There is a reason that cable is kicking DSL's butt, and that reason is the local telco's. I am moving, but only about a mile or so. I called up the cable company to switch cable and cable modem service. Took about 5 minutes, no problems. On to Verizon to transfer telephones, which took about 30 minutes of hold time and detailed questions for some reason, then shudder, to another rep to transfer DSL. I get disconnected. Original rep calls back, pretty amazing but fun is just beginning. Finally get DSL rep who obviously knows nothing. She says it will take 5 days AFTER phones are installed in new house to install DSL. Why? I want it up and running first day, after all this is a transfer not a new connection and there are already phone lines to the house. No matter, it will take 5 days, for some unknown reason, take it or leave it, believe me they could care less. . OK, I say, I'll give you details. Oh, you'll have to call another number for that she informs me. Well why the @!xy&%## did I just waste 30 minutes arguing with you if you can't even schedule the installation? No answer. I call the installation number to see if maybe the original DSL rep actually knew what she was talking about. I mean, it didn't make sense. I was one of the original DSL customers, got it the first week it was available, they hooked it right up, there was none of this wait a week business. WELL, it turns out rep #1 was wrong. It doesn't take 5 days, it takes 7 business days, but that is for them to get around to testing the circuit, and if but only if it tests out, then it takes another 7 or 8 days to get it installed, even though they send a self-install kit. By this point I am sputtering incoherently. Why does it take ANOTHER 7 or 8 days? They have to do some central office wiring and the business office has to do the paperwork. HELLO, this is 2002. It could all be done the day they install the phone line and we all know it. I like having a redundant line but the cable is more reliable anyway, so maybe I just put a router on the cable line and to hell with dsl.
that sucks dude. i think it's hit or miss with these monster companies. a friend of mine once tried to cancel his nevada bell DSL line, and they gave him at least ten hours of holding time. He would call in at work, get the muzak and let it play out of the speaker phone for an hour or two, talk to some minimum wage jackass, then get put on hold again. By the time he finally got it canceled he was ready to kill someone. i tried to get ATT digital connection in the place i recently moved to, only to find that even though they were advertising at the local mall their service hadn't reached my neighborhood area yet. So I signed up for Qwest DSL- about a week after signup they airmailed me the DSL modem w/instructions and i hooked it up myself in about twenty minutes, with no complaints so far. I even called tech support for a question about configuring microsoft outlook and had a live person on the phone in less than two minutes :eek: So I guess it really depends on the customer service quality of your provider?
i have DSL and it is great. down for only one hour in the last six months. no kidding. very fast and very reliable, i am thoroughly satisfied. i prefer it over cable. cable slows down during peak hours. dsl is fast fast fast always!
AAA, yep, if it wasn't for a monopoly on local access the local phone companies would have been eliminated by capable and professional competitive providers by now.
for a period of 9 months my local phone company attempted to get my ISDN line to work properly.In the end they gave up and blamed the site I was going to was the trouble and when I told them the dial up had better ping times they came to the conclusion I was too far from the central office for ISDN service. Phone company has a massive amount of people in tech support positions without a clue of the technology they are"supporting". Cable results: Installation of modem and setup : 15 minutes Down time: since installation a few months back zero down time hell would freeze before I would ever deal with the phone co. if there were other options.
I guess what annoys me is they keep claiming there is some technical reason it takes so long, like the circuit has to be burned in or something. Total friggin' nonsense.
are you guys living on mars? dsl is great. in three days from my first call i was up & running surfing the web downloading files in the blink of an eye having a high old time. installation took me 20 minutes. easy as pie. and it is never down. i love it. and the speed unbelievable. of course i got the fastest they had. totally satisfied. cable gets too slow in peak hours. dsl speed is consistent. and did i say reliable? yes, very.
oh and another thing, i think all this whining on a public message board about a week or two wait to switch your dsl is silly. sign up and wait, or don't, it's that simple but qwit bitching (particularly here). geeez. PS and 30 min on the phone and a week or two wait is a "nightmare"? LOL
try getting reliable dsl if your more than 15000 feet from the tel co central office.Some companies will try and get it for you & then give up and some will not offer it. All in all if you can avoid involving the phone co in your life the better off you will be. After today I am not going to visit this thread because I feel my phone company hostlity returning and I do not want it to effect my attitude while trading I'm not bitter though....
if they know what they are doing, they wouldn't even need to come to your house. They only need to allocated a circuit at the local CO to match your phone number. I got my DSL line installed in under 5 days from I called to I had data.