I'm Baaaaack.....
Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:25 am
Ok - So the oddessy of the great changeover is not quite complete, but the story goes as such:
One day, about 4 weeks ago the Fiancee and I were looking at the bills and how we can save money without significantly degrading our quality of life and keeping what we feel we want to have, and what we need to have. Thankfully, we both agreed High Speed Net access of some kind is a necessity, and with getting a Tivo over Christmas and already paying for it, a high quality TV picture is almost as important, but comes in a close second. So we begin to focus on how to lower these bills, which is almost $100 a month for cable net access and basic cable TV service. (ouch. Not to mention that with Time Warner losing their subscribers in my area to comcast through a buyout or whatever, (Read: me) Comcast was removing 2 channels from the basic lineup, and charging more for the same crappy product.)
So Qwest has been running bundle ads on TV for a while,a dn we decided to check it out, and see what the savings were. With a new phone plan, Satellite, and DSl, we'd be saving about $60 a month and only have one bill. Sweet we say, so we order the package up after a few conversations with some very nice people at Qwests' Customer Service department via their instant chat feature on their website.
The Phone changeover is as smooth as can be expected. All we really did was remove some features we didn't use, but kept the voicemail, caller ID, and Call Waiting. We scheduled an install date for the satellite guy to come, and we were waiting for a confirmation email on the exact time frame on said date, and we got busy and didn't think about it. Tjhat Friday came and went, and no installer. Over that weekend, I got a chance to check the Mrs.' email, and there it was, but they were stupid, and wanted a bunch of money because they screwed up, and they didn't schedule a tech. OK, we say, call Qwest, get it straight, and the guy comes and goes with nary a problem.
Great we say, and while we were handlig all that, we get the new DSL modem in the mail, and I didn't want to set it up till I ran a new outlet just for it, and got that all done, and I plugged the modem in, popped in the CD, but there was no solid DSL light on the modem. It just flashed at me, very mockingly. I call Qwest tech support during off business hours and get transfered over to "Joe". (Anyone know how to spell Joe in Hindu?) So we go through his whole 'troubleshooting" process, which is basically Unplug your modem and wait 4 minutes, then re-plug it in and see what happens, but let me put you on hold while I make you wait. Then there's of course no signal, still and It's an hour and a half of my life I want back. We shcedule a tech to come out the next day, and we get a decent snowstorm and he called to tell me he wasn't going to be able to make it, etc. and I said OK. He shows up on Monday, and checks the lines, they're good, the modem is fine but there's one significant problem: There's a crew in my neighborhood trying to free up loads on the lines and free up pairs so I can actually have DSL service in my neighborhood. They sold me the DSL service without confirming I could actually GET DSL in my area. I live in a developed, established part of Minneapolis, and you'd never really guess that you couldn't get something like DSl in your area.. it made no sense. Another week goes by, and still no luck. Several calls to Qwest Customer Service to ensure I'm not getting charged for this while I can't recieve DSL, and a couple more calls to "mike", "joe" and "bill".
So Now yesterday i happened to look at the modem in the evening, and lo and behold: The light was solid! SWEET! I exclaim, and run to my PC to finsih the installation process, and check my email, which I hadn't been able to do for 2 weeks because Comcast had already shut everything off. It all gets setup, connects to the net, but it seems a little slow, slower than it should, in everything I did online. So I head over to Speedtest.net and do a test to the server in Minneapolis, (Distance of about maybe 20 miles by the wires... I'm really close to this server.) I've got a ping of 113, and an up/down speed of less than 256K! I ordered 1.5Mbit service, because the 5Mbit is not available in my area. (let alone the actual service itself untile yesterday..) So, while I may be saving money on this crap, I've got a crappy DSL line, that's routed to a CO at the very limits of usage, when there's another CO 5 blocks from my house. I haven't had time to call Qwest again, but I'm gonna have to. I'm either gonna have to cancel the DSL or try to convince them to find a way to get me the service I ordered. I'm NOT paying for 256Kb service when I have 3PCs, an Xbox, a Tivo, and a PS2 that all like to connect to the internet, and sometimes all at once.... What a frustrating month.
