Comments on: Verizon ineptitude http://docwhat.gerf.org/2008/02/verizon-sucks/ Some men are discovered; others are found out Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:35:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Fellow GTE Traveler http://docwhat.gerf.org/2008/02/verizon-sucks/#comment-4069 Fellow GTE Traveler Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:34:55 +0000 http://docwhat.gerf.org/2008/02/verizon-sucks/#comment-4069 Last year, after 100% uptime since 1999, we got into an 8-day pickle with our "premium" DSL provider, and found that their personal competency didn't mean much so long as Verizon was still providing the copper. Our solution was to order a cable modem ($35/month, though we'll probably get it down soon.), and switch to cheap native Verizon DSL. That didn't prevent another 8-day outage (resolvable in 20 minutes, once connected to a tech that believed my diagnosis and pursued it.) But having the cable modem meant we didn't really lose any sleep, or remaining hair on our heads, as we spent oodles of time talking to droids in Umbai, Cebu, Vancouver, and some actually intelligent people in Mexico City. Whether you switch to Speakeasy, DSL Extreme, or any other non-LEC ISP, you're still going to deal with the same last-mile issues, and the same firewall between the ISP and the LEC. We're hoping to get some of our neighbors to set up with Fon, so we'll have WiFi backup options. Last year, after 100% uptime since 1999, we got into an 8-day pickle with our “premium” DSL provider, and found that their personal competency didn’t mean much so long as Verizon was still providing the copper.

Our solution was to order a cable modem ($35/month, though we’ll probably get it down soon.), and switch to cheap native Verizon DSL. That didn’t prevent another 8-day outage (resolvable in 20 minutes, once connected to a tech that believed my diagnosis and pursued it.)

But having the cable modem meant we didn’t really lose any sleep, or remaining hair on our heads, as we spent oodles of time talking to droids in Umbai, Cebu, Vancouver, and some actually intelligent people in Mexico City.

Whether you switch to Speakeasy, DSL Extreme, or any other non-LEC ISP, you’re still going to deal with the same last-mile issues, and the same firewall between the ISP and the LEC.

We’re hoping to get some of our neighbors to set up with Fon, so we’ll have WiFi backup options.

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