ad hoc board > Make sure you are getting what you pay for!

Make sure you are getting what you pay for!

Yep. I'll have to second this advice. I too have an ISP ( multacom.com ) who contracts through Verizon. I was getting really good download AND upload speeds ( paying for 768/768 Gold plan ) up until the merger. Seems I'm now lucky if I can see 768/256 performance. Of course this means I get to begin the process of badgering my ISP and Verizon to find out why this is. I'm reluctant to switch to another ISP, because I seriously doubt I'll be able to get the 5 static IPs I need any cheaper than I have now. Verizon sucks!

I suggest you contact verizon DSL support at 1-888-391-1234. I tried thru my ISP first (cpl.net) and I got the run-around a week. I finally just called Verizon and they had it fixed within 24 hours.

Good luck.

Yep. I'll be getting around to that very soon, like in the morning sometime. But until then, I'm curious. Your ISP being in Redlands would be about the same distance from me as Multacom is. From what I see, they charge less for the Verizon gold plan. How many static IPs ( if any ) will they give you? I've been growing more and more irritated with Multacom as the days go by. CPL looks like about the best I've seen yet as Verizon ISPs go.

reply to Anon
I thought that my line was not provisioned correctly (Bronze Plus), so I called Verizon ADSL support number last night (Sep 9).

A gal named Debra opened the repair ticket -- was very kind and helpful. She said she'd get back to me ASAP.

Received a phone call this morning from a guy named Frank, who was following up on my call. He asked me some questions, and we determined that somehow my DefaultRcvWindow had been reset (probably by a program I installed). Tweaked that number back up and my download speed is back in the 600-650 range. Happines ensues!!!!

Thought I'd post a positive report on Verizon support, since there are so many negative ones.

I've had ADSL since Nov 1999. GTEI/Verizon is ISP and telco.

[text was edited by author 2000-09-10 12:59:48]

reply to Samson
*** Thumbs down for cpl.net. ***

I currently have 384/384 plan. I got two static IPs as part of that package.

I am afraid that I cannot reccomend cpl.net. In fact, I have been shopping around for new providers. Their prices are good but I think they can charge less because they don't spend much money on support. They routinely ignore my support emails and phone calls. (And I only contact them when I have real problems with my line. I have never called their tech support for any issue that turned out to be a problem on my end.) They have one phone number and often, no one picks up. You need to leave a message and hope that they listen to it.

In my original note in this thread I mentioned that I was improperly provisioned at 128up/384down. I know I had this problem for at least a month so they owe me a credit of at least $15 because that is the price difference between my package and the one that is closest to 128/384.

When I contacted cpl.net about a credit to my account, their response was to ignore me. They told me the boss would call but he never did. I followed up with two or three more phone calls but I never got a response.

On the plus side, they just completed an upgrade which seems to have improved their internet connectivity. I also like the fact that they bill month-to-month and do not do contracts. (At least they didn't do contracts when I signed up in spring 99).

One provider I am looking at is CISO.com. I emailed their support with some questions about their service and a support person called me back. I would have been happy with an email. The CISO.com support person answered all my questions and even ran a tracert for me. CISO.com also got some good reviews on DSLReports.com.

As much as I dislike cpl.net, I have not switched yet because I am told by Verizon that I can expect up to 5 working days of downtime. Also, if I go with CISO.com, Verizon will coerce me into a 12 month contract when I know that I will be moving in about 9 months. They have a month-to-month option but it is about $200+ more expensive so I am going to pay for those unused three months one way or another.

Rolf

[text was edited by author 2000-09-10 13:56:00]

Most interesting. I emailed cpl.net late last night ( Saturday ) and asked a few questions about the service. Tim Eckart responded to that email early this morning and answered every one of them to my satisfaction, and then some. This alone was rather surprising since every other ISP I've emailed over the last week has failed to respond at all, much less respond on a Sunday morning. I've had a look at the cpl.net website as well, they have plenty of information posted that my ISP ( Multacom ) does not, including the network status stuff and the Verizon pricing plans. Based on the prices that were last posted to my ISP's website last year, cpl.net is $50 cheaper for the standard gold plan.

I have specific needs, and require 5 static IPs to address them. Tim pointed me to the 'Power User Gold' package which offers what I need, for $105 a month. That's still $40 cheaper than what I'd pay at my current ISP based on last years prices. They apparently also offer a choice between bridged and routed access, routing costing another $5.

As far as tech support, I've learned long ago not to bother the ISP with line related problems, both of my previous ISPs always told me to call GTE and get them to deal with it. Improper provisioning is usually the telco's fault anyway. The Verizon tech I just got off the phone with told me the same thing ( he's checking into why I'm only getting 256kbps on my uploads ).

