Comments on: Welcome to the Out Age http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/ Same old blog, brand new place Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:13:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Glenn Fleishman http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66353 Glenn Fleishman Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:16:14 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66353 Oddly, in Seattle, where broadband can be iffy depending on the neighborhood you're in, Qwest has apparently invested a lot of first-line tech support. I have had to call Qwest four times (three of those due to a bug in the modem they sent me), and each time got the most technical, smartest tech guys I had ever spoken with on the phone. They were great. The first of them was head and shoulders above the others. While waiting to reboot my modem, I said lightly in passing, perhaps there was a firmware glitch due to cosmic rays -- this has been known to happen, although it's technically untrackable. He starts up a conversation on that, is well informed, and admits to having had a career as a chip designer. It seems that Qwest understands that there's competition for the broadband dollar, and rather than put people on the phone who are unable to help, they're putting crackerjacks on. I would suspect it was because I was press that I was getting better treatment, but they didn't have my account number or name when I called, and I used the standard number, often from a cell phone that wouldn't be in my Qwest record. (Some firms do automatically shunt priority customers via Caller ID to higher-tier tech folks.) Oddly, in Seattle, where broadband can be iffy depending on the neighborhood you’re in, Qwest has apparently invested a lot of first-line tech support. I have had to call Qwest four times (three of those due to a bug in the modem they sent me), and each time got the most technical, smartest tech guys I had ever spoken with on the phone. They were great.

The first of them was head and shoulders above the others. While waiting to reboot my modem, I said lightly in passing, perhaps there was a firmware glitch due to cosmic rays — this has been known to happen, although it’s technically untrackable. He starts up a conversation on that, is well informed, and admits to having had a career as a chip designer.

It seems that Qwest understands that there’s competition for the broadband dollar, and rather than put people on the phone who are unable to help, they’re putting crackerjacks on. I would suspect it was because I was press that I was getting better treatment, but they didn’t have my account number or name when I called, and I used the standard number, often from a cell phone that wouldn’t be in my Qwest record. (Some firms do automatically shunt priority customers via Caller ID to higher-tier tech folks.)

]]> By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66196 Doc Searls Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:21:00 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66196 Jeffrey, My choice here is Cox vs. Verizon. That's it. If Verizon had FiOS here, it would be no contest; but it doesn't. What Verizn has here is slow ADSL. Something like 756Kbps down and 128Kbps up. You can do better closer to a central office, but I don't live there. So Cox with 6/1Mb is the only choice. Jeffrey,

My choice here is Cox vs. Verizon. That’s it.

If Verizon had FiOS here, it would be no contest; but it doesn’t. What Verizn has here is slow ADSL. Something like 756Kbps down and 128Kbps up. You can do better closer to a central office, but I don’t live there. So Cox with 6/1Mb is the only choice.

]]> By: Jeffrey McManus http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66148 Jeffrey McManus Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:00:50 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66148 This is the reason why I won't purchase weight-loss supplements from a company that makes most of its money selling tapioca pudding. Cable internet is unsafe at any speed. This is the reason why I won’t purchase weight-loss supplements from a company that makes most of its money selling tapioca pudding. Cable internet is unsafe at any speed.

]]> By: Michael Tefft http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66129 Michael Tefft Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:41:33 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66129 Edward sound like every first level tech support person I have ever talked to. They are seldom capable of fixing anything other than very basic stuff. I have Cox Internet here in Chesapeake, Virginia and I have not been aware of any outages, planned or otherwise. It would be nice if they had a planned outage that they did notify their customers, even if it was just a notice on their web site. As far as bandwidth, I am happy with what I have but I would not say that I am a very demanding customer in that category. It would be nice to have a viable alternative to Cox but other than DSL or satellite Cox is it. Good luck to you in Santa Barbara. Edward sound like every first level tech support person I have ever talked to. They are seldom capable of fixing anything other than very basic stuff. I have Cox Internet here in Chesapeake, Virginia and I have not been aware of any outages, planned or otherwise. It would be nice if they had a planned outage that they did notify their customers, even if it was just a notice on their web site. As far as bandwidth, I am happy with what I have but I would not say that I am a very demanding customer in that category. It would be nice to have a viable alternative to Cox but other than DSL or satellite Cox is it. Good luck to you in Santa Barbara.

]]> By: docduke http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66107 docduke Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:11:45 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/06/30/welcome-to-the-out-age/#comment-66107 Tell me about monopolies. I have Comcast cable. Qwest offered "real fast" DSL in competition. I signed up for their 30-day "free trial." It was 5x slower than Comcast, and unusable for real-time market data. So I canceled well within the 30-day trial. They billed me anyway. When I wouldn't pay, they shut off my landline. Gee, it's a real shame I have VoIP. Without that, they really would have me over a barrel! Tell me about monopolies. I have Comcast cable. Qwest offered “real fast” DSL in competition. I signed up for their 30-day “free trial.” It was 5x slower than Comcast, and unusable for real-time market data. So I canceled well within the 30-day trial. They billed me anyway. When I wouldn’t pay, they shut off my landline.

Gee, it’s a real shame I have VoIP. Without that, they really would have me over a barrel!

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