Internet woes

[Trek420]

We're half a mile from the road, and we got DSL as soon as it became available in our area.

It's the distance from your central office (where your dial tone comes from) not the road. With DSL urban or rural doesn't matter, it's all just loop length from the c.o. And to make things more entertaining it's as the wire turns not as the crow flies. You do see these orders "I'm across the street from your &*^ c.o and I can't have it " and waaaay out in the boonies who can. Sometimes there are other line conditions that if I explain my head'll explode

Your house isn't moving, the c.o's not either so maybe someday a remote terminal and then you could have any speed. I imagine similar for cable but don't know anything about cable.

Till that happy day arrives: satellite, wireless or dial up.

oh, the fine print I'm supposed to say that the following is the opinion of an att employee and not necessarily reflective of the management.

[OakLeaf]

OIC.

It was definitely "distance from the road" with cable. Didn't realize it was different for DSL. I guess the cable company pays for the line, just like the phone company did.

We could have gas too, but we'd have to pay for that line. Simpler just to get propane twice a year.

[artifactos]

I was in that situation when I lived in Virginia. We were only 3 miles from town, but down an unpaved road, so no cable or DSL. We all just got air cards, and I still have mine from Sprint since it's too convenient to just cancel.

[wnyrider]

... We all just got air cards, and I still have mine from Sprint since it's too convenient to just cancel.

I believe air cards are the same as what we have-- usb modems (wireless broadband). We have our internet through Millenicom.com--a reseller of carrier networks. Just pay a monthly fee. No taxes or contracts. We don't have cable available and heard how slow satellite was. We have used this service for over 2 years now and have been satisfied overall. Would tethering a cell phone for internet be another option for you?

[Trek420]

OIC.

It was definitely "distance from the road" with cable. Didn't realize it was different for DSL. I guess the cable company pays for the line, just like the phone company did.

We could have gas too, but we'd have to pay for that line. Simpler just to get propane twice a year.

well, the lines and poles are a little different. Yes sometimes engineering gets involved, new development and there are no poles, no line to the home. With DSL (as opposed to uverse, or Verizon's Fios, or Cable ....) whether you can have it and what speed if is available is determined by distance from your home to one of these wonderful buildings :

http://www.thecentraloffice.com

In other words you could be close enough to the c.o. to have DSL but still not have a drop (line down from the poles or up from underground wire) to your home. Of course if that's the case ... run the line to your home and you're up and running.

If there's no c.o. close enough sometimes there's a "mini c.o" aka remote terminal

normal disclosure follows.

[uforgot]

I would get in touch with the Attorney Generals office and make a complaint about HughesNet. That is ridiculous and you could keep someone else from going through that. I had a problem with an outfit called Cricket and they were terrific. They even followed up with a call.

As for internet...it happens all the time here. I have friends who can only get dialup or satellite. No high speed or DSL options even available to them, and it really makes no sense as to who can or can't. I have friends WAY out with no cell phone service that have high speed internet and another who lives a couple of miles out of town who can't get high speed.

Then again they could be jerking your chain too. Centurytel told me that no way could I have high speed internet without paying for a land line too. I said, "Well, then, just drop all of my services". (I have it at school and I wasn't paying 60+ a month just for internet in the evenings). Well, they called me a couple of weeks later and guess what? I COULD get it without a land line. $29.99. Wow, funny how that worked when they knew I was serious.

[Trek420]

Then again they could be jerking your chain too. Centurytel told me that no way could I have high speed internet without paying for a land line too. I said, "Well, then, just drop all of my services". (I have it at school and I wasn't paying 60+ a month just for internet in the evenings). Well, they called me a couple of weeks later and guess what? I COULD get it without a land line. $29.99. Wow, funny how that worked when they knew I was serious.

I don't think they're kidding her about it being available although I do have one thought bubble or idea. Generally if you can have DSL you can have it with or without a land line. YMMV, some exceptions apply yada yada.

