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Attempting to force DSL users to change to FIOS?

For the past several weeks I have been having intermittent DSL outages, and they seem to have gotten worse as time goes on. Over the Labor Day weekend, I had no connection for more than half the time. I even went as far as to take the modem outside to the network interface box, and connect it directly, ruling our any issues with the home wiring.

I finally braced myself and called for service. The first five (yes five) attempts to reach someone ended with the automated system cutting me off. I finally was able to reach a human after refusing to deal with the automated system, and continually saying the word "operator" until the system connected me to a human.

After giving the woman my information, she put me on hold for a few minutes, and told me that they were having problems with the DSL in my area. The solution to the problem (according to her) was for me to "upgrade" to FIOS. When I made it quite clear that I had problems with the idea of the FIOS, one of the main ones being that I do not like that I am required to provide electrical power for the phone system, I also have to maintain the battery backup system, and in the event of a power failure (very common in my area, sometimes lasting for several days at a time) would have no phone along with no power at my home.

She tried to tell me that the system did not use that much electricity (no matter how much or how little I would be the one paying for it, not her or Verizon) and that she had never had a problem with no phone service at her home. When I asked her when was the last time she had a power failure at home, she stated that she could not remember as it was long ago.

I also do not want to have to waste a day while they come and install the FIOS, losing a day's worth of work and having my home disrupted by the installation

After it became clear that she was not going to be able to sell me on the "upgrade" she then said that she would transfer me to service, but they would not be able to do much seeing as they were not going to do any upgrades on the existing copper lines. After being transfered and sitting on hold again waiting for service, I once again was cut off.

Amazingly, the next day my DSL returned to working fine the next day. When I left my home that morning, I noticed that one of my neighbors was having FIOS installed. I tend to think that they fell for the sales pitch. My DSL worked well for almost a week, and this morning I again had a 3 + hour outage (I have no idea how long it was, I had to go and use a public connection to get done what needed to be done today.

I know that no one will admit to this, but I have to believe that Verizon is cutting off service in order to push people towards the fiber. I see no reason to spend the time and money to do so, when Verizon right now is not providing the service that I pay for. If I have to switch services, why deal with a company that provides such poor service now?

Comments

somegirl

@bigmike4511 wrote:
For the past several weeks I have been having intermittent DSL outages, and they seem to have gotten worse as time goes on. Over the Labor Day weekend, I had no connection for more than half the time. I even went as far as to take the modem outside to the network interface box, and connect it directly, ruling our any issues with the home wiring.
I finally braced myself and called for service. The first five (yes five) attempts to reach someone ended with the automated system cutting me off. I finally was able to reach a human after refusing to deal with the automated system, and continually saying the word "operator" until the system connected me to a human.
After giving the woman my information, she put me on hold for a few minutes, and told me that they were having problems with the DSL in my area. The solution to the problem (according to her) was for me to "upgrade" to FIOS. When I made it quite clear that I had problems with the idea of the FIOS, one of the main ones being that I do not like that I am required to provide electrical power for the phone system, I also have to maintain the battery backup system, and in the event of a power failure (very common in my area, sometimes lasting for several days at a time) would have no phone along with no power at my home.
She tried to tell me that the system did not use that much electricity (no matter how much or how little I would be the one paying for it, not her or Verizon) and that she had never had a problem with no phone service at her home. When I asked her when was the last time she had a power failure at home, she stated that she could not remember as it was long ago.
I also do not want to have to waste a day while they come and install the FIOS, losing a day's worth of work and having my home disrupted by the installation
After it became clear that she was not going to be able to sell me on the "upgrade" she then said that she would transfer me to service, but they would not be able to do much seeing as they were not going to do any upgrades on the existing copper lines. After being transfered and sitting on hold again waiting for service, I once again was cut off.
Amazingly, the next day my DSL returned to working fine the next day. When I left my home that morning, I noticed that one of my neighbors was having FIOS installed. I tend to think that they fell for the sales pitch. My DSL worked well for almost a week, and this morning I again had a 3 + hour outage (I have no idea how long it was, I had to go and use a public connection to get done what needed to be done today.
I know that no one will admit to this, but I have to believe that Verizon is cutting off service in order to push people towards the fiber. I see no reason to spend the time and money to do so, when Verizon right now is not providing the service that I pay for. If I have to switch services, why deal with a company that provides such poor service now?

Seems to me like you should be talking to your power company as well as Verizon. Power regularly being out for days is not a good thing.

As for whether Verizon is cutting off your service to get you to switch to FiOS... Highly unlikely. That would require paying someone to shut off the service, and then paying again the person that takes the call when you complain. Their method of forcing people to FiOS is much more subtle: Dump all the money into the FiOS network, spending money on the copper lines only when they absolutely have to. This is a valid business strategy, but is not very pleasant for those not interested in the move to FiOS.

I have FiOS and am very pleased with it, but you have to get the service that is right for you. Best of luck!

bigmike4511

Believe me, I have been complaining (via every means possible) about the unreliable power service in my area. We are on the outside edge of the company's service area, and we are treated like the redheaded stepchild when it comes to power reliability.

