DSL availability
nunyabusinesse
Enthusiast - Level 1

2 questions.

1) Is DSL ever going to be available in my area?  Without posting my address, all I can say is my residence is on a sideroad of route 54 between Washingtonville, PA and Danville, PA.  For crying out loud!

2) Everytime I have used the online "is it available" function for the last 5 years, it returns a result of: "Sorry, we are unable to continue your order at this time. Please try again later or contact your local Verizon business office for assistance."

What exactly does that mean?  Does that mean it is NOT available?  If it does, why doesn't it simply say "UNAVAILABLE"?  Why do I need to call the **bleep** office and sift through menus and menus of automated directory to have somone tell me it's not available?

I know people less than 2 miles away that have DSL service.  What gives??? It's freaking 2010!

Re: Sporadic DSL availability
dickgoode
Newbie

Like so many others posting here, I have :

--- been a loyal Verizon customer in New Jersey for many (20+) years with 4 separate home phone lines, Verizon cell phone, and DSL internet user for three years..

--- DSL service in the past was NOT GREAT, but acceptable. (Quite poor in comparison with the MUCH faster and more reliable broadband internet service I have in my Florida home using Comcast Cable as the supplier

--- during the last two weeks I am experiencing one to four DSL outages PER DAY !  Conversations with Verizon technical service seem to lead nowhere -- they are in denial mode that Verizon has a serious network problem.... So frustrating !

--- they are supposedly now monitoring my phone line to ascertain the DSL problem....

--- If this doesn't rectify my problem, I have no choice but to move on to my local cable company for internet service, phone service, etc..... So sad that Verizon management are totally asleep at the DSL switch....

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Re: DSL availability
xxHopefulxx
Enthusiast - Level 3

Hey I live relatively close to the area you described, and I also have been trying to get DSL for the past year.  Apparently they tell us that the lines are too outdated, but that's after we call them and we actually order it, and then when we are just about finished they tell us our problem.  I can't understand why they can't just update the lines because less than a mile away, people have DSL.  Then people say that we are too far from the office, but I think that's bullcrap because that's ridiculous if DSL can only travel 2-3 miles from the main office.

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Re: DSL availability
suemonson
Newbie

I have exactly the same issues as you, but I'm in Virginia.  Just 3 miles from the center of town, and I can't get any high speed Internet service.  No DSL, no cable, and certainly no FIOS.  I used satellite for several years and it's absolutely horrible!  Download one big file and they throttle you back to slower than dial-up. 

For the last several years, I've had a Verizon Aircard for which I get to fork over $60 per month.  Sometimes it's so slow that it's almost stopped and drops my connections repeatedly.  Verizon claims it's a hill and leaves on the trees interfering with the signal.  Give me a break!  Can't you get a signal strong enough to get through the leaves for God's sake.  It's Virginia - there are trees everywhere!

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of the constant Verizon FIOS commercials coming over my unreliable satellite TV about how fast, how cheap, and how overall fabulous FIOS is.  Why is Verizon spending gazillions trying to sell FIOS when that's what everyone wants anyway?  Why aren't they taking those gazillions of dollars to expand the network and get the service to those of us who want it and would pay full price for it and come out ahead.  I don't get it. 

I wish our government would force companies such as Verizon and Comcast to expand their network to everyone and quick cherry picking nieghborhoods. 

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Re: DSL availability
xxHopefulxx
Enthusiast - Level 3

Ik! Why are they spending a million dollars so that the people in the middle of town can download a file in 5 seconds rather than 7 seconds.  I mean a bunch of the people don't even need the speed that they are spending millions to offer.  They would make more money by expanding their network.  But I mean I don't want to bother them too much, because running a line an extra mile or two would be asking too much for what their being paid.  Another thing with us,  odds are we will always be one step behind everyone else, cuz the same thing with fios, it will probably be 5-7 years till they offer it, finally, but by then there will be something even faster.

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Re: DSL availability
eric12401
Enthusiast - Level 2

 I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. I live in upstate NY (Mid-Hudson Valley area). We've been trying to get DSL for the past 3-4 years, but they know that we're "too far" from the Central Office, but they send us the equipment anyway and cancel our order on the Service Ready Date. We get things in the mail once a week saying "Good news! Verizon DSL is available in your area!" What a crock that is! But 1/4 mile down the road, there's DSL and FiOS. Another mile down the other way on the road, there's Roadrunner. I don't understand why they can't go the extra 1/4 mile and help us out. We've been on dialup forever, and it's getting very, very aggravating. I have a feeling nothing will be done. Satellite is unreliable as you lose internet when a puffy cloud gets in the way.

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Re: DSL availability
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

I suspect the answer is that it's all about density ... I've seen estimates that range from $100K to $500K per mile to do a network build out -- when you factor that into the number of potential customers in a given area -- the cost of running even an extra mile or two means they need to subscribe a whole lot of customers to make back that cost -- if you look at what you pay monthly, you'll quickly realize just how many people that would mean they would need even start to break even (remembering that those monthly charges also include the maintenance and management of the network not profit toward recovering the buildout cost).

Obviously, that's much easier to obtain in more densely populated areas than in more rural settings -- which is why it takes some long to reach those who are on even some suburban areas where houses are spaced further apart and few subscribers per square mile are available.

The counter to your "why do they bother giving people faster speed" instead of giving me access is that they need to keep those customers happy so that they don't go elsewhere to the competition.   And those people who do have connectivity -- I suspect they make the comment of "why should I pay extra to reach one guy who built their place out in the middle of nowhere"  (yes, I realize you're probably not out in the middle of nowhere and probably have neighbors nearby, but I'm just playing out the extremes here).

I can relate ... it took forever for broadband to get into my neighborhood (and it initially came on Comcast and DSL) and another several years before Verizon got here with FiOS.    I'm glad I have it now ... but there are folks just down the road who still don't have it and won't likely get it for years.

Re: DSL availability
xxHopefulxx
Enthusiast - Level 3

Okay I understand what you are saying. But won't Verizon be getting money in this broadband stimulus?  And if they are, then does anyone have an idea of when that will be going into effect?  And also I know someone who lives in an even less populated area than me, and they don't even get cell phone service, but yet they have the most high tech stuff like TV,Internet and stuff.