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Review by dsl4ever 
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 277 days, 60 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Whitewright,Grayson,TX
 $37 per month
 about 3 days
 "Reliability-consistency-value"
 "Website hard to navigate"
 "Will never go back to cable unless caps are implemented"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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Had cable internet from local provider. Service was good, consistent, and a fair value. Then came the download caps.
Was hesitant to even try DSL, was told that it was unreliable, buggy..etc.
Got a great deal from Verizon, 6 mos free 3 meg DSL with a one year commitment (i think). My experience with the 3 meg was great...I haven't had a single outage or slowdown since I ordered it. Setup was easy (as was cable).
After my 6 mos free period was up I ordered the new 7.1. After a 4 day delay, I find out that not only do I not have internet, my phone no longer works! However, Verizon quickly found and resolved the problem at local CO and phone outage was less than 24 hours. I've had the new 7.1 for about a month now and I love it. I get consistent 6500kbps on speedtest. No outages as of yet (I was concerned about reliability after making the upgrade). The hardware I got is top-notch, modem and wireless router all in one small unit. I use my wireless-capable laptop and have had no problems with the wireless router. My speedtest results are the same on my laptop as on my desktop.
Update 10-12-09:
I have had verizon dsl for approx 14 months with no service breaks that i can remember. Speed is still around 6600 KBps on speedtest. RELIABLE is the key word. I'm very impressed with the hardware (7500 i think). DSL modem/router-wireless router all in one relatively small package. I may have had to reboot router maybe once in the past year or so. Still very happy.
Update 12-9-09:
Everything's still great with my 7.1 dsl. Nothing new here...no regrets about changing over from CableOne.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Verizon Online DSL |
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 Review by aefstoggaflm
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 7.7 years, 1691 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Bethlehem,Northampton,PA
Contract price not specified.
 Verizon
"Better than one way cable."
"Took a while to get. They had the wrong phone number. Sometimes tech support is dumb."
"Other then tech support, the service is good."
| |
I ordered 3/768 at the month to month rate. I had a PPPoE connection.
Better than one way cable. But the bad news took a while to get. They had the wrong address or phone number.
--
Sometimes tech support is just plain straight dumb. As addressed in »[Rant] Rant about Verizon techs. (Warning: Long)
I made sure that all of my devices behind a NAT router (ex: WRT54G v6) could release and renew their IP address.
We (my parents and I) then switched from behind a NAT device to a direct connection to the modem.
Then when Verizon techs tried to trouble shoot the issue. One of the things is that they told us to do was to uninstall and reinstall the NIC of a computer, is like 
** Update 12/09/09 **
Now on Business DSL with a public Static IP.
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 Review by Commander
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 2.3 years, 490 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Keeling,Pittsylvania,VA
$30 per month (12 month contract)
about 14 days
Verizon
"Connection is stable and reliable - Good speed - Low latency"
"Your overall experience with tech support is like rolling dice"
"Get it if you can"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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My experience with it has been good. Normally I have a good solid 2.8+ Mbits/sec (350 KBytes/sec) down and 720+ Kbits/sec (90 KBytes/sec) up. For whatever reason(s), the Flash test performed at DSL Reports returns slower results than those of other speed tests. The Java test returns a better result.
Verizon is now blocking SMTP port 25. Change this setting to port 587.
Technical support could be better. You might get lucky, or you may fine yourself speaking with an idiot.
By tweaking your computer's settings, you can get more bang for your buck. Verizon DSL users should optimize their connection for best results. Verizon says, "Note: You only need to run this optimizer if your Verizon High Speed Internet service speed is greater than 3Mb/second." My speed is about 2.8 Mbps. I ran the optimizer and it did improve the performance of my connection.
Optimize Connection »www2.verizon.net/help/dsl_settings/
Followup comments:  
gsuburban
join:2000-02-29
Glendora, CA
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Verizon Optimize My Connection I've been with Verizon (GTE) ever since they offered DSL service in 2000. From day one, download speeds were always on target 768kbps then 1500kbps and now 3000kbps. Also from day one the upload speeds using any email client such as Outlook, Outlook Express or Thunderbird etc the upload speeds were always 45 to 50% of the target up speeds. Beginning from 128, then to 384 and now 768kbps these up speed portions of the speed packages suffered but only when using an email client. File transfers with windows messenger, cute or ftp and web based email via internet explorer hummed right along at the max speed target.
After 8 years of continuous questions with Verizon Online tech support/level2/level3/letters of complaints etc and finally having a discussion with the guru's in the email server section with Verizon, I was told there is no fix for this problem. I have heard that for the last 4 years every time yet I personally knew they had it wrong all the time. I used several windows machine new out of the box, old ones etc etc and the same performance when it came to an upload via email clients. Interestingly, Outlook Express is the default email setup Verizon prefers to set up its users with when using that CD installation method.
When I just happened to stumble on the "Optimize My Connection" in December 2007 while looking for details in Verizon's web pages, I pretty much fainted when I clicked on the button and view the next page "your connection has been optimized". Right after that, I opened an email message, attached a 2mb jpeg and sent it to myself. The upload speeds doubled and the software I use to monitor connection speeds up/down showed the up speed to be in the area of 800kbps. That quick and that easy.
The worst of this story is obvious, Verizon knew about this yet none of the highly paid customer service tools had any clue about it.
