Boundless Incompetence
As many of you know, I've been moving into a new apartment over the past week. It's going well, and we really like the new place. Unfortunately, I'm having serious... Internet problems.
Due to boundless incompetence by a certain telephone mega-corporation, neither of the two DSL lines for my new place are working with any stability. In Qwest's defense, I've been using DSL at my old apartment for about the last three years and it's been rock-solid; very few problems, and probably only a dozen outages during the whole time. It does help to be within a mile from the Central Office.
My new place is about 2.5 miles (as the crow files) from the Central Office on Harmony and College. Unfortunately, that translates to 18,000 feet in copper length (about 3.4 miles) and my lines haven't been upgraded since the early 1970's. Yesterday, a tech called about the second line and said that they weren't going to be able to provide me service, because even at 256kb/s, the line would be so unstable it would make Qwest "look bad". He even recommended Comcast.
So I originally called Qwest on the 1st, both lines were due on the 10th, I started moving in on the 14th and now, almost two weeks, four dispatches and hours upon hours on the phone on hold, with tech support, and with the business department, they're finally getting around to telling me that DSL isn't going to work in my area.
There's still a few things I still like about Qwest. When you sign up for Qwest DSL service, due to fedral regulations on telecommunications services, you don't have to use Qwest.net Internet services or MSN or AOL, or any of the other giants, you can use a nice local company like FRII, JYMIS or NCIC and get arguably better and certainly more flexible service. But it looks like I won't be able to benefit from this freedom.
Which is really too bad. I telecommute so my livelihood depends on my ability to access the Internet. For the last week, I've been connecting from coffee shops (right now I'm on from the Timberline Mugs), or from my old apartment, now significantly lacking my furniture and most amenities. DSL at the old place will be shut off at the end of the month so I have to get something working. Running out of options, I chose the least expensive evil left to me. I signed up for Comcast. They should be out to install it on Tuesday.
I miss the freedom to choose my own Internet provider already.
I would still recommend Qwest DSL, but only if you're close to the central office or in a neighborhood with a DSLAM. And even then, be prepared to deal with a corporation that is so disorganized that they can't rightly be called an "organization". It's no surprise that their slogan is Spirit of Service, because there's only a ghost of a chance that you'll actually be able to get any.
Due to boundless incompetence by a certain telephone mega-corporation, neither of the two DSL lines for my new place are working with any stability. In Qwest's defense, I've been using DSL at my old apartment for about the last three years and it's been rock-solid; very few problems, and probably only a dozen outages during the whole time. It does help to be within a mile from the Central Office.
My new place is about 2.5 miles (as the crow files) from the Central Office on Harmony and College. Unfortunately, that translates to 18,000 feet in copper length (about 3.4 miles) and my lines haven't been upgraded since the early 1970's. Yesterday, a tech called about the second line and said that they weren't going to be able to provide me service, because even at 256kb/s, the line would be so unstable it would make Qwest "look bad". He even recommended Comcast.
So I originally called Qwest on the 1st, both lines were due on the 10th, I started moving in on the 14th and now, almost two weeks, four dispatches and hours upon hours on the phone on hold, with tech support, and with the business department, they're finally getting around to telling me that DSL isn't going to work in my area.
There's still a few things I still like about Qwest. When you sign up for Qwest DSL service, due to fedral regulations on telecommunications services, you don't have to use Qwest.net Internet services or MSN or AOL, or any of the other giants, you can use a nice local company like FRII, JYMIS or NCIC and get arguably better and certainly more flexible service. But it looks like I won't be able to benefit from this freedom.
Which is really too bad. I telecommute so my livelihood depends on my ability to access the Internet. For the last week, I've been connecting from coffee shops (right now I'm on from the Timberline Mugs), or from my old apartment, now significantly lacking my furniture and most amenities. DSL at the old place will be shut off at the end of the month so I have to get something working. Running out of options, I chose the least expensive evil left to me. I signed up for Comcast. They should be out to install it on Tuesday.
I miss the freedom to choose my own Internet provider already.
I would still recommend Qwest DSL, but only if you're close to the central office or in a neighborhood with a DSLAM. And even then, be prepared to deal with a corporation that is so disorganized that they can't rightly be called an "organization". It's no surprise that their slogan is Spirit of Service, because there's only a ghost of a chance that you'll actually be able to get any.