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Review by hansonmw 
UPDATED: 4.8 years ago
member for 6.5 years, 22 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
 Cashmere,Chelan,WA
 Business customer
 $130 per month (12 month contract)
 about 14 days
 Verizon
CLEC party: Verizon
 "Decent speed and overall reliability."
 "Tech support generally stinks"
 "Good provider, good service, tech support needs improvement"
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I started out with business class 768k/768k service with a block of static IPs ($179.99 a month) and had a good experience minus one 3-day outage a couple of winters ago. A year ago, I switched to business class 1.5mb/384k w/a static IP for $129.99 a month and within two months, Verizon had dropped the advertised price to $79.99. Verizon wasn't willing to pass on the discount because I'd agreed to a year contract at the $129.99 rate. I was a tad miffed, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I believe Verizon would keep more business customers if they'd offer some sort of price protection, especially to long term customers like me who have had T1, ISDN or DSL services non-stop for years. Verizon is by far the most reliable and affordable provider of small business DSL services in my area. I placed an order recently for 3.0mb/768k service and should have it installed within a couple of weeks. I'll amend my review when that service is active. So far, I've gotten at least 80-90% of the published download speeds on all the Verizon DSL services I've had so far. Upload speeds have consistently been 90% or better of the published rate.
Update: 3mb/768k service installed and speed is decent. I tested it and got 2500k download and 730k upload. That is very good considering I had a few things using bandwidth at the time of the test.
Word of caution: I recently disconnected a redudant residential DSL link. The customer service rep. said they would send out a box to pickup the modem. I made her aware that we'd had our service for over a year and the modem should be ours to keep per Verizon's policy. She asked if we'd had the modem replaced at all during the year and I indicated that we had the original modem, not a replacement one. After a bit of negotiating, she made a comment on the account and said I would not need to send the modem back. I suspect Verizon is asking everyone to send their modem back, no matter how long they have had the service. Those who have had service for over a year and haven't revised their service (changed speeds, etc) or had a replacement modem sent to them during that time are note required to return their modem. Although its not worth much money, it will save a $99 charge if you ever get Verizon DSL again and it keep Verizon from taking your modem and reusing it without providing a credit for its value.
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Review by yessirnosir
Posted: 4.8 years ago
member for 7.5 years, 112 visits, last login: 1.4 years ago
Winter Haven,Polk,FL
$36 per month
about 26 days
Verizon (ex GTE)
CLEC party: Verizon (ex GTE)
"courteous tech support with short hold times"
"incompetent tech support business processes"
"19 support calls to solve THEIR problems!"
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order was for both phone service and dsl. This was perhaps the 20th broadband installation that I have been involved in (4th with Verizon (ex GTE) DSL), and far and away the worst experience.
Before service ready date, modem arrived, but without install kit of filters and software. One support call to get kit overnighted.
On order ready date, no dial tone or dsl. Three calls to phone side of Verizon ("everything looks OK from our side -- service should be on soon") before they finally rolled a truck to site. Tech concluded line was broken between Verizon junction box and house, so he "switched service to a different pair" (aside: I suspect this switch may be root cause of later DSL troubles). As soon as we had dial tone, the modem showed a solid green light on DSL sync, but no sign of life on the "internet" light.
