DSL :-(

[cellio]

Damn. The last local ISP in Pittsburgh, which has provided us excellent service, is going away. (I hadn't realized it had gotten quite that bad.) Our choices are Verizon (DSL) and Comcast (cable), so I've just submitted the order with Verizon. This should be a simple transfer (our ISP was reselling Verizon), but they have no apparent process for simple transfers, so we'll see. (No, not going to do Comcast, and not interested in switching technologies until the day Verizon deigns to offer FiOS in our neighborhood.)

With Nidhog (current ISP), service has been excellent, I had the owner's cell-phone number, and the very few problems were dealt with quickly and easily (even the ones that weren't really theirs to fix). Verizon claims 24/7 support but they mean online chat, which has obvious limitations. Getting a phone number at all was harder than it should have been, and I don't yet know the hours when it's staffed. (Not at 10PM on a Saturday.)

Edit: This wasn't clear from the mail I got on Friday, but tonight I learned that Nidhog is not going away completely. They are just ceasing to offer DSL. (I'd love to know what happened there...) If FiOS were available to my address I could buy it from Nidhog (so when it is I will, should it ever be).

Comments

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

You could probably also do Earthlink over Verizon (we did that, now we're Earthlink over AT&T), but its close to the same thing.

[cellio]

Not sure having two large impersonal companies in the chain is a win...

How's you Hindi?

[tc-tick.livejournal.com]

Most likely Verizon's "support" will be out of India. I've been using Speakeasy/Covad since my previous ISP (Verio) became commercial (T1 or better) only. They have provided excellent service over the years. You might check them out at www.speakeasy.net.

Re: How's you Hindi?

[cellio]

Most likely Verizon's "support" will be out of India.

Almost certainly, judging from the wording oddities in "Maddy"'s chat last night.

Thanks for the pointer.

Re: How's you Hindi?

[tc-tick.livejournal.com]

Yes, that is a lot more, I've considered switching, but whenever I look into it, I end up staying with them. I run a server, my own mail services, etc. so the higher upstream rate is important and their policies allow me to do about anything that is legal. My plan also includes nationwide dial-up (30 hours/mo.) which used to be absolutely necessary when I was traveling (more places have high-speed internet now so it isn't as important.) I have no limits on upload/download traffic and they also host my secondary DNS and allow up to 1GB/MO of news feeds as well.

Don't count on a smooth transition even though they actually provide the current DSL, the POTN can be incredibly beaurocratic when it comes to transfering service expecially from/to a 3rd party. Hopefully you won't experience a long outage.

[dsrtao]

Speakeasy continues to provide exceptionally good service -- my business has been a customer for 3 years now. The price is higher than VZ, but pretty much every plan includes a static IP address and the right to do just about anything you want with it except send spam.

[cellio]

Is the service enough better to warrant a price 250% higher than Verizon's? That's what I'm looking at here.

[n2mlq.livejournal.com]

For me it was. Unfortunately, in the new house my choices are ComCast or dialup. I envy you haveing DSL.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

No Comcast.

And, consider GetHuman.com (or org?)

[cellio]

.com. Thanks -- good to know about!

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

Verizon claims 24/7 support but they mean online chat

Ahahahaha.

I used to wonder how you could call the phone company to tell them your phone service was dead. Online chat to discuss connectivity issues are just as silly. "Are you at your computer, ma'am?" "Duh, no, it can't connect!"

[cellio]

Yeah. I want to know the hours that I can reach someone by phone. That's sure not 24/7.

I did notice that Verizon now seems to have the home-network clue (they'll sell you a router instead of just the modem if you want), so maybe it will no longer be necessary to fake my half of that conversation on support calls. (You know -- "why yes, of course I have your modem plugged directly into my computer as instructed... and those IP settings are (consults router)...".)

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

The online tech support is, I believe, also an artifact of the era of outsourcing. They really can provide service all day, any day of the year, because somewhere for someone it is during working hours.

