Murriel wrote:
Phone service is via Verizon.

There's your problem right there.

Make sure that your home address is actually close enough to a switching
station to support DSL - had Verizon (not far from you, as I ASSume you
are in/near Baltimore - probably the same people) sell me DSL when I
moved once, then when I called to inquire why it was so slow (as
determined by a back to back comparison with dial up) they told me I
shouldn't have been sold it in the first place.

Then at my next house Verizon never could get my voice line to work
properly and without heavy static. Went all-cell and cable modem and
never looked back (have used both Cox and Comcast for cable modem, both
have been infinitely more reliable than Verizon.)

Seriously, my experiences with Verizon in both NoVA and Maryland have
been uniformly **** poor. I can't think of a company that I've been
less satisfied with, ever. I am so glad that there are alternatives
now, I can't imagine dealing with them in an age when one would HAVE to
have home phone service.

nate

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