Your comments state Verizon told you about this tool on their website, is that true? In all my time with them, not one of them had known about this ! | |
| | | | |
gsuburban
join:2000-02-29
Glendora, CA
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Verizon Optimize My Connection You may want to correct your post that you were the lucky VOL customer who had to find this tcp/ip tool to get the correct settings sync'd up with their servers.
Funny how the default install process with VOL is outlook express via the CD that comes with the self-installation kit. I don't recall being told the upload speeds on port 25 would be half of the HTTP speeds (port 80). | |
| | | |
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Review by kbrahmer
Posted: 1 days ago
member for 270 days, 1 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Otto,Macon,NC
$59 per month
about 30 days
"available"
"unreliable, extraordinary congestion -> very slow, customer support bad"
"DSL advertised as 1.5MB but actual d/l is 200KB stay away from this if you can"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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Verizon DSL Broadband - I have had repairmen visit repeatedly who find nothing wrong with the line, my equipment etc. I have made trouble reports and talked with many poorly speaking customer support people (VOIP from from India - also bad connection) who go through the motions.
I have sent emails and letters to Verizon to explain a history that shows that during the day the best d/l I get is around 200KB, yet at 2AM I get 1500KB. Verizon contacts ignore congestion complaints.
The latency is so bad that online games I used to play without difficulty via 56K dial up modem, I cannot play via Verizon's DSL. If there was any other DSL service provider in my location I would try them immediately.
Often it takes 20 seconds just to get Verizon's own speedtest webpage or homepage.
I utilize Verizon DSL only because I have no other option except satelite and that has the same latency problems and a FOP that degrades service.
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 Review by Steimes
UPDATED: 1 days ago
member for 7.9 years, 3551 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Mckeesport,Allegheny,PA
$34 per month
about 8 days
Verizon
"Extreamly high uptime. No packet loss, ever."
"Bad mail system, tech support is horrendous! Good luck if you are moving."
"If you live close enough to the CO to get higher speeds, go for it. Overwise consider cable."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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UPDATE: As of 02/08 I no longer use Verizon DSL, Comcast's Tripple Play Promotion was too tempting not to jump on. I not recommend Verizon DSL to any one who has Comcast available to them, the speed just cannot compete.
Verizon offers a good value for the money, at 34 or so bucks a month they give you great speeds, that is if you live close to the CO. I live about 15000 feet from the CO, and am stuck at 768/128. I do get the most out of the advertised speeds, getting around 700 down 138 up, but pay the same price as those getting much higher speeds than I.
I rated the tech support the worst (at one time rated highly) because when I moved only a few houses up the street they told me it would take two weeks to transfer the DSL line (same phone number). That was not a problem for me, I understood that there is work involved in that. The two week deadline came and went, and about a week after my promised date I dialed tech support. After what was at least an hour and a half wait I was connected to a agent. 3 hours later, no resolve to the problem. To make a long story short, it took Verizon a month after they said I was able to go live (6 weeks downtime), to connect to the internet. This did not come without me spending 20 hours on tech support, 12 of those were on hold.
But other than that Verizon gives me rock solid performance and great newsgroups. The real bottom line is, if you live close to the CO and don't mind listening to soft rock on hold, Verizon is a great choice.
EDIT: I recently got bumped up to 1.5/384. New distance length for that speed is now 18k feet. I am impressed, their tech support picked up right away. Although it does not make up to the month outage, I bumped up their techsupport up a notch.
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Review by ThatJimGuy
UPDATED: 4 days ago
Fair warning: reviewer joined this week
Gloucester,Gloucester,VA
$20 per month
about 7 days
Verizon
"Good speed both down and up."
"Download speed according to tests is a bit slower than advertised"
"I'm happy with it."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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Download speed is a bit less than adverstised (according to broadbandreports.com speed tests) but upload is faster. I think they are pretty much in the range of error and latency.
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Review by spyknee
UPDATED: 6 days ago
member for 2 years, 82 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Woodside,Queens,NY
$34 per month (12 month contract)
about 14 days
"90% of offered bandwidth, recieved!"
"FIOS not available!"
"Way better than Road Runner!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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Time-Warner offered, 5Mb/s down, 1 Mb/s up - for $29.95 first 6 months
Time Warner received, 80% and less down, 256 Kb/s up - $49.95 from first week
Time Warner paid based on special offered rate and refused payment initially, sent me to a collection agency. Paid a 2nd time and then they cashed the initial payment as well. Paid twice for 3 weeks of service.
Verizon DSL offered, 3Mb/s down, 768Kb/s up - $34.95 a month
Verizon DSL received, 2.8Mb/s down, 600Kb/s up - $34.95 a month
Verizon DSL, less latency and better consistant service with 3Mb/s service
ADDENDUM: That was approximately $320 I paid Time-Warner, for 3 weeks of RoadRunner and Cable TV.
Thats a whole years worth of Verizons 3MB "UNFAILING" service! I still give them a 98% rating as of Dec 2009.
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Review by tagar
UPDATED: 6 days ago
member for 5.4 years, 441 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Souderton,Montgomery,PA
$95 per month (12 month contract)
about 9 days
Verizon
"Very solid for the 5 years I used them"
"Minor issues when moving..."