Thus began a seemingly endless series of tech support calls, in which we were forced to repeat the same troubleshooting steps over and over. Communication between the computer and modem was perfect. Modem DHCP assigned private IP to computer. Computer could ping modem. I could access the modem configuration screens without trouble. But modem itself did not acquire IP address from Verizon. Thought we might have found problem when we discovered initial setup of the modem was PPPoE mode, but after Verizon talked us through changing to bridge mode, still no IP address. Despite obvious excellent Ethernet communication between computer and modem, Verizon techs at various times told me that 1) I should return my computer to the vendor, 2) I should reinstall windows 3) I should get a new ethernet card. After about 6 calls, a tech decided it must be a defective modem, so we waited a couple of days for a new Versalink modem to arrive. It exhibited exactly the same symptoms, and caused another 3 or 4 tech support calls to do all the same things we had done with the first modem, to no avail. Then Verizon transferred me to a Westell modem tech (actually, they had the wrong phone number for Westell, and twic transferred me to some poor unsuspecting valve supply company before actually getting me hooked up to Westell). The Westell tech (who was very on-the-ball) took me through some more rigorous troubleshooting, which led him to conclusion that it was a “line negotiation issue” with Verizon, and that the modem itself was functioning normally. So back on the phone with Verizon again, by now getting really irked that the problem seemed to obviously be with the Verizon system, but that they didn’t seem to be willing to even consider that possibility. So, after more than a week of trying, I phoned Verizon's cancellation number to tell them I was done calling tech support, and that I was switching to cable unless they sent a person to the house to fix the problem. Finally a response! They sent a guy (next day) who tested everything and concluded it was a setup problem “in California”. He called his tech support number, and waited 80 minutes on hold before getting someone who, within five minutes, fixed the problem (a "bad IP circuit") from his computer screen at the Verizon office. Presto, we had in internet light on the modem, and we were surfing in broadband. The tech at my house said the problem could have been fixed in 5 minutes the very first time we called Verizon tech support.
So my conclusion is that Verizon's tech support process and organization are completely incompetent. What else can you say about an organization that took over 10 days, with 19 support calls, and countless hours of troubleshooting, to realize they had a problem in their central office? A huge irk-factor was that most of the phone calls generated trouble tickets that were immediately closed on completion of the call, despite failure to resolve anything. Two of the trouble tickets were closed a short time after the tech support call, when an automated phone call announced to us that our problem had been solved. But it had not. So each time the onus was on us to re-initiate the tech support issue. Why doesn’t Verizon follow-up themselves to make sure the service is working? Why don’t they set up their processes to provide some continuity that would aid in getting to the true solution faster, saving the time and frustration of rework for both Verizon and their customers? The problem isn't their tech support staff: they were consistently courteous, and phone hold times were short. But their failure to actually solve the problem in a timely fashion speaks to badly broken underlying business processes -- and that is a management responsibility. Clearly, Verizon DSL needs new management to come in and clean house.
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Review by VonZippa7
UPDATED: 4.8 years ago
member for 5.2 years, 52 visits, last login: 254 days ago
San Jacinto,Riverside,CA
$35 per month
Verizon (ex GTE)
CLEC party: Verizon (ex GTE)
"Speed is very close to the rating. IP rarely changes. Great Value."
"Connectivity is occasionally flakey. Billing and technical support are incompetent."
"Nice speed and decent reliability at a great value; just pray you never have to call them."
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I originally signed up for Verizon DSL sometime around December of 2002. The first time I called them regarding DSL availability I was told conflicting stories from different customer "service" people. I finally managed to get through to someone who said it was in fact available to me at a speed of 768/128 @ ~$45 per month, and signed me up and put me on order for the self install kit and whatnot. The kit came and the first thing I did was throw away the junk software CD of theirs, since it's just a bunch of superfluous bloat. I installed the filters on the phones and then hooked the modem up and it synched up, which was a good week or so before the documented "go live" date, so I was pleased about that. I was worried at first whether I was going to have to use PPPoE with this service, since that adds a lot of unnecessary overhead to the DSL connection, but I got lucky and was able to lease an IP through DHCP and I immediately had internet connectivity. I setup an older computer of mine with Slackware Linux and used iptables to setup my home network, firewall, and internet sharing, which all worked quite well.
