Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook Talking technology, computers, and the Internet… for the average computer user

I’ve had Verizon Internet Service for three years now (times flies!). I recently upgraded from the Basic Plan to the Premium Plan, and thought I’d share a little bit of my experience, for those of you still on dialup or may be looking for another ISP.

When I first ordered DSL with Verizon, I knew NOTHING about DSL. I bought a modem from Verizon, and those weird-looking phone jack filters, but I realized I had to buy my own ethernet cables (they have ends that look like the telephone jacks but are larger). I spent many hours (make that days) reading forums, tutorials, and advice on how to get the DSL set up on computers and how to secure the netwerk. It was a process– a long process– or trial and error for me. I learned a lot along the way. I just hope I never have to do that again.

Verizon tech support was awful, deplorable. It was obvious that the support people read from a list of “things to do” when someone needed help. Things like “use only Internet Explorer” was not good advice. I also HATED the “Remote Assistance” that the support reps kept pressing me to use. I did it a few times, and after I saw my mouse cursor magically move and start to do things with my files that I did not want done, I refused RA every time. These people had NO idea what they were doing. It’s sad when you know more than tech support.

Verizon now offers “upgraded” tech support for a fee every month. No thanks. I believe good tech support should be available right from the start. And I’ve been through so much now that I think (hope) I can handle things from now on. Thank God for the Internet, and for people who post their problems and answers in online forums! Kim Komando at Komando.com also has some very good tutorials about how to secure your network by altering settings and using passwords.

About the speed: I live very close to a Verizon sub-station, so I believe this is the reason for my good speeds. The speeds are not enough to shatter my chandeliers, but they are very good and they consistently maintain speeds close to the rates I pay for. I had the Basic Plan for 2 years, which guaranteed me a rate of “up to” (very important words) 768 kilobytes per second on downloads (receiving information), and.. I can’t remember what it was for uploads but it was pitifully small. It took me one minute to upload one megabyte of video to YouTube. Ugh.

When we first got the Basic Plan, the speed was a pleasant change. We’d had dialup which only gave us 46-56 kilobytes per second, so you can imagine what something in the 700s felt like. But after two years, we’ve added a bunch of computers for the kids, and they watch videos and surf the Net and download stuff, too. This was cutting in to the total speed for the network. My personal speed for my computer had slowed to 300kbps when the other computers were going. (I work from my computer, so it is important that I have good speed). Some nights the network was so congested that I drove to my local library to work from their wireless cable connection.

The Premium Plan is speeds up to 3 megabytes per second. This is almost 4 times faster than the Basic Plan, for only $10 more a month. It’s not cable-fast (what are cable speeds, like 40mbps?) but it was better than 700kbps! We decided to go for it. I’ve been testing it out all week.

I really like it. Verizon has proven itself consistent with service, even if their tech support is a big fat negative. My speeds are very close to the full 3mbps here. So I am a satisfied customer.

Mrs. Mecomber’s final opinion? If you’re looking for some reliable speed, Verizon does the job for a good price. However, if you need tech support, be prepared to spend more money or search out your solutions yourself.