HOT --- Bellsouth DSL.

[VaG]

Originally posted by: outsiderGT

You can no longer have DSL svc through Bellsouth if you have Supra. Call Bellsouth DSL yourself if you dont believe it.

As far as Supra having better service? Hardly... reps who have no idea what they are doing and only blame things on someone else when they cant solve it.

You get what you pay for.

I'm not sure which is lacking. Your reading & comprehension skills or your writing skills. Didn't I say I have had Bellsouth DSL & Supra for 1 1/2 years? Why would I need to call anybody. If you meant Bellsouth will no longer do a DSL install if you are a Supra customer that would indicate it was your writing skills but there is still no reason for me to waste my time on the phone with Bellsouth. I have done that enough trying to get anything other than a DOA modem from them. As far as better service. I didn't say customer service did I? I was talking about features that come with the service. You know the things you pay double for with Bellsouth. Let me guess that someone they're blaming it on is Bellsouth well maybe that's because Bellsouth owns & maintains the lines their service operates on. What do I need Supra customer service for? Help with setting up voicemail....can't figure out 10 digit dialing...can't read my bill? If you have special needs you can pay for Bellsouth but I'm not going to.

 

[DemiGoddess]

Originally posted by: VaG

Originally posted by: outsiderGT

You can no longer have DSL svc through Bellsouth if you have Supra. Call Bellsouth DSL yourself if you dont believe it. As far as Supra having better service? Hardly... reps who have no idea what they are doing and only blame things on someone else when they cant solve it. You get what you pay for.

I'm not sure which is lacking. Your reading & comprehension skills or your writing skills. Didn't I say I have had Bellsouth DSL & Supra for 1 1/2 years? Why would I need to call anybody. If you meant Bellsouth will no longer do a DSL install if you are a Supra customer that would indicate it was your writing skills but there is still no reason for me to waste my time on the phone with Bellsouth. I have done that enough trying to get anything other than a DOA modem from them. As far as better service. I didn't say customer service did I? I was talking about features that come with the service. You know the things you pay double for with Bellsouth. Let me guess that someone they're blaming it on is Bellsouth well maybe that's because Bellsouth owns & maintains the lines their service operates on. What do I need Supra customer service for? Help with setting up voicemail....can't figure out 10 digit dialing...can't read my bill? If you have special needs you can pay for Bellsouth but I'm not going to.

The rules have changed. You can thank government regulations for it. And eventually, you will be de-provisioned. It's only a matter of time before it happens.
SupraTelecom leases the copper lines from Bellsouth. In essence, they own the lines. But, they only lease the voice or analog portion of the line. DSL is layered onto the higher frequency spectrum that Supra has no access to, and therefore Bellsouth cannot provision DSL over it.
It would be the same as if I rented the first floor of a two-story building that only has one door. I cannot use the second floor, I have no rights to it. But I also cannot allow anyone to use it either. It's not mine.
Also keep in mind that Bellsouth Fast Access and Bellsouth Telecommunications are two separate entities, again, due to government regulations. Teleco provides the DSL provisioning. Fast Access is an ISP, no different than Earthlink, AOL or DirectTV. The ISP places an order for provisioning to place DSL on the copper loop. The Digital Services Group within BSTelco receives the order and makes the determination whether the loop qualified or not. They then notify the ISP Yay or Nay. The ISP then completes the order by setting up the authentication, email and other services through their NOC and SysOps. If the copper loop is owned or leased by an entirely different entity, BSTelco/DSG does not have access to the lines and the ISP cannot get the order qualified. BSTelco also cannot legally bill the ISPs for services provided over lines they do not own.
In the past, this "separate entity" issue was overlooked by BSTelco and they went ahead and provisioned lines that were leased by Supra for the ISP. They are not doing this any more. They are also removing provisioning that has previously existed.
If Supra is your POTS provider and you try to order DSL from an ISP, you will be told, "Check with your local telephone service provider for the options you have for getting DSL service,"

 

[Oakenfold]

I've been using Bellsouth DSL for about 2 years now.
The speed isn't blazing, it's fast enough though since I don't download tons of crap anymore like I used to. I bet my server's more stable than a cable connection at many times during the day.
Yes we have no static Ip for home users currently, supposedly it was to be given to us this summer but nothing yet.

