By Randall Hull
Tech Talk
This biweekly column offers solutions to personal computer problems submitted by readers. Neither the author nor this newspaper endorses products or companies mentioned.
Q: One Friday evening our DSL line shut down. We called Flashcom, our Internet service provider. They were out of business and we were directed to Covad. We called Covad. They had given us to Speakeasy. We called Speakeasy. They said we had to sign up for new service and it would take three days. Well, it’s been weeks and we still don’t have high-speed access. Where can we go for quick, reliable, responsive service?
A: Isn’t it ironic that getting high-speed access is so slow?
The economic downturn has hit many ISPs and DSL providers hard, leaving customers without service, confused about where to turn and mostly waiting on hold.
The problem with contacting any ISP means signing up for new Internet access and getting in line. The three days quoted may not have been for final installation but how long it would take them to get around to your transition provisioning. So far no one has stepped forward with a faster solution.
Many local ISPs may offer better rates and most offer DSL from multiple carriers, which means more diverse and, possibly, more reliable service. There are still many surviving providers such as EarthLink, Telocity, Juno and Verio that have services available in our area.
Despite all the complaints about PacBell - don’t get me started - they are still in business and providing uninterrupted DSL and ISP service. Though the wait may seem horrific, so is losing your DSL provider, e-mail and Web access.
Initially the “Bells” were viewed as slow and clunky when it came to DSL deployment. But they may very well be the DSL winners in conjunction with some surviving competitors.
With the mercurial conditions in the communications market right now, I’d suggest considering doing business with “the dark side.” The new DSL providers must lease equipment from the telephone companies anyway. And the telecos have no incentive to make life easy for their competitors.
Tom Spring put together a great check list in his article, “Broadband Users Still Sing the Blues,” in the June 2001 issue of PC World magazine. It will help avoid most of the DSL pitfalls.
1. Do research: Find out as much as you can about an ISP’s financial stability and service quality.
2. Buy from the big boys: The higher up on the DSL food chain, the less likely an ISP is to go out of business.
3. Explore alternatives: Two-way satellite service from Hughes Networks and StarBand or fixed wireless service from Sprint and WorldCom. AT&T offers a form of wireless digital Internet access.
4. Install your own service: Verizon, SBC and others have do-it-yourself DSL installation kits that eliminate waiting for technicians. One caveat, the phone company still must activate your line for DSL service. Sorry, there’s no getting around that.
5. Don’t toss the analog modem: Your provider may offer dial-up service as a backup or for access while traveling. For example, EarthLink’s DSL customers have 6500 numbers for dial-up.
6. Get a printed contract: Online versions can change. Business users especially should check the fine print.
7. Keep written records: Notes with specific dates and times of service interruptions and calls to technical support will be needed if you ever ask for a refund.
For customer reviews of DSL providers, point your browser to www.dslreports.com. For help in your search for an alternative ISP, surf to www.dslreports.com, www.dslplus.com, www.cnet.com or www.thelist.com.
Please be as specific and succinct as possible in describing the problem. Keep questions to 100 words or less. Send to: TechTalk, Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022 or e-mail: techtalk@latc.com.
Randall Hull is a Los Altos resident and owner/creative director of The Br@nd Ranch, an advertising and marketing agency serving technology companies.
