Internet Service Providers (Part Two)

As you may recall we have been in the process of changing our internet service provider, because of connection problems on par with nothing we have ever experienced before. I ordered DSL through AT&T (Bellsouth) and about five days later we received some very nice looking DSL filters for our phones, but no modem. I guess it was bound to happen, but I was still optimistic. My confirmation e-mail(the one telling me when I would receive my self-install kit and my service activation date) had a link to an online service representative and I decided on giving that a try instead of sitting on hold on the phone for thirty minutes. It was a surprisingly simple and quick experience. Within about ten minutes they had placed an order for the DSL modem that they had forgotten to send me. We received the modem and set it up last night. So this is my first post with our new DSL connection. Goodbye DirecPath.

Now why Bellsouth did not sent the modem to me in the first place I guess will remain a mystery...
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Internet Service Providers

You may have noticed that it has been a bit sparse in the posting department the last few weeks. There are a few reasons. Things have been really busy with my company, I have been taking some classes online and the biggest reason is that the company that is supplying my internet connection is just awful.

Some days we are lucky to keep our connection for sixty seconds at a time. We live in a apartment/townhome complex that has a contract with a company called DirecPath. Among the services they provide are "high" speed internet access. We have never had worse service from a broadband internet connection. It is simply awful.

I was warned when I moved in here (by the people working for the complex no less) to stay away from them, but I figured how bad could it be. We didn't have a phone line (we just use our cell phones) so DSL, which is the only other option, was not an option for us. When I originally called them up to pick one of their packages (they also provide cable or satellite TV) the person who I dealt with knew next to nothing about their prices or policies. The installer was nice enough (subcontractor) and everything went smoothly with the installation. However I received my first bill and they charged me for an extra DVR that I did not purchase. After I called them up and dealt with a few different people I found someone that said they would credit the charge to my account. A couple of bills later no credit had appeared and I went through the phone fun again. Again I was assured that I would receive the credit. This time I got it. Woohoo. We would have service outages two or three times a week, but the connection generally worked. Then a few days after we returned home from our vacation it started to disconnect constantly. I would reset the equipment, but that didn't seem to help. Every once in awhile we would get a steady connection that might last thirty minutes, but for the most part we would get a minute tops.

We finally had enough with it and called up AT&T (aka the old Bellsouth (aka for those of you old enough the old AT&T)) to get a phone line and DSL service. Providentially, with the rebates it will end up costing us about the same per month even with the additional cost of the phone line. At least for the first year.

So that is our sad story. Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things again. Maybe Beth might even be convinced to write something...
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