average life span of DSL modem?

   / average life span of DSL modem? #1  

Soundguy

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I'm realitively new to DSL.. just had it for right at a year now... Yesterday no internet.. after hemming and hawing with tech support for an hour they decided my modem died.. asked if we had any power outages that day.. etc... nope.. no power outages.. and al the other phone equipment onthe phone line was fine.

Question.. to you longer time users.. how long does your equipment last.. are these things prone to just dieing.. etc?

Mine happens to be a 2Wire brand unit provided by Embarq... has worked fine fromt he day i plugge dit in till now.

( now I gotta go thru all that mess with the router and the wireless laptops / WEP stuff all over again... not fun... )

soundguy
 
   / average life span of DSL modem? #2  
Soundguy said:
I'm realitively new to DSL.. just had it for right at a year now... Yesterday no internet.. after hemming and hawing with tech support for an hour they decided my modem died.. asked if we had any power outages that day.. etc... nope.. no power outages.. and al the other phone equipment onthe phone line was fine.

Question.. to you longer time users.. how long does your equipment last.. are these things prone to just dieing.. etc?

Mine happens to be a 2Wire brand unit provided by Embarq... has worked fine fromt he day i plugge dit in till now.

( now I gotta go thru all that mess with the router and the wireless laptops / WEP stuff all over again... not fun... )

soundguy
My DSL modem is about 4 years old and never had any problems, but I've gone through 3 wireless routers. My tech support guy (my son, who is a cheif technology officer at a bank) had me put an inexpensive UPS in for the modem and router. No problems since and if you don't already have a UPS in place, I would do that first.
I also think once you get the new modem provisioned by the phone company, your router should find it without the need to reconfigure. I'd at least let it try before I did anything else.

Good luck,
 
   / average life span of DSL modem? #3  
   / average life span of DSL modem? #4  
Chris,
I just setup PCs and the DSL service for a local church. AT&T supplied a 2Wire router. Googling it told me 2Wire units had profound security problems, though not necessarily longevity problems. My provider uses ???? (I'll look later) and I have gone through 5 in 3-1/2 years. Two times I was pretty convinced it was the router/modem (because there was instant improvement), the other times I think they replaced it rather than admit they oversold the service, because my speed stayed low for several weeks each time and then went back to normal (I assume when they upgraded the dslam or the servers).
FWIW I keep the router and all PCs on separate UPS with surge protection.
 
   / average life span of DSL modem? #5  
Mine is almost 5 years old. On the other hand, my son's first one lasted less than 90 days. Typical electronics, IMHO.:)
 
   / average life span of DSL modem? #6  
In the ten years that I have had high speed internet, modems have averaged a two year life.
If it's just your DSL modem that died the only configuration required would be the PPoE user name and password in the router. Nothing else changes.
 
   / average life span of DSL modem? #7  
my modem is about 5 yrs old no problems. The phone co supplied me with it when I went DSL. Mine is a westell brand
 
   / average life span of DSL modem? #8  
I've never had a problem at home with routers and such. But at one store I worked we'd have routers and Lynx boxes die at a regular rate. They plugged them into an uninterruptible power supply(UPS) and that took care of it. The UPS helped regulate the power spikes I suppose. I'd replace it and see how long the new one lasts. If it goes out in a year, I'd consider getting a UPS. Or you just spring for one and see how it goes.
 
   / average life span of DSL modem? #9  
kenmac said:
my modem is about 5 yrs old no problems. The phone co supplied me with it when I went DSL. Mine is a westell brand
Same here, Westell and Verizon DSL. I believe I installed in Dec. 2002 or 2003.
 
   / average life span of DSL modem?
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Ok.. more info.. this 2wire dsl modem is also the router.. IE.. modem plugs into the wall, has the ethernet potrs ont he back for 4 pc's, and is wireless G enabled for the laptops to find it.

I'm pretty sure I was hitting the router side of it as i got a 2wire info page that was telling me it could not connect.. etc.. Tech guy had me plug a phone into the port on the back o fthe modem that normally went to the wall.. told me to listen and tell him what sound i heard onthe phone when it powered on.. it made no sound.. that was what finally convinced him the modem was dead.. previous to that he had me go around and plug it into other phone jacks after removing the dsl fitlers.. etc.

We had the unit on a ups as well.. etc.

The local store was suposed to have me one today.. but their shipment didn't come in, so they are sending me one out.. should be here tomorrow or wednesday... GRRR.. i had a tech support call back scheduled for 5:30pm today to help me get their junk working again.. and i work a double tomorrow.. so now play time...

soundguy
 
 
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