If it is going red you definitely have a signal problem. That would be the line coming into the modem... my guess the one coming into the house. At the very least it's the one going into the modem.. there is an interuption in the signal.

It could very well be the surge protector. If your phone or electrical lines are experiencing surges then it is causing little "blinks" therefore the surge protector is constantly resetting... that would cause your modem to constantly reset.

If the green is blinking it's the DSL working. Ours has always blinked!! We run 3 computers off of one modem. I can tell when Dad is on his computer.. the light blinks faster.

I understand about not wanting strangers in your house!!! I'm the same way... we had to have the cable company in several weeks ago... all of the lines enter the house in my room... I hated that!!!

I wish you the best and hope they can figure it out without entering your house!!

Abbie

Our modem does not blink unless there are problems.

When you power up from a cold start, all the green lights blink a little as they come back. The last light blinks green when connecting to something on the net. It turns red when connection is lost. It blinks briefly when Hubby is connecting to something upstairs, and it blinks when I hit submit here, or search things. If either of us is just reading...the last light is not on at all.

There must be different types.

When our router was dying, the red light came on all the time and I stalled on the net. Sometimes it would recover and sometimes not.

Hi.

I'll check on that link you provided. I have a Westell 6100.

And guess what? Last night after I changed all the phone wires, I took a look at the dsl phone line, I traced it back to the wall jack and I saw a piece of the wire that was all frayed. I said wow. But since Alan was having no problems last night, I went to bed.

This morning, I turned on Computer. Steady green light.

I then walked into the other room, went over the part of the wire that was frayed, picked it up, looked at it, went back over to the modem and guess what? IT WAS BLINKING. So, in my mind, my picking up the dsl line and handling the frayed part, made it blink. So what did that tell me? REPLACE THE DSL phone wire.

The dsl phone wire was a VERY LONG WIRE that went from one room to another, it was too long, so we had to pick up all the slack and it was nice and neat behind some piece of furniture.

So I got two other brand new phone wires, connected them together with a little conning thing that I already had, and VOILA, I had a brand new (much shorter dsl phone wire).

So a few minutes ago, (and the modem was blinking like crazy), I unplugged the one that was frayed, gathered it up, put it away and plugged in the brand new one that I just made.

No more blinking, and I'm not writing this post.

So whether or not I fixed my problem, I have no idea. The man will check outside later, and possibly come in and check all my connections.

To me, this is no coincidence. I pick up a frayed wire and my modem starts blinking??

We shall see. For now I'm on the internet.

lol

Melody

Sounds to me like you fixed it.

You have a different model DSL Verizon box than I do... that's probably why mine blinks and yours doesn't.

Any time I see a frayed wire on any phone line or electrical equipment I replace it. I don't want to take any chances.

Let us know if the technician finds anything.

Abbie

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE, MELODY HAS AN UPDATE. WOO HOO!!!!

I'm happy (crossing fingers that this is all settled). The guy came today.

He rings my bell and I said "Oh, you are the Verizon man, you've checked outside already??" and he goes "No, I am just arriving, I'm announcing myself so you know I'm not a stranger and you don't call the police".

I burst out laughing and said "Get in here". He came in (with his ID badge on) and all his equipment on his belt, etc.)

I bring him into the computer room and explain in detail what I had done and how the dsl line blinks green now and then, but comes back. He said "you want a steady green light". I said "I know".

He then goes into the bedroom (where I have all phone connections going into a multi thing and then into the phone jack). He then declares "Oh you have an octopus'. I said 'I have a WHAT??" He explains that when you have many phones in a multi switch and if these phones are sharing the same connection, you'll get a weaker signal.

Didn't know that.

So I unplugged the extra phones and the lines that go into the cable box so I can order shows on demand (which I have never done so I obviously don't need these phone lines).

Then I showed him that I replaced my DSL phone line cord with a new one, and I show him the 60 foot cord that I had been using, even though the distance between the modem and the wall jack was 20 feet.

The look on his face was priceless. He said 'Holy Cow, this cord is too long, you are only supposed to have 6 feet from the modem to the wall jack, but sometimes it can go a few feet more, BUT NOT 60 FEET, holy cow!!

Didn't know that either!!