My net access goes out only when my Router is NOT turned on or my power goes out. If you go with them get the Alcatel Ethernet External modem, it runs my network just fine. Of course I know no one on this board would get an internal modem because they are so craptastic
I would recommend Bellsouth DSL to anyone who needs a fast, stable connection.
If you want to d/l Porn(@ blazing fast speed) and share your bandwidth with others go with cable.

edited because I forgot to emphasize the faster d/l on cable at some times.

I remember using my dial up service years back because bandwidth got some crummy,(while on my cable) playing EQ with consistent data was near impossible.

Current Bellsouth users if you are having problems losing connection, try an alcatel external out, I'm willing to be that will solve your problem. Either that or your modem ain't setup right

 

[Dhruv]

i'm not so sure this deal is hot:

heres a comparison:

Earthlink Cable modem, (Roadrunner) = first free month, 41.95 a month after that, free modem, no termination fees, month to month, outstanding service for me at least.

after one year equals (including tax rate of 8.25%) == $499.52

BellSouth DSL first 3 months @ 19.95 each + 8.25% tax = 64.79 add 9 months @ 49.95 + 8.25% tax = 486.64

TOTAL for bell south =$551.43

so you are paying approximately 52 dollars or more than 4 dollars a month MORE with bellsouth, for slower uploads, and, in my experience, slower downloads of DSL. I typically download at 1.66mbps and upload at aprox 380k.

it would be great if you want to cancel after three months. but if you don't want to worry about that and don't have time to do that, Earthlink deal is better.

 

[darkeneddays]

I've had Bellsouth Fast Access for 2 years now and it has been a pleasure.However some of the things you read here are true.No static IP and don't expect to keep the connection on for say,more than a day without getting a drop.
In terms of speed,BSFA is just slightly faster than DirectTV DSL,but only in the upload speed(256 vs 128).BSFA now offers an ethernet modem(wish they had them when I signed up)and several other various ones(internal,USB and a "Homenetworking" Portal")
Overall,my service has been great for 2 years but as someone mentioned earlier,their billing department has their head up their ass.I changed my phone number like 1 1/2 ago and JUST last month did they finally get around to changing it in their system.Didn't affect my bill,but was annoying to call support and have to tell them my old number each time.

 

[MonkeyWithAnUZI]

Another BellSouth story:

I hopped on the DSL bandwagon almost 3 years ago....6 months after it came out.


I had a LOT of problems (droppage, DHCP server not dishing out IPs, blarg) the first 6-8 months. After a few steamy posts to their forums and raising some cane with other users, things stabilized. As someone above pointed out, the only problem is if power goes out (*HINT* PUT YOUR ALCATEL/BLEH ON A UPS. IGNORE THE INSTRUCTIONS. I'm a Systems Engineer, and I've been doing that for 3 years now. Sure saves me grief in OGL matches ). So...all is well.

HOWEVER, I have friends in Florida who have BellSouth DSL, and have constant nightmares. BellSouth is HORRIBLE in Florida. Voice/Dial-up/DSL/ISDN service is the WORST.

I have other friends in other cities that cringe when I mention DSL....in some areas, the cable service runs circles around DSL.

As with any service, YMMV

And watch the fine print, esp with BellSouth.

I will credit BellSouth for having good firewalls/filters. Very little in the way of 'negative influx' (I'll leave that to your imagination ) occurs.

Save yourself grief. Demand the Alcatel At-Home. Buy a Linksys/whatever router. Plug 'm up. Forget 'bout 'm. Enjoy



DirecTV/Telocity:

I've had DirecTV/Telocity DSL for almsot 2 years now. Very fast, very reliable.

One MAJOR problem.

Oh they're fast allright, faster than the BellSouth.

That's due to the fact they're not filtering ANYTHING.

I ran a webserver for my Starsiege:Tribes clan/team for 6 months. Every day I had at least 200 attacks. And not from the same person. Majority came from Asia...gadzooks those guys have time on their hands.

If you use Telocity, again, get a Linksys/blargh router. It'll keep the masses out and allow you to enjoy the speed.

