmare T COM.

got a 360euro bill in the other week for services that i havent had...

another visit to piss them off in the shop coming up... quite enjoyable now i have DSL.

they dont have to activate anything just switch on your line.
you dont have to use the speedport modem/router you can use one from any company.

I think you are getting confused with putting in your details into the speedport. What page are you talking about as mine is installed and working without going to any special page. You do all this yourself as DT/Telekom dont have your password for the internet connection.

yes bbulldog, by activate your modem i meant activate your line.

i have wireless broadband 6meg with a neighbor now. 10 euro per month, cant complain.
the Jerrys have been quite good sports here in berlin i must admit. last week i was offered as many spirits for just 5 euro for the night in my local... mad!

I don't agree, maverick. And I'll explain why. There are four steps to getting internet access - the phone line, getting DSL activated on that phone line, the physical hardware connections (Speedport, splitter, and so on), and programming the Speedport. It sounds to me like he has the first three, but has not yet programmed the Speedport.

The lights on the Speedport provide clues. When the T-DSL light is green, the Speedport is detecting a DSL activated phone line. If the phone line is not activated, this light would be red or off.

If the T-DSL light is green (DSL detected), but the "online" light is off or red, the Speedport is waiting to connect to the service. This requires a user name and password, which is programmed into the Speedport along with other information. If he has not programmed this into the Speedport, he will not be able to connect the the internet. Again, for assistance with programming the Speedport, I point him to the advice in my previous message.

If he has programmed the Speedport, but still having problems accessing the internet, he might want to check the computer setup. The computer connects to the Speedport using a standard Local Area Connection (Ethernet). The Speedport is set up to work properly with the default computer settings. If he has changed these, perhaps with a previous setup, then they need adjustment back to the defaults.

We could go on and on about possible problems (other settings, bad hardware, and more), but much of that is beyond the scope of a simple discussion board.

Stewart

When I lived in Berlin I had to get by for 3 years without even a telephone line, lived in eastern Berlin and telephones were a rarity back then (and this was AFTER reunification, they still took 3 years to connect the line).

Another thing about DT/T-Online/T-Com or whatever they cal themselves now, if you have a problem with DSL and you have Linux instead of Windows the hotline support wont help you.

what exactly does this mean??

Stewart,

On 3 out of 4 steps, you are indeed correct. Explained very well.

The problem i had was that the Speedport was red, hence my DSL line was not activated.

There is no programming or configuring of the speedport required for usernames or passwords as this is done by installing t-com or whoevers software. not the router itself, the only thing that you would update on a router is the firmware, but u wouldnt even need to do that with this.

The problem is clearly in this case, t-com (or wÄ****s as i call them) have not activated the line.

Pure and simple, its happened to me, and countless of my neighbors. It takes countless phone calls and visits to the shop to get it activated. You will get lied to by their "technical idiots" countless times, put thru to dead numbers by the "english team" and be told the magikal "back office" is dealing with it, but its all pap as nothing happens - they do nothing. they are the worst scum you will ever encounter.

Im living in Germany now, and as such have lowered greatly my expectations of customer service and dealing with corporate companies.

I urge everyone to fax their free fax no advising them they are tö****s!

Ive never been wound up by something as much as these people have infuriated me.
Ive recently just watched the Hostel film, and i would like to send these fü****s to Bratislava to be butchered i can tell ye.

i looking to start a campaign of public awareness against them if anyone wants to join, check out my first GIF banner.

this is rubbish, you dont have to install any software but better is to configure the router.

please advise wat the t-com software i installed was for?

especially the section requiring your username & psw.

same for arcor s/w and 1und1.

same process

Well, if you knew what the problem was (the line not activated), why post anything about it here? I doubt any of us can activate your line. If your goal, however, is some form of advocacy, I didn't respond to that. I responded to the problem mentioned in the post starting this discussion.

