# Strange Call from AT&T **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690 "2013-09-26T00:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/1 "2013-09-26T00:54:39Z")
I just got a very odd phone call, claiming to be from AT&T. They say my phone line connection is going to be discontinued. Not because of payments, but because they are discontinuing the service. Discontinuing DSL? Is this a scam? I haven’t been sent anything in my bill or in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/2 "2013-09-26T01:03:21Z")
Did they ask for money? Info? Did they know who you were? Sure sounds weird. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/3 "2013-09-26T01:18:13Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > I just got a very odd phone call, claiming to be from AT&T. > > They say my phone line connection is going to be discontinued. > Not because of payments, but because they are discontinuing the service. > Discontinuing DSL? > > Is this a scam? > I haven’t been sent anything in my bill or in the mail. When I recieve “odd” phone calls, similar to the one you recieved, I thank them for the update, hang up, and then call the company’s regular customer service number. I share NO information with the original caller. If they were a legitimate employee of AT&T, they won’t mind you call the company directly. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/4 "2013-09-26T01:21:14Z")
In my area, AT&T has been sending mail for months trying to sell their U-Verse service as a replacement for my DSL and landline service (and television as well). So far, I’ve been ignoring them. So perhaps this is what AT&T is trying to sell to you? Note that I have not heard anything about DSL going away. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/5 "2013-09-26T01:39:48Z")
Telemarketers get commission/bonus/piece rates for making sales. So there motive to lie was to make the sale… ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/6 "2013-09-26T01:59:54Z")
It’s odd that you would get an unsolicited call from the company; I would think they would sent you a letter or an email, or maybe put some kind of notice in your billing statement. I’ve been getting a ton of junk email from AT&T about how great U-Verse is, but I’ll keep my dry loop service, thanks. Still, if you have DSL, it is only a matter of time before they get rid of (or sell off) that infrastructure. U-verse will be your option with AT&T after that I guess. The company’s current mantra is that they will be rid of all of the copper/land line-based services by 2020. Depending on where you live, it could be sooner than that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/7 "2013-09-26T08:45:25Z")
Although AT&T’s customer service is only one step better than Comcast, I have already tried to contact them several times. Too often, after sitting through a voicemail system, the office is closed. I will try again this afternoon. And I suspected phone phishing from the start. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/8 "2013-09-26T13:31:18Z")
DSL is a outdated, dead end technology, it simply can not compete, nor is there any real hope in advancing it through some breakthru, not worth the money as the answer is already known how to go faster. I don’t know if it’s a scam or not, but it seems reasonable. You don’t say if they tried to sell you on something or if it was a informational call. It could be very well that the local office (called a central office), is switching over to newer equipment thus eliminating DSL as a option, so it wouldn’t necessarily be in billing as it is local to your area. My parents were in such a situation with Verizon DSL which a hurricane flooded the central office, so everything needed to be rebuilt. They called to get their phone + DSL back and that order went out fine, till the field tech was to install service and only restored phone. When my dad called back they were listed for phone + DSL and put in a repair ticket, several iterations later it finally made it to billing that DSL is no longer supported and can not be restored. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/9 "2013-09-26T13:51:47Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > DSL is a outdated, dead end technology, it simply can not compete, nor is there any real hope in advancing it through some breakthru, not worth the money as the answer is already known how to go faster. Sometimes obsolete technologies are the best choice. There are limited, semi-rural areas near me where DSL is available, but cable and WiFi is not, and cellphone Internet service is relatively slow and expensive. It’s DSL all the way. OTOH, unsolicited sales calls like this, or paper mail ads, often have no idea where someone is located; they aren’t calling from nearby; they don’t understand the nuances of the technology, so everything they say should be taken with a grain of salt, even if the call is legitimate. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/10 "2013-09-26T16:35:24Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > DSL is a outdated, dead end technology, it simply can not compete, nor is there any real hope in advancing it through some breakthru, not worth the money as the answer is already known how to go faster. You mean by using the fiber-optic that’s not available in my area yet? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/11 "2013-09-26T17:38:45Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > DSL is a outdated, dead end technology, it simply can not compete, nor is there any real hope in advancing it through some breakthru, not worth the money as the answer is already known how to go faster. U-Verse is still largely DSL, even if they don’t call it that. They just get around the central office distance limit by running fiber to the neighborhood. The last few hundred meters is still copper. DSL can be quite fast as long as the distances are short. At some locations, AT&T does run fiber directly to the home, but I think this is still fairly rare. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/12 "2013-09-26T20:48:19Z")
