[wplug] Verizon DSL opinions?

[Patrick Wagstrom]

> Just saw Verizon has a new offer [1] and it's 728 kb down / 128 kb up ADSL
> for 1 year @ $14.95 a month. I read the fine print though: while you get a
> free DSL modem they want you to buy a $49.99 wireless router from them
> (guess Verizon has an agreement with a manufacturer to schelp their wifi
> routers!), there is $20 activation fee (I've seen other DSL offers with no
> such fee), and if you terminate service within months 2-12 (I plan on
> moving in the autumn) you incur an $80 early termination fee. The offer
> itself sounds good but I'm worried about all these add on charges. Oh and
> they said there is extra charges for taxes and some other stuff.

Don't forget that you'll also need a Verizon phone line on top of all that too.  For many younger folks who have no need for a land line, this puts the cost of DSL to be about on par with the much faster service generally available from cable providers.  Also, when considering this, note that Verizon blocks ports.  Want to run your own web server?  Sorry, they block port 80 on residential DSLs to prevent a six year old virus (code red) from spreading.  We had a deal for a $19.95/mo DSL line, when we factored in the cost of the landline (pre-naked DSL days) and taxes, our bill was regularly around $40/mo.

If you're looking for short term high speed, consider finding a deal from your cable providers.  Most providers have special deals for $19.95 for the first six months (plus a few other fees) and no early termination fees.  Most of these plans also come with a free cable modem after rebate.  In general the service is much faster than DSL -- officially I pay for 6mbps down and some other amount (768k?) up, but in my tests I routinely blow past those.  In tests from work, I've sent data to my home computer around 8-10mbps (actually more when you factor in TCP/IP overhead).  Cost is pretty competitive, even today without the special deal, I only pay about $50/mo for cable modem service and basic cable tv service, which covers local channels in HD.

Before people chime in and feel the need to argue about something trite like this.  I'll qualify my statements like this: I've had both Verizon DSL and Comcast cable modem in the city of Pittsburgh.  Verizon DSL was painfully slow and had numerous problems with service interruptions and not being able to host my own web server was a deal breaker.  As soon as my roomie's contract was up we kicked them to the curb and signed up with Comcast.  I wasn't expecting much from Comcast, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the service.  If you need support, I've not had problems getting someone who knows what they're talking about on the other end of the line.  Again, this is my personal experience, you mileage may vary, blah, blah, blah.

--Patrick