Review by GeorgeLSJr 
member for 12 years, 3 visits, last login: 12 years ago
lodged 12 years ago
 Sayreville,Middlesex,NJ
 $80 per month- (24 month contract)
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
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This is going to be long and detailed, so if you just want a quick
synopsis, jump to the last two paragraphs. Simply put, I've had quite a
bit of trouble with my DSL line, since it was initially installed. I
chose FastPoint Communications because it had the best combination of
price/speed/features for my needs. My line was installed by Bell
Atlantic fairly fast and Covad came out to install the rest of the
wiring soon thereafter. I was up and running that night and enjoyed
surfing at a blazingly fast speed for a few weeks. Then the trouble
started...
I had problems getting the CP (router, modem, DSL hardware... whatever
you want to call it) to stay connected. I called tech support at
FastPoint and they had me run Winipcfg, release the info., and then
renew it. This got the line running and I was back in business... or so
I thought! A few days later, the same thing happened. I called tech
support and went through the same thing again. This process went on
quite a few times for a few more days, maybe a week. Then I got a tech
support person who said that there may be a problem with the line, so
they ran some tests, got it working and I was surfing once again... for
a little while, at least. Not long after that, I had the line go down
again.
I made the now dreaded phone call to tech support and got a technician
who decided that I needed a new CP because I apparently got one from a
bad batch Covad was sent. They asked when I was available and I told
them that I was home every day during the week from 4:30pm on, when I
get home from work. They told me the day and I was ready to go. The
day the guy is supposed to show up, I wound up not going to work for
various reasons and, to my surprise, the guy shows up at 8am!!! 8am?
4:30pm? Nobody's perfect, right? Close enough, I suppose. He comes in
and replaces the CP, gets me running, and I'm good to go... NOT! THAT
NIGHT, the line goes down again.
Yet another phone call to FastPoint... I make another phone call to
FastPoint and get tech support yet again. Sadly, this is the only time
I can remember the name of the guy I talked to (Tony... you'll know why
in a second). I get the sad news from Tony that I, supposedly, managed
to get TWO faulty CP's, according to Covad!!! HUH?! You're kidding,
right? Should I maybe play the lottery, too? So, he says he'll have
another Covad tech come out and swap it out again. Then the question
comes... "When are you available?" Hehe... care to guess the answer?
"Anytime after 4:30 during the week." So, they set it up for the next
week. I come home that day around 4:20pm and there's a note in the
mailbox... "Sorry we missed you. Please call again to reschedule."
The time HAND-WRITTEN on the note says 3:00pm. WHAT?! I said
4:30pm!!! Not 3pm! So, I call to reschedule, asking how I can get the
guy to come when I said to. Saturday was looking better for an
appointment, so I went with that. Tuesday rolls around and there's
another note saying they missed me. Dammit! I thought we agreed to
Saturday? Wednesday... another note!!! Come on now! Thursday... I
get home and the phone rings. He's coming out right now. AWESOME! He
shows up and can't believe that it's the CP, so he makes some calls to
get the line tested by Covad. Done.... I've got noise on the line. He
says they're going to get Bell Atlantic to come out and check the line
outside, since it's on thier end. Okay, fine. What do I know?
About 4 days go by and no Bell Atlantic and no DSL access. So, I call
Tony, since he's the only person who seemed to be able to get me any
real answers, instead of telling me to "run Winipcfg" when that's not
even the issue. He gets a hold of Covad and tells me that they're going
to run some tests today and if that doesn't help, they're going to get
Bell Atlantic to come out TOMORROW! You're kidding, right? You mean
that in two days, I may have my DSL back? So, lemme understand this...
nearly TWO MONTHS without DSL access and about 5 or 6 tech support guys
can't seem to figure out what's wrong. ONE WEEK with this Tony guy and
my line may be fixed in two more days? Maybe you should clone this guy!
Well, I still don't have DSL access right now, but I have a feeling I
can see the light at the end of my phone line! I have more confidence
from the last two phone calls than I did with the past 6 or 7. I lost
count of how many times I actually called, so I don't know how many tech
guys I went through, but, I guess they save the best for last or
something. Again, I may have had trouble getting my DSL line working,
but I can't complain about the tech support not being there. They
definitely were. They just didn't know what to do... well... all but
one didn't know what to do. I wasn't on the phone very long waiting for
tech support, but it seems that Covad makes everyone wait, hehe. We'll
see what happens now...
George
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