Just venting my dislike of phone companies in general. This time including my new DSL provider. I ordered just before Christmas and had an ETA within the week so that was awesome. Then was told that Verizon screwed up the order and it had to be resubmitted so it was now going to be the 27th (it COULD have been Verizon or the DSL provider covering their own butts). On the 25th I stuck my old DSL router on the line and happened to get connected, but at odd speeds. Then the next day it went down. Then on the 27th it came up for good.
But the new ISP never called to check on me or verify that Verizon had closed the order. The DSL modem from them had not arrived yet (originally was shown with a due date of the 23rd, on the 24th they showed an attempt to deliver). Speeds with my router were nowhere near what they should have been (not just download tests, it wasn't syncing at the right speeds). They kept saying that I had to wait for the modem, it was "specially programmed" to work with their service at the right speeds. Hard not to remind them that I did commercial Internet support for 3 years, doing their job and more, with DSL and WAY WAY WAY faster types of lines, and know what "special programming" there can possibly be for a DSL line, and that the router was perfectly capable of working with their service.
Was told the modem should arrive on the 27th. Didn't happen. Had the 28th and 29th off. No router. Finally on the 29th in the evening found out that the modem had been delivered and signed for and got the tracking number. It took me a while to figure out that it was my apartment manager's signature. FedEx hadn't left a doortag to tell me where they'd left it, and I was home at the time anyway (sleeping though). So two days without the thing for no reason, during which time I could have been troubleshooting.
Finally got it, and damn were speeds slow. Literally slower than a 56k on downloads. Not terrible on uploads but not what they should be. Tried multiple phone cords and both computers and my wireless Ethernet router (not the DSL). Naturally rebooted just to say I had. Sent an email asking if it was configured properly on their end and whether Verizon had even signed off on the line, since I still had never gotten a "hi we're calling to get you up and running now that Verizon has cleared the line" call. All I got back was "we can't check anything because the modem is off". So I turned it back on and replied, and never got a response. The next day I called, sat on hold, then left a voicemail that they never returned. Next day again, emailed, never got a response. They finally called back the next day when I couldn't answer, left a voicemail, then called again the next day when I hadn't gotten around to calling again, left another message.
So finally tonight I managed to call. Two minutes on the phone and we find there's foreign voltage on the line (damn Frenchies). Gee surprise, a bad phone line on the Verizon system. Anyway, Verizon will be out tomorrow to check the line and try to clean it up, and then if necessary one of the ISP's techs will come out to check the wiring in the building.
All that for a two minute phone call to find out that the phone line that should have been tested in the first place wasn't any good. I'm hoping that once this is cleaned up, I won't ever have to deal with the support department again. The only reason I haven't just cancelled it outright is it's a great price for good speeds, and there's no one with anything remotely like the price/speed ratio otherwise, and I'm desperate to get off my cable service.
Yes. Long story. You shouldn't have read it if you didn't care. I could have put in a warning at the beginning, but that's no fun.
But the new ISP never called to check on me or verify that Verizon had closed the order. The DSL modem from them had not arrived yet (originally was shown with a due date of the 23rd, on the 24th they showed an attempt to deliver). Speeds with my router were nowhere near what they should have been (not just download tests, it wasn't syncing at the right speeds). They kept saying that I had to wait for the modem, it was "specially programmed" to work with their service at the right speeds. Hard not to remind them that I did commercial Internet support for 3 years, doing their job and more, with DSL and WAY WAY WAY faster types of lines, and know what "special programming" there can possibly be for a DSL line, and that the router was perfectly capable of working with their service.
Was told the modem should arrive on the 27th. Didn't happen. Had the 28th and 29th off. No router. Finally on the 29th in the evening found out that the modem had been delivered and signed for and got the tracking number. It took me a while to figure out that it was my apartment manager's signature. FedEx hadn't left a doortag to tell me where they'd left it, and I was home at the time anyway (sleeping though). So two days without the thing for no reason, during which time I could have been troubleshooting.
Finally got it, and damn were speeds slow. Literally slower than a 56k on downloads. Not terrible on uploads but not what they should be. Tried multiple phone cords and both computers and my wireless Ethernet router (not the DSL). Naturally rebooted just to say I had. Sent an email asking if it was configured properly on their end and whether Verizon had even signed off on the line, since I still had never gotten a "hi we're calling to get you up and running now that Verizon has cleared the line" call. All I got back was "we can't check anything because the modem is off". So I turned it back on and replied, and never got a response. The next day I called, sat on hold, then left a voicemail that they never returned. Next day again, emailed, never got a response. They finally called back the next day when I couldn't answer, left a voicemail, then called again the next day when I hadn't gotten around to calling again, left another message.
So finally tonight I managed to call. Two minutes on the phone and we find there's foreign voltage on the line (damn Frenchies). Gee surprise, a bad phone line on the Verizon system. Anyway, Verizon will be out tomorrow to check the line and try to clean it up, and then if necessary one of the ISP's techs will come out to check the wiring in the building.
All that for a two minute phone call to find out that the phone line that should have been tested in the first place wasn't any good. I'm hoping that once this is cleaned up, I won't ever have to deal with the support department again. The only reason I haven't just cancelled it outright is it's a great price for good speeds, and there's no one with anything remotely like the price/speed ratio otherwise, and I'm desperate to get off my cable service.
Yes. Long story. You shouldn't have read it if you didn't care. I could have put in a warning at the beginning, but that's no fun.
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