In the quest for ever faster internet connections, Pacific Bell (a part of SWBell) now offers a variant of DSL (digital subscriber line) to its customers, known as ADSL (asymmetric). DSL allows high speed internet connections to be established between the Central Office and the user's house over standard telephone lines if the house in question meets certain criteria, primarily concerning distance. On this webpage, DSL and ADSL refer to the same service from Pacific Bell.

Currently to receive ADSL service from Pacbell you must meet the following criteria:
a) Have a non DSL and non ISDN telephone line operated by Pacbell (not GTE, etc).
b) Have your telephone connected to a central office that supports ADSL.
c) Live within 17,500ft. of total telephone cable length between you and the central office that supports ADSL.

In addition, you need a Network Interface Card (Ethernet), a POTS Splitter, and an Alcatel 1000 ADSL Modem (included with ADSL installation).

You can try Pacbell's ADSL somewhat working DSL Availability Page or you can give Pacbell's DSL Order Center a call at 1-888-884-2DSL (2375) for more accurate information.

Currently Pacbell offers the following speeds:
a) 1.5Mbps(MAX) to 384Kbps downloads / 128Kbps uploads
b) 6Mbps(MAX) to 1.5Mbps downloads / 384Kbps uploads

Different packages offer different amounts of Static IPs and domain hosting options. The most commonly chosen option is option a) with 1 static IP address and a one year term with Pacbell + Pacbell Internet (ISP) for 49$/month (including GSP charges). All Pacific Bell Internet ADSL packages come with a dial-up account for use in case your DSL goes down. Whether it is limited to 150 hours or is unlimited (like your DSL account) is unclear at the moment.

Pacbell Internet maintains a page outlining DSL packages and prices here.

Correct. There are a number of alternate DSL service providers available to Pacbell customers. Pacbell itself only provides the DSL line, Pacbell Internet actually provides the internet service. The prices jump slightly when choosing other ISPs, obviously to promote the use of Pacbell's own internet services. Currently the discussion of other DSL ISPs available is beyond the scope of this document.

Some Alternate DSL Providers include:

PacificNet
MMInternet
FlashCom

For more information about alternative providers in your area, try DSL Reports.

The numbers listed on Pacbell's pages are all in bits, but the download speeds you usually see are in bytes (8 bits = 1 byte). For example, if you have a 28.8Kbps modem, you usually see speeds around 3.0 k/sec at the maximum. With DSL's 1.5Mbps-384kbps, they are saying the maximum speed you can achieve is about 160 k/sec but the speed they guarentee you will reach (in ideal conditions) is only about 40 k/sec. As you can see, this is substantially faster than dial-up modem connections, but only on par and even slower than similar cable modem solutions. For more information on DSL vs. Cable modem see my page on that.

My house is approximately 15,000 ft from the Central Office, which is near the distance limit of the DSL service. My download speed seems to max out at about 155 k/sec. Your mileage may vary.

Pacific Bell provides the telephone line and DSL connectivity. Pacific Bell Internet provides the Internet Service Provider services. Pacific Bell also does the actual on-site installation.

In a word, no. There are terms of usage you must agree to, but Pacbell does not limit your time online, nor does it meter the bandwidth you use. Have fun!

The ADSL service charges are all applied to your phone bill. There is also an approximately 4$ GSP charge in addition to the ADSL charges. The following is a summary of DSL charges that I can find on my telephone bill:

FasTrack ADSL Service Residence: $11.25 (the flat rate phone line)
FasTrak ADSL 384Kbps/128Kbps Volume: $39.00
Global Service Provider: $4.00
DSL Basic-384 1 Year Term: $6.00

In most of these cases, the provisioning people at Pacbell haven't setup your DSL connection correctly at their side.

To the best of my knowledge, Prime Services Guys are only required to verify that your modem can sync with the central office. Usually they are kind enough to stay until you have established connectivity with your Gateway but the current workload may prevent that.

In that case, call the 888-884-2375 DSL order number or try 877-375-3375 (the emerging products center) and explain your situation. If they still don't seem to have a clue, ask for provisioning.

Here's what Mike Shriver of PacificNet has to say about installation and configuration:

As a Pacbell DSL reseller, my advice to new customers is to make sure the installer actually gets the connection working before he leaves. With alarming frequency, installers don't try to ping, don't even bring their laptop with them, and then tell our customers "if you can't get connected, call PacificNet".

