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General discussion

DSL distance limitations yet again

Sep 7, 2008 2:49AM PDT

i have been using the windstream DSL tier 1 for several months and even though i'm .4 beyond the 3 mile distance, i am able to use their service, somewhat slower than 1.5... but many times faster than dial up... so i am willing to pay the price...

last week, there were problems here with my connection... after complainging loudly after the 3rd day, they began to take me seriously... and had someone take a look at it...

the guy says that he found my problem and has dropped me back to what is called DSL lite here... he says i shouldn't see much difference in what i had... BUT I DO SEE A DROP OF NEARLY 50% IN MY SPEED!!! and by the way, the switch was done without my agreement...

every time i call them, they simply answer that i'm just too far out...

i'm reading that's not necessarily true... and besides, i know that already and am willing to accept the slower speed...

sooo.... yet again, i called and the tech in India, i think, says they will have me fixed by tuesday... if they don't... is there any other method of pursuing this or should i just give up and go somewhere else?

Discussion is locked

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If all you have in the area is dsl lite then...
Sep 9, 2008 12:53AM PDT

any other isp will be the same. What they should have done is charge you less.

As for performance, it is true that dsl lite do decrease with distance. However the poor performance may not be between your house to the central station but rather their server and beyond. Only they know but since they tell you it's the distance then you have no choice; take it or leave it.

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If all you have in the area is dsl lite then...
Sep 9, 2008 1:21AM PDT

but you're incorrect in your assumptionthat they are correct and i'm not...

i forced them to change me back to tier one sunday, and i'm consistently at nearly 1200 kbps... a bit less than 3 times the speed of their DSL lite...

i told them that from the beginning!!! what pisses me off is that they won't listen!!! hey!! i've a tech certificate too!!! and i've been playing with computers since i bought my first tandy color computer back in 1987!!!!

nowadays, the 3 mile limitation is not necessarily the limitation... from my homework, there are ways to exend that if the company is willing to help...

what it boiled down to, in my opinion, was the tech service guy was supposed to come out to the house and work with me on this problem... he was too lazy to... so he thought he could tell me the dsl lite crap and i'd go away... but i didn't Happy

and i think we could probably tweak out the rest of the speed if i could get a service guy out here... i've a terribly wrecked lower back... discs blown everywhere and most of the time i'm barely walking... but i do what i can

dishnet offered me a deal... nothing more than anyone else, i suppose, but for $200 and approx $60 monthly, i can get full bore dsl...

i'm still considering that...

meanwhile... i'm running great on the tier one level at this time... as i said i would be! i love being right Happy

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Ah Yes, but...
Sep 18, 2008 4:16AM PDT

...they won't install equipment which can extend DSL past the limits of what's already available to serve a single subscriber. It unfortunately isn't cost effective for them to do this for you. That is exactly how cable internet keeps a lot of its subscriber base in urban areas one would think could receive DSL right now.

Regarding Dishnet, AFAIK they resell Wildblue satellite internet service. You will likely be extremely disappointing by this, even compared to the 'slow' DSL you are currently experiencing. The lag's pretty bad w/ satellite IME.

Personally, I think your efforts would be better spent finding a more helpful human in tech suport with your current DSL provider. Reason with them to see if they can get a line tech out in your area.

-Pedro

QUOTE:
"nowadays, the 3 mile limitation is not necessarily the limitation... from my homework, there are ways to exend that if the company is willing to help..."

"dishnet offered me a deal... nothing more than anyone else, i suppose, but for $200 and approx $60 monthly, i can get full bore dsl..."

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Be careful.
Sep 9, 2008 1:34AM PDT

I know one person that was over the limit and they started complaining. The end result was they terminated the service. You can be right and lose this one.
Bob