Review by m0unds 
UPDATED: 24 days ago
member for 6.7 years, 163 visits, last login: 10 days ago
 Albuquerque,Bernalillo,NM
 $55 per month
 about 7 days
 Qwest
 "Price is reasonable, hardware was free, speeds are good"
 "horribly uncoordinated install/order process"
 "qwest is a good deal, but not necessarily cheaper than cable"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I ordered my DSL line from qwest.com on 3/26/09. The order itself went without a hitch; I received my confirmation email which included instructions to monitor my order status using qwest's "myaccount" system. (the email said to register to view status) After attempting to register for "myaccount" with the naked DSL phone number I was given, I found out that myaccount is only available to qwest subscribers with active service in one form or another. so i had no way to track the status of my order. this was a bit distressing to me because i've had DSL from two CLECs previously, and both had status pages that let you check nearly any aspect of the process from provisioning to truck rolls and what have you.
after waiting 24 hours and still having trouble getting in to myaccount, i contacted support via live chat (which is handy) and was told that it was only available to current subs and i was not eligible. i went on dslr to try and find an order status URL, but the only available one is no longer accessible. i attempted contacting qwest again on monday to get the tracking number for the modem (i live in an apartment and it's easier for me to use quantum to notify me of delivery than try calling the office to verify delivery) and they didn't have one for me. i tried again on tuesday (3/31) and was able to get a tracking number, but it was not valid so i had to re-contact them again to get the correct one. the modem arrived on 4/1 like they stated it would, and i hooked it up and had it ready to go between the window of 0800-1700 that i was given during the order process.
1745 rolled around and the line still wasn't active and i had a funny feeling something was wrong, so i contacted support once again to find out what was going on. i found out from the tech that the order had not been placed in the workflow for the day and had not been completed. they stated they would add it to the evening workflow and it should be available within 2-3 hours. if not, the tech said, i should either call support or use the online chat. i waited 5 hours and contacted qwest again via chat because the line still wasn't up. the tech informed me that the repair order they'd used to invoke the service initiation had been completed but there was an "order problem" and i'd need to call sales in the morning (4/2).
i called sales at 0800 on 4/2 and first spoke to a sales rep who checked the order and said there was nothing wrong with it and had me hold while he transfered me to the repair department. every person i'd spoken to until this point had been extremely pleasant and as helpful as they could be. the representative from the repair department, however, was a cold, rude woman who transferred me mid-sentence to another department. this final woman was excellent and took very good care of me, apologizing for the situation and she was able to escalate the issue and get it taken care of. the issue was something with the pairs they had allocated in the RT having issues. the agent took care of getting dispatch notified to complete the install today and gave me a time of 1600 for completion. at 1609, my line was active and provisioned at 7168kbps.
I do have a feeling, though, that if I hadn't been as persistent as I was, that I would still be waiting for someone to figure out what the heck is going on. For that reason, i rate the install coordination low. I'll revisit my review in a while, once I've had a chance to use it a bit and see if I'm still feeling pretty good about it.
i ran a speed test and got right around 6000kbps/500kbit, which is within the spec for the line. i did a few traceroutes to servers i manage and to some gaming servers i play on, and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of jitter on the line. coming from Comcast, who had in the last 2 weeks gone from great to horrendous (loss, latency, jitter, etc) to a nice stable DSL line was great. first hop latency is a bit high due to interleaving, but i contacted support again to the get line placed on a fastpath profile and had a ticket submitted to have it completed on my first attempt. so far, so good.
Subscribed speed: 7mbit
CPE: Actiontec M1000 (not all that great)
Location (there is a crazy lack of reviews from NM residents): Northwest Albuquerque (Ellison & Golf Course area)
*EDIT 4/9/09*
After evaluating the connection for a week and dealing with actual tech support reps via their online chat system, I've given them a higher rating for reliability and for tech support. I submitted a ticket via online chat to have interleaving disabled on my very healthy line. It was completed this afternoon and interleaving is disabled. First hop latency went from 30ms to 6ms. I'll revisit my review again in a few months.
*EDIT* 11/8/09
Qwest made FTTN available at my location and I immediately bit and signed up for the 12mbit tier. The install (at the CO and their network) wasn't completed by 1700 on the install date, but a quick chat with Qwest online fixed that. Unfortunately, my line developed some serious issues and my VDSL circuit was only able to sync at 6.5mbit. After bringing the internal wiring up to code, I'm running at 12.1mbit and am happy. I'll continue using Qwest for the foreseeable future.
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