The service was solid as a rock up until about the time they lowered the price to $34.99 per month, when the reliability of the service really seemed to take a dive. For around 8 months I was having this bizarre problem where the modem was losing sync every night at around 7 P.M., like clockwork. Then it would sync back up usually later that night after midnight or so. I kept putting off contacting Verizon about it, because I already knew from experiences with the customer service of Verizon's telephone department, that the people were going to be incorrigibles. I didn't want to go through the BS of calling them, but after my mother bitched about it enough, I got tired of hearing her and decided to call them. When I did, it was just like I knew it was going to be, and they put me through the typical ridiculousness of power cycling my modem, and all of that crap. The problem was obviously on their side, since I had changed nothing on my end, and service was perfect up until the time they lowered their prices, but getting them to understand that was all but impossible. Finally, after going through all of their little routines with the power cycling and whatnot, they scheduled for a Verizon "tech" to come out and diagnose the problem. I thought that I was finally getting somewhere and that I was going to get my problem solved... silly me. The "tech" diagnosed the problem as being a bad modem, so they put another Westell 2100 on order to replace the one I already had. The new modem came about a week later, and just like I knew it would, the same problem kept happening, again at around 7 P.M. each night. I just sighed and continued to put up with it, since at that time there were no other companies offering broadband service to this area. I had read online about other people having the exact same problem, so I knew this was no isolated incident. After another few months of it doing that, the problem eventually went away. For the most part their service has remained reliable since then. I would estimate that perhaps once a month or so my modem will lose sync, but it always comes back within an hour or less.
My service is not as rock solid as it was after I first got it, but it works the majority of the time, so I guess I can't complain too much. One good thing about this DSL line is that I've always gotten speeds very close to what they quote them as. When you take into consideration ATM overhead coupled with TCP/IP overhead, I get pretty damn close to the rated 768 downstream, and even a little faster than the rated 128 upstream. Another good thing about my service is that, even though it's technically dynamic, I've had the same IP now for over a year. Part of that though, is probably because my Linux box is running 24/7 and re-leases the same IP on a regular basis.
The most recent happenings with my service is that I have learned of Verizon's offering of 1.5/384 speeds, and for $29, which is even cheaper than what I pay for slower service. I saw on their website that they said this was only good for new customers, which pissed me off. I decided to call them to inquire about the possibility of upgrading my line to the 1.5/384 speeds, but when I first called about it, I was given the typical Verizon goose chase and "pass the buck" routines between their various departments -- billing, technical support, etc. I was put on hold about 3 separate times, being told that they were "checking" something with my account, but each of the 3 times, I was left on hold so long that their system automatically re-routed my call back to the main "menu" again, where I had to go through the process of explaining everything again to a new "service" representative each time. After about 2 hours of this ridiculousness, they tell me my line wasn't eligible. I wanted to kill somebody at that point. If it wasn't eligible then why wasn't I just told that from the get go, instead of transferring me around for 2 hours leading me on about it? Anyway, I called them back 3 days later and got a hold of someone who said that my line WAS eligible, and said they would put my order through for the upgrade, and that it could take up to 5 days for the changes to take effect. This was on 9/10/04, and as of today (9/15/04), my line still has not been provisioned for the increased speed. When they say 5 days, that probably doesn't include weekends, so the way I figure it, if I haven't been upgraded by this Friday (9/17/04), then they lied to me. Then I'll have to call them back up, just so another moron will probably tell me that it hasn't been done because I'm not eligible for it again. I swear, the customer "service" people at Verizon are the most incompetent I've ever encountered with any company.
9/17/04: My line was successfully upgraded to 1.5/384 earlier this morning. I'm overjoyed and also relived that it has been upgraded. After hearing about so many people who requested an upgrade and never got it, I was expecting the worst. I hope my service remains as reliable at this speed as it was at 768/128, but only time will tell on that one. The speed is excellent, as I am getting about 47 KB/sec upstream, and 160 KB/sec downstream, which, when you take overhead and whatnot into consideration, is pretty much right where it should be. My downstream has been doubled and my upstream tripled... and all of this without any increase in the price; You can't ask for more than that. As of right now, I'm very pleased with my DSL, and as long as I never have to call Verizon, I should remain pleased, heh.