 

[Rockhammer]

Originally posted by: Dhruv
i'm not so sure this deal is hot:

heres a comparison:

Earthlink Cable modem, (Roadrunner) = first free month, 41.95 a month after that, free modem, no termination fees, month to month, outstanding service for me at least.

after one year equals (including tax rate of 8.25%) == $499.52

BellSouth DSL first 3 months @ 19.95 each + 8.25% tax = 64.79 add 9 months @ 49.95 + 8.25% tax = 486.64

TOTAL for bell south =$551.43

so you are paying approximately 52 dollars or more than 4 dollars a month MORE with bellsouth, for slower uploads, and, in my experience, slower downloads of DSL. I typically download at 1.66mbps and upload at aprox 380k.

it would be great if you want to cancel after three months. but if you don't want to worry about that and don't have time to do that, Earthlink deal is better.

It's hot for me. The only cable modem service available in my area is d/l only. Upload is by dial-up. It's DSL or nothing for me. I've had Bellsouth DSL for about 4 months and love it. My only minor grip is the floating IP Address. No problem at all with dropped connections on my Alcatel External Ethernet modem. I don't even use a router, just an old headless junk box with 2 nics and windows ICS.

 

[DavemanUT]

Originally posted by: clarkmo
directtv dsl has the same deal more or less but no rebates and they give you a static ip.
I moved from one location to another with my bellsouth dsl, keeping my ph# and they got it so wrong that I just had my service reconnected yesterday from a move on June 1. Apparently "billing" kept cancelling my account. They close at 7pm and hold times are a minimum of 15 min before thay transfer you to another dept. Net result 4 hrs on the phone over 3 days, 2 1/2 hrs in one sitting. During the move it took about the same amt of time on the phone. It wasn't until I was dealing with someone in corporate thru email that it got fixed. Even yesterday they said I had to order again. This is after I had ordered on Friday. So, the lesson is, if you move get completely new service. Don't try to keep your old user name. They can't handle it. Too many thumbs in the pie. Is this considered thread crapping?

You are SOOOO right. I've had DSL setup at 2 different locations, and each time, it was an AMAZING hassle. They somehow managed to screw up everything that they could. The 2nd time, I moved to a new place, but kept the same phone number. I knew I could get DSL because the people who lived in that house before me had it, but they sure as hell couldnt figure out how to set me up. They would say "go online and order it" and I would and it said "you allready have DSL", since I had it on the same number at my old address.

Anyways, I got the Alcatel Speed touch home modem, and I'm bout to sell it. My DSL days are over, as it isn't available at my new place, and Comcast cable modem is! If anyone is interested in buying an Alcatel DSL Ethernet modem, or trading me for a cable modem, hit me up.

D.C.

P.S. You know what always pisses me off about Bellsouth (BS?). They always say "thank you for choosing Bellsouth". I just want to say "I don't have a choice. If I did, I d*mn sure wouldn't be going thru all this BS."

 

[sandmanwake]

I signed up with Bellsouth DSL a week before that new deal came out.

So far, sometimes I get really fast speeds and other times it's worse than dial-up. They gave me a Westel external modem, should I request a different one? If I do, would I have to return the old one before they send me the new one?

 

[rimshaker]

Been with Bellsouth DSL for almost 2 years. Reason why i switched from roadrunner is connection stability and consistent transfer rates. Many cable users brag about how their top burst speeds are way faster than dsl. But then at other times during peak hours, they slow to a crawl (like dialup speeds). So what's the point? And the complaint about not having a static IP, well unless you're running dedicated servers/websites, I am totally glad i have a dynamic address. Security is much better that way for most of us, everytime i log off i get a new address again. That's exactly what some want.

I also have the internal 3com modem. No problems with it whatsoever, i even have it working with ICS in win98. I would think if you wanted an external modem so you can also use a router, it's just a matter of talking with bellsouth and making arrangements. Most likely another fee though.

 

[MegaNerd]

Originally posted by: sandmanwakeSo far, sometimes I get really fast speeds and other times it's worse than dial-up. They gave me a Westel external modem, should I request a different one? If I do, would I have to return the old one before they send me the new one?

Your variable speeds are pretty odd. I suggest you visit the DSL Reports Bellsouth forum where I believe there has been some discussion of the Westel modem. Bellsouth Fastaccess tech support hangs out on the forum, and may be able to help troubleshoot your situation.

Cheers,
MN