I have been getting 1.6 mbps all day, but I pay for 7.6 mbps.

Just spent 30 minutes on the phone with "Mike" from Qwest who has a suspiciously Indian accent. I spent 5 prior to this on the phone with their computer till that got on my nerves and I dialed 0. We had to go through all the stupid steps, is my modem plugged in, is everything hooked up, blah, blah, blah. I was complaining of slow speed and told him what my modem says the connection speeds are, so obviously everything is connected correctly if I can get online. Then he helped me "optimize" my Internet Explorer, even though I don't use it and all he wanted me to do was to delete cookies and temp files. I tired to explain the lack of logic in this step, my computer is fine, my modem is screwed up, IE does not change the speeds my modem is connecting at, but obviously talking and following a flow chart are the only qualifications for his job. Then he tells me that my username is not correct, because I did not include the @qwest.net on the end even though, if that were really a problem, I would even get a connection, but I changed it. Obviously to no avail. I knew before calling that they would need to send a tech. I didn't need to go through all this stuff, to figure that out. They are sending a tech Monday.

Why don't they have an option for those who do not need to have their hand held- auto connect to level 2 tech?

I have had problems with Indian personal that helped me with my computer! The problem was I just could not understand his Indian accent. He also told me his name was "Bill from Texas" how wrong is that?

I always say something to the effect that I have already called in before and they sent me to a level 2 tech. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I worked in a call center providing technical support for a major internet service provider for years.

Some things you should know before calling.....

If the agent takes you through steps you do not believe you need to go through request the next level tech or a supervisor. They must transfer you.

If you tell the agent you do not wish to troubleshoot and want a tech to come out they must dispatch a tech to your home.

Nerds, geeks, computer wizards are night time people.... so they all work night shift. Call after 8PM for more experienced techs.

If you get an agent who has an accent you cannot understand you can request to speak w/an American based call center or an American agent without an accent. In most cases the supervisors in these overseas centers are American.



I here so many complain about speaking w/over seas techs but they always have the highest customer service and quality scores (from quality assurance & customer surveys).

seen an ad for zoom (time warner i think) today

for less than 20$

did not get any details as i am a cell internet user

have cell will travel

Finally got everything back to normal Monday! I had a bad modem, ironically it was the modem that I purchased out of pocket. Luckily I still had the one they provided stuffed away. The field tech was great, he didn't talk down to me, knew what he was doing and was very friendly.

Have you tried downloading and installing the qwest 'quickcare' program? It can take care of most of the problems for you without the need for making the phone call. qwest DSL is one of my specialties, and I NEVER call qwest for help. Most of their front line call takers, know very little about the qwest dsl.
The qwest quickcare program is free, and will walk you through everything. Also, on your LAN card, if you have the software for it installed, you can set it to 'full duplex'. This will pretty much open the card all the way up to it's maximum potential.

You still have to call them if you need a field tech. He also replaced a few lightning filters outside.

true....but the field techs I don't need. I know as much about their DSl as they do. I usually call them and just have them send me the parts, and I replace them myself. I've had qwest DSL since the wimpy Pro DSL 2100 PCI card (256k...and that was considered fast).
But yeah, I gues for some things they do have to send a tech.