new service at new residence

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
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by Guest » Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:03 am
I'm looking to order elite dsl in the near future and had a couple of questions regarding installation. It will be at a new residence which I am going to be moving in soon and I recently took a look and there was no NID box or anything in the house, so I went ahead and placed a new line installation from AT&T for a landline. I assume they will install a NID box or something similar.

Now, I am not familiar at all with how equipment/wiring works for phone/dsl/etc, but many years ago, at my current residence, I remember a tech from AT&T coming out to do some maintenance on my dsl line and in the process he installed a NID box as well as a smaller box (POTS splitter I think, it does have DSL marked on the front of it). I don't think they will put one of these in place when they install my new landline since I'm not ordering dsl service from them.

I guess my overall question is, what kind of work needs to be done on AT&T's end/my own end to ensure that when I order sonic's dsl service, that I could be up and running on the same day that the sonic install happens? Is the sonic install a self-installation or will a tech come out to do the install?
by wa2ibm » Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:48 pm
Guest wrote:Is the sonic install a self-installation or will a tech come out to do the install?
Yes, and yes. Typically, when you order Sonic DSL and order a modem from them, they will include several mini-filters with the kit for you to install. If, however, you'd like a tech visit from Sonic, then you need to order that specifically, since there's a charge for that.

If you already have a DSL modem from your old location, the chances are good that it will work on Sonic DSL at your new location. You can talk to Sonic at the time of your order to determine that and, if necessary, send you a (some) mini-filters.

Have you checked to see if you're eligible for Sonic's Fusion service? If you are, then you'll get both your dialtone and broadband from Sonic equipment at the CO.

In either case, AT&T usually doesn't provide the whole-house filter that you saw at your old location. All installs are now self-install using the mini-filters at each phone. However, as many have found, it's best to use just one filter at/near the NID and using a home-run CAT5 cable directly to your modem, and feeding the rest of the house from the output of the single filter. That way, there are no 'antennas' hanging off of the modem line to create noise problems.
by Guest » Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:05 pm
Thanks for the reply.

I have checked and I am too far from Fusion at the new address. Funny thing is at my current address I can get Fusion.

In terms of the whole house splitter you referred to (I assume you are talking about the smaller gray box I mentioned)...would there be any way to request this from the sonic tech if I requested one to do the install for me? I'd rather not have to use mini-filters again as I believe that was my main problem many years ago with my current dsl and line noise and it was a nightmare to determine why I constantly kept disconnecting. However, you also mentioned that AT&T doesn't usually provide that, so would installing that type of filter be my own responsibility?
by wa2ibm » Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:24 pm
Yes, as I mentioned earlier, letting the raw line run all over the house and using mini-filters at each phone is a sure way to get a lot of extra noise.

Anymore, it's your responsibility to install the filters, whether it's a whole house filter or mini-filters. I've had good luck using one mini-filter as a whole-house filter, it just has to be inside somewhere. I'm lucky in that my NID is on the outside of the garage and the inside of that wall is fully accessible and I put the inside mini-filter there, running the output of the filter back out to the NID to connect to the rest of the house wiring. Then again, I'm very comfortable doing that kind of wiring myself. YMMV.

This would be something to discuss with Sonic when you make the order.
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