As to the idea that they would have to pay someone to turn the DSL on and off, that is not a really big issue. All it would take is someone in the switching center to hit a button and turn off the server, or even easier, install a program (simple to write) that turns off the DSL connection at certain times. Any moderately skilled programmer could do that in about 30 minutes

The reason I believe this is part of an effort to force everyone to FIOS is that when I called for service, the attitude was that they were not concerned about fixing the internet, they were just worried about getting me to agree to switch.

It is not just my DSL that is having this happen, I have heard others in the area complaining about the same thing.

bigmike4511

While some may say that Verizon would not do something like this, I have noticed that my DSL fails almost every day at 10:00 AM

Either this is a really strange coincidence or something is going on with a Verizon server. If I reboot the modem, and make a telephone call (to anyone) then the system comes back up. If not, the DSL will stay down for hours.

If this is a service issue, I should be able to have it fixed, but all I get from service requests are cut off calls and sales pitches.

rayman9969

Funny, I am having DSL issues myself. I talked to the local Verizon Tech who installed my service... He told me Verizon has put a program on the lines to monitor usage and lines and to throttle the speed. I have gone from a rock steady 2.8 Mbs down to 1.7 if I'm lucky. I'm on the outskirts of the system and their reply is I'm lucky it works.

smith6612

@bigmike4511 wrote:
While some may say that Verizon would not do something like this, I have noticed that my DSL fails almost every day at 10:00 AM
Either this is a really strange coincidence or something is going on with a Verizon server. If I reboot the modem, and make a telephone call (to anyone) then the system comes back up. If not, the DSL will stay down for hours.
If this is a service issue, I should be able to have it fixed, but all I get from service requests are cut off calls and sales pitches.

If you're coming out of a remote or an integrated DSLAM it almost sounds like you have a bad port rather than something that is being shut off by Verizon at 10AM each day. If you're on some really old equipment, I really wouldn't doubt that one bit.

With FiOS being around, expect Verizon to start pushing for it. Two truck rolls and it's off to FiOS land. In some areas, you'll start getting letters saying "You have a FiOS Installation scheduled for xx/xx/xxxx." With the way Verizon is directioning the copmany, DSL won't be around for too long in FiOS areas. In Non-FiOS areas, I'm sure DSL will continue to be used but once that LTE network is up fully, expect a push for that too.

@rayman9969: Could you supply some Transceiver Statistics? It's been known that Verizon has been turning down line speeds for lines that do not need it turned down. It's usually an automated process messing with it due to it incorrectly determining line statistics.

stephgirl

I totaly agree with this topic. I have had problems with verizon DSl for years. They are contracted by city to provid service in are neighborhood. I just found out few days ago we have TW in are neighborhood also. This past year 2012 was the worst. They installed Fios in are neighborhood first part of 2012 and now we get junk in the mail to switch to fios. Also the DSL service has been slow a lot this year. We don't use the DSl a lot ether. no gaming. In sumer of 2012 we got new Sharp 60"Aquas TV with internet . We have netflix. That may be the only thing we use high bandwith for. But most of the time it is just normal everyday use like search internet and e-mails and on occation some music downloads and a quick few min of video on Youtube. We have a few computers in the house and that's it. A few neighbors have installed FIOS but when I talk to them about it I don't get the wow factor. Like OH WOW WE HAVE FIOS. They just say it's ok work fine. They also say it cost a lot to have. After the fony introductory offers and it jumps to normal price. Most of the neighborhood I spoke to are angry that Verizon is trying to force them into FIOS.

I live in southern CA and I don't have any issues that some say, like too far away from switching station or live out in country or so on. In past years when it is slow or have issues with DSL they fixed it. By the way I hate customer service in India also. Same thing always, they say I need to test your system or log into your computer. I tell them it is on your end not mine. My computers run like a well oiled machine. I am not a dumb computer person, i'm above average I feel. They try hard to not let you talk to someone in USA tech service. I have on occations spoke to Long Beach CA tech guys and there great when you can get to talk to them. Long Beach Tech has even made visits to my house.

We pay for 1.0 speed and have had that speed for a number of years. It has been ok for what we use it for. In 2012

I noticed that DSL speed has been slow most of the time and when I do the speed test thing it shows up. .7 or slower in many cases. Even the Sharp 60" Aquas TV internet we watch on with apps like youtube or HULU has to buffer a lot and then becomes unable to watch.

Ever since we got Fios in neighborhood DSL has not been good at all. One moth back I called tech service and demanded to speak to Long Beach CA tech office, NO INDIA . The guy at Long Beach said there was a problem with the computer and the speed it had us on. So he fixed it by programinging in back to 1.0 speed. Guy said to use speedtest to verify, ok fine. works thanks. He also spoke about this program Verizon has, something to do with speed and the system can slow you down and he had to program it back. He recomended we up are speed a little because of the TV and netflix.

