[lug] DSL service

[Michael J. Pedersen]

On Thu, Nov 11, 1999 at 10:13:54PM -0700, John Edwards wrote:
> 	Mind sharing what the problems are?  I'm going to try to get DSL at home,
> and would like some input.

Here's my version of what the problems are, at least:
In early may, I checked availably, and was told by a rep that my line was able
to handle a 512k DSL line.  Couldn't afford it yet, so I had to wait a month.
When I checked again in a month, I was told that I was out of the maximum
range for DSL.  A week later, I was back in the range for DSL, but only at
256k.  Now, basically, the CO bounced back and forth, moving by a few thousand
feet each time I spoke.  Anyway, I ordered the DSL at 256k, and then the real
problems began.

Three questions mattered:
1) Internal or external DSL modem?  I wanted external.
2) Which phone line do I want DSL installed on?  My second, internet, phone
   line.
3) Do I need a technician to install this?  Absolutely not.

What did they do?
1) Sent me an internal modem.  Until I threatened to cancel the entire thing,
   they couldn't get me an external sent (despite promises to do so).
2) They scheduled the install for my primary phone line (discovered when I
   called about receiving an internal modem). To their credit, they got that
   fixed on the first complaint call.
3) They scheduled a technician to come out and install this. Now, if you
   aren't familiar with this setup, installing an external DSL modem is only
   slightly more difficult than installing an external analog modem.
   Especially with some decent directions. However, it took them over a month
   of my saying not to send a technician (starting after I received the first
   call from the tech who was scheduled to come install this for me, after I'd
   been using it for a week), for them to actually cancel the technician
   comming to my home.

Furthermore, their costs are obscene.  In order for me to get a static ip
subnet would have cost me (total) about $100/month.  Getting the same service
from a different ISP (including the DSL service itself) cost me about
$60/month. ($30 for DSL, $25 for ISP, and $5 for static subnet).

US Worthless is just that.  If at all possible, DON'T have them as your ISP,
as I can only imagine what they'd do after my problems with getting DSL
installed.

-- 
Michael J. Pedersen
WhoDP: whodp://earth.activerse.com/pedersen
Check out Ding! at http://www.activerse.com
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