"Very dependable service."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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12/03/09 Leaving on good terms...
I closed out my account today. I was surprised because they didn't even try to get me to stay or ask why i was leaving. I am really only leaving because I can get more for less/ the same with Clear.
One more cable out of my life. It's up to Tmobile and Clear to keep me connected now.
11/28/09 Sorry VZ
Clear internet and phone is set up and running smooth... wont be long now.
Update :: 11/25/2009
Took the first step to separate from Verizon. We finally dove in and got cell phone plans this year (t mobile). For the last couple months I took our POTS line to the basic service to keep the DSL. The DSL price we were paying for was for the 3mbps plan but we only got 1.5.
I ordered Clear internet and VOIP phone today. I learned that the tower was less than a mile away from my house. I should get close to 6 Mbps and unlimited calling for a bit less ($55 with modem lease) than with Verizon (close to 56).
Once We test the Clear services out we should be ready to cut the lines to verizon.
Update :: 05/23/08 - Forgot the update
i ended up sticking with Verizon at the new place. The bad part is that we are to far from the CO for the 3mbp package. It's not to big of a deal for us. it just takes a couple extra minutes to DL some shows.
It ends up still being @ $95 for the DSL and the unlimited POTS calling.
FIOS is not available yet in the area.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=--
Update 10/23/2007 - Moving Again.
- We are moving again and am looking at my Phone/internet options again. It looks like FiOS is not available yet where I am moving. I though about Comcast for phone and internet but my wife is not big on the VOIP service. More than that I want to get our first mobile phone and Verizon looks to have DSL/POTS Phone/Mobile for $99. I am also changing jobs soon so I'll wait to see if they have any deals with Verizon before setting up the new service.
Update 07/20/2006
Ok, to wrap up this part of the story.
Satuday we get a curtisey call from VOL: Your move request has been received (about time)
Sunday: Your SRD is the 24th of July, blah. Guess I'll have to call Dave on Monday...
Monday, I decided to give Dave a chance to call me back... nothing and then I get an email from my wife, from HOME!
So its back up and running. I never did hear from Dave. Bad CSR you told me you would call me back...
The Wireless modem/router is in the front of the apartment(2nd and 3rd floor of a twin.). I can sit out back with my iPaq and get as good a connection as if I were in the house.
So I'm guessing my next post should be moving from here to a house in a year or so... with FIOS? Who knows...
Update 07/14/2006
Hit my first snag with Verizon DSL.
SRD came and went with no Internet light on my Modem.
Called tech support at about 10:30ish. She can find no notes as to why they have not set it up yet. I have to call Friday when the network group is open...ugh.
Called back today. The first guy had to call other groups and was just telling me that they are still provisioning my line and it had not yet been disconnected from the other apartment. What! That was supposed to be done on the 30th of June! He says they may know a new SRD on the 18th... No, no, no. No acceptable at all. I calmly tell him that is very unacceptable and I need to talk to someone who can do something... He doesn't think anything can be done but sends me to a supervisor.
Dave I think it is, Makes some calls and find that the line was in fact nver disconnected from the other apartment as it should have been. Im still not sure what this means because DSL did not work there on the 30th. He is able to call the Provisioning department and put a rush on it and thinks it will be done today. He said he will watch it and as soon as he see's that that is done he will push the reconnect through. So it could possibly done today, tomorrow or early next week... blah. He is going to call me when something happens.
Update 07/13/2006
Verizon came out yesterday and fixed the outside wiring issue. The lines were crossed and we were hearing other people on the line as well as the phone ringing for the other apartment...anyway.
Today is the DSL ready date. I think when we first got DSL it was on a couple days early. I just hope it gets back on by 6 today. I don't need more drama in my life right now. Speaking of which...time to call the garage.
Update 07/04/2006
Friday came and first the phone dropped off and then the DSL went  ( How odd it is for the computer to be sitting there all lonesome. My wife doesn't touch it. I sit down and then remember that I can't get online and play a game or mess with the music. The Zone Alarm meter shows incoming and out going so I peek over at the modem but no internet light...
Anyway, we get over to the new apartment @5ish and the phone line is dead. I try what I think are all the lines in the house nothing. We wait over the weekend. On Monday still nothing. I call and check the website. Both say that the line was completed and is working. I set up an appointment for the 5th for service and then check the outside box. Everything is plugged in. I test it with a regular phone and get a dial tone on both ports there. Hmmm... It must be something in the house.
I look all over for a magic switch, I try all the ports with the regular phone and nothing. My wife calls our friends who just moved out as I ignore what looks like a network hub up stairs. They tell her that both of there lines worked fine...BOTH? I run back up stairs and take another look at that network hub. It's just a line splitter or something... I plug into the one labeled with their old number, nothing. Then the other number which must have been the added line for the office... Bingo!! They switched us over to the new line that only has one jack....
I call Verizon to cancel the service request and find out how to switch the lines. The only people available are the repair call center. I try to explain the deal but she thinks I don't under stand and that they only hook up to the out side box if the outlets in the house don't work its not there problem. I do understand but I don't know if she does. Ill wait and talk to the regular people on the 5th...
Update 06/27/06
A couple things to update:
1. We dropped Sunrocket and went to the Verizon Freedom plan. I guess it was @$30 for dsl, $13 for the line and $20 for Sunrocket=@$63. Verizon with the freedom plan and DSL has been about $80 a month and my wife appreciates the dependability of POTS.