As far as the software is concerned, I was told not to install that software since it does not work correctly with other language versions of the OS. And, indeed, I had installed it before calling tech support and it didn't work. Instead, I was told to uninstall it and then walked through the process of setting up the Speedport manually (as explained in my first message). That worked.

When I signed up (just a few weeks ago), it took four days for the telephone and another three over the weekend to activate the DSL. That is certainly a long time, but not outright unreasonable. That is not to say your differnent experience is any less valid, only that I cannot identify with your complaint.

By the way, I'm also living in Germany now (Weinheim - near Mannheim & Heidelberg). This is my second extended visit to Germany. The last time was for a period slightly over nine years.

Take care, maverick.

Stewart

This thread should be closed..

If the Arrogance of Maverick is to be beleived then I will take the fairies at the bottom of my garden for tea with the queen tomorrow.

TELEKOM own ALL the copper wire and Fibre that service the domestic market.. If you are rude, ignorant or a total twat the the T-Kom interface, what do you expect?

One of my companiesis a T-kom interface offering all T-koms services, but in your language!... We hate it when we get tossers like you calling, bitching about the service.

Tell me you never made a mistake that affected others!

you dont need to install any of these software. I have t-online and have NO software installed. These software are complete rubbish and only slow down the computer, they are not needed for internet!

sorry maverick but it is obvious that you dont know what you are doing.

Actually, after seeing how bloated this software was, I was thrilled when told it was not needed. T-Com is not the only one doing this. Indeed, since a lot of companies in the United States (Earthlink and others) are now doing the same thing (asking users to install software not really needed), it looks like a growing trend.

The primary purpose of this software is to deliver advertising. It often comes with a modified browser (with advertsing across the top) and a modified email program (again with ads across the top and often embeded in outgoing email messages). In the process of installing this software, they often disable Internet Explorer, most other common browsers, and most other email programs.

Clearly, I would prefer something other than endless advertising and I suspect the same is true for others. After a long discussion with my previous service provider (Earthlink), I was able to get the necessary settings for Windows, IE, and Outlook, without using their additional software. In the case of T-Com, language (their software in German) eliminated the need for this same long discussion to do the same.

Sadly, again the trend appears to be going the opposite direction. It appears most large ISP's are working hard to find ways to firce their own advertising-filled user interface on consumers (requring it for at least some part of their services). The internet experience is changing and not at all for the better.

And that is the end out my rant. Take care all.

Stewart

Well, we've been with T-Com for 5 months now and I have never met such a bunch of untrained people in my entire life.

What gives me the standing to say that?

15 years in IT. 2 MCSE's. A career based in IT Support, then Admin/Network admin, IT Network Security (lan and server) consultant and now Airport IT consultancy. Assembly language game published (so very good knowledge of O/S) and an early adopter of DSL and many providers.

The story:

We move into our flat. Our landlady arranges install for our DSL. It arrives 3 weeks later (bad but forgivable). It worked 2 days... then suddenly drops for no reason... but the DSL connect light is on, whilst the "Internet" light is not.

I ring them and ask if they have stopped the supply? They say no (of course). They send a reset command to the modem and tell me they will check the line and get back to me within 24 hours.

Two days later, still no net and no phone call.

I ring them. They can't understand why its not fixed. Whilst on the phone to them it suddenly springs into life! I thank them and they say "No problem, pleasure to help" <--- blatent lie as they did NOTHING as I am about to explain.

The next day the line drops again and then comes back up... This to me stinks of a dodgy connection - wiring. I also phone them several times and they pass me around (after answering after being on hold for about 40mins on average) and I get various excuses/replies (not limited to the ones below):

"OK - we will check the exchange programming... again" Oh dear.
"OK - Oh it looks like someone has turned you off" Why the F*(K did you do that?!?
"OK - We have fixed it, it will work in the next 24 hours" Heard that one somewhere before
"OK - It has now finaly been fixed and will work in the next 24 hours" Damn - familiar again?
"OK - I see we did a reset before but let me try a diferent reset" Yeah right! Born yesterday I was!
"Oh - you have exceeded your usage allowance and so been restricted" IF ONLY I F*&KING COULD!