I'm still reluctant to leave Multacom though, someone either made a big error, or the pricing plans they have now are damn good, because I'm only paying a total of $62 a month on the bill they send me every month, which has been the same since day 1. Knowing the luck I usually have, I'd end up getting hosed by Verizon for the rest of the money that should have been paid all this time. :P

>As far as tech support, I've learned long ago not to
>bother the ISP with line related problems, both of my
>previous ISPs always told me to call GTE and get them to
>deal with it.

I am being billed for both the DSL line and the internet access by cpl.net. I was told specifically by Verizon to call my ISP first and only to call Verizon support when referred by my ISP. This is not acceptable because sometimes I get no action from the guys at cpl.net.

Recently I have been calling cpl.net first. If no one answers (which happens about half of the time), I leave a message and then call Verizon DSL support.

Just do what I do. Call Verizon and lie. Tell them the ISP told you to call, they aren't going to check. I get better results this way, and then when I have no choice but to call the ISP, I come armed with the information Verizon already gave me. Usually prevents the ISP from just telling me to call Verizon, which they have done in EVERY case.

Regarding my recent upload troubles:
A Verizon tech called me this morning to inform me that they've done all the testing at the CO, the line is in fact provisioned properly according to their equipment. They even replaced the DSLAM card that my loop is on with a brand new one. That didn't solve squat, so I asked the tech if he'd mind coming by my house to check the physical connections. Surprise surprise, he showed up about 10 minutes later, with all his gear. We took my network offline, hooked up the RJ11 cable to his testing modem, and booted his laptop with all my IP information. While he was busy with all that, I took a peek at the screen - Upload potential was listed at 868Kbps, which is good. Download potential was listed at 9.6Mbps - which is just plain awesome! Too bad they don't actually provide that level of service.... but I digress. So we got his laptop configured to match my settings, set up my email account and off we went. At that point, he wasn't sure what to do, said he'd never been asked to perform an UPLOAD test, so he graciously allowed me to take over. I fished around on the hard drive and found some nice meaty .cab files. Attached them to an email and sent it. Sure enough, the speed topped off right around 256Kbps. Once he saw that, he called the support center and asked them what could cause that. He hung up shortly after and told me that the ISP must have put a "traffic cap" on my connection. Unfortunately that can ONLY be solved by the ISP, whom I can never get ahold of.

Add this to all of the other recent problems I've been havin with them and that adds up to why I'm hunting for a new ISP. CPL so far is the ONLY new ISP I've even received an answer from, and Tim has been extremely polite and helpful. I'm reluctant to sign up directly with Verizon as my ISP, but it's rapidly looking like them or CPL. Ciso.com never responded, by email or by phone, so I'm inclined to rule them out as well. Most of the other providers around here are too expensive or won't offer me what I need. If you or anyone else has any other recommendations that I don't know of, feel free to drop me a line, this is getting old

I thought about the "Call verison and lie". I did the simpler thing... Called my ISP, and told the guy at on the line to say "Call Verison". Thank you!

Called Verison... "Did you call your ISP?" "Why yes! They told me to call you!"

reply to Anon
It's real shitty for a company like GTE/Verizon to take advantage of the people that pay for their services...

I took your advice and called GTE/Verizon Support because I felt my performance was slow compared to the office, we are running the same plan (768/128). And sure enough they told me that I was provisioned for 256/64 so I obviously got that changed real quick. GTE/Verizon's excuse was that a mistake was probably made during a systems upgrade or equipment upgrade. I know this is total bull because service just started in my area a month ago and I have had DSL at my house for less than that, so I can't think of any possible way for them to have made a mistake unless I was setup for 256/64 at the very beginning.

It's a shame that GTE/Verizon is taking advantage of people that aren't as tech saavy so they can save a few extra bucks on equipment costs and make a few million more for themselves...

On a personal note I have to tell you that you people take the corporate vs. consumer battle WAY TO SERIOUSLY!!!! Have you ever stopped to consider the size of a company like verizon and the number of dsl customers out there? The people on this particular board represent and small percentage of DSL subscribers and the ones the write on it represent an even smaller percentage. So to think that there is a DSL "conspiracy" is absolutely ridiculous! A company that large is BOUND to make mistakes. For a communications company Verizon doesn't communicate internally very well.
In summary, get on with your life. Enjoy your DSL and if it doesn't work like you want it to....get rid of it before you get an ulcer! Life is to short to spend your time B*tching about how you aren't able to download at the speed of light. I wish you all the best in your DSL experience but "The MAN" is not out to get you!

reply to Anon
A card change in the dslam may have been made since you were connected. All the cards come from the factory defaulted at bronze which is 256k/64k. The systems in alot of areas are supposed to audit themselves and re-provision the card for the package you are on. Some do not and that may have been the case in your system. Verizon is a large company that may be dis-liked by some but I can assure you it's business plan does not include intentionally screwing anyone out of what they pay for especially in the ADSL market.