2. We are moving to a new apartment. Same street on the other side of the town. I called to get the service switched yesterday. The phone will be switched on Friday and we will be in dial-up land until the 13th at the latest.
Update 09/18/05
Still no problems. Teaming up with Yahoo has only added to my good run with Verizons DSL.
Update 07/22/05
I yet to have a problem and get an average of 2700/670.
Update 06/02/05
I changed my Freedom Unlimited program down to the Budget plan ($13 a month) and am now using SunRocket ($20/month) for Unlimited calls.
The DSL is still going strong.
Update 06/01/05
I had my first experience with tech support. I had some computer problems and took apart my whole PC to try to find the problem. I also unplugged everything including the modem/router. When I plugged everything back in I was not able to connect. I called Verizon very late maye12midnight and the person quickly was able to figure were i went wrong and get me going again.
The problem was you should not turn the power off of the modem for long amounts of time or else the router info resets. It also didn't help that I hit the reset button.
After this I still had a spotty connection and very slow speeds but, it turns out my motherboard was going bad. One new PC later and I am flying again.
On another note I started up with a VOIP, Sunrocket, and will be lower my calling plan with Verizon down to the budget plan. it costs @13 and thats just for taxes. So my monthly Verizon should be about 43 for verizon and $20 for Sunrocket. $65 compared to $90 is a decent savings.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-
Quick recap::
-Signed up for Verizon Freedom unlimited+DSL.
-They forgave and old phone debt I had with them.
-At @4000 feet from the CO I qualify for the 3/768 plan.
-DSL SRD was the 17th.
-Phone service activated in 2 days.
-DSL Live on day 9 (5 days before SRD)
-Easy set up and we are rocking.
DAY 0 - 05/03/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
Just ordered the Unlimited Freedom Plan with DSL it will be @$95(after taxes). Fist month of DSL is free. I am switching from MCI's unlimited plan because they we can not get DSL with them. I was paying @70(after taxes) plus $9 for dial up from High stream. Comcast is not an option right now because we can not afford the Phone service and a cable bill at the same time and we are not ready to switch over to a VOIP yet. So for about $15 more then we are used to we get the DSL 
we get to keep our same MCI number too, which is good.
I am only 1300+ feet from our CO so we should get the 3kbs connection
While on the phone the "Welcoming" person waved a debt that we owed to Verizon some 4 years ago...$989 and $250. That made my day right there!
The phone should be switched over in two days and the wireless modem/router will be sent to us.
Day 1 05/04/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
I got my DSL Order confirmation email. The status on the web site shows:
Order Date:Ê MayÊ3,Ê2005
Service Type:Ê Verizon Online DSL
Maximum Connection Speed:Ê up to 3.0M/768K
Scheduled Service Ready Date: MayÊ17,Ê2005 after 6 pm
I can't seem to get a status for the phone service yet. I think it is due to change on the 5th.
Day 2 - 05/05/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
DSL info on the website is still the same. I called them and the phone switch should have gone over today. Ill have to wait to get home to check. He said that if I dial 00 I should get the Verizon message. I as hoping to be one of those people that got the modem in the mail on day 2 or 3...I guess I'll have to see if it came today.
Day 3 - 05/06/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
No modem came yesterday, not that they said it was on it's way...I just get eager about things I order. Anyway my DSL status has been updated:
Installation Type Self Installation
Receive DSL Order 05/03/2005
Schedule Service Ready Date 05/17/2005 after 6 pm
Ship Installation Kit Pending Not Yet Available
Activate DSL Service Pending Not Yet Available
Phone service was active when I got home yesterday.
Day 4 - 05/07/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
It's Saturday so I don't expect anything much. We do realize it would be nice to have
voice mail included like it was under MCI.
Day 5 - 05/08/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
Sunday Nothing new.
Day 6 - 05/09/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
Nothing new yet today. I did find my distance from the CO at this website -
»routemap.esri.com/rmims/dsl_web/
Carrier BELL ATLANTIC - PENNSYLVANIA INC. (NWLSPANWDS0)
Total: 1047 ft
Closer than I thought! I can't wait to test it out.
Day 7 - 05/10/05 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Still nothing new. I was hoping to be one of those "only 4 days" people. Maybe it's because I just hooked up with there phone service also so the whole deal is taking longer... It would be nice to see the modem ship..
Oh one bad thing so far is Verizon's web site....blechhh...you think for a big company it would be a little more pulled together and updated.
I got this email today. Is this normal or should I be worried I just hit a dead end?
--
Thank you for your recent order for Verizon Online DSL service! We're eager to deliver the power of high-speed Internet access to you, but we must first conduct additional testing of your phone line to ensure DSL can be provided*.
We will continue to provide you with updates on the progress of your order via e-mail, so you'll want to check it regularly.
We look forward to getting your DSL service up and running. If at any time you have questions, please visit our self-help site at »www.verizon.net/whatsnext or call us at 1-800-567-6789.
Thank you for choosing Verizon Online as your DSL service provider. Your business is important to us. Get ready to see, hear and feel the Internet as never before!