Each and every single time, they tell me one of these answers I inform them that I disagree one hundred percent and that its a loose/poorley wired connection.

Anyway, a MONTH later after me screaming at them they FINALY send someone round ... guess what? Loose wire in the exchange/patch board in the flats we live in.

All good now?

Yep - well the cabling is!

We quickly discovered our landlady had put us on T-DSL Start - well about as usefull as a choclate teapot. I asked to be changed to 6meg flat "Of course, no problem".

4 Months later, we are still waiting... still stuck on T-DSL Start. There has been a support ticket for this to rectify on there side ... aparantly, no action has been taken on it. SUPRISE!

The ONLY small plus is that no matter how much the bill is, and its often 150/200 euro's a month, we only have to pay 21.23 a month. Not exactly 6meg flat though if you get my drift.

We have to move in a month, guess who I won't be going with

DT Suck

sounds similar to my experience...

good luck with them sorting your bill out as i cant see it happening myself!

the it will be on in 24 hours is a classic of theirs.
its ever so frustrating to call them, tell them the problem and they (repeatedly) do nothing about it.
im still waiting for the back office to get back to me... 3 months so far Go DT!!

saw the guy who sold it to us the other day and he almost burst into tears when i yelled out his name.

Well, good luck. When we first arrived, we tried two other service providers after several co-workers recommended against Deutsche Telekom (too expensive or whatever). One of those service providers wasted almost two months (installing the phone and preparing to setup internet access) only to ultimately say that, according to Deutsche Telekom, high speed internet was not available for this house.

The second ISP took almost two weeks to check out why, when their computers showed high speed internet access was available for this house, the first ISP had said it was not. We simply could not get it across to them that we really didn't care why the first ISP had said that - we just wanted high speed internet access as quickly as possible. They, on the other hand, said they wanted an answer from Deutsche Telekom before proceeding.

We finally realized both ISP's were entirely focused on Deutsche Telekom. As that point, we decided to eliminate the middleman and go directly to the source. Shortly afterwards, we had an account with Deutsche Telekom and were (as described in previous messages) happily roaming the internet.

Stewart

i wish the same could be said for myself... i hope your bill is correct!

This is because all the cabling still belongs to Telekom. If you get tel/Internet with any other company for example 1und1 they still rent the lines off Telekom and it is obvious that they will wait for telekom before proceding with your connection. The first company probably asked telekom and they said no.

Luckily they have been happy to accept the flatrate 1meg payment for the past four months even though our bill is 150-200 euros each month. It is a pain in the rear coz I have to ring them, they then say "Oh of course sir, this is our problem, will make a note on the payment blah blah blah"...

So, for that little point, DT are good for us.

Just wish it was the 6meg flat i requested!

good morning all!
first of all, I`d like to say that I am with DT! and have never had a problem with them (If I don`t count switching to DSL) in fact, I have never had to call the hot line. And never plan to! when the bill comes, it gets filed un opened without looking at it! (no worries there!) I don`t look at how much comes off my account! So ask me how much I pay... I don`t know! don`t want to stress meself with little things like that!
As for taking a long time to open some web sites, trotz DSL, I make meself a tea, and am glad of the break some times! I use the software to go online, and don`t know how to go around this! and don`t want to, as soon as you start fiddling with stuff like this, you occur problems, and have to start making phone calls, and we don`t want that do we!
O and BTW, it takes nearly 10 min. to get online! but hey, do the washing up or something in this time, (has to be done sometime!)

The snag with using the T-Online software is that installation on an English version of Windows can cause big problems... During installation , the T-Online install program checks for the correct GERMAN version of some windows files - of course, the files already installed will be ENGLISH. The result is that several key components of Windows are replaced by older German versions and some other programs might not run properly (e.g. Microsoft Office).

