[CLUE-Tech] DSL QoS monitoring.

[Jeffery C. Cann]

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On Monday 22 October 2001 12:29, you wrote:
>
> Now they swore up and down that I was not connecting, and that the problem
> was with Qwest's DSL service. And, of course, Qwest swore up and down that
> it was AmericanISP's problem. Qwest's line checks showed that I was
> connecting to AmericanISP at that time, but it was like they were ignoring
> me: I would get "Hostname not found" and pings would come back timed out.

I used to work as a developer for a company whose software was tightly 
coupled to the phone system.  We _always_ had problems with all phone 
companies.  They always blamed our equipment and we had to prove to them time 
and time again that their configuration was the problem.  9 times of 10 the 
problem was not ours, but phone company X.  This phenomenon was not unique 
just to US West (Qwest), but also all of the other major phone companies 
across America.

Once, we spent 9 months arguing with US West (in Tucson) that their installer 
had screwed up our phone pool.  We finally had to drag their tech out to the 
site and call the phone pool until all the lines filled up and prove to him 
that only 17 of our 24 lines worked in the pool.  Of course, was the 
company reimbursed for the lost coverage of 8 lines for 9 months?  Hell no!  
But after fighting with them tooth and nail, we (and our infuriated client) 
were relieved simply to have the problem fixed!  This was the worst problem I 
experienced, but we routinely had to call back technicians that screwed up 
our T1, Frame Relay, and ISDN connections and configurations.  Each time, we 
spent so much time to prove that they screwed up!

Given the generally poor quality of service of our beloved phone companies, 
when ISPs (especially smaller ones, locally owned and operated) complain that 
it is the fault of the phone company, I give the ISPs the benefit of the 
doubt because I know what hell the phone companies put them through!

Finally, I believe that the cause of poor ISP service by phone companies is 
to get you to switch off local ISPs and go with tried-and-true Qwest for your 
line and ISP service.  What incentive does Qwest have to fix a DSL problem 
when they are competing with the local ISPs for your connection costs?

My 0.02...
- -Jeff
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