If you have AT&T for your DSL ISP and if they recently sold you UVerse as a reliable Internet connection, or if they have recently increased your internet connection speed, it’s very likely that the wires that are supposed to carry the load for your telephone line and your Internet connection can’t handle the increased speed and load.
AT & T has been attempting to sell everyone everywhere on the benefits of buying UVerse. They have gone so far as to offer very low monthly rates for DSL only, as an incentive. Unfortunately what (some) AT&T sales people have been saying is factually incorrect, untrue, and they are very likely lying if they claim that everyone in your area now has access to fiber optic cables and dramatically increased internet connection speeds versus the slower speeds on old and unfortunately deteriorating cables.
AT & T will send out technicians and it is your right to ask them to send out another one if you experience static on your phone line, or if your internet connection continues to drop off. Use the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. tech visits to verify what the last one said. Be sure to take notes because you’ll need them when you ask to speak to Retention later.
There are a few types of technicians - one who has experience servicing mostly phone lines and has had a career where he “climbed the poles;” there are techs who service only DSL; and there are techs who after a long career of servicing phone lines, now services both. IMHO the best techs are those who have worked for the phone company and are (unfortunately) close to retirement. If they’re in their late 30s, early 40s, there’s not much difference between the various types of techs. What you want though is someone to tell you the truth, and that’s why it’s helpful to request repeated field service calls until they find the problem and fix it.
Techs have the ability to test various DSL connection speeds on *your* line from their trucks. They have out of this world, very cool, heavy duty field laptops and I think you might have to ask them to test your line to see which connection speed will work for your line.
If they tell you the truth, be prepared for some unhappy news regarding internet speed connections, especially if they are from AT&T. What sales people and commercials have been promising has been in many cases impossible to fulfill with no hope of any changes for a very long time, depending on your area. Today’s AT&T is nothing like the reliable AT&T of a decade or two ago except for many of the field techs who will at least give you an honest assessment and the truth.
Sorry this is so lengthy and I hope this helps.
A few years back I signed up for DSL. We had DISHTV.
Line was bad. A tech came out and had to dig up the phone lines. Turns out our line crossed over touching our neighbors line. He separated them and service was good. Some time late talking to our neighbor about what was done (they had to dig her yard) she mention to us about this strange static on her phone in the last few weeks. After the lines were reconfigured, the static went away on her line.
He started outside as an installer, spent about 25 years in the old mechanical switch 4-A, and when it went ESS under AT&T he went back outside with Bellsouth into what was called then Special Services working on data circuits. He retired in about 1992 or so. But the equipment then is pretty much the equipment now. A&T bought Bellsouth in our region. Within a year there were very few Ladderback Unicorns out on the streets and it's starting to show.
One or two guys now cover what about two dozen men used to. The two dozen insured maintenance got done and there was sufficient manpower for major outages. AT&T is in all respects a dysfunctional communications company. The customer service robotic line stinks. You don't get a chance to say "hey you have a cable break".
AT&T is likely fixing to go out of the landline business except for providing trunking service {backbone} to cell companies. If the economy picks up within a year most lines will be wireless. Thus AT&T isn't upgrading anything landline they don't absolutely have to. A few years ago the SLICK that feeds our area would die about once a month. Finally they ended up replacing it and about 3 miles of buried cable. A school being served by the SLICK likely placed a huge factor in that though.