argh

[trochee]

It is both frustrating and somewhat suspicious that I can't reach www.dslreports.com from my new (and flaky) DSL connection.

I can't tell if it's Qwest or if it's my computer. imtboo's (Windows XP) laptop had no trouble with this connection yesterday.

Qwest's customer support was so unhelpful:
"Now bring up Internet Explorer."
Me: "I have a browser running already."
"Is it Internet Explorer?"
Me: "No, I am running Ubuntu Linux; I'm using Firefox."
"Is that XP?" etcetera, until I am trying not to scream at her.

They won't support it in terms of "now make an HTTP request so we can trace your line" and "officially" they only support Windows, a single computer, and not the wireless connection (never mind that they ship a wireless DSL modem!).

I'm tempted to drop them right away even though that would put us out some installation fees. At the moment, I'm stuck trying to fix it myself. graah.

Comments

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

God they suck !!!!

I wish I could help... If we have to switch then we will I guess. Unless you can find a QWEST support person actually willing to help you set it up for your machine. Running on a different O.S is not ILLEGAL !!!! I think they should be willing to help !!!

[trochee.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it's not my computer now, because I (accidentally) connected to the open comcast wireless next door and everything worked smoothly and fast.

So it's the modem or something upstream.

I realized on my way out the door that it might be a good thing to try to connect the DSL modem in a different plug in the house before I give up on this.

Also, it'd be good to know whether (1) your laptop or (2) my desktop also exhibit the same problems. I wonder if (when it was working for you) you were connected to the other open wireless?

I'm going to talk to Speakeasy today about their VoIP arrangements. Looks like free calls to France if we go that way! It's a little more but it might be worth the hassle of switching, especially because Speakeasy gets reliably good support.

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

No i checked that i was connected to ours...
And I was.

But trying other plugs and/or the desktop are good ideas. I don't need free calls to France as a plus. The phone cards are super cheap. But whatever we need to do to make it work..

YOu at school now ?

[trochee.livejournal.com]

yup, at school.

I know, the calls to France are just a bonus. If we switch to Speakeasy, I'd want to bail on the phone line as well -- Qwest is just an awful service, I think.

But I'll try other things for a few days. Also I'd be surprised if your computer continued to work properly, unless it's somehow detecting that I'm not running windows. That would be reason enough to switch, though.

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

Boy, I'm sorry to hear all this. I can't tell you, though, how many angry Qwest DSL users I've met in my life. I didn't want to cast them in a bad light until you exhausted all the options that weren't them, just to be fair. But it's been my experience that they, in general, suck donkey.

Hope you guys get it all resolved.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry too.

I think we'll want to try a few more things.

I'm really hoping, actually, that D's computer will exhibit the same connection flakiness that mine does. If it does, then we can call with her computer (running "approved" operating system etcetera) and get support that actually does something.

Also the intermittence of the problem is annoying. argh.