When I moved to my current house last year, I tried to sign up for DSL
high-speed Internet service. However, Verizon’s Web-based
qualification form told me I was too far from the central office.
So I went with a cable modem. I’ve noticed construction work at
our local central office the past few months, so a few weeks ago I
thought I’d check again to see if they upgraded the facilities to
extend DSL coverage. Both Verizon and Earthlink indicated I was
now qualified for DSL. Oh happy day.
I signed up with Earthlink, and received a DSL modem in the mail.
Only, there was no signal. I gave it a few days, but still no
connection. So I called Earthlink technical support. The rep
pulled up my account and told me I was too far from the central office
(>15,000 feet) for Earthlink DSL service. I know I’m near the
limit of DSL range, so it’s not surprising that Earthlink makes that
cutoff. But why in the world did they say I was qualified and
send me the modem, if their system clearly showed they couldn’t serve
me?
This wasn’t a great hardship for me, since I never cancelled my cable
modem account. It’s just odd. Either Earthlink has a back-end
system problem, or there is a problem in the information exchange
between Earthlink and Verizon.