If the installer can't get a connection, make him call the ISP. Otherwise, the customer is screwed for at least a week. In most cases, either at PacBell or the ISP, the VP and VC hasn't been set- this takes seconds, at least on this end. When the installer leaves without checking that everything was set up on both ends, it is up to the customer and the ISP to spend hours on hold with PacBell to resolve what could have been an easy fix.

I have also found that when an installer finds out that the ISP is other than PacBell, his attitude begins to suck, and the ball begins to drop. DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY AND DO NOT LET HIM LEAVE WITHOUT A CONNECTION!!!

With a dedicated (always on) connection to the internet, you are substanitally more vulnerable to intrusions by malicious hackers than with a dynamic, always different, IP address. Here are some basic tips for securing your system:

..Keep up with software updates and patches for your Operating System and Internet Software! ..With Windows systems, turn off your shared folders and files (if any)
..With Linux systems, check out the Linux Security HOWTO
..consider purchasing a software or hardware firewall from firms such as Cisco, Cobalt, Signal9, and SonicWall.

Check out Pacbell's DSL Account Management Tools (secure page).

Pacbell's news server is at "news.pacbell.net". You can also use "news.swbell.net" and often the South Western Bell news server is faster than PBI's.

You can also try a subscribtion provider such as Newscene and UsenetnewsServer.

Sometimes the DSL service becomes interrupted or your modem needs to resync. Try waiting a minute or two. If you still have problems with your DSL connection, check out the Troubleshooting FAQ!

Check out the resources on modifying your TCP/IP settings on my links: optimizing page.

Since Pacbell ADSL features static IP addresses, you can get a domain name for your computer/connection. Pacbell includes this option in its non-basic DSL packages, with a 100$ charge for domain name registration. If you don't have an enhanced DSL package, you can also try one of the following:

Domain Host Services offers domain names to the people much like the now defunct Monolith Internet Services.

You can try one of the domain registration/hosting services. Explain that you do not have access to a DNS server yourself and see what they can do.

You can do it all yourself. Register a domain name at the InterNIC and find a public DNS server to host your name or setup your own DNS server(s).

It is unknown whether Pacbell Internet allows DNS names to be hosted on servers outside of their own. Do so at your own risk.

Since Pacbell doesn't offer extra IPs with their basic plan (unlike @home) the only way you can get more than one computer on your ADSL connection is to use an IP masquerading or Native Address Translating program. Some popular programs for Windows that provide these services are Sygate, NAT32, and Wingate. It is also available built into Windows 98 SE and Windows 2000 as Internet Connection Sharing.

You could also a proxy/NAT/firewall (see first question in this section). If you have a spare computer lying around, the best solution is to install some variant of Linux or other freeware UNIX and use IP masquerading or IP Chains to share your internet connection. Check out the links page for appropriate links to sharing resources.

AFAIK, Pacbell does not mind that you put multiple computers on your IP address. You just have to figure out how.

First, take a look at your Alcatel ADSL modem to see if you can determine what type of problem you are having.

You can check the Pacbell Network status page. I won't even link it here because I don't think anyone has ever found it useful.

You can check out information on or leave messages at Pacbell's Online Technical Assistance Page. But they don't really do DSL right now.

You can call the Emerging Technology Center to report a problem at 1-877-375-3375.

You can call the local Pacbell Telephone Line support center by dialing 611.

When you call, you will be able talk their service personnel at (supposedly) any time of the day. Expect a 5-10 minute wait. For more complicated issues you are issued a "ticket number" that is used to identify your current case. Keep this number handy. Sometime later, a Pacbell technician will call you back to discuss your problem. Hopefully the problem will be solved shortly thereafter. Be sure to describe your problem accurately to the service personnel.

The most useful resource beyond Pacbell's technical support personnel is probably the DSL oriented newsgroups, where you may find solutions to your problems. Try comp.dcom.xdsl and pbinet.adsl. Many participants there may have had similar problems and experiences as you and maybe able to offer solutions or guide you through the steps it takes to get Pacbell people to fix your problem.

Also try the Pacbell DSL User Mailing List! Subscibe at mailto:pbidsl-subscribe@iffy.com.

