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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Herc who wrote (3932)	5/30/1999 12:31:00 PM
From: Caxton Rhodes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

I have been having similar problems with my isp service of late. I can't connect to local Sacramento numbers. MSN, ATT, WCOM. The weird thing is that I could connect to those isps long-distance numbers (i.e. SF, Berkeley, etc.) I picked up a AOL disk and installed it, they have a choice of 8 numbers with slightly different modem types, and wallah, great connections. I never thought I'd sign on with AOL, but here I am, with a great connection. One thing you probably already know, if you cancel your account you get offered all sorts of free service. MSN credited my account for two months, and gave me 2 more free months. It still won't help me stay if I can't get a decent connection. I don't know if its pac bell or the isps at this point. I can not get dsl or @home in service in my area yet. So after the advice I received here, it looks like I'm on aol until I can get dsl service. Anyone else think there is a RBOC conspiracy to move customers to more expensive service? Caxton

To: Herc who wrote (3932)	5/30/1999 1:04:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Herc, [and to some extent, this addresses Caxton's questions, too] Would you describe in a little more detail what you mean by so "unreliable as to be unusable"? I've been involved in troubleshooting network anomalies and problems for a long time. Two important things that I've learned are: (1) never to jump to conclusions, no matter how obvious circumstances seem on the surface; and, (2) never to say never, or it couldn't be. Are you encountering busies where you didn't before? Dropped connections once you've logged on? Noticeably slower response times? Times of day problems during peak periods? Are other users in your community affected in the same way? Ask around. I'd be interested to know if your experience is unique, or widespread throughout your neigborhood/locale. It's conceivable to me that once the ILEC provisioned for DSL, they may have done some cable "throws" [which are outside plant rearrangements or reconfigurations] to facilitate the conversions to the new higher-speed service. Or maybe some next gen DLC has been installed, leaving you on the short end of the stick. It's also possible that some back end modifications to accommodate new high speed flows from the DSLs at the router level have been modified, leaving some other resources stretched in the edge. Any of these could be responsible for inadvertently affecting the capabilities of prior services, but there would be no easy way of knowing this purely from a speculative standpoint. The prospect of an established ILEC deliberately degrading extant services, for the sake of making the newer ones more attractive, seems remote to me, although these things do occur undeliberately. Purely from a liability standpoint, if not one of good citizenry, it would seem to me that they would continue to maintain their existing provisions. Although, sometimes subtleties surrounding decision processes during new initiatives could enter into the picture that could lead one to wonder aloud, as you are now doing. Please provide us with more details concerning your current woes. Maybe others will contribute some thoughts along the way, as well. Regards, Frank Coluccio

To: Herc who wrote (3932)	5/30/1999 1:31:00 PM
From: jimpit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 12823

Herc, AHAA! Thanks for your post! For the past two months, or more, I've had problems getting and staying connected to Mindspring here in New Orleans. Particularly during early morning hours (3 AM - 7 AM). Signed up with BellSouth.net to see if the problem was unique to Mindspring... it wasn't. Same problems are ocurring with BellSouth.net. There is NOTHING wrong with my PC System configuration OR my Modem (used another System AND a brand new modem, also) as I can redial repeatedly and EVENTUALLY achieve a noise-free connection at respectable pre-problem speeds of ~ 42-45K. I DO believe the problem is NOISE on the line... I can HEAR the distorted initial tone from the modem being called at the other end of the connection. Have complained repeatedly to BellSouth, too... to no avail. Do you know of anyone else locally having similar problems? There is the distinct odor of class action suit in the air! Regards, Jim