Sincerely,
Verizon Online
Broadband Customer Care Team
--------------------
Verizon, one of the nation's leading providers of high-speed Internet services, has created one of the best overall values in broadband today, with speed, content and great service at a very affordable price.
*Please note that although your telephone number pre-qualified for DSL in the initial stages of the order process, further testing may reveal that your line does not qualify for DSL.
Also it look like Verizon Online has thier new site up, much better looking.
Ok, now I got the Good News! Email:
Good news! So far everything looks good and your Verizon Online DSL service is estimated to be turned on after 6 pm on the "Service Ready Date" below.
Please keep in mind that although your phone number pre-qualified for DSL in the initial stages of the order process, further processing may reveal that DSL service cannot be provided on your line.
ESTIMATED SERVICE READY DATE: 05-17-2005 after 6pm.
So 3-5 day to get the modem and I will get another email when it ships. maybe I'll get that today?
Day 8 - 05/11/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
My status on Verizon's site shows that my modem shipped today!
I still don't have a check mark next to the "Scheduled DSL Service Ready Date"
I found my "loop length" from another DSL provider site
»https://www.acedsl.com
(Loop length: 4390 feet)
When I got home tonight I had a message saying basically what my last email said and then tonight I got the email with a tracking number.
Day 9 - 05/12/05 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
It looks like my Modem will arrive today! If I hook it up tonight is there a chance that I will be live?
Day 10 - 05/13/05-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------
Wahoo! Modem came yesterday! Hooked up the filters. Plugged in the modem and got a green DSL light! Ran the set up disk just enough to get online( i passed on the MSN stuff). We are live! running close to the 3/768. I'll have to run some speed tests tonight. It's over I can stop obsessing now.
Ill update as we go along.
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Review by b1064
UPDATED: 6 days ago
member for 7.4 years, 132 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Long Beach,Los Angeles,CA
$32 per month (12 month contract)
about 2 days
Verizon (ex GTE)
"Quick to send modem and get service established"
"tech support is not sufficient, avoid if you need hand holding. Per month price quoted by sales much lower than showed up."
"OK for those that don't need tech support. Be sure to get your price in writing."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I was switching from Hypersurf (an independent DSL provider) to Verizon because of price. I had been paying 10/month more for the same service 3Mb/s down and 768 kb/s up. I had read the reviews of the problem customer service, but I can usually figure my way out of problems.
I called Verizon to switch my service from Hypersurf to Verizon dry loop DSL on Monday during my lunch and the modem was at my door on Wednesday when I arrived home from work. I think this is remarkable. To top it off, the service had already been switched at the central office, so after going through their setup software, I was online in about 15 minutes. The setup software seemed buggy on Mac, does not appear to be available for Linux, so I used Windows to go through the process.
I noticed that the Westell 6100G modem they sent was running in "routed bridge" mode and was now putting my network behind a double NAT. If you just have one computer directly connected to the modem, this will not be a problem, but I called tech support to discuss how to run the Westell 6100G in bridge only mode so my router (that is set up using Tomato firmware with all my customized settings and forwarded ports) can get the external IP address. I thought this would be a simple question that they could answer over the phone, but not the case. Once I finally got to a live person, I was put on hold several times and after holding about 15 minutes, I was "accidentally" disconnected by the service tech. After calling back I was told that I would need to call the company that made the router. Not even an option for me since I'm running third party firmware on my router.
Luckily, I was able to find the details of running the Westell 6100 in bridge only mode here at dslreports.com. Updated the firmware on the router and all is working great with my router handling all WAN functions.
Bottom line, Verizon is fine if you have a basic network, don't care about potential problems of running behind two NATs, or don't need tech support to work through the details of configuring your modem and router.
8/4/09 Bad news. Two weeks after talking to the agent and switching my DSL service to Verizon, I see the first bill posted for 41.99/month plus a $39.99 charge for the modem. The agent I spoke to on 7/20/09 quoted me the price of 26.99/month for the 3Mb/s down 768Kb/s up service and that the plain Westell modem without wireless would be included at no charge. Called billing and explained the situation. Billing said there was nothing they could do since they did not offer that price. This sounds like bait and switch to me. Billing transferred me to sales. They will research and call me back tomorrow.
8/5/09 My price is now $32/month and they did waive the $40 modem charge, but what a hassle. It's just wrong to quote one price and then bill another. Yea, maybe it was just that employee I spoke to on 7/20, but she is a representative of the company and they should stick to the quote she gave me. I probably would not have switched had she originally quoted me $32/month and Verizon knows that. These are very dishonest business practices.
12/2/09 I've had four months with Verizon DSL now and things have gone from bad to worse. My download bandwidth has consistently been below 1500 kbps even though I'm paying for 3000 kbps. Upload has been fine, usually around 700 kpbs, but download speed is unsatisfactory. I will definitely be moving to another provider at the end of my contract, if not before. That reminds me of another complaint. I have searched Verizon's site and cannot find where the early termination fee is spelled out. The terms of service clearly state there is an ETF, but does not provide the number. Another deceptive practice.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Verizon Online DSL |
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 Review by dataice
UPDATED: 7 days ago
member for 7.1 years, 1382 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Crisfield,Somerset,MD
$40 per month
about 14 days
Verizon
"Connection reliability"
"Customer Service is poorly trained"
"Great, as long as everything runs smoothly, otherwise you'll be forced to deal with a poorly trained outsourced tech support."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
08/14/08: I have had Verizon Online DSL since 2004 with hardly a hiccup in all that time. Well, that was about to change. I Called Verizon billing office on August 14th to order an upgrade from 3/768 to 7.1/768. The rep says there is no such speed for FIOS?!? Um, I'm not calling for FIOS, I am calling for DSL. So, I figured that I would wait a week and try again.
