Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time in Speakeasy http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19614691 en Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:23:13 EDT Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:23:13 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19751963 CylonRed : Covad is stuck if the ILEC is crappy - there is nothing they can do to force the issue and hence the 'explanation'.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19751963 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:49:19 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19751928 mhy :
said by CylonRed See Profile :

From reading these many years at DSLR - to me it seems that Verizon is one of the worst for not doing anything for the CLEC but as soon as the very same person goes to Verizon DSL - they can usually fix the line issues.

That is absolutely the truth. I finally gave up on Speakeasy because my onelink went "bad" and couldn't be fixed.

I signed up for a dry loop with Verizon and it was installed and working in 72 hours.

But a lot of the blame goes to Covad as well...they are way to quick to brand you "best efforts, performance not guaranteed" or whatever term they use instead of working to keep a line working.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19751928 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:44:15 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19751848 KoolMoe : Completely agree - many troubles that CLECs have had with their DSL service are likely directly due to the ILEC not...cooperating.

That has always struck me as somewhat odd though. The CLEC rents the lines from the ILEC. If there is no QoS aspect of that rental agreement, then the CLEC has been somewhat negligent to not insist upon one. I've asked SE in the past why they are at the mercy of an ILECs cooperation when they are a paying customer. They 'just are', apparently.

I've worked with SE to fix past issues. When I first signed-up for DSL service (through now-defunct Rhythms), my house was about 5k feet from the CO. That distance increased over the years through various changes and, last noted, I was 9.5k feet out.

During one such change, my line was Real Bad. It was still shared service and I used the 'my fax service doesn't work when it rains' complaint with VZ. They came out, confirmed noise on the line, and swapped the pair - which gave me a much more stable line...for about a year.

Recently, with my latest OneLink install, the line started dropping at the slightest hint of thunder. Very Frustrating. Then with the communication drop (some sort of routing issue, I think) most recently, that was the last straw.

Believe me, it was very hard to drop SE and go with the VZ Triple Play. FIOS was available for about 6 months here before I decided to at least try the TV service, since another Comcast rate hike was the last straw for that service.

Had the TV service for about 6 months, trying to stick with the DSL, before I just couldn't justify the SE premium when the line was not reliable. So, giving VZ a shot (on a two-year contract, once that free TV deal came up). But, if it sucks, my only real option is a Comcast triple play, which is just as distasteful as the VZ option.
Bah.

I did make sure to tell the VZ folks to NOT cut my copper, just in case I do want to go back to CLEC DSL someday. I doubt it'll happen, but those old lines are there just in case.
KM
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Don't Lie - Be Kind - Realize your Potential]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19751848 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:31:51 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19745490 tbrisco : When I had T1 lines "back in the day" (pre-DSL), you wouldn't believe the number of problems I had as techs stole a pair to put someone's voice service on it. Of course, the T1 wasn't from Verizon - just sourced through them (I worked for an "alternative provider" at the time).

I learned the symptoms for someone who'd been moved to 1/2 of my T1.

Recently, I've been having a love-fest with Verizon, where they moved my line - DSL disappeared - a call to SP confirmed this (suddenly margins were 0 ... heh). SP contacted Verizon, who claimed it was for non-payment? (Huh? The circuit had voice back in 12 hours ...). I explained all this to SP, who waived the reconnect fee (which would've applied had the disconnect been due to non-payment...).

In the pile of scumbags in the world, Verizon is definately #1 ....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19745490 Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:44:32 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615494 CylonRed : From reading these many years at DSLR - to me it seems that Verizon is one of the worst for not doing anything for the CLEC but as soon as the very same person goes to Verizon DSL - they can usually fix the line issues.

I have been lucky with SBC as I have never had issues with the lines - they don't monkey around with them to suddenly add distance (again - something that Verizon seems to do with zeal) and they have been solid - I can't remember the last time my phone line has been out for any reason.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615494 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:52:13 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615387 KoolMoe : I think you're right. What bothers me most is the third-party DSL providers aren't getting a free ride from the ILEC. They obviously have to 'rent' the line they use for the connection, whether it's a dry line or not. Hence, as a paying customer of the ILEC, I would *think* they have some power over the ILEC to demand that the line be in tip-top shape.