If your rep is good when the order's placed the line's tested and retested, then goes through a whole lotta stuff in the background including my buddies in the c.o. before a tech even goes out. Trust me, phone companies & ISP's are cheap and don't want to send a tech if they don't think the order will fly. So I'm a little puzzled that the tech went out and said it wouldn't complete. Coulda been pair gain or something that sometimes does not test till they are out ...

We finally got my Mom off dial up and to DSL through her small local ISP. She ordered one of the top speeds but it wasn't performing well, lot of dropped connections etc. I helped her to get it escalated, her ISP got an ATT tech out who was great, he found that she could have DSL but not the higher speed she requested. Got that changed and it's much better now.

So I gotta question if the service could be provided (rep tested and was able to place the order, passed all our preliminary tests, dispatched out ...) but not at say elite speed your tech shoulda woulda coulda said that and coordinated the speed downgrade. So that's my thought bubble I had above, Melalvai. I can't touch or look at your order in any way but you might ask if you could have the service at a slower speed.

I would get in touch with the Attorney Generals office and make a complaint about HughesNet. That is ridiculous and you could keep someone else from going through that. I had a problem with an outfit called Cricket and they were terrific. They even followed up with a call.

For the Hughesnet if they are billing you for a service not provided I'd contact your state PUC (public utility commission) or the FCC.

insert standard disclosure here, just my humble opinion.

[bmccasland]

because DSL isn't available in my neighborhood, yet. But the AT&T guys are in the process of installing fiber optic lines in my neighborhood. Still when I go to the website to check availability, I get the "not available" response. After Hurricane Katrina, if you had phone service in your area, lucky you, all plans for upgrades went out the window. So now they're finally catching up. S l o w l y.
Other option is satellite, as other have stated, not really a viable option. Or Cox Cable, but since I have satellite TV, and do not want to bundle my service - that isn't much of an option either.

I'm patiently waiting for DSL. and waiting, and waiting..

[OakLeaf]

You can get Earthlink cable without getting cable TV.

It probably would cost more than non-bundled service, but we've looked into it.

[lo123]

It's the distance from your central office (where your dial tone comes from) not the road. With DSL urban or rural doesn't matter, it's all just loop length from the c.o. And to make things more entertaining it's as the wire turns not as the crow flies. You do see these orders "I'm across the street from your &*^ c.o and I can't have it " and waaaay out in the boonies who can. Sometimes there are other line conditions that if I explain my head'll explode

The other thing that can happen is that the local connector (DSLAM or something like that) can be full (was the issue here--new construction--until they added more capacity. Why they didn't do fiber here is beyond me, but whatever. I'm not stuck with the cable company anymore--woohoo).

[Trek420]

The other thing that can happen is that the local connector (DSLAM or something like that) can be full (was the issue here--new construction--until they added more capacity. Why they didn't do fiber here is beyond me, but whatever. I'm not stuck with the cable company anymore--woohoo).

True, that. Doesn't happen often anymore but could be. I know just enough about telco technology to be dangerous

The DSLAM is a gizmo in your central office that connects up to 8 numbers (or in the case of HSI direct, the service without a phone line, one of those accounts) to a high speed internet connection. Ever wonder why if your service is down or slow for some reason, you may go "oh sod it, I'm going for a bike ride" and come back and it's fine? It might be one of your 7 DSLAM neighbors called it in, a problem was fixed and now you're all fine.

Back in the day sometimes all those "slots" would be full if demand exceeded equipment. Doesn't happen much anymore but depending on where you are ..... could be.

I had a friend who ordered DSL, lived a couple blocks from a c.o. in a slightly industrial area. A neighboring business had T1's. These high capacity lines are so powerful it blocked the DSL signal. Nobody along that loop could have DSL. She knew who the company was. She encouraged them to switch to DSL which was faster and cheaper for them.

But the hidden agenda was so she could get service.