what a techtease
I got an unexpected phone call the other day. It was the phone company, trying to sell me DSL. I'm sure I rolled my eyes as soon as they started their pitch.
Required background: I've been trying to get DSL ever since we bought our house, three years ago. In fact, I ordered it from Speakeasy/Covad, and had it installed and sort of online for two weeks. Of course our loop length turned out to be double what SBC/AT&T (the ILEC) claimed it to be, and at 22000 ft the only way to get stable service was to drop it down to 386/128 Kb, from the theoretical 6.0 Mb / 768 Kb service I had ordered. This was quite a blow, since I was still dealing with a billing fuck-up nightmare with the cable company from cable internet service at our apartment. Alas, since I work from home I had no choice but to go with cable again. Still I didn't give up on the hope of being able to tell the cable company to fuck off for good.
When I saw AT&T service trucks in my neighborhood, I stopped to chat with them and found out that we have a remote terminal just down the street, not 500 meters from our house. I called and emailed AT&T relentlessly for about two years, trying to get hooked up to the RT or otherwise serviceable for DSL. I actually twice got their website to accept a new DSL order, but both times it was subsequently canceled due to my loop length. Then, about six months ago, I was offered DSL through Cincinnati Bell. I wasn't convinced that anything had changed with my loop, but I decided to let them try to hook me up. Sure enough, the service was unstable and had to be canceled. They determined that AT&T had given them bad data about my loop (surprise, surprise).
After the last install, failure and cancellation, I had given up on DSL. I quit calling, I quit checking serviceability online, and I accepted that I would be stuck with cable internet as long as we live here. So when Cincinnati Bell called to tell me I was eligible for DSL, I was hesitant. I really want it, but I am skeptical as hell about whether they can actually deliver it.
I told them to go ahead and set me up, but every time I talk to them I'm just waiting for them to break the bad news. So far though, they keep telling me that all their checks have indicated that I am now serviceable, so we'll see. I got the modem in the mail today, and the service is due to be turned up Monday evening. I think I know what's coming, and I'm fully prepared for the worst, but I can't help secretly hoping that I'm wrong.