1/24/05: It's been a little over 4 months now since I got the upgrade and the reliability has been rock solid -- as good as it was when I first got Verizon. The only thing that could be better is the newsgroups, since their server goes down occasionally, but other than that I really couldn't ask for more from this service. Now I'm just waiting around for Verizon to get FTTP service here, but this area seems to be the last to ever get new improvements, so I'm not counting on that any time soon. Lucky for me I haven't had to call Verizon since I called them to get the 1.5/384 upgrade, which is a good thing since I'm sure their "technical" "support" hasn't improved at all. At any rate, I am currently a very satisfied customer.
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Review by Shaggyfool
UPDATED: 4.8 years ago
member for 6.4 years, 195 visits, last login: 1.9 years ago
Indio,Riverside,CA
Contract price not specified.
Verizon
CLEC party: Verizon
"deleted"
"deleted"
"deleted"
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deleted
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Review by isisdave
Posted: 4.8 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 58 visits, last login: 18 days ago
Murrieta,Riverside,CA
$30 per month
about 10 days
Verizon (ex GTE)
CLEC party: Verizon (ex GTE)
"Very fast, reliable so far, great value for money"
"None yet"
"If quality continues, this'll be great."
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We're talking about Verizon FIOS (fiber optic) in Murrieta CA. PPPoE with dynamic IP. Router is Dlink DI-604 (free); wireless also available for one-time upgrade charge. I bought the 5Mb/2Mb service, and it meets that. $39.95, no contract. You can get 15Mb for 49.95. Installation free. 30-day satisfaction guarantee. No interruption glitches yet (just one week so far) and I haven't had to sample tech support.
The whole installation process was at least as fast as promised, despite heavy rains. It included about 75 feet of boring through the tulips and under the grass. Installation worked the first time.
Reaching them the first time was hard. The number on the website is for all broadband, and it has a long hold time. Then they transfer you to FIOS department. If you try to order through the website, you may get an error message. I recommend ordering by phone. I got a very knowledgeable person.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 4.8 years ago
(review was emailed from domain 4advinc.com)
Murrieta,Riverside,CA
$200 per month (month by month)
Verizon (ex GTE)
"I can't think of anything good to say."
"Everything, from setup, customer service, & troubleshooting to value and terrible quality."
"If you want terrible spotty service and poor support, call Verizon!"
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To Whom It May Concern:
This is a review for Verizon SHDSL.
Verizon's SHDSL has been a nightmare from the very beginning. We had their
regular DSL and had to upgrade to a constant 384down/384up and they upgraded
us to SHDSL. Unfortunately, it took about a month until we were finally
connected. I have been on the phone with them for most of the time ON HOLD!
The worst part, most of the time they didn't even know what was wrong. We
finally got up and running for about 3 months and suddenly the service went
down. I called them up to find out what the situation was - they said it was
a 'bad circuit' and they have to change our IP address which requires us to
get an outside IT guy and configure our Cisco Pix. About a few weeks ago
during the storms, our service went out once again and the internet has been
up and down since. We have finally decided to dump VERIZON completely and go
with another ISP - Linkline, which has been great!
D Fusco
ACI
Murrieta
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Review by gnugote
Posted: 4.9 years ago
member for 4.9 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.9 years ago
Long Beach,Los Angeles,CA
Contract price not specified.
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first off-i'm new to computers so when i originally ordered verizon dsl i got 2 accounts. i finally figured out that i was being charged twice so i called them to stop one of them-you gotta know they turned both of them off and now tell me it will now be a month or more to start me back up again.
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Review by krzdrat
Posted: 4.9 years ago
member for 4.9 years, 3 visits, last login: 4.8 years ago
Moreno Valley,Riverside,CA
Contract price not specified.
