verizon dsl

hawgcatcher · 06-17-2001, 08:51 PM

Any of you fine fisherman use this service? I have been thinking about signing on if it is working OK. I know others that love their dsl but I don't know anyone with Verizon. I would appreciate some feedback.

I like to download all the fishing info. that I can but gads it takes forever.

Thanks

06-17-2001, 08:57 PM

I signed up for it from AOL and after two modems and hours with tech support IT STILL DOESN'T WORK! They are supposed to end someone out to look at my set up on Tuesday so we will see.
Stew

Mr. Fisherman · 06-17-2001, 09:16 PM

HC,

I've got Verizon, but I'm really on line [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Just kidding Stew.

There was a 6 week waiting period and a 1 year commitment. They threw in a free modem, self connect package and $100 in internet money.... Hey, I haven't received that yet... Think I'll send them a note [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Thanks for bringing it up.

It does speed things up but I'm not sure how much. I know that I can have several windows open downloading or searching at the same time without significant reduction in performance. I've been on faster connections though. What I really like is that I can still make and receive phone calls.

Hope this helps. If ya need info on who to contact etc, drop me a line and I'll send it to ya.

Good luck.

Mr. F.

Pete · 06-17-2001, 09:33 PM

There are several good resources to help evaluate potential service providers. A good place to start is:
http://www.dslreports.com/

Go to the "Find Service" section and look at several features there. One thing that's critical with DSL is how far you are from the CO ... you may have more than one DSL service available and they may have different distances from the CO.

Another thing to review carefully is the forum sections. You'll find a lot of good tips here. For example, I learned that I could completely bypass the software provided by my provider and run my connection through a router that lets me protect my computer with a hardware firewall and split my connection between several users in my home. If you receive an internal modem, you can't do this.

Finally, once you do select and receive service, there are a variety of tools to evaluate the quality of your connection and to tweak it for better speed.

Good luck, have fun!

fish-n-alot · 06-18-2001, 12:12 AM

hawgcatcher;

I've had it since it was GTE long ago and DSL started. It is great and easy to use with them as your ISP as well as the DSL provider.

Do one thing now though and go to the website for Verizon as www.?????.com and make sure that you are within the maximum distance for a Central Office first. There is an on-line Q&A to do and then it checks to see if you are within 15,000 feet.

The info from Pete and Mr. Fisherman are good to look into as well. Make sure you have Window 98 SE or better as well.

One note is that it does take them a while to get you hooked up but once they do you won't go back to 56K...... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

ol tuna skipper · 06-18-2001, 07:18 AM

Hawgcatcher

All the above is great info. I work with field engineers that have DSL connections. Some comments from them are.

1) external modem preferred.
2) get a firewall to prevent hackers from getting your passwords etc.
3) firewall software tends to slow down the computer. Try for external firewall hardware.
4) having verizon as the your DSL and ISP can save you money. however there are time limits. I use Teleport which recently became onemain.com and I have unlimited hours for only $110.00 per year.
5) do your research and check out each providers packages as some are not that good of a deal.

hawgcatcher · 06-18-2001, 09:01 AM

I appreciate the feedback on this. I know it isn't fishing but the dsl will only help when I am on Ifish and want to upload and download. There is so much to try to understand and you have all helped.

And back to fishing. Look at the picture of that trout that my son caught. It is on the posts, thanks to Big Stew.

hoochie · 06-19-2001, 08:53 AM

If you have cable TV, try to get AT&T@home service. Faster than DSL by about 50%.

We have it and will never go back to land-line phone service.

After 6 months of service, you can purchase the router from them or get one from Amazon.com etc and save an additional $10 per month.( you pay a leasing fee for the router when you get cable service)

fishbait · 06-19-2001, 10:32 AM

HAve Verison DSL. Had it about 2 months, love it. Some minor problesm getting it working. I also use Verison for my ISP.

Predator Dawg · 06-19-2001, 02:26 PM

In a word, Cable! Mine runs about 3,700 kbs compared to normal dsl at 600-750 kbs. Monthly cost is about the same.

No matter which way you go, read Pete's email if you are going to run multiple systems on it. Go with the router and 1 IP address. You get a built in firewall and for about $150, you can get a Linksys 4 port router.

With the cable I had to wait 3 days for install, and have never had 1 problem.

06-19-2001, 02:46 PM

Spend $150 on a router??!! Just take an old 486 with a couple NIC's and install an LRP distro, since it runs on a RAM drive you don't even need any HD's in the thing...

Oh wait. This is the fishing board. Thought I was someplace else. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Fishin Magician · 06-19-2001, 05:02 PM

I have ATT@Home service and it is faster than my T1 line at work. The customer service has been excellent so far and the best part is that I dont get smashed with all those unsolicited adds........

sinker · 06-19-2001, 06:14 PM

CABLE CABLE CABLE!!
Sister-in-law just got DSL in Lakewood, they're getting 256-350kbps. I've got cable access through a small provider out of Eatonville. I get 650-1800kbps.
They advertise faster speeds with DSL but the only way you're gonna get it is to upgrade to one of the spendy packages, and they do get spendy.
I've heard AT&T has a problem with losing e-mails. I've never lost any. The connection has gone out once in 6 months for about 2 minutes.
Definately get firewall software. I use the Black Ice Defender. Supposed to be the best out there. I went to some site that ran security tests on my system. It pinged it 2000 times and it showed that it didn't even exist.

fish-n-alot · 06-21-2001, 10:17 PM

Sinker;

Cable or DSL will continue for a while so the best advice is to pick what works best for you the user. By the way, 6 more of your neighbors and you will be down at the upstream speed of DSL, 7 more and you will be slower than DSL. Right now both offer about the same services for a competitive price. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

sinker · 06-22-2001, 12:07 AM

fish-n-lot,
I agree, with as few areas as there are that offer either, I was ready to jump on whatever came first. I'm on a pretty large node here with quite a few people on it. I never notice any slowdowns at all. When you notice the slowdowns is with AT&T they throttle your connection so you can't hog the bandwidth. This puts you down near DSL speeds right from the start. Mines wide open up and down which is really nice.
They just brought dsl into my area, they came around knocking on doors selling it, they said for the same speed I'm getting now dsl would be $70/month. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
at that price it would be tempting to go back to my old 56k dialup