The Herald Business Journal


YOUR COUNTY.	YOUR BUSINESS JOURNAL.

Published December 2001

After working out kinks, DSL is a blast — and fast

Verizon’s online DSL Internet service is fast!

Even the basic entry-level broadband package that most consumers and many small-business owners order for around $50 a month is fast.

Surfing the Internet and downloading files at speeds of up to 8 million bits of data per second (bps), instead of the 50,000 or so bits per second available through today’s most common 56k modems, makes using the Internet much more enjoyable — as well as more efficient.

And, even though the slowest DSL service can only upload files to the Internet at a relatively slow 800,000 bps, that uplink speed is still 16 times faster than a 56,000-bps modem, today’s standard for dial-up Internet access.

After writing about DSL for some time, I signed up last month. Personally, I think DSL speed is wonderful! I recently sent a news article from my home office, along with four medium-resolution photos attached, and it was transmitted in less than 90 seconds. Before, it would have taken around 30 minutes!

DSL service isn’t always speedy, of course. The Internet still slows down during peak periods, and some Web site servers are too slow to provide fast service all of the time. Higher levels of DSL speed would help, of course, but even the slowest DSL is a refreshing experience for anyone who spends a lot of time on the Internet with 56k dial-up service.

Another advantage of DSL is that there’s no dialing. The service provides a dedicated line between your computer and the phone company’s nearby central office. Because of DSL’s innovative broadband technology, you can also use your DSL line for voice and fax transmissions while you’re working on the Web. Some customers can even drop their second phone line thanks to DSL.

More than a million users have now signed up for Verizon’s broadband high-speed Internet connection, a nice milestone for a company that focuses on delivering state-of-the-art telecommunication services.

With more people signing up daily, some of my experiences may be helpful. I first ordered DSL service in late September. The free modem, cables, line filters and software disk arrived in about 10 days, rather than the three to four weeks I’d been told to expect, a pleasant surprise. Earlier this year, installation of service was taking up to 22 days until Verizon worked to shorten that time.

Because I wasn’t able to install DSL for a couple of weeks, I was surprised to discover I’d been billed $51.62 for the new DSL/Internet service in addition to the $19.95 for my dial-up Internet service. But the telemarketer who called me had said I wouldn’t be billed until I contacted Verizon to activate the DSL service. It took nearly an hour on the phone, mostly waiting “on hold,” to get a credit for the charge, along with the news that he had “no way of telling” when I activated DSL service.

On the plus side, Verizon Communications’ Advanced Service subsidiary has simplified the installation of DSL by providing a package of software and hardware that most users can install themselves.

If your older computer doesn’t have an Ethernet card, however, you’ll need one. They’re around $25 retail and simple to install in about 10 minutes, once you get your computer box open. Pushing the Ethernet circuit board into a PSI slot (your computer book should show a diagram of where the slots are) was a snug fit, as it was supposed to be. Then I connected the phone and data lines between the DSL modem, the computer and the telephone, using Verizon’s in-line filters for each line that would carry the high-speed service.

Don’t depend just on the software disk that comes in the mail for all of your DSL set-up. You’ll also probably need to talk to a live technician who will lead you through the reconfiguration process with your computer. The most difficult part of this process is finding which of Verizon’s many telephone numbers will get you to the right department and service center.

If you already have Internet service with Verizon, you can retain your business’ e-mail address and other familiar settings and passwords. But let them know ahead of time so their agents can work with you on establishing the new DSL service without losing e-mail delivered under your “old” address, etc.

It may help you, as it has helped me, to keep a log of the people you deal with in the process of establishing DSL service, what they said and what they did in each transaction. I’ve also created a Word file with toll-free phone numbers for tech support, billing questions, etc. These are available on Verizon’s Web site, but it helps to have all of them in one place for quick reference. And, I listed my user names, passwords, aliases and some of the reconfiguration information for future reference. Those are the little things that can create big problems.

“They like to make it look like it’s going to be easy,” said the technician who told me there was more to reconfiguring my computer for DSL service than the company’s CD would accomplish. “But that’s why I’m here. It’s real job security.”

He guided me into the depths of my computer, telling me how to reset configurations, DNS addresses and other esoteric high-tech adjustments to make the changeover from dial-up to DSL formats. Even after that, I found two other places on the screen that needed to be changed to help the computer forget everything it knew about dial-up Internet connections and equip it to deal with the world of DSL systems.

And, oh yes, that free PC Camera that comes as one of the incentives to sign up for DSL (as if DSL weren’t enough incentive by itself) hasn’t arrived yet.

But Verizon said it usually takes six weeks from the time the modem arrives. So in a couple more weeks I should have a small PC-connected lens that will enable me to watch other people at their keyboard as they watch me at mine — so long as I can find anyone else who has one. Actually, these little cameras are also reportedly good for things like monitoring a nursery, so parents can keep an eye on the baby while they’re surfing the Internet in a nearby room.

All in all, my new DSL service is exciting, makes life much easier online and eliminates the time and hassle involved in sending large photo files or downloading large software program files. The journey may have had some bumps in the road, but I’m glad I’ve arrived in DSL land. I already know I never want to go back to my once-exciting 56k dial-up modem.

Progress can be great.

For more DSL information, visit Verizon’s newly revamped Web site at www.verizon.net, go directly to http://dsl.verizon.net or visit one of the many DSL education sites on the Internet. One of the best, complete with diagrams, is www.2wire.com/lcenter/adsl.html.

Related: Telecom briefs

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