[lug] DSL service

[cstpierre at gilead.com]

  Damn, I thought I had it bad with US West.
(Gripe and moan -  You may want to skip this section)
  My experiences were very similar, nonstop hassle with everything they
setup.  It took me two months and 20-30 tech support calls trying to get
them to do something.  When I finally decided I was paying way too much for
crappy service, too many static IP's, worthless extra email accounts,  and
the ability to waste my time for hours on end waiting for a competent tech
support representative, they hit me with one final extra hidden charge just
topping it off.   I asked to change my ISP and they charged me yet another
$20.  I have wasted away hundreds of dollars on USWest and hours of time.

(Solution)
After I finally switched to PrivateI/Interlink ( www.privatei.com ), I have
had only two downtimes on my DSL .  Both times were not because my ISP was
down but because USWests connection was down.  Surprise!.... Well, for the
$20 this ISP charges I get two static IP's, a few email accounts, and
direct support to a select few that know what they are talking about.  The
256K service and I receive downloads at up to 57KB/Sec and usual ranges are
between 10 and 50 depending on the site I am downloading from.  What a nice
life it is with high speed internet access.  Its like crack, I stay hooked.
  The world would be a better place if USWest crumbled to the ground.



                                                                                                              
                    "Michael J.                                                                               
                    Pedersen"            To:     lug at lug.boulder.co.us                                        
                    <marvin at netin        cc:                                                                  
                    fra.net>             Subject:     Re: [lug] DSL service                                   
                                                                                                              
                    11/12/99                                                                                  
                    07:31 AM                                                                                  
                    Please                                                                                    
                    respond to                                                                                
                    lug                                                                                       
                                                                                                              
                                                                                                              




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

(See attached file: C.DTF)

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