We don’t get U-Verse in this part of the city. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/13 "2013-09-26T23:48:08Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > U-Verse is still largely DSL… No it’s not. There’s a type of Uverse that literally is just DSL, with a different name, but most actual Uverse is a fundamentally different technology. The newest type of DSL can operate at distances of up to 18K feet from the CO. Uverse tops out at around 6K feet from the fiber node (called a VRAD), and that’s even with two pairs of wire. Single-pair Uverse tops out at around 4K feet from the VRAD. Also, the true Uverse signal is MUCH weaker and more “delicate” than actual DSL. The connections and wiring have to be in much better shape to transmit the Uverse signal without excessive errors. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/14 "2013-09-26T23:52:25Z")
I got through to AT&T. They sent me through to Security. Yup. It was phishing! I’m patting you all (and patting myself) on the back right now! ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/15 "2013-09-27T00:21:19Z")
It may not be phishing and ATT Security doesn’t know what’s happening. ATT is discontinuing DSL in many areas: [http://forums.att.com/t5/Internet-DSL-General-Care-and/Being-forced-into-changing-to-uverse/td-p/3038845](http://forums.att.com/t5/Internet-DSL-General-Care-and/Being-forced-into-changing-to-uverse/td-p/3038845) ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/16 "2013-09-27T00:56:13Z")
In a rural environment DSL is the only option. AT&T has a fiber box at the end of my road, and yet I am still at the lowest tier of DSL (768 Kbps). This may change, but until a DSLAM socket becomes available, I am out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/17 "2013-09-27T01:46:03Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > No it’s not. There’s a type of Uverse that literally is just DSL, with a different name, but most actual Uverse is a fundamentally different technology. The newest type of DSL can operate at distances of up to 18K feet from the CO. There’s no type of DSL that’s fast at 18k feet. In fact, there’s [hardly any difference](http://nbnmyths.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/fttn-speed-graph.gif) between the types once you get to 12k feet or so. > [@get\_lives](#): > > Uverse tops out at around 6K feet from the fiber node (called a VRAD), and that’s even with two pairs of wire. Single-pair Uverse tops out at around 4K feet from the VRAD. > > Also, the true Uverse signal is MUCH weaker and more “delicate” than actual DSL. The connections and wiring have to be in much better shape to transmit the Uverse signal without excessive errors. Maybe you have some information I don’t, but here’s what Wikipedia has to say: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > U-verse uses the Alcatel-Lucent 7330 or 7340 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) shelf, also called a video-ready access device (VRAD), deployed either in a central office (CO) or to a neighborhood serving area interface (SAI). These models are both composed of circuit boards providing service, which are fed by fiber. FTTN (fiber to the node) systems use model 7330, which uses existing copper wiring to customers’ homes,[2] leading to distance limitations from the VRAD cabinet to the customer’s home.\*\* The 7330 ISAM is an internet protocol DSL access multiplexer that supports VDSL and ADSL protocols.\*\*[26] FTTP (fiber to the premises) systems use model 7340, which is mostly used in areas such as new neighborhoods or large-scale developments where fiber can be run to the household, removing the distance limitations of copper. The 7340 then connects to a serving area interface, which distributes service to homes in the neighborhood, via a dual strand fiber, which is then split into 32 customer fiber pairs. The fiber pairs are typically led into a customer’s residence at the network interface device. So unless you have FTTP, you’re using either VDSL or ADSL (unless Wiki is wrong, which it could be). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/18 "2013-09-27T08:40:08Z")
My provider is [DSLExtreme.com](http://DSLExtreme.com), and when I signed up with them, one of the eligibility requirements was that I had to be a PacBell customer (now ATT). My question is: does this stuff have anything to do with me? ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/19 "2013-09-27T09:32:57Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > There’s no type of DSL that’s fast at 18k feet. In fact, there’s [hardly any difference](http://nbnmyths.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/fttn-speed-graph.gif) between the types once you get to 12k feet or so. > > Maybe you have some information I don’t, but here’s what Wikipedia has to say: > So unless you have FTTP, you’re using either VDSL or ADSL (unless Wiki is wrong, which it could be). I didn’t say DSL could be _fast_ at 18K feet. At that distance, you can only get around 1.5 megs downstream. However, it technically _works_. To be fair, the Uverse product will not be installed unless it can reach at least 20 Mbps downstream, whereas DSL only has to reach 1.5 Mbps. Those are two very different benchmarks, to say the least. HOWEVER, the Uverse product loses about 10 Mbps every 1K feet of copper (5 Mbps if you’re using two pairm a.k.a. bonded pair). Therefore, even with bonded pair, you’re down to white noise by the time you hit 10K feet for so. Even though the same VRAD can serve both ADSL and VDSL, they are fundamentally different signals. ADSL is more powerful in terms of the actual signal strength, and has farther reach, whereas VDSL is faster (at the VRAD you can get upwards of 78 Mbps, with losses of around 10 Mbps for every thousand feet of copper), and loses signal strength much more quickly. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690/20 "2013-09-27T09:34:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > My provider is [DSLExtreme.com](http://DSLExtreme.com), and when I signed up with them, one of the eligibility requirements was that I had to be a PacBell customer (now ATT). My question is: does this stuff have anything to do with me? Not unless you start getting emails, letters, etc. about it. AT&T is trying to convert everyone to some flavor of Uverse (which can just be DSL again, but whatever), but it could be a couple of years before you hear anything about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-call-from-at-t/669690.md?page=2)