So this past December few weeks ago I called customer service to upgrade speed. WOW was I shocked. They said they can not up my speed that 1.0 was the fastest they will provide. Then they continued to pust me into FIOS and explained how we have it in are neighborhood now and that they will give us everything even the kitchen sink to, oh yea " Migrat over" they call it. I was angry. They did not explain about any eqipment or any details. I had to bring it up about all the battery and equipment and what about power outages and so on. They even thew in an extra backup battery and extended warranty and oh did I say the kitchen sink. I said, what would happen if the power does go out , and it has over the years, and the battery that is good for about 8 hours they said goes dead. , and if it happens to be at night and some one is trying break in your house and rob you because the power is out in neighborhood. You can't use the phone in the house to call 911. got no answer. Oh and we have had some robberies in neighborhood this past year. The person just went on to push FIOS. Boy did they want us to, Oh, migrat over.

We have Direct TV for many many years and love it and don't want fios or need FIOS. We also don't want all the extra eqipment and problems like power outages and have to buy new batters down the line when these go bad. and so on that may com with FIOS. The phone system that has been around for 80 or so years just works and don't us my electicity . Remember the old saying "IF IT AN'T BROKE DON"T FIX IT" The DSL line with are basic phone service is just fine and cost is just right. We use cell phones so we have the phone line because Verizon don't offer dry loop anymore.

What also angered me even more was when I looked into other DSL providers ISP to see what is avalable, I found a few 3rd party companies like Earthlink and DSLextreme that can provide me with more speed and they contract and use the same Verizon phone/DSL system, HUMMM that interesting. 3rd party that use Verison sytem can give me more speed but Verizon will not. Can you say, force migrat Verizon customers to FIOS.

So you tell me that Verizon is not forcing customers into FIOS. As long as Verizon has DSL customers they must support them. I need more speed on my DSL. Any Verizon employees in this community chat that can answer that?

I don't give a dame if Verizon has invested million on FIOS and wants to dump the coper wire. That is there problem not mine. Now they want to force customers to pay higher prices to fund this FIOS. This is all the same when companies do things like this and now they charge higher prices for it. Let Verizon pick up the tab on it not me. If they can give me the same price I pay now for DSL, And when they don't have to have extra equipment expence and batteries at my house and it is not effected by power, then maybe i think about it. I need to upgrade to a little faster speed and as long as DSL works for me and other customers, Verizon need to support us.

This is all discusiting if you ask me. I guess I will just keep calling and complaining about service and maybe they will up my speed. Or maybe just dump Verizon altogether and go with diffrent ISP profider. Verizon will know me on first name bases. Does anyone on this community chat have a phone number of corporate person or someone in high up's that I can contact on this matter.

Stephanie

beshannon

As I recently tried to report DSL problems at my home, I was upsold FIOS before the problem would even be discussed.

I am convinced that this is a sales tactic as my DSL has been great up until I recently started receiving letters telling me I needed to switch.

I am beginning to wonder if I should switch to a different service provider as well?

Allentwnguy1

I am on my last 3 weeks of DSL from Verizon. It worked they drove me away. With the $5 increase it went to 49 bucks a month for 7 meg down. Highest I saw was 6.5. More often it was 1 - 2 and many times under 1. I went with Time Warner that is giving me 15 meg for 1 year at $34. Then it goes to $44 which is what we are paying now before this increase. Verizon was not all that interested in servicing the account. The Customer service sucks with all the automation. And when my contract is up I will also get rid of my Verizon Wireless cell phone.

Bert22306

I have a technical suggestion for Verizon. It would not resolve the issue of the telephone running out of battery power, that some people justifiably complain about, but it would sure make it easier for Verizon AND their customers, to switch over to FiOS. I would switch, if Verizon took this approach.

Everyone knows that waiting all day long for Verizon's installers is a royal nuisance. On the other hand, when we got our DSL, there was no such waiting around. I got home one Friday night, installed the filters they sent me by mail, plugged in the modem and the Ethernet line to the PC, and done!

So, Verizon, for heaven's sake, why don't you take that same clever approach with FiOS?? Here's how you can do it.

Connect the box outside the house as you do with FiOS. Only, instead of having to install coax or cat-5e cable inside the house, so we the customers need to wait around all day long, and put up with your installers having to dig holes in walls and such, why don't you go from that FiOS box to either ADSL+, which already provides a very respectable 25 Mb/s, or VDSL, which now goes to 100 Mb/s or so. In other words, from the FiOS interface box, you go to the existing voice grade twisted pair inside the house. A very clean installation.

This would create minimal fuss for YOU OWN techs. All work outside, should take a fraction of the time current FiOS installations require. And of course, no need for customers to wait around!

I have my own WiFi, plus I use Internet TV almost excusively these days (supplemented with over the air TV), so I don't need Verizon's WiFi access point or the FiOS TV tiers. We could continue to use the analog telephones, with the low-pass filters.

Come now, Verizon. When I suggested this to the guy that came knocking at my door, and to the salesperson who called me, I got back that blank "deer in the headlights" look. Like I was speaking Mandarin.

fredzoyt

Interesting topic. Did you see my post?

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/High-Speed-Internet-DSL-and-Dial/Bandwidth-Cut-back/m-p/658903#M23677

I guess my situation is not an isolated one.

A Verzon rep with integrity needs to speak to these complaints.

Dave

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