One day, about 4 weeks ago the Fiancee and I were looking at the bills and how we can save money without significantly degrading our quality of life and keeping what we feel we want to have, and what we need to have. Thankfully, we both agreed High Speed Net access of some kind is a necessity, and with getting a Tivo over Christmas and already paying for it, a high quality TV picture is almost as important, but comes in a close second. So we begin to focus on how to lower these bills, which is almost $100 a month for cable net access and basic cable TV service. (ouch. Not to mention that with Time Warner losing their subscribers in my area to comcast through a buyout or whatever, (Read: me) Comcast was removing 2 channels from the basic lineup, and charging more for the same crappy product.)
So Qwest has been running bundle ads on TV for a while,a dn we decided to check it out, and see what the savings were. With a new phone plan, Satellite, and DSl, we'd be saving about $60 a month and only have one bill. Sweet we say, so we order the package up after a few conversations with some very nice people at Qwests' Customer Service department via their instant chat feature on their website.
The Phone changeover is as smooth as can be expected. All we really did was remove some features we didn't use, but kept the voicemail, caller ID, and Call Waiting. We scheduled an install date for the satellite guy to come, and we were waiting for a confirmation email on the exact time frame on said date, and we got busy and didn't think about it. Tjhat Friday came and went, and no installer. Over that weekend, I got a chance to check the Mrs.' email, and there it was, but they were stupid, and wanted a bunch of money because they screwed up, and they didn't schedule a tech. OK, we say, call Qwest, get it straight, and the guy comes and goes with nary a problem.
Great we say, and while we were handlig all that, we get the new DSL modem in the mail, and I didn't want to set it up till I ran a new outlet just for it, and got that all done, and I plugged the modem in, popped in the CD, but there was no solid DSL light on the modem. It just flashed at me, very mockingly. I call Qwest tech support during off business hours and get transfered over to "Joe". (Anyone know how to spell Joe in Hindu?) So we go through his whole 'troubleshooting" process, which is basically Unplug your modem and wait 4 minutes, then re-plug it in and see what happens, but let me put you on hold while I make you wait. Then there's of course no signal, still and It's an hour and a half of my life I want back. We shcedule a tech to come out the next day, and we get a decent snowstorm and he called to tell me he wasn't going to be able to make it, etc. and I said OK. He shows up on Monday, and checks the lines, they're good, the modem is fine but there's one significant problem: There's a crew in my neighborhood trying to free up loads on the lines and free up pairs so I can actually have DSL service in my neighborhood. They sold me the DSL service without confirming I could actually GET DSL in my area. I live in a developed, established part of Minneapolis, and you'd never really guess that you couldn't get something like DSl in your area.. it made no sense. Another week goes by, and still no luck. Several calls to Qwest Customer Service to ensure I'm not getting charged for this while I can't recieve DSL, and a couple more calls to "mike", "joe" and "bill".
So Now yesterday i happened to look at the modem in the evening, and lo and behold: The light was solid! SWEET! I exclaim, and run to my PC to finsih the installation process, and check my email, which I hadn't been able to do for 2 weeks because Comcast had already shut everything off. It all gets setup, connects to the net, but it seems a little slow, slower than it should, in everything I did online. So I head over to Speedtest.net and do a test to the server in Minneapolis, (Distance of about maybe 20 miles by the wires... I'm really close to this server.) I've got a ping of 113, and an up/down speed of less than 256K! I ordered 1.5Mbit service, because the 5Mbit is not available in my area. (let alone the actual service itself untile yesterday..) So, while I may be saving money on this crap, I've got a crappy DSL line, that's routed to a CO at the very limits of usage, when there's another CO 5 blocks from my house. I haven't had time to call Qwest again, but I'm gonna have to. I'm either gonna have to cancel the DSL or try to convince them to find a way to get me the service I ordered. I'm NOT paying for 256Kb service when I have 3PCs, an Xbox, a Tivo, and a PS2 that all like to connect to the internet, and sometimes all at once.... What a frustrating month.
My Tivo calls home via the 'net, and I have 3 PCs with 2 college students who need it all the time... It sucks!