However, whenever I've talked with SE about this, they claim there's nothing they can do - they just have to live with whatever line the ILEC provides. That sounds like a bunch of BS.
If SE is renting the line from the ILEC, why is there no quality assurance built into that agreement? The ILEC would have none of it? SE has no choice but to take whatever limited contract the ILEC is willing to do, I guess...

I just amazes me that the DSL providers are ILEC customers but the ILEC refuses to cooperate with them in any way. Now that forced line-sharing is dying and the agreements are voluntarily renegotiated, I sure hope the third-party providers insist on some sort of QoS terms.
KM]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615387 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:33:07 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19614691 LordBritish : I have OneLink as well.

I've sort of wondered what are the guarantees that the phone company won't disconnect you or reroute your phone line.

After all you're not paying for the service any more !!

I think the answer is that there are no guarantees at all. Once you stop paying, the phone company (Verizon in this case) can do whatever they want and YOU have no legal recourse.

Correct me if my assumption in incorrect.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19614691 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:39:11 EDT Re: Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19322829 KoolMoe : VZ just totally screwed you.

They disconnected your line then "re-paired" it - meaning your line has likely been rerouted. Perhaps a load coil was installed or somesuch nonesense but, based on my past experiences with DSL and VZ, Verizon simply disconnected your line somewhere and, maliciously or not, reconnected it to a different loop - that has killed your line's reliability.

I had a GREAT line with SpeakEasy early on, then construction on a new housing development started between my house and the CO. Suddenly my line sucked, distance jumped from 3000 ft to 6000 ft and ever since, my line dies when there are heavy thunderstorms.

Such is the risk with the whole 'lease lines from your competition', but it still sucks.

SO, you're not going to do much better, IMO, regardless of who you go with. Most every DSL provider I'm aware of essentially depends on Covad or the ILEC for the 'last mile' connection. LBDSL and...um Cyberonic I think, and some other one that had 'brit' in it are the ones I recall as being decent competitors...

But, again, they probably all use Covad. And even if they don't, chances of any new pair you get being as sweet as your previous pair may be pretty slim.

What MIGHT be best is to get a new phone line from VZ with just dial tone and basic calling, then get a loop test run on that line and hope it's sweet. If so, go back to ADSL or OneLink (on the other pair) then drop dial tone...

Or...look for wireless options in your area and bypass the damn ILEC copper crap in the first place ;)
G'luck!
KM]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19322829 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:48:38 EDT Speakeasy Alternatives - Sadly it's time http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19322052 JoeyDeV : I've been a customer of Speakeasy for five years (in November), and I've had two circuits with them, first a standard line sharing ADSL account at two addresses and most recently I converted to OneLink as I use my cell phone as my primary line. At the time Speakeasy was the only one to offer to residential consumers a dry loop, static IP's, and didn't restrict any ports. The installs were always rough between vendors fighting with each other and CPE's not being delivered, $300 disconnect charges when moving, however, for the most part once all of that was resolved, service was great.

Then October 16th, 2005, a mysterious Verizon truck was spotted outside my house, 2.5 hours later, I had no OneLink DSL service. It took 6 days to resolve this (Verizon couldn't figure out why the dry loop had no dial tone!)

And now October 10th, 2007, my connection suddenly became intermittent, I had poor margins, slow speeds (due to the poor margins), and failed the loop test. I ran new Cat 5e from the NID to my CPE and my margins improved, however, the loop tests still fails. I even ran a loop test from the NID with the entire house disconnected and it still fails. Regardless, Covad wants to play games and inspect my inside wiring before they will investigate the real reason behind the loop test failing. (Currently 25 days without a resolution)

So long story short, I think it's time to move on from Speakeasy who seems to have shifted it's residential priorities in favor of it's business line. Does anyone have any recommendations on ISP's in Central Mass that have similar policies and features? (Don't block ports, and don't require a telephone line, a static would be nice but not required, and preferably one that doesn't need to play games with it's vendors to provide stable service?)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19322052 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:42:55 EDT