Some common problems with your ADSL connection can be easily solved by yourself. Some techniques include "power cycling" the modem, "draining the capacitors" of the modem, and removing possible causes of interference.

Power Cycling the modem is a fancy way of saying turn off the modem, wait 5 minutes, and then turn the modem back on. Occasionally the modem needs to be "re-trained" or "re-synced" with the other side of the DSL connection.

The modem will try to resync automatically if it cannot establish a connection. If you don't want to wait for the sync timer to try again, just turn off the modem, count to 3 and turn it back on. There is no need to wait longer.

To drain the capacitors of the modem, do not turn off the power on the modem, rather unplug the power supply from the modem. Wait a few minutes, then switch off the modem and reconnect the power supply to the modem. Then turn it on again. It is unknown if this technique actually ever solves any problem, but it is often referred to by Pacbell personnel.

I have been informed by reliable sources that this is total BS, but some Pacbell Customers have found that there may be a heat problem with the Alcatel modem.

See the General FAQ about installation. Double check your settings against Pacific Bell's Online Techinical Assistance.

According to discussions on newsgroups, DSL connections are easily affected by unrestricted radio frequency signals because of the particular frequencies DSL uses to transport voice and data at the same time. Some connection problems are easily solved by identifying and removing the source of interference. Blake Eiseman has found that often interference is caused by cheap halogen lights with dimmer switches (the dial type) on them. Also, "unclean" power going to the modem can make the DSL signal unusable and cause loss in speed and line errors. Try using a Uninterruptable Power Supply or Surge Protector

I have personally found that a nearby light sensor for an outdoor light was causing problems at specific times on my DSL line. Once unplugged, everything worked smoothly again.

Call Pacbell. If you believe it's a configuration problem, call their Emerging Products Center. If you think it's a line/interference problem, call 611.

You can check out the Alcatel website, which is fairly uninformative. You can also peep this page, which isn't much better.

Green lights mean a connection has been established. Red means there's something wrong. If the light is off, it means nothing is happening. The lights you care about are the Power/Sync light, the Line Error light, the TX/RX light, and the 10Base-T light.

The Power/Sync light gives an indication of the current power status of the modem. When the modem is first powered on, the light will blink red as the modem attempts to establish a connection with the central office. If connection (sync) is established, the light will turn green. If it continually flashes red (more than a minute or two), that means it cannot establish sync with the central office and there is a problem.

The modem follows a sync pattern which you can see if you unplug the telephone line from the ADSL modem. Its cycle is initialize, wait for sync, and (if nothing found) fail; then start the cycle over.

The Line Error light only flashes red. When it is flashing red, the DSL layer cannot connect to or has errors connecting to the Central Office. There is an automatic failure point established by the network provider (e.g. 90% of subscribed data rate-- it is unknown what Pacbell's threshold is) at which time the modem tries to resync.

The TX/RX light only flashes green. When it is green, that means that data is being sent (TX) or being receieved (RX) by your modem.

If the TX/RX light is flashing green right after you turn on the modem, the modem is most likely downloading a software update. These updates occur automatically.

If the light is continually green (not flashing) you may want to reset your modem.

The 10Base-T light only flashes green. When it is green, that means a link between your Network Interface Card and the Alcatel modem has been established. If everything is nice and green, but your data still isn't getting through, try power cycling and/or rebooting your computer. See above for information about power cycling your modem.

Apparently with later modems it may be able to ping the modem itself to determine if your computer is communicating with it correctly.

Supposedly there are ADSL modems out there that work with Pacbell's particular ADSL implementation, but none are officially supported by Pacbell. The standard that Pacbell uses on its DSL network is DMT 2, and potential ADSL modem replacements must support this standard. Check out the list of alternative modems at John Navas' DSL page.

Using non-Alcatel modems also mean that you will lose out on automatic software upgrades in the Pacbell Network and possibly impairing the ability of Pacbell technicians to help troubleshoot and support your modem. As always, use at your own risk.

Bob Alvarez
Ed Anderson at PacHell! - A great page of Pacbell related links!
Justin Beech at DSL Reports
Darryl Lee of the PBI DSL Mailing List
John Navas of Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide
All the Pacbell Employees that have helped out!
Unnamed DSL Engineer :)

And everyone on pbinet.adsl and comp.dcom.xdsl!