Current Events > Oh, AT&T... You and your shenanigans.

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I'm helping a certain company get equipment set up so they can broadcast from one of our buildings. They ordered 4 phone lines from AT&T for the event. All 4 of the phone lines terminate in a box that sits on a telephone poll outside the building.

AT&T sent 4 different technicians out to test each one of the phone lines.

Oh well. At least they verified all 4 are working.
---

I never had a problem with AT&T.

R0N1N187 posted...

I never had a problem with AT&T.

I sure have. They pull bullshit shenanigans all the time.
---

CableZL posted...

R0N1N187 posted...

I never had a problem with AT&T.

I sure have. They pull bullshit shenanigans all the time.

If you're a DSL user, then yeah you should have problems.

R0N1N187 posted...

CableZL posted...

R0N1N187 posted...

I never had a problem with AT&T.

I sure have. They pull bullshit shenanigans all the time.

If you're a DSL user, then yeah you should have problems.

Nah, I'm referring to enterprise level support with fiber connectivity issues and in this case, simply getting 4 phone lines activated in one location.
---

Just one example:

At my job's corporate office, AT&T is our backup internet provider. We have a managed Cisco 4431 router from them that sits in our main network closet.

A few months after the service was installed, we upgraded from 200 Mbps to 250 Mbps. A basic sequence of events:

1) I tell AT&T to upgrade us from 200 Mbps to 250 Mbps
2) They say OK, they'll do it
3) They install a new circuit for this new connection.
4) They ship out a managed session border controller
5) I tell them we don't need the managed session border controller because we already have a managed router from them.
6) They say we do need it.
7) I tell them again that we don't need it.
8) They say we need it because the old router isn't capable of handling the upgraded speed.
9) I provide Cisco's documentation on a 4431 saying that it can be licensed to handle 500 Mbps or 1 Gbps of throughput.
10) I call their support team and have them verify which licensing level their managed router has. It is licensed to handle 1 Gbps of throughput.
11) AT&T's response: "We don't go by Cisco's documentation. We only trust our own internal testing."
12) I question what "internal testing" they did to determine that a router that is licensed to handle 1 Gbps (meaning they paid for the upgraded license so that it can handle 1 Gbps) can't handle 200 MBps.
13) They respond by saying they thought we had a lesser model Cisco router. They now realize the old router CAN handle the upgraded bandwidth.
14) I ask them for a shipping label. The new device is still in a box so I just need them to email me a shipping label so I can send it back.
15) They say they can't email a shipping label. They can only ship a whole new box with a return shipping label included.
---

Do you side with Comcast or something?

R0N1N187 posted...

Do you side with Comcast or something?

Nope. Disliking AT&T because of the bullshit they pull doesn't mean I like Comcast in the slightest. AT&T has been one of the largests thorns in my side since I started doing enterprise level network support.
---

Me: *Opens trouble ticket with AT&T because a circuit went down*
AT&T: We tested the circuit and determined there was no trouble found.
Me: ... But you saw that BGP went down, right?
AT&T: Yes.
Me: And that would be considered a trouble, right?
AT&T: Yes.
Me: ... So... Can you investigate why that happened?
AT&T: Yes.

That convo has happened more times than I care to count.
---