Previously I didn't have a shorter cord so I just took up the slack and hid the extra wire behind furniture.


So he gets out his wireless thingees and he runs line test and EVERYTHING WAS FINE.

He said "It might have been the surge supressor (which I no longer have connected to the modem". He said "modems run slower when connected to a surge suppressor".

Didn't know that either either!

Then he sat down and we went on the computer and re-configured the modem again so it recognizes my IP address.

It was working fine he said. He looked at the screen information, pointed out things to me and said "see this, see that?" I understood it all. (quite amazing actually).

So we go outside and I said "I want you to check the phone box outside of my house". He goes 'no problem, but you are getting a 100% signal with no outage and I can tell" So far so good.

So we go outside of my house to look for the phone box. COULDN'T FIND IT.

He's going "What the heck, What the heck, where is the phone box?"

No phone box.

He did not go up the pole because he said "All that would tell me is that you are getting a good signal because I have tested your line 3 times. It''s working fine and so is your modem.

He then came back in the house, everything was working and so far so good.

So far it's been fine since 1 p.m. and it hasn't been this good in soooooo long.

Don't know what he did but he did SOMETHING.

Maybe I did something?? Who knows.

What we are going to do is move the computer into another room so it's closest to a wall jack and the guy told us it's better for the computer to be there than where it now is.

So when the weekend comes, Alan and I are going to move the computer.

Thank goodness I know how to do this stuff.

I think it's cool that I can learn new stuff and apply it.

It's all that Wheatgrass juice. I drink a little cup every morning.

Energy here I come!!

lol

So I thank all of you for listening to my tale of modem woe!!!

Melody

I don't think you ever mentioned having so much extra cord before or I would have suggested a shorter one. But probably the damaged one was the biggest problem.

Generally for anything - TV antenna, phone, modem and cords connecting any of those types of things - the shortest length is the best way to go.

All the extra length can degrade the signal of whatever is traveling thru it.

I recall reading about antenna cables and if they are coiled the current can jump and degrade that way- so maybe for phone/dsl it can do the same.??

Well, what I don't understand is how come for 6 years or so, I never had a problem with the 60 foot cord. This phone cord was so long, well, believe me it was long.

So now I have two regular phone cords (connected by a coupler or something) and now my cord is maybe 20 feet. Because the phone jack is in another room.

It's doing just fine now.

But when I move it into the other room, well I can put it in a corner, but Alan wants it in the middle of the room (which I would prefer also).

The problem is the phone cord (specific to dsl) that came with the new modem, won't reach. I have to get an extension. I'll go to Radio Shack and see if they sell this.

Also, do any of you have your modem 10 feet or so from the wall jack? Or do all of you have your modem right next to the phone jack?

I'm trying to get various opinions here.

Thanks, Melody

I just had the most brilliant idea.

Why can't I move the computer to another room exactly where I want it to be (it would be about 20 feet from the wall jack).

I then put the modem near the wall jack with the provided round proper dsl phone cord, and then I get A LONGER ETHERNET CABLE (about 20 feet) and run it from the modem, bringing it behind the couch, and over to the back of the computer, where I can just plug it in, and then we'll be all set.

There is no rule that the modem has to be near the computer right? It just has to be not too far from the wall jack, right?

So my question is. Can I buy a 20 foot Ethernet cable (I have a radio shack near me), and then when I'm ready, I can move the whole computer over to the other room.

Is this viable?

I believe there should be no problem with a 20 foot ethernet cable between the modem and the computer.

If this is do-able, I'll be all set.

What do you all think?

I'm getting excited here. It's like my brain is firing up.

lol
Melody

My phone outlet is on the front wall and my modem and phone is 13' away on a cabinet in another corner. I think I have one 15' cord for the dsl and a 6 & 10 for the phone.
Haven't measured them but they don't have a lot of excess & they are tucked behind the sectional.

Before we got the wireless we had a cable running along the floor & thru the kitchen, hallway and to the far corner of the dining room.
laminate floors so taped cable down & covered it with rugs

Our layout had about a 25' run of cable so you should be fine - we just had to cross the kitchen & hallway which was not ideal.
if you can go behind furniture good deal.

looks like 25' Cat 5 /Ethernet cable for about 5-10 bucks per amazon , walmart & the local place near here..