New old guy

[ATT42]

Just signed on this forum and glad I found you all.

Work with ATT for 42 years as an outside tech., the guy that comes to your house when you call for repair.

Part of what I do is DSL installation and mtc. Maybe I can be of some help in this area.

I need to know more about PC problems and what can be done in a basic way to help my customers. We don't do major changes on a customers PC, just some settings etc.. Anyway perhaps you guys can help me from time to time.

[Greg]

Hey, good to meet ya. Help with DSL could come in handy. Maybe you know some optimizations?

I'm sure if ya need help someone will have a suggestion.

Welcome to the forum.

[bigH2O]

Yep, just give us a shout. Lots of networking freakazoids in here, and a few of us helped design those DSLAMs you've been installing.

We talk in 1s and 0s often, so dont get scared ;)

[ATT42]

Looking forward to it.

Binary doesn't scare me, but I don't get into that at all. I use the common language of the customers etc, but understand the technical side pretty well. Internet is a superhighway and servers and routers are the on and off ramps. Packets are the cars and trucks. You get the point.

I do have a lot of questions about the PC's as well as some of the readings I am seeing on my sync meter (Tech X by Spirent) that no one can explain.

Sad to say Att has not given us a lot of deep training, I get most of my info from the Internet. But then I want to know stuff, other guys don't.

My strong side is the customers loop and the problems it can give. Many cust. don't know how to deal with that and some of our techs don't either. It can really cause problems with the customers DSL service. Phone lines we originally designed for POTS use, and DSL became an add on. We have had to do a lot of changing to accommodate DSL. Some old timers have had to change their mindset.

I may be able to bring a perspective not normally seen, ( problems at the customers premise most never see ) and sometimes the local tel co's try to push the problems off somewhere else and not deal with it. ATT is committed to good service and I try to do my best.

Sounds like I have come to the right place.

[bigH2O]

Where you located ATT? I'm in North Georgia, and have a good friend who lives up here who commutes to Atlanta every day to work for, yep, you guessed it AT&T. He's a project manager currently working on a huge "on demand" broadband project. Has a sweet corner office on the 34th floor of the AT&T (used to be Bellsouth) tower down there. Overlooks the Georgia Tech football stadium.

[ATT42]

North Fla, been to the bell tower in past, vacation in N Ga. time to time.

My town is a small rural area, County is Washington, pop about 22k

Most of our loop is copper, some fiber, large areas are getting the latest and the greatest, probably what your friend is working on.

[bigH2O]

What he's working on is next generation stuff. We won't see it at the consumer level for probably 10 years. It's a broadband solution for wrapping everything from phones to television to internet all up in wireless burst packets. It's designed to be the giant killer that will put AT&T on top of the heap and render communications as we know it obsolete.

Pretty interesting stuff, but it's tough to get too many details. Part of the problem is that my buddy's just a paper pusher. He's in charge of making sure everything gets done on time, testing phases occur smoothly, etc... but he doesn't actually know anything about how the technology works.

Washington county, huh? Hehe... too close to the fun for me to stay safe. I come down to Apalachicola two or thee times a year to wet a hook and stock the freezer on fresh fish, but if I lived that close to Panama City Beach I don't think I ever would have made it to adulthood alive.

[ATT42]

I knew something was in the wind, after 42 years you can sense these things. I had a feeling ATT and Bell would re-marry and they did. Guess I will keep my stock then. We hear little things now and then, but we are just the "worker bees".

YOu fish the big river?? Or the salt water? We used to camp at Howards Creek for years, catch those big shellcracker and hand painted bream. Best river around. Stopped 'cause a big flood came thru and washed out all the snags and ruined the fishing for about 5 years. Never got back, besides the yellow flies will eat you alive.

Panama City Beach is a wild place at times, but local law keeps things in line pretty well. They treat the visitors pretty good. Come and have a good time, just don't break the law. (to much)

Where are you in N Ga.? We like to go to the Blairsville area, Blood Mtn. etc. N. Ga. is a great place to get away. People are great to us.

[bigH2O]

We fish the deep water in the gulf. Well, as deep as you can get in that part of the Gulf. Gotta get out about 60 miles off shore for the good grouper and/or snapper holes (depending on what time of year it is). Got a bud with a 30' Pro-Kat he keeps based down there, but as high as gas has gotten I don't know how much I'll be using it in the future. The thing holds 300 gallons of fuel, and only gets about 3 miles to the gallon.

I live in Dahlonega, not too far from Blairsville. Moved up here to get away from Metro Atlanta about ten years ago, but Atlanta's catching up to me.