The modem from my DSL ISP actually is a primitive router (two ports, whoo), but I still keep my own between it and my internal network. Luckily I have never had to deal with tech support for it: it freezes every couple of months, I power it down and up, and it works again (retaining the same supposedly dynamic IP address, which is sweet).

[xthlcm.livejournal.com]

Hmm, it may be too late, but I'll third the speakeasy recommendation. Verizon DSL is absolutely awful. Speakeasy "feels" like a local ISP in terms of great support and personalized service.

[cellio]

To avoid a service gap I'm taking Verizon at the moment (I'm already on their network so this should be easy...), but I have 30 days to cancel that without penalties, which is enough time to investigate Speakeasy.

When you say Verizon is awful, do you mean quality of service too, or just their support?

Speakeasy charges $50/month for 1.5/384, versus $20 from Verizon for 1.5/something (didn't look). For 3.0/something (what I ordered) it's even more pronounced -- $90 Speakeasy, $30 Verizon. Is there something I've missed? If not, are they worth that kind of multiplier? Of course support and TOS are also part of the value proposition; I'm just trying to understand why they're so much more expensive.

[xthlcm.livejournal.com]

Both quality of service and support. Mind you, I had them several years ago in Pittsburgh, but it was enough to sour me for good.

Network restrictions was my principal complaint. Last I checked, Verizon locks down their network to a ridiculous degree. You cannot send email through their SMTP servers unless your From header is an @verizon.net address. Forget about any inbound ports, BitTorrent, etc. At the time they didn't even allow my use of the MAYA VPN, insisting I upgrade to a "home office" package for $20 more per month.

Support was also terrible. I usually had to call back multiple times until I found a support tech whose English was adequate to resolve my issue and who would escalate my problem (since by the time I call I've usually gone beyond the whole turn-it-off-and-on-again script). Even then I would usually be dumped off the line with the promise that someone would call me back (they never did).

Speakeasy, on the other hand, was consistently awesome. The last time I had a major outage (four years ago) the support tech gave me his mobile phone number so that I could call and check on the repair status if I got impatient. Then there was a misunderstanding with Covad, where the Covad tech charged me $200 for a repair due to a bullshit technicality. When I complained to Speakeasy they apologized and ate the charge for me while they worked it out with Covad. The support techs respect you if you're technically competent and will act more like a knowledgeable coworker than a condescending or ignorant drone.

Speakeasy also does a great job of supporting people that run their own servers at home, and automatically gives you static IPs and wide open, unfiltered access to the Internet.

All of that said: yes, their pricing has pushed them further and further into boutique status. I have no reason to run my own services at home since it's cheaper and more reliable to do it via Dreamhost or Slicehost. I have Comcast for my home broadband now -- it's pricier than Verizon but faster and (so far) the support and services have been adequate.

[gregordv.livejournal.com]

Just to throw more FUD into the mix, I was speaking to a FiOS installer who said they were going to be rolling out to "the rest of Pittsburgh" Real Soon Now. I assume that meant Sq.Hill also, but didn't specifically ask. If so, then the compelling bandwidth buys them out of a whole bunch of bad service, in my book.

[cellio]

Yeah, when FiOS makes it to my house I'll buy from whoever's selling it. (My current provider resells that too, but they can't make Verizon run the fiber.) We've been hearing "real soon now" for a couple years, so I'll believe it when the truck shows up on my street, but it'd be great if the installer you talked to is right.

[fauxklore]

I have Verizon FIOS and mostly like the service, but their customer service sucks. The last time I had an outage, they kept insisting it was because I had a power outage and would not believe that: a) I had power, b) none of the circuit breakers had flipped and c) the backup power unit was not in my basement because I live in a condo and don't have a basement. It took the condo management calling to get things fixed.

[foxxydancr.livejournal.com]

fyi, in the year+ that derrangedferret and I have had verizon, we have never had a single problem. Initial installation (it was FIOS) took half a day or so, but was reasonably efficient, the guy seemed pleasant and knolwedgeable, and we've never, to my knowledge, needed to call Verizon for anything. So for all the horror stories people tell, there's a flip side too.