 Review by WiseOldNerd 
UPDATED: 36 days ago
member for 6.8 years, 1127 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Phoenix,Maricopa,AZ
 $45 per month
 about 7 days
 Qwest
 "Solid connection, no blocked ports"
 "Can't get faster due to distance & old copper-cheap ass company"
 "Reliable, cost effective for those running servers BUT poor choice for those needing speed"
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(ratings match consensus)
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Update: September 5, 2008
I dumped Qwest in Oregon since they are too cheap to upgrade their copper and thus keep one at a slow speed. Will probably dump them in Phoenix for same reason. I am becoming less and less a Qwest supporter except for those needing IP addresses and server connections. They are wasting too much money on law suits and marketing and not upgrading existing infrastructure.
Update: April 7, 2008
Qwest continues to be my ISP of choice. However there is a bit of tarnish now. I recently communicated with corporate about possibilities of remote terminals at both the Phoenix site and my Newport, OR site. In both cases no plans to do so. I am becoming more certain that Qwest is now cherry picking the areas in which they upgrade their old copper and/or add RTs to facilitate faster connections. Now that I am no longer running servers, I have dumped the static IPs, moved to a plain old DSL on the voice line with the Qwest/MSN package. Of course no use of the MSN garbage.
I am starting to give some consideration to returning to cable. Bottom line will be highest speeds at lowest cost.
Update: September 11, 2006
I continue to be very pleased with Qwest. I still wish they would upgrade the copper in central Phoenix to enable faster connections. At the moment I actually have two DSL lines. One on standard POTS line and the other a "dry" line. On these lines I run 4 servers with multiple static IPs, web sites, and email. I use a Cisco 877W router-modem-switch on one line and have been very happy with that choice. I also use a Cisco on the dry line. I have used 2wire and found it very good as well, just not equal to Cisco in functionality and manageability.
I have found that the Qwest.net website has some problems, but after reaching some folks higher in the food chain, I have gotten problems resolved or they have explained why the problem persists and continue to work on it. I now have email addresses for people who can get things done.
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I have tried DSL several times over the past years. When US West was the Telco, it was a disaster. Since Qwest got serious about good service, it has been a whole new game. Basically, I have now had Qwest DSL with Qwest.net basic for the past 18+ months. When I had some connection issues, Qwest has been responsive and prompt in dealing with them.
Early on, I found that I had some internal wiring problems. Qwest dispatched a very competent DSL tech who found and fixed those problems and generally cleaned up our internal outlets. We designated one for DSL and put filter in the demarc for the others. A few months ago, after switching to the Premier service, I was experiencing significant speed fluctuations and the noise margin was hovering around 6-9db. Qwest checked the CO for problems, found none and dispatched a wire tech who found problems with the underground cable leading to my town home. He repaired the cable, and the connection has been rock solid since. I have 3072K down and 640K up. My noise margins are about 15-18db down and slightly less up. (The wiring in my part of Phoenix is pretty old, and I am about 13,000 feet from CO.)
All contacts with Qwest support staff have been very good to excellent. This includes their DNS admin staff who have been excellent in dealing with DNS issues. Since I run mail and web servers, this is important.
I started with the Actiontec 701. Later switched to a 2Wire 1800HG, and now use a Cisco 877W. I have the block of 8 static IPs with five useable, and the Qwest.net basic service is perfect for ISP. Qwest uses PPOA for the connection. I wished they didn't, but can live with it. Based on my earlier experiences, I do believe that using Qwest for both the copper and DSL is best approach. When I had the problems mentioned earlier, there was no pointing of fingers to a third party. They new they owned the problem and they fixed it.
As a part-time computer and network consultant/techie, I have engineered the establishment of Qwest DSL services for several businesses and private individuals. In all cases, it has been a good experience for the user. Qwest may not be the best broadband provider, but they seem to be very serious about providing good service and resolving problems.
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