T-Online is not that difficult to setup under Windows, Mac or Linux without any T-Online software, providing you have the info about how the supplied T-Online account information is used to make a username and password - and the names of the email servers. This is not so easy to figure out if you don't speak German...

10 minutes to connect jaygee thats a long time. I am straight away in internet dont have to wait for anything. No Software installed as this is what causes delays and slows things down. Never used the software and never will, not in the old days with software routers!. If you are happy with the software solution then thats up to every individual


not with Telekom routers they now have everything separate so you dont have to make up that looooooong username out of about 5 different things

OK OK 10 min. was exagerated, but does take a long time!
Go on then tell us or put us onto a site that explains (for dummies) in german or eng. how to get round the software!
And if I get probs. then its not DT. that I will be phoning but BBulldog! reversed charges

I think he was not just refering to that but also the SMTP/POP details as well as actually getting this information. If you don't speak feck all German like me, it can be very tricky but, you can just phone t-online and ask to speak to the English support team ... makes life so much easier - as long as you only want "standard" information.

Actually getting them to do anything, well, thats a diferent story!

if you let me know what router you have i can check it out, can run you through the setup.

that is also no problem as i have that at home too

there you go... over me head already!!!
if you mean this DSL modem thingy, then it says teledat 431 LAN on the top, (god I need to do some dusting!)

Ok that is just a Modem and not a router so you cant use an easy option without software. Only if you install a pppoe driver. So for you the best is to leave things as they are or get a DSL Router some time(€50 approx)

My 0.02 cts

Telekoms responsiblity for the cabling, ends when it enters you buildings patch pannel... usually on the left side of your patch pannel as you look at it..

Second problem I can see is that for some crazy reason you seem to want to use T-online software.. its not needed. Set-up a PPoE connection in your set-up wizard.

Third... Organise what you want and dont expect your landlady to do it.

If you dont speak German... how can you blame Someone else?

Telekom now sell the lines to the other providers...(I think)

And last but not least If you want to order t-kom/DSL... In English... Then drop me a PM with your mail adress.. I am a T-kom agent!

Geoff

The person in question didn't even know what DSL router they had so you are way above them in suggesting this.


These I can assume are aimed right at me:

1st - The landlady messed up but, that was no big deal in itself - did i bi&ch and moan about her? No, I did not.

2nd - I spoke to the ENGLISH support team at T-DSL. They have an ENGLISH team who spoke perfect ENGLISH to me. So I can TOTALY blame them.


No thanks - never, ever, ever will I ever buy from T-Com/Online again. They take the German lack of customer service to new and unprecedented levels.

You join up yesterday... Ask for help.. then bitch at us..

Welcome to the Britboard.

I am outa here before I say something bad...

.

they have really good English support, although they got really annoyed with me after it took me 4 calls to figure out the stupid password to turn on the DSL, considering T-com is Deustche Telecom I don't understand why they can't answer the English line you get through right away on the German line but the English line they never answer, I waited for a good hour once and gave up.

When you take T-com the software comes with the whole package, but i stop using it, they run ads in the corner of the browser, no problem with that, just the annoying clicking every 30 secs when the ad changed drove me mad.

Helps if you actually read and understand people posts rather than just skimming them...

If your going to have a pop at people, at least understand what they said, and I did not ask for help, i offered my experience on T-Com, not my fault if your an agent for a bunch of wasters who seem to be brilliant at PRE-sales support. Try getting anything done AFTER sales.

Our experience was 40mins on average - we kept a record (which sadly we dont have any more).

I could not agree with you more.

I agree Satman but if you are not too good on the computer side setting up a PPPoE is not that easy. I always tell people to get a router even if they only have one computer as it is easier to set up and of course safer with a built in firewall.

shall leave things be, but cheers!

Ok..

Usual Times for procuring a T-kom connection.