Verizon
CLEC party: Verizon
"NOTHING"
"Horrible Tech support and customer service in general"
"Wasted 2 month of my life talking to idiots"
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I recently moved from one end of town to another, and had switched both my phone service and DSL service, both carried by verizon. The service was supposed to be active by November 20th. Nov. 20 comes and the dsl does not work. After calling the tech support they inform me that they can do nothing because the line to the old house is still active and they only troubleshoot a line, not reroute them, but if I talked to billing they could place an order to have it all taken care, so I call billing. Billing puts the order in and says it will be active in 48.
2 days later, No DSL. I call tech support again, they say it will be active in 7-10 days.
10 days later, no DSL. Call tech support again, they say it will be up tomorrow at 6. 6 o'clock the next day, no dsl. Call the tech support again and they say there is not record of the order being placed. I speak with a manager who says he will person put in an order to my line routed to my CO and active as soon as possible. A week later still no DSL on my line. I call tech support again, they still show no order and route me to billing. I place a mover order for the 3rd time with an activation date a month after when I was originally told it would be up.
The 3rd order is cancelled twice, once for incomplete information, once for wrong area code. How does a phone company get the wrong area code? I fix both problems and have the order reinstated. activation date came and went, NO DSL.
On the date of my activation I receive an email saying they cannot provide me DSL because they are not my local carry. If you live in my area you have no choice but to be a verizon customer so I call tech support. Tech support now tells me that my Local CO is not wired for DSL at all. Odd because a neighbor has verizon dsl. I know DSL is based on line length and it’s possible for my neighbor to be in the required loop length but not me, but I can guarantee I am serviced by the same CO and the CO obviously is wired.
After contacting the CEO of Verizon several weeks back and being in contact with the Executive office, I find out today that my Loop is too long.
So in summary, it takes two months to find out my loop to the CO is about 1000 feet too long and Verizon cannot currently bring DSL to my home. OH, but when they can they will let me know.
Based on how I have seen Verizon work and the speed in which they do so, I will never be a DSL customer in my current area.
This process has been the worst customer service I have ever received. It should not take two months to get DSL moved just to be told that it’s not possible. It should be known fairly quickly.
After this experience I will never willing use a service provided by Verizon and I greatly recommend that no one does. If you live in a Verizon area, save the hassle of dealing with them and move to a different area. Moving is easier then dealing with them.
To all who read this, sorry for misspellings and bad grammar, I did not proof read this.
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Review by MPOster
Posted: 5 years ago
member for 6.7 years, 2 visits, last login: 5 years ago
Fountain Valley,Orange,CA
Business customer
$79 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Verizon
"Delivers What They Promise and Service Techs Helpful"
"I don't work for them"
"Verizon ROCKS! I"
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I am a service tech and have experienced all kinds of promises and problems with several ISP's -- here is the recent letter I wrote to Verizon DSL:
I have wanted to comment for sometime on how impressed I am with your service for the past year. Whatever you are doing... keep doing it! I own a small technology company that installs networks for small businesses. You handled one of my customers on a DSL problem so well, I recently switched all my services to Verizon (including my residential). I want to especially thank your service technician Scott Decaro (Customer Service Tech II) for his help also... he made me a hero! I want to assure you that if any of my customers or I require DSL installations or service I will be referring Verizon from now on. Thanks Again !!! I have also entered my comments on dslreports.com
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 5 years ago
(review was emailed from domain MEMEyou.net)
Honolulu,Honolulu,HI
$30 per month
Verizon (ex GTE)
"The fastest most reliable internet without lame terms."
"Not the greatest telephone support but they do respond to emails."
"Telcos provide real service with DSL and FTTP while cable get old..."
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I've been using Verizon for years after using Time Warner for
almost as long (and servicing others that use cable, too).
Verizon's service is unmatched. I have not noticed any
network outages on my residential connection and I run a mail
service for others.
Now, with their increased speed, $30 gets you the same upload
speed as Time Warner and $40 get you double (and a 3Mbit
download). The new pricing is probably because of the new
fiber being rolled out which costs slightly more.
Tom
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Verizon west (ex GTE)
What planet?
