I set up Verizon DSL for several people, all of whom have said that the service is spotty and support sucks ***.

Although this was several years ago, some things may have changed since then. BroadbandReports.com still doesn't have many good reviews on them in this area.

I've had several friends say that Verizon DSL is pretty good and that it never goes down though.

So far my opinion would be 50/50 based on what I've been told. When I was in school, 50% meant YOU FAIL... I refuse to sign a one year contract with a failure.

In addition, I do not and will not have a phone line. I refuse to pay for a service that I will not be using. I have a cell phone and it has been my only phone for the past three years.

There is only ONE provider that I know of that will give me DSL service without a phone line. (Speakeasy.Net)...

Are there any others?

If I can get a BASIC (Read, no local calling, no long distance, I don't give a **** if it has dialtone or gets a hold of 911. I don't even own a phone to connect to it.) phone line for under $10, then I might consider getting one just for the DSL service.



Comcast is charging $105 a month after all taxes and box rental. (Checked with a subscriber.) That's unacceptable for any type of service.

 

Optimum Online os more than 4 times faster than business class 7mbps dsl and never goes down. No phoneline needed either. I dunno if we service down there though.

 

www.cyberonic.com

Cheezy name, crap for customer service, but absolutely 100% reliable. They don't block ports like Verizon and you can get static IPs, run servers, etc. I have used them in Herndon and Chantilly. Your mileage may vary but I have 0 complaints.

I don't know about the no phone line option. Yea, speakeasy has it but last time I looked it cost MORE to use that option than it did just to have a phone line with basic service (~$18/mo) + cyberonic. Speakeasy is a great provider but they're more expensive for the same level of service than cyberonic.

 

Oh ya, if you're in Herndon you may be able to get FIOS internet. It's available in my area now, but I don't know how many other markets in NoVA have it yet. www.verizon.com/fios

 

Make sure to ask whether they have static or dynamic IP addresses. A lot of them use DHCP now, which can be a problem depending on your uses.

I have Cavalier MVL, and have been very happy with the service and support. They are a full-service CLEC based in Richmond and I have local service with them as well.
http://www.cavtel.com


The other providers I would recommend are Speakeasy and Patriot Net, both of which also have static IP addresses.

Stay away from ****'s Cable

http://www.dslreports.com/

 

I actually currently have *** cable and have had very little trouble with them... My modem lost synch with their equipment a few times, resetting it didn't work and it wouldn't come back for a few hours... I think it happened 4 or 5 times over the span of 2 years... They always credited my bill after I bitched.

Comcast is just too expensive and requires me to get Digital Cable, PLUS rent a box...


I just called Verizon to get a phone line. The BASIC phone line costs $25 a month. That's billed per use. Unlimited local calling is $25 a month. Same price.

They used to have a $15 option, but that's for a secondary line or something.

 

I dislike *****' shady business practices. Their standard operating procedure is to bill customers whether service is provided or not, until the customer takes the initiative to request a credit or adjustment. Theoretically if your cable is out for an entire month, you would still be billed for that whole time. Furthermore the ***** Cable TV service is not that great and overpriced.

Verizon owns the telephone lines but you can use a different CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) for phone service. You may or may not find a better deal, since rates change all the time. You could then potentially use another provider for DSL. Check around with the other carriers. I have Cavalier on one line and Verizon on another.

There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in telecom pricing. Verizon's limited local "service" is in fact $15.97, but the total amount after "taxes," "fees," and "surcharges" is about $25. Eventually some marketing genius will introduce "free" phone service that costs $50 after taxes and fees.

Whatever you get, check and compare prices every couple of months. When a company reduces prices, they might not notify existing customers that a lower rate plan is available. You have to ask for it.

 

Speakeasy is great... I've never had it go down without them telling me it's going to, that is unless verizon is mucking around at the CO. Verizon once did something shady with the lines, and my service would go down everytime I got a phone call on the house line. It took me 3 weeks before I could get it resolved... mainly because I had to call speakeasy, convince them that verizon was doing something messed up, who then called Covad, and I had to convince THEM that verizon had screwed something up, who then called verizon, who wanted to charge me $150 to send a truck to my house when the problem was in their CO... so the Covad guy went to the CO, and found all kinds of problems, and fixed them.

Long story short, Speakeasy is great, but they run on verizon's lines here, so if verizon feels like ******* you over, they will.

I'm paying $60 per month right now for 2 static IPs, and 1.5/384 service. Their 3/768 service is like $10-20 more per month ( can't remember right now).

 

Ever max out that 1.5/384? I know you host a server or two.

I have another frined who's had Speakeasy. He had an SDSL 1.1 connection that was insanely expensive.



[QUOTE=cosmicbang]I dislike *****' shady business practices. Their standard operating procedure is to bill customers whether service is provided or not, until the customer takes the initiative to request a credit or adjustment. Theoretically if your cable is out for an entire month, you would still be billed for that whole time. Furthermore the ***** Cable TV service is not that great and overpriced.

Verizon owns the telephone lines but you can use a different CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) for phone service. You may or may not find a better deal, since rates change all the time. You could then potentially use another provider for DSL. Check around with the other carriers. I have Cavalier on one line and Verizon on another.

There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in telecom pricing. Verizon's limited local "service" is in fact $15.97, but the total amount after "taxes," "fees," and "surcharges" is about $25. Eventually some marketing genius will introduce "free" phone service that costs $50 after taxes and fees.

Whatever you get, check and compare prices every couple of months. When a company reduces prices, they might not notify existing customers that a lower rate plan is available. You have to ask for it.[QUOTE]

Hence my not wanting a phone line at all... *** Cable TV is expensive. Comcast is even moreso.

I am most likely going for Speakeasy's Dedicated pair (No phone line required) rig and then I've gotta figure out what to do for TV.