08/21/08: I Called them back today to give it another shot. The rep that I spoke with was obviously from India, as her accent was so strong that I could barely understand her. I explained to her that I currently have DSL 3/768 service and was interested in upgrading to 7.1/768. She checked her system, and said that it was available in my area with a 1 year contract and that voice service was also required for $39.99 a month, then $42.99 a month after the first year was up (after renewing with another 1 year contract), at least this rep knew what 7.1 DSL was. Fine, I said sign me up. She gave me a service ready date of August 26th, said I could continue to use my current Actiontec router/modem, and that I needed to be home.
08/26/08 OK, 08/26 comes and goes, no upgrade.
08/27/08 I called them back today on the 27th and opened a trouble ticket. The rep I spoke with said that the last rep that placed the order for me, didn't enter it properly, and it was never dispatched to a local field tech. Ok, fine set me up again please. The rep gave me a new service ready date of September 2nd, and asked me to be home as the tech "may" have to do what is called a home run (place a filter at the NID). I said ok.
09/02/08 I took the day off and guess what? another no show. Ok, now I was not a happy camper.
09/03/08 Called back the next day on September 3rd, that rep said the same thing the last one did, the order wasn't placed correctly. Ok, set me up again please. The rep did so, and gave me a service ready date for September 9th (what is up with ONLY giving me Tuesday's, don't the field techs work more than one day a week?), anyway I said fine, and stayed home all day on the 9th, guess what?
09/09/08 You guessed it, NO SHOW., BUT, he did go to my local central office, and he CUT OFF MY INTERNET COMPLETELY., ok now I had had it. Called back that same day, was told that a rep would come out on the 16th some time between 8 am - 12 Noon, now I was fuming.It was bad enough I was missing time from my duties by taking off all day, but now I had no internet at all. When asking why I was cut off he said they have to do that first in order to upgrade my line to the new 7.1. That sounded fishy so I demand a supervisor, he says no that is not normal and said it must have been a mis-communication (yeah, no s*it).
09/16/08 The 16th comes, again a no show.
09/17/08 Called them the next day on the 17th and demanded a supervisor, who could barely speak english. He apologized several times and said he was escalating my problem to a dept for supervisors, and that someone from that dept. would be calling me within the next 24-48 hours to set up an appt. They actually called that same evening, and they set me up with a new service ready date of September 18th. They asked if I could be home. I said yes, I would be.
09/18/08 September 18th comes, NO SHOW! Now I am truly livid, as I have missed five days of my duties and stayed at home for nothing AND with no internet. I came here to DSLR and found a toll-free number to Verizon Customer Advocacy group, but guess what? they don't help you with a Verizon DSL problem, only a problem with your landline service. So I was back to square one. I called the outsourced call center in India and demanded to speak with yet another supervisor. Apparently none of the former reps or supervisors added ANY notes to my account, so they would know this is an ongoing issue, so I had to explain my lack of customer service issue to him from the beginning, he said to wait for someone to call me back from the same escalations dept. Finally someone from the USA got involved this time around, and returned my call a few hours later. The agent I spoke with said he would handle it personally and that someone would come out on the 19th and that I needed to be home, OK.
09/19/08 19th comes and again another no-show, called (you know the deal by now) and was given a new date of September 22nd (great,another weekend with no internet) Not like I really have a choice in the matter, Ok, fine I will be home on the 22nd
09/22/08 FINALLY a field tech shows up on the 22nd, but , not to my residence but to my local central office instead (field tech told supervisor I didn't need to be home after all, no home run required), since I reside in an large apt. complex, and doing a home run in a multi-dwelling unit can be troublesome and very time consuming, so now I had missed 7 days for nothing. This tech finally gets me up and running with 7.1/768 speed. He stopped by my apt. before heading out of town, and asked me to pull up my stats on the gateway to make sure I was getting good numbers. He was satisfied with the transtats, so all was good. I asked him if he knew what in the world happened with my upgrade. He explained to me, that apparently the first field tech who was dispatched to my local central office, moved my line over to a different card in the rack at the DSLAM but he didn't provision it properly once he moved it over. At least that was the gist of it, since it was nearly 7pm and past his normal quitting time, and the man was tired, as I was as well. So I didn't ask him to go into great detail.
09/23/08 I called Verizon Online billing/sales dept. today to complain about what I had been through and how I was being treated as a paying customer, and the retentions dept said they would give me 4 free months of service for all of my trouble, and being without internet for 2 weeks. So, I will update when my next bill arrives and let you know how that went. But I am not holding my breath with the billing dept., especially after what I had just experienced.