So I suppose then that Verizon's habit of blaming your ISP for any problem that comes along isn't also intentional? How silly of me to think otherwise. Typical call session for me this week:

Verizon: ADSL support center, can I have the DSL phone number?

Me: [phone number]

Verizon: What seems to be the problem?

Me: My upload speed has dropped from 768K to 256K. I'm supposed to be on the Gold plan.

Verizon: Did you call your ISP?

Me: [lying] Yes. They told me to call you. They say its a provisioning problem at the DSLAM.

Verizon: Your still with Netsol, is that correct?

Me: They're called Multacom now, but yes.

Verizon: I'm looking at your virtual circuit now. Nothing seems to be out of place. Everything is ok from our end.

Me: Can you double check that?

Verizon: We'll open a repair ticket and get back to you. Is your phone number the same as your DSL line?

Me: Yes.

Verizon: Someone will be in touch and we'll resolve this by 8PM tonite.
[we hang up, I wait. Go to work, come home.]

Play message from Verizon tech: We checked the DSLAM, nothing was wrong. The technician replaced it just to be safe though. He tested it and confirmed it is provisioned for the gold plan. Call your ISP and have them remove the traffic cap on your line.

[Next morning, call ISP]

ISP: Tech support, can I have your username?

Me: Samson

ISP: What can we help you with?

Me: I'm having problems with my upload speed. It's been cut to 256K for some reason. I need you to look into it.
I'm supposed to be on the Gold plan, 768K up/down.

ISP: I'm looking at your account settings now. Everything seems to be in order. Are you sure it wasn't just a lagged router?

Me: I tested the speed by uploading an attachment to my email account on the mail server.

ISP: I see. I don't know what else to tell you. Everything here is set to 768K.

Me: Is there a traffic cap in place?

ISP: No. That's against our policy. [Implies it is possible though] You should have the full potential at your disposal. The only other possibility is that Verizon messed up the provisioning at the DSLAM. Let me give you the phone number for the ADSL support center.

Me: Can't you call them for me? The last guy I talked to already had me call them. They claim you have a traffic cap on my line.

ISP: No, we don't deal with circuit issues. Call Verizon. They should be able to fix it.

Me: *sigh* Alright. I'll call them.

[hang up]

Repeat cycle.

Ok. So if Verizon's goal isn't to screw me out of my hard earned money, then why haven't they fixed this? That session is just about literally the way they've both been treating me this week. Since they already sent the field tech out to my house once, they don't want to do it again. So they continue to lay blame for what is most likely their problem on someone else. And the ISP may very well be telling me the truth, but to tell me they won't contact Verizon themselves when I pay them all that money? Come on.

Its not greed.

It's not a problem of getting me up and running for the first time. I've had DSL since June of 1999. The problem of my upload speed getting cut down to 256K only came up after the merger. The ISP says this has been happening alot lately, but Verizon claimed it was "just a coincidence". Sure. And I've got an old bridge for sale too.... just a coincidence?

Once again, sorry to dissapoint but "the Man" is not out to get you. Fact is, while GTE and Bell Atlantic have merged, currently the only thing they share is a new name, Verizon. None of the systems or even policies have really changed yet and probably won't until at least 2001. Unless you think that at the first board meeting between Bell and GTE one of the topics was "How to start screwing GTE customers the Bell Atlantic way", then your speed issue WAS just a coincedence. Nothing is perfect, no company is perfect, and no tech support person is perfect (this is particularly true!).
If you really do think that the merger is all about a major customer screw over then get ready..... it's almost the end of the month and your Verizon phone bill is on it's way! =)
-pezpunk (previously DSLALL)

Just my 2 cents worth...

I signed up for Bronze+ through my local ISP that I have been using for years.

Turn on date - nothing - called ISP and they checked with GTE - someone screwed up the work order and entered wrong account numbers on WO. Late next day green lights were on the modem.

Speed tests were about 220/60 kbbps. Tweaked no change. Complained to my ISP and they told me GTE only guarantees 128 kbbps for Bronze+. Researched the boards here and complained about 2 - 3 weeks later. ISP contacted GTE and tech there said DSLAM was set to 256/64 and would set it to 768/128. Tested and still 220/60. Complained again, a week later GTE tech calls and says it was set to 256/64 and was now set correctly. While the tech was on the line tested it at 703/120 kbps. Tested later that day it was back to 220/60 kbps. Griped to ISP. Nothing. Griped again. Nothing. Griped again threating to complain to PUC. Couple of days later GTE calls and says it was set to 256/64 and back at Bronze+ and they put a line monitor on it. It has remained at 768/128 since then.

Some bozo or GTE's software kept setting it back to 256/64 kbps.