Review by Brisk 
UPDATED: 59 days ago
member for 6.4 years, 771 visits, last login: 54 days ago
 Colorado Springs,El Paso,CO
 $30 per month
 about 4 days
 Qwest
 "Good connection."
 "Poor support in the Colorado Springs area."
 "Alright service if you don't care about latency."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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New Review (2009-)
I had enough of the outrageous rates of Sprint Mobile Broadband, so I switched back to Qwest's DSL in June '09. Installation was easy, I had service before though, so that could have made things easier. I ordered about June 3, and my service was activated June 5.
Seems like a good deal at $30/mo for 1.5Mbps/640Kbps for one year (two-year contract with a $200 early term. fee for price-for-life), excluding equipment that has a rental fee of $5-8/mo. (I have my own Qwest-branded modem, so that wasn't a problem.) I was given a self-install kit at a local mall kiosk, with the information required to set-up my service, except for the ADSL username and password. Still a great improvement over a few years ago, even though they make you install some un-necessary software and more experienced users need to call Qwest techs to get their ADSL password to set-up their service the way they like. The only real complaint that I have is that they don't pay attention to this area. And, unfortunately, as DSL and EVDO are the only services available here, Qwest has us by the leash. I advise you to get the best deal out there, which, in Colorado Springs is Comcast. For those of you where Comcast is not an option, Qwest is alright, if they maintain your lines. I have had no fewer than 4 separate techs out here to stabilize my line over the years, one who cut my service levels to 640k/256k, without my permission. I had to talk to them over the phone to get this resolved.
But overall, It's been alright, considering that the lines are over two decades old and I'm about 3 miles from the central office. I can only wish that they will add a remote terminal here, for better service.
Old review (2004-2006)
Update two: When my noise margins started dropping last month, I called Qwest about it and they said there wasn't much they could do. I guess they were joking, because two days later they sent out someone who checked the margins and cut some old line saving a few dBs. Then he suggested installing a homerun jack and actually re-wired an existing jack with a homerun jack for free. (It's normally $99 for a new one.) Margins are amazing now, a steady 24dB down and 25dB up, near-perfect.
I'd like to thank Qwest for doing all of this repair work at no cost. They still won't remove interleave but this is nice too.
UPDATE: It's been almost seven months and still no sign of megabit service in this area. The latency has been getting worse lately. On the upside, I have continuously used around 60GB (total upload & down) a month with no complaints from Qwest.
Had to get my Actiontec replaced in November. I sent them back everything including cables and the adapter, and they only sent me a modem. They told me it was a simple mistake and sent me everything with the second shipment. Both modems were sent free overnight delivery. They even credited me $7 for the almost week-long downtime (it was thanksgiving so overnight shipping wasn't really) and the dial-up service was excellent during that time.
I plan on moving in the next few months, and I'll make sure I have my choice of CLEC DSL and Cable. While Qwest has been good, it's just not for me.
The Qwest...
I finally gave in and ordered Qwest Basic DSL, their lower-speed 256/256 tier. The new RTs being built was a big factor in my decision. You can see all of the new terminals being built at »www.qwest.com/disclosures/netdis···dex.html
(Free excel viewer required, you can get it at »www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta···ylang=EN)
They update it with new terminals all the time, every couple of days in fact. Hundreds of terminals are on it already. Know your CO's name and see if they plan on building an RT for it, then MapQuest it's address.
Hopefully I can get the higher speeds next month when a remote terminal powers up just half a mile from my house.
I'd only recommend their lower-speed tier if you can't get cable or their higher-speed tier, 1.5/896.
Cost for line - $15
Qwest.net Basic service (without E-Mail or Webspace): $6.99
Modem rental: $3 (Recommended, since Actiontec modems have been reported as crap and as long as you lease it, it's their problem.)
Because the login is PPPoA used mostly in Europe until Qwest brought it into the states, most every DSL modem
out there doesn't support Qwest DSL.
So it's their equipment or nothing, unless DSL is beating cable badly enough in your area to support shops carrying DSL modems.
You don't get E-Mail or Webspace with Qwest.net, but it frees you from MSN's limitations...which I won't begin to go into. MSN sucks, trust me. I had their dial-up for a month.
For your webspace and e-mail, you can buy a domain and get cheap hosting for
$3 to $9 a month plus the yearly domain fee. Or you can just use angelfire and G-Mail if you want something on the free side.
Installation --
I canceled my Covad DSL service on the 13th and ordered Qwest DSL the same day.
The modem was supossed to be here on the 28th, but I got it yesterday (24th). My line isn't supossed to be active yet, but it is. Everything was done ahead of schedule, and all of the customer support reps were located on this continent. Extra brownie points for Qwest! Who knew? They have earned my trust again.
The only snag here is when I called Qwest for an update and they said my phone service was being transfered. It was actually the DSL service being transfered. I spent nearly an hour on the phone clearing things up, when the problem didn't really exist.
If phone orders and DSL orders look too much alike, they should revamp their ordering system.
The modem comes with all of the trimmings, though it isn't the most reliable modem on earth if you ask other Qwest customers. USB, 802.11G Wireless and Ethernet all standard with 4 filters. I easily slipped it into the network with my Linksys router and was running in 15 minutes.
Connection --
The connection has been rock-solid. I don't need to swap the lines (see previous reviews) to keep sync anymore.
I haven't really had the connection long enough for a good review, but when I see a problem I'll update this.
My only problem is that I should be able to have near latency-free gaming connections with someone in my own town using have same ISP right? Wrong. A direct Qwest connection in Colorado Springs is 150ms. That's unheard of, I have better latency to NYC than I do to my own town. The interleave otherwise isn't all that bad, 40ms to my first hop versus 30ms with Covad. But then again, my Covad connection had to travel to Denver 90 miles away for a first hop. 110 vs. 90 on most game servers. Not bad, in comparison.
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