Last month we started the process of switching our DSL from Verizon to Speakeasy, with the intention of trying Speakeasy’s VOIP service. After a year of being harassed via evening calls by Verizon trying to sell us FIOS — each time being told by their customer service people that ‘it takes a while to get off the list’ and ‘we don’t control the list’ and being promised that I wouldn’t hear from them again — I decided I was done with Verizon. We had Speakeasy DSL for two years in the District and had changed to Verizon when we moved out here because it was less expensive. In terms of DSL service, the Verizon service was comparable to what we’d had from Speakeasy, with only slightly more frequent modem reboots required for line drops.

Since we got our new dedicated line installed we’ve had nothing but difficulty. The line has trouble locking on a signal, it bounces all over creation, it only works consistently in safe mode — with about half the speed we’re paying for — and even then it drops in the evenings and on the weekends. This makes it a little difficult to follow up on all the communications we have in progress with basement repair companies and caterers, to say the least. I certainly have no intention of transferring my phone to a completely unreliable service.

For the most part Speakeasy has been responsive. They’ve taken our calls and tested our line many many times; I think we currently have five or six open service tickets for various aspects of the problem. They have agreed that our line is not yet installed. They just haven’t fixed it yet. Granted, they are limited by our schedule (going out of town for a week stalled the process) and the schedules of the people who maintain the physical systems and have not been available to swap out circuit cards and the like on weekends. Still, it’s been a month and we’ve had only craptastic to nonexistent DSL service with no end in sight. If I weren’t switching from Verizon because I believe the company to be the spawn of satan, I’d be entirely inclined to stick with what I had.

I’m sure all this is just a fluke of a series of poor mechanical connections and I’m hopeful that the service techs will be able to locate and fix the problems this week. In the meantime, I’ll continue to do a lot of things around the house that are generally neglected for lack of time and conduct my business by phone (which is my least favorite way to communicate after spending six years in a long-distance relationship). We do what we must.