Netzero

Since I'm still in the process of moving, I've resigned myself to another month of Netzero. Thing is, Netzero charges now for use over 40 hours per month.

I used up my 40 hours in January the first week I was back. How the hell did I do it? There's no way. Well, it turns out I used up the rest of the 40 hours allocated per household. Since both Joe and I use Netzero, between the two of us, it was real easy to hit the limit.

But I was not one to go without an Internet connection. Pay $9.95 and I get unlimited access for the rest of the month. It doesn't feel bad because it's just a credit card charge. Not like I'm signing up for service; next month, I get my 40 free hours again and the option, when that runs out, to charge up another $9.95. So it takes a massive downturn for companies like Netzero to realize you can't make money by giving away connections and serving banner ads.

When it was free, I lived with the Netzero bugs. Now that I'm paying though, it feels like crap when Netzero crashes my computer three times in a row. This morning I spent more time restarting my machine than I did online.

Why does DSL take over a month to set up? I can just imagine it probably takes one guy to flip some switch somewhere to activate it... but it takes a month for that guy to get the order.

DSL -- Slow to set up?

Ah danchan, you have come to right source. theVooner, your resident telco man will explain it to you. One month is fast considering that in the past, it initially took up to 6 months.

Why? Well it's not quite as easy as flipping a switch. A typical DSL order can involve up to 3 companies and two "truck rolls". 1st, the ISP passes along the order to the DLEC (local exchange carrier) who then contacts the ILEC (local phone company). The ILEC must connect a second phone line to the customer's local hub (called central office, CO). This line will connect your house to the DLEC's DSL hardware. This occurs only after the DLEC determines that you are within 18,000 feet of one of their CO. Then the DLEC has to make sure that the ILEC can connect such a line. If the line is determined to be "clear" and "noise free" than the first truck roll begins and the ILEC connects and tests the line to the customers home. Finally, the DLEC can then send a technician to the customers house to install the DSL modem and the related software (the first time you see someone and all the time you are yelling: "where the hell is my DSL?"). If you live in a building, they would have to wire you up through the connection in your building. More testing, more technicians.

This was pretty much the really "slow" old days when it took lots of time, money, and trained technicians to make all these connections. Not to mention that demand far outstrips capable people and you have a backlog of orders. Today, that backlog is just one month. Not too bad.

Until your DSL provider files bankruptcy!

We had a beautiful DSL WAN set up between all of our stores - 4 months in the making. We could troubleshoot a workstation or monitor a cash register anywhere in town at the touch of a button. Then we got a dire email from our provider. Boom! They were out of business. I had a similar scare with my home DSL provider, but luckily (at least for now) they got bought out by another company so my connection will survive a little bit longer.
<BR>
<BR>
I can only assume that it is the backlogs that are causing these companies to run out of cash and drop like flies, since there is obviously a huge demand for decent connections.
<BR>
<BR>
It's hard to understand why the separate parts of the DSL industry seem to be fighting each other. Where I live, Qwest is basically in control of all of the copper, but there's almost nowhere in town that "Qwalifies" for Qwest DSL service in which Qwest is supports your DSL line and serves as your ISP. Because of this, you have to find a third party to be your ISP and then they in turn have to partner with another company to support the actual DSL line. Next, the company in charge of the DSL line has to wait for Qwest to physically install the line at your house or business, which is interesting because Qwest just got done telling you that you didn't "Qwalify" remember? This is the part that usually takes several weeks at best.
<BR>
<BR>
What I don't understand is this: If everyone is waiting on Qwest, why in God's name can't Qwest just provide the whole service in the first place???

Ooops...

...those <BR>s were supposed to be line breaks but turned out to look like shameless trumpeting of my initials...

Okay but....

When Dan Arey ordered DSL the just sent him the modem in the mail and said "plug it in to the wall and you're done". It took less than a week.

Of course here in Japan I'm waiting at least 3 months :-(

That's the way it should be...

Just plug the modem into the wall and it works.

<BR>s are generated automatically for carriage returns in the comments.