On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 21:39:57 GMT, George Patterson
wrote:

Dave Butler wrote:

NorthNet http://www.ntd.net/internet.htm claims to offer DSL.

In nearly all of the U.S., the internet providers are running on lines that
they've taken over from the local Bell company. The lines are still provisioned
by the local baby Bell. If the local Bell says that they can't give you DSL at
your location, nobody else can either. That doesn't stop the internet service
companies from claiming they can. I think the baby Bell in that area is Ameritec?

Here, Earthlink was claiming that they could provide me DSL for two years before
my line could actually support it. Verizon had to condition the line for DSL
before anyone could provide service on it.

In order to handle DSL, the service address must be pretty close to the central
office (IIRC, 5,000'). The entire cable must also be free of load coils. Most
ISPs simply check the distance but have no way of knowing if coils are on the cable.

thread drift warning (you have been warned)

Contacted the local telco (brand V) several years ago concerning my
new residential service. It was a line running in a ditch for about
3/8 of a mile from the neighbor's junction box and literally
duct-taped to the poles to cross the road to my house.

Got passed around for awhile, and ended up with the engineer
responsible for jobs in my area. My primary concern was garbage coming
in from the street goofing up my brand new wired network in the house
(half telco/half LAN). Had no idea if it would be an issue-that's why
I was asking.

He assured me that the job would be completed by the end of the week
(it was) and asked me if I had ever considered DSL. Told him all the
contacts with the "sales team" told me that it was not available in my
area. He mashed a couple buttons on his keyboard, came up with my
location, and asked me how far away I was from the "box".

Turns out I was 8,200' of wire away. He did a "line test", and put me
in contact with a person within the company (not related to the sales
team) that had me hooked up within 2 weeks.

The company has since made a nationally advertised plan available in
my area. I knew it was going to be a PITA, but I switched to save $25
a month. Took about three days on the phone to convince them that I
had existing fixed IP DSL and get signed up for an annual contract.
Took another week on the phone to get the info I needed to get hooked
up/swapped over to the telco ISP. Initially, my existing service was
cut off, and I was told again that DSL wasn't available in my area,
and that I never should have been offered/sold service.

Long story short, have talked to other locals (a lot closer than my
8200') who were sold "self-install" kits and contracts from the sales
team and found out from the same engineer that their lines were not
suitable/compatible.

Cable is not a available option for me, but if the cable companies
offer any customer service at all, it's no surprise that they are
kicking the phone company's collective asses.

TC