Let me introduce myself and describe my computing environment. I run a home network until recently based on a Linksys WRT54G DSL Ethernet and wireless router and an Efficient 5260 DSL modem. The network normally supports 3 or 4 computers running Linux, Windows XP, and MacOS. Within one of my Linux computers, I also run Windows XP virtually with VMWare. Except for DSL issues, the network runs nicely.
I have worked with computers since the Burroughs 205 Datatron ca. 1960, retiring recently from a position as Director of Information Technology for the Faculty of Engineering at Yale University. Along the way, I received a PhD in Physics at MIT and worked as a research scientist in radio astronomy. I hold an Extra class ham radio license and operate an HF and VHF station. While I'm not a network or telecom guru, I suppose you could say I'm an advanced user.
Why should it be so extroardinarily difficult for me to get broadband Internet service? That's the question I'm trying to answer in this web essay.
[To telegraph one answer, consider "Ewing's hypothesis": The amount of computer hassle is independent of expertise. Experts get themselves into expert trouble.]
Achieving good broadband service at this location (Branford CT) has been a trial. In 1999 -- 2000, I started a long relationship with SBC (former SNET in CT) and their ASI subsidiary to get ADSL connectivity. It was not easy at that time. The primary problem was my location just at the edge of the service range from my central office, but this was aggravated immensely by the telephone bureaucracy. You can read the "ancient" history here.
Eventually, we seemed to have a stable connection, although it was "capped" at 384 kbs, reduced from the nominal 1,500 kbs I was paying for. (That is, "up to 1,500 kbs".) Occasionally, I would have some outages (loss of modem sync), and I'd call SBC/ASI service. They would twiddle the line in various ways, and service would be restored, but they always remarked on the low signal strength (low signal-to-noise margin and high "capacity") and high error rates on the line. The troubles were greatest in the heat of summer. For most of the year, our service was fairly stable.
The service issues came to a head in August, 2005. On a Saturday morning in mid-August, our household phone service went crazy. At times there was no dial tone, calls were interrupted, our wires were crossed with other customers (interesting conversations, there!), and DSL sync was totally gone. This was the beginning of this year's saga.
If you're interested in the details, read my extended tale of woe.
In a nutshell, on Sept. 26, with a combination of great help and great obstacles from SBC, my DSL connection is finally running reliably at 1.5 Mbs. The last SBC technician to visit showed me that I'm now in the "green zone", and my line will support upwards of 10 Mb/s download, if I can persuade the company to enable it at an acceptable price. It took some 17 phone calls over a period of 6+ weeks (and 40+ hours of my time).
Maybe it's globalization. The problems I've seen are probably not unique to SBC. But SBC is the devil I know. Here is my distillation of the situation.
Like many technical people, I have a pretty strong sense of how my computer systems should be arranged. Linux is my primary operating system, and I have a strong aversion to Microsoft products, first of all for security reasons, but also because of ideology -- the suppression of innovation and user rights typical of a monopoly. I know how to set up my router, and I know what PPPoE is.
While these attitudes would establish my credentials with the Slashdot crowd, they lead to insanity when dealing with a telecom customer support organization. The better way would be to hold your nose and maintain a "vanilla" Windows XP (or, better, MacOS X) computer so that you make a 100% standard network installation and talk to Customer Support like a typical computer user. (What is a power switch?) Never betray the slightest technical knowledge, and you'll probably be OK.
There is a place to go for back-channel discussion between users and a select few SBC people. That is the SBC forum at BroadbandReports.com. That has been very helpful at times, but SBC would be well-advised to invest more resources in this type of open user communications. It is cheap, and it leads to good rapport with advanced users. A good reputation with these folks can only help the marketing of SBC services.
While I enjoy a good technical project, I would rather think of Internet service as a standard utility, like plain old telephone service (POTS). I would have been happy to pay a reasonable amount ($100 or more) to SBC or anyone who could come look at my problem, consider the SBC resources available (now and in the near future), and work the system to make it right. I do not like hassling with foreign support people and negotiating an internal corporate bureaucracy that I only dimly understand.
Maybe my readers have all had much better experiences. Maybe there's a black cloud that follows over my head wherever I go. But maybe an enlightened company can find a better way.
[ Back to aa6e.net ]