I am highly disturbed by what I have discovered while working with Verizon Technical Services in Maryland. I live in the 21784 area code and I am paying for the high speed DSL service available to me because there is no FIOS in my area. The package I pay for is supposed to supply me with 7.1 – 15 Mbps download speed and 768kbps upload. I understand in the fine print that number can vary depending on things like line conditions. I felt recently like I was not getting the full potential of what Verizon said they would deliver if it was available. My own tests were showing my peaking just above 5 Mbps. After a long discussion and troubleshooting, I was told by Verizon that I am capped at 5 Mbps. The first question that can be answered is why is Verizon capping my rate? I am not on a shared service in the way that it works with Cable provided internet. My connection across my landline is modem to modem. If you can provide me a higher rate for my costs, why would you not do so?
In addition, I requested a line test to determine the quality of my signal and my distance to the modem. My Signal to Noise ratio is very good and I am barely over 4,000 feet from the central office. I know in previous cases many years ago that speeds up to 40 Mbps could be had within that distance and line quality. I am not asking for 40 Mbps, but I am asking why I can’t be provided a rate above the 7Mbps and close to the 15 Mbps. If I have peak conditions for a higher rate, why can’t I achieve this?
It is obvious that the front line customer service representative does not have a clue. It seems that the Tier III technician is aware of my situation and referred me to a group in Texas to provide me more detail, but I haven’t gone that route. I would like to stay with the service even though FIOS is not available to me. However, at my monthly cost for phone and internet, it seems smarter for me to go to Xfinity for the same monthly cost to get digital phone service over Internet provided at 25 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload. If Verizon can’t bring better products to my area, the least you can do is provide me the best possible service for my money and not cap my rate.
I would really like an answer to this inquiry. Please feel free to make this as technical as needed. I have had almost 20 years experience as a communications and network Engineer with the Governement and the private sector. I was also formerly a BBN employee that worked under GTE Internetworking and the eventual merger to Verizon with Bell Atlantic. I was a Broadband Engineer when it was in its infancy for residential service in the Maryland area.