Phone.. Usually 3 working days..
DSL usually 2 days later!

ISP.. within 5 Minutes!

Testimonial!

Our service is "British" service and not German!

do let us know if they actually correct your bill because what they say and what they do are 2 different things.

ive currently wrote a letter to DT in hope they will sort our mess out but failing that we intend to goto their head office here in berlin.

here here, wait til u start getting the migraines, ive never suffered with them before and im 27 but god damn these DT f************************************s

im off to england for the weekend but when i get time i will create some more T-Com gifs.

TCOM suck

my experience aswell,
the german language was not an issue for us however, it was the BS that they kept telling us in any language

however customer service from 1und1 was pretty good, they spoke both languages and emails were replied in english too.

my advice is that if u need internet, if possible try and share a wireless connection with your neighbor or if u have to order it, just get the telekom line
from tcom and then go for a dsl package from 1und1.

if thats true satman then fair play,

cos it took tkom 2 weeks to send my modem, the germans have no idea how to do business in my eye, they r so slow at everything, if i order anything from a german company i have to plan when i need it 2 weeks in advance!!! i have things ordered from england and even the states which arrive quicker!

sure our expectations are higher here and we should try and adapt.

arcor (who failed to install our phone line&dsl - 2 times!), we have returned the equipment and canx the contract, but we keep getting bills despite writing to them, so we went to the shop and they called the cust serv and my gf spoke to them in german, and they were insisting we were in a contract and that we must pay for telephone and dsl with them that they failed to install twice. he would not take no for an answer, the rudeness of it, she even said would you pay for dsl u never had? thru no fault of your own? he said yes because im in a contract and i would do it and then cancel it at the end.

when u r dealing with this level of stupidity and mentality when trying to get an internet connection it is no wonder peoples first posts on this board are going crazy.

anyway, life is now bliss here in berlin now my tkom worries have left me, and my migraines are gone. i will maybe go to the tkom shop again to torment the a** who sold it to me, give him some of the shit we have gone thru

The Guys you go and Torment in the shops( even on the phone) are working on a commission basis... so there is no incentive for them to sort out any problems.

We do it a different way... We do not get any commission, but do charge 25€ to procure things...

Our man on the inside,( our team rep) does get commission, but as we actually deal with most problems, cos they are usually due to the technical incompitence of "jo Public" Then the faults we do actually report are actually faults and the T-kom guys can see that when we call the fault in... this done by doing various loop tests on the line... We also have most of the hardware shipped to us, as we install it too, and the modem and splitters usually arrive the day before switch om..!

I do not particularly like t-kom, but they are the best of a bad bunch...

Lets stop harping on about how shit they are!
And yes.. we are that good! :$
G

Well they dont ever "correct" the bill as such but, four months of doing this and they have not cut us off. The new bill always shows just the rate for the new month and no outstanding money for the previous... so i guess its all working correctly.

Me n my BIG mouth.

So they Corrected the previous two bills without issue and I was very impressed (with the temporary resolution).

Guess what, I have now spent the total of an hour on the phone trying to resolve this for Jan and Feb. ONly to be passed around more and more and more and more and more and more and then some more, finaly to speak to someone in the English team for him to then just hang up on me!!!

Answers to some of your inbound questions:

Yes I have done this a couple of times
Yes I am using the SAME number as the previous two times

Sorry Satman, your company may offer excellent service but I stand by my view of this so called "company" called T-Online. And that view, I cannot say in public.

Oh and to the poster above, I've NEVER suffered migraines before, ever, and started getting them since dealing with these guys.

edit: and I made it to 31 and 11months before my first migraine.

T-online and T-kom are 2 separate companies..

Its your own fault for going to T-offline anyway!

If you used us as your interface.. we would sort your problems for you.. However, we only offer this service to our existing customers.. we will not pick up your hot potato.

I will lean towards Mavericks veiws here... T-online are wank!