a BIG HUGE AW, HELL from me- but listen to my story first. A few weeks ago, I called up GayTE about DSL service- their webpage qualification
http://cgi.gte.net/linequal/ told me that further line testing was required. So anyways, I call and ask if I am eligible to recieve DSL service- to my surprise, they said yes! (which seemed kinda odd considering the last two times I called they said I lived 18k+ ft away from the C.O.) I go on and place an order, and they said it would take up to 30 days for them to complete my order. So I go on my merry way, waiting, not getting my hopes up because I highly doubted that my house could magically move to within 18k feet of the C.O. However, last Monday, I get this phone call from GTE Internet Services saying that they have set up a date when they would activate the DSL line from their C.O. (which would have been Friday, the 21st). That is when I started to get my hopes up. They also said that a self install kit with a DSL modem was on its way, and should arrive by that time. Well Friday comes along, and no sign of the DSL modem- so I go over to my friend's house (who ironicaly, had the EXACT SAME THING happen to him) to borrow his DSL modem. I come home, plug everything in, and surprise surprise, it doesn't work. So I call up GayTE and first I ask why I didn't recieve my DSL modem yet. Then the guy accessed my records, and informed me that the day before, they determined that my house was NOT eligible for DSL service because I lived over 19k feet away from the C.O. What kinda b.s. is that? Oh yea, I forgot one thing- during the few weeks while I was waiting for a return call from GayTE, I decided I'd call them and ask how far away from the C.O. I was. They quoted me "14,810 ft". Apparently, they use the information at
http://www.dslreports.com to determine whether you are eligible for DSL service. Well to make a long story short, I was gayed out by GayTE- oh and one more thing- I come home on Saturday, and guess what's waiting on my doorstep- a nice self install kit including a DSL modem from GayTE- so now, I am sitting here on a 56k dialup with TWO DSL modems on my desk, but no service- I wonder if GayTE is gonna charge me for the modem As for ISDN possibilities, GayTE is even gayer than ever, charging BY THE MINUTE! It's some outrageous price like 4 cents for the first minute, 1 cent for each additional during peak times, and like 40% off normal usage costs for off peak times- why couldn't it just be unlimited? If I'm not mistaken, PacBell has UNLIMITED ISDN service available... man, when I move, I'm gonna make sure that my new place can get SOME sort of broadband access