EMBARQ DSL - is this considered a "normal" deal? Experiences withEMBARQ DSL?
On Feb 25, 11:45*pm, "Dave" wrote:
"Doc" wrote in message
...
I've been thinking of getting DSL. EMBARQ offers what at first glance
seems like a decent deal 19.95/mo but looking at the "fine print" I'm
a bit put off.
-$99 "early termination fee". - So, if you decide the service stinks
and find a better provider, you're obliged to pay them for
approximately the equivalent of 5 months of service to get out of it.
They don't specify what "early" means as far as earlier than what.
That's the real dealbreaker there.
But...
-EMBARQ may cancel services or susbstitute similar services at its
sole discretion without notice - How the hell about that. Are they
gonna pay me a $99 early termination fee?
-No minimum level of speed is guaranteed.
(snip)
Ummmm, you are shopping for DSL. *They have to state that no minimum level
of speed is guaranteed. *Speed of DSL is dependent on line length and line
condition. *Both are unknown quantities unless you want to pay the phone
company to run a brand new line from the CO to your computer area. *(You
don't want to know what that would cost.)
Best the phone company can do is ESTIMATE line length from the CO to your
house, and then give you a rough estimate of what speed your DSL -might- be,
after line is provisioned and modem is installed. *To over-simplify, shorter
wire length equals faster connection, assuming that the line condition is
OK.
This is not weasel wording by the phone company. *The phone company can not
tell you what speed your connection will be until AFTER DSL is "live" at
your house. *Therefore, no minimum level of speed is guaranteed. *And yes,
they have to spell that out in writing, just so they won't get sued when
that ultra-reliable 800K connection was advertised as "up to 1.5M" or
something like that, and some ignorant consumer misinterpreted that as a
speed guarantee...
I'm not calling you ignorant, btw. *It's just that, if you understood the
technology better, you wouldn't be worried about the phone company stating
that no minimum level of speed is guaranteed. *All they are really saying is
"We don't have a crystal ball".
-Taxes, fees and surcharges are additional, subject to change without
notice and BASED ON NON-PROMOTIONAL, STANDARD MONTHLY RATE. - So,
they're going to play "let's pretend" and tax you on more than you're
paying.
No, here they are saying that they are going to jack your rates way up after
a few months. *Typical, and another dealbreaker.
-Additonal restrictions apply - Well, I'm sure that can only be good
news.
Oh, and they charge 14.95 to ship a modem and a $15 activation fee.
That's about right. *Sometimes DSL providers will run specials where the
equipment charge and activation fee are waived. *But $30 total shipped and
activated? *That's actually pretty cheap.
Is this all "normal" as far as such services? Anyone here using
EMBARQ? Thoughts?
Any providers out there that don't have all these kinds of caveats?
Based on what you wrote, I would steer clear of embarq. *DSL is awesome,
MUCH more reliable than cable. *Comparing DSL to cable is not really fair.
|