[ale] [rant] I dislike "we only support winblows/OS X" AT&T internet

[Jim Kinney]

On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 11:45 AM, tom <tfreeman at intel.digichem.net> wrote:

> On Mon, 3 Mar 2008, Jim Kinney wrote:
>
> > Dropping DSL line is one of several things:
> >
> > 1. line noise - that will not get fixed by the phone co until it fails
> > completely since it requires they roll a truck. You need a signal
> > strength meter to verify. Phone co will only guarantee line quality to
> > demarc site. Bad house wiring is often a problem.
>
> Is there any semi-reasonable way to lay hands on a signal strength meter?
> The wiring in the apartment is elderly.


Bummer. No. The test tools for this are $$$ and specialized.  An O'scope can
do it but you need to know the specific frequency of the DSL signal and have
a scope that can work in that space.

>
>
> >
> > 2. Bad modem. Semi-frequent occurrence. Only way to verify is with
> > another modem. If service is keyed to MAC then it requires MAC spoofing.
> > Phone co is reluctant to replace it as they can't RMA it anyway.
>
> This I could handle.
>
> <<snip some other good stuff>>
> > Good luck. The script-reading dweebs are useless and really don't care
> > if you have service or not. As long as they read their script, they
> > don't get in trouble. They also have no ability to run a line test from
> > their end.
> >
> > Speakeasy tech support can and will run a line test first thing to see
> > if there is a problem. Rather than argue with you, the person sending
> > them money, the presume that you wouldn't be spending the time to call
> > for help if the stuff was working. I've was terrified when Best Buy
> > acquired Speakeasy but so far it is still the same Speakeasy I have been
> > super pleased with for years.
>
> I'll agree with you on Speakeasy. Only trouble with them is that here in
> Charlotte they pretty much can not deliver dsl service. Outside the city
> I've heard of success, but inside you get idsl from Speakeasy. I put up
> with the limited service because of the quality of their support.


Ugh. There must be a really good phone company in that area. </sarcasm>
Major bummer. I ran ISDN  lines for access 10 years ago (had a dual
connection account with Mindspring before the Earthlink debacle).  Paid
through the nose on it and was actually happy (except for the bill! :-(  )

>
>
> <<more snippage>>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>



-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III
CEO & Director of Engineering
Local Net Solutions,LLC
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20080304/855ccb4f/attachment.html