10/17/08: Well, bill cycled online today, and guess what? Yep. No 4 month free credit!I was charged the full $39.99 for the service. To late to call today, since the retentions dept. is currently closed. Will try to contact them on Monday when they reopen
10/20/08: Called retentions dept. today (was hung up on the first 2 times). Rep that I spoke with was very friendly and said she would handle this immediately. She said the original rep that entered the 4 month free credit, did enter it into the system on September 23rd, but she didn't enter WHEN the credit was suppose to actually begin. So, basically it just fell out of the system. She said she entered it again, for the credit to take affect asap, and that I would receive a statement in the mail confirming that my last 4 months paid service would be credited back to the account. I assume that they will just hold off billing me for the next 4 months, I could barely make out what she was saying, since I had to go through a rep in India first to get transferred back to retentions here in the states, so the connection was very bad. Hopefully it has been taken care of this time. I will update again sometime in the next 30 days to confirm if the credit went through as the rep promised.
10/24/08: Received phone bill in the mail today. Apparently Verizon Online credited the $39.99 back to my account on the same day that the paper bill cycled and was mailed out to me, just barely making it on the bill at the very last minute. Good thing I called on the 20th or I would have had to wait another month for the credit. So, I did get at least one month free, but I am not holding my breath that they will credit me for the other three. I will update in mid/late November when my next bill cycles.
11/20/08: Received latest phone bill by e-mail this morning. Verizon charged me the full $39.99 this month. So much for receiving a credit for the other 3 months. Unless they do what they did last month and apply the credit literally at the last minute before the paper bill mails out to me. I will update when I receive that bill by snail mail to let you guys know if that is what happened. At this point however, I am so frustrated dealing with them every month for the credits that I am just going to be thankful that I got at least one month free credit for the 14 days I was without service. I never did receive that so called statement in the mail, confirming the 4 months of credits.
11/25/08: Received latest phone bill by snail mail this morning. Sure enough, they charged me the full rate of $39.99 this month. So, apparently one month of credit is all I am going to see. I've decided to let it drop, its not worth the hassle of dealing with retentions yet again.
03/25/09: After not hearing anything more about my so called 4 month credit, my bill that I received today in the mail showed a credit of $171.96. Apparently I am going to get the 4 month credit after all, 4 billing cycles later. I must say I was VERY surprised after not hearing anything back from them since last November. After contacting billing, the rep said I was given a credit of $171.96 to cover 4 months of service at $42.99 a month. However I WAS paying $39.99 a month with a 1 year contract, which they were taking $3.00 off on the regular $42.99 a month, so I am not sure where the extra $3 dollars suddenly came from. I also noticed that they quietly extended my contract from September to December 2009. After the pure hell on earth that I went through last fall I will just let this slide, since by the time I fight them to get them to put it back the way that it was originally before applying the 4 month credit, my contract would have expired by the time it was all worked out. This company never ceases to amaze me.
07/31/09: I contacted Verizon Business Office today, after seeing on the portal that I was eligible for a bundle discount, by combining my POTS and DSL on one bill. Apparently I can get both Freedom Essentials and 7.1 DSL for $79.99 a month, which is called Verizon Double Freedom. I am paying $45.99 a month now for Essentials and $42.99 for DSL, so this would save me $8.99 a month off of my bill. The best part about this, is that the rep that I spoke with said I would be able to come off my 1 year contract, and would be placed on a month to month on the DSL portion. I can lock this price in for the next 12 months with no ETF if I drop the bundle. I would just go back to my previous billing. I took them up on their offer, so I guess I will see what happens to the billing when I get my next bill in late August.
08/21/09: I checked my online billing today. The paper bill went out a few days ago, which hasn't arrived yet, but I was able to view on the DSL side at verizon.net what Verizon Online was going to submit to the POTS billing as my current billing cycle before the $79.99 Double Freedom bundle reset it. Apparently I was taken off the $39.99 a month DSL billing. They reset my DSL billing by taking me off of my old billing agreement and entered me into a month to month agreement. They treated it as a new customer agreement, and basically reset my billing in January of this year under the promo that was running at that time for the 7.1 tier for new customer signups. The first 4 months are free and then it bills at $42.99 a month. I was placed on a month to month billing, which would run through December. Then the regular price would be $52.99 month to month with POTS. Of course this is all moot now since it will be reset yet again under the $79.99 Double Freedom promo that I recently signed up for. I then went to their main verizon.net signup page to find out exactly what they charge for the 7.1 tier at the full price month to month, with and without POTS. The current billing info for the 7.1 tier list it at $62.99 month to month dry,$52.99 month to month with POTS, $39.99 with a 1 year contract and POTS or $37.99 with a 2 year contract and POTS. No wonder they can't seem to keep the billing straight, they have so many different billing scenario's, there's no telling what you may end up with at the end of the day.
08/25/09: I received my bill in the mail today, and I was billed correctly under the Double Freedom bundle at $79.99 plus $12.01 in taxes and fees, for a total of $92. You gotta love those damn unfees! I can't believe they actually got it right this time on the very first try. Go Figure!
12/02/09: Connection has been pretty much rock solid since January of 2009, with the exception of a couple of minor outages that each lasted for maybe 3-4 hours. Bottom line is this, obviously there is very poor communications between the different departments at Verizon Online AND Verizon Business Office, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, and that is unacceptable with a so called telecommunications company. Usually when you want to give a company more MONEY, they don't require that you jump through hoops first to do so! As long as everything is running smoothly, and you never have to contact them for any reason, they are great, but god help you if you do have to call them! If you don't need hand holding and rarely have a need to contact support,unless something goes terribly wrong, then Verizon should do just fine. If you do need hand holding, I would suggest searching for another provider, IF that is an option.
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Followup comments: 
Mactron
el camino Real
Premium
join:2001-12-16
CM94sv
| Well trained.. "Great, as long as everything runs smoothly, otherwise you'll be forced to deal with a poorly trained tech support dept"
Accurately their well trained to always blame the customer and say everything is fine on their end. Think of all the money they save not actually providing service.
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If only the Verizon CSRs worked this well.  | |
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dataice
Premium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD
 ·Comcast Formerly ..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Well trained.. haha. You got that right. I miss the good ol' days when they actually employed people from the U.S.A. When I recently upgraded my speed from 3 Mbps to 7.1 Mbps, the rep told me there was no such speed for FIOS., uh, duh! who said anything about FIOS? I am talking about DSL over copper! Unreal. I had to call back a total of 8 times to get someone who knew what was going on. Avoid them at all cost! | |
| 
The Blue Hag
join:2008-08-25
Winchester, CA
·Verizon Online DSL
| their teir 1 phone techs are the worst I am so tired of having to call DSL tech support and having to deal with those hard to understand robots, the voice-automated system is just as bad as the overseas employees too....
Would be nice if they brought jobs back to the USA and gave us customer service as imagined in their commericials.
I am fed up with Verizon phone support to be honest, they are the worst. | |
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dataice
Premium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD
·Comcast Formerly ..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: their teir 1 phone techs are the worst You got that right, they have gone out of their way to program the automated system to make it so difficult to reach a live rep,that you will just throw your hands up in the air and relent. God help you if you try to get your local business office involved in it, they will just refuse to deal with you and transfer you back into automated hell, but before doing so trying to sell you on at least a dozen different products and services. It's really sad to see what has happened to a once helpful customer support center, and I feel sorry for the few U.S. support people they have left, knowing if they don't push those services, they will be fired. :-( | |
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OftenOily
@verizon.net
|  Re: their teir 1 phone techs are the worst
Tech support is nothing other then an insult..11229 under dial up speed now for 3 weeks even with the modem turned on | |
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icepunk6
@verizon.net
| headaches for sure! i decided awhile back to go with verizon dsl 3/768 on a dryloop, tech came out, hooked everything up (came at like 6am when was told they would come between 8 and noon, i know it was 6am because he left a voicemail on my phone, i never answered the door due to sleeping at that time) long story short. i was without my new service (although i had dsl connection lights on modem) for 3 weeks. ended up that they didnt have me hooked up in the hub office, this was also after literally 10 calls of me saying "this is on your end, not mine" they even told me i needed to upgrade my modem/router and it would cost 100$. HORRIBLE customer service, i got exactly the same amount of time i was out of service, 3 weeks credits. so dont hold your breath on 4 months, you were lucky getting 39.99 | |
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Hpower
Roflmao
join:2000-06-08
Glendale, CA
·Charter Pipeline
| Damn Man I feel your pain. I'd die 3 weeks without connectivity. I already was going nuts with 2 weeks of no service for getting charter pipeclog pipeline.
Seems like Verizon does a horrible job with their DSL service but does a much better job with FIOS.
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The Internet is about to go down....it is actually. | |
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stefanie2530
@verizon.net
| DLS Tier 3 phone# I'm truly thankful that I'm not the only person who has such problems with Verizon...I'm not happy about your problems, I'm just happy that these things don't only happen to me!
Does anyone have the Tier 3 DSL phone number? I had it and now a friend needs it and of course I can't locate mine...she's calling Tier 1 asking for Tier 3 help and they claim to have no clue what she's talking about and hang up on her...
Thanks! | |
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dataice
Premium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD
·Comcast Formerly ..
·Verizon Online DSL
4 edits | Re: DSL Tier 3 phone# Those Tier 3 direct #'s don't work anymore. Since Verizon now outsources its entire DSL support overseas. They use to work when they were still based here in the USA, but I haven't reached a US based CSR since at least 2007, much less a Tier 3 based rep. So, unless you subscribe to their premium support plan, which I am not even sure if that isn't outsourced as well, you probably will be unsuccessful in getting one of the Tier 1 CSR's in India to transfer you to a Tier 3 rep. That's if they even have any Tier 3 reps on the staff in India, and even if they do, I seriously doubt they will know any more than the Tier 1 script robots manning the front lines. Most of the reps that I spoke with when I had my recent problems, didn't know anything more than what was on the script in front of them, no matter how high up the ladder I climbed. | |
| radiomaze
join:2009-10-25
Curwensville, PA
·Verizon Online DSL
| Tech Support, yeah if you want to call it that I called not long ago for some help with modem/router issues . The tech said, in that barely understandable broken english, sir I'm going to send you toour expert support. Well I knew there was a fee but didn't know how much so I asked the "expert" how much will it cost? She replyed its a one time fee of ONLY $89:-() I said no way I think I can figure this out myself. You have a nice day. Then hung up the phone. | |
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dataice
Premium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD | Re: Tech Support, yeah if you want to call it that I would keep a VERY close watch on your bill for the next few billing cycles. It would not surprise me in the least bit if those clowns tried to bill you anyway for the $89. | |
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Verizon Online DSL
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