[KLUG Members] In search of a *REAL* DSL provider in GR area

[Adam Williams]

WARNING: VERY HIGH RANT FACTOR!

Anyone have any experience with http://www.directvdsl.com/  They appear
to be a Telocity re-seller.  Promises a static IP and no &^#$&^%@* port
filters. 

I just got bounced from BigNet (bye, bye,  to bad you we're too stupid
to realize you could just raise your rates) to Earthlink.  And to be
very subtle about this: EARTHLINK SUCKS!!!!  They're tech support people
are ignorant, condescending, frustrating, and quite possibly deaf.  All
that AFTER you spend hours on hold for someone who will be available in
15, no 13, no 20, no 15.... minutes.  These ignorant #^&!@*$ port filter
just about every everything, including OUTBOUND port 25.  Trying to
force me to  your their SMTP servers!  Not a chance in hell,  anyone
ever heard of privacy!  They spent 48 hours blaming LINUX for the fact
the ATM light on the DSL modem (which I've had for two years with
BigNet) wasn't illuminated.  I tried explaining what ATM was and that
DSL was just the carrier signal, etc... Oh my, that didn't go over big. 
I had an e-mail with a case number from their "electronic support"
people saying I needed to talk to a tier 2 person, and that I definitely
had a line problem.  The phone support people just weren't interested in
that case number and were not going to give someone using "unsupported"
software to a tier 2 support person.  Finally we call the billing
department (about three minutes on hold here) and say that if she
doesn't transfer us two tier 2 support she can cancel our service RIGHT
NOW!  She is actually very concerned and helpful.  She calls tech
support for us.... nope, they can't give us tier two support, we have to
go through tier 1 first.  We tell here that is about as likely to happen
as Dracula attending mass on communion sunday.  She and we go back and
forth with the hopelessly incompetent tech support person.  They will
not give us tier two.  Oh, and that case number from "electronc
support"?  No one cares.  Finally she (billing department) promises she
will have a tier two tech support guy call US, within two hours.  If he
doesn't call we can cancel our account, no questions asked.  Ok.  So we
wait.  About an hour later the phone rights,  and yes, it is a tier 2
guy (I asked, specifically).  I can only imagine what the lady in
billing had to do to make that happen.  The tier 2 guy spends about 15
seconds taping away on some keyboard somewhere and tells us exactly what
the problem is.  When they converted our account, they converted (?!?)
it onto a different phone line.  So we move the little RJ11 from the
jack where it has been for two years, into an open jack on the other
line, and presto everything (even unsupported Linux!) connects
automatically in about 5 more seconds.  I thank the tier two support
guy, and hang up   Wow!  So I'm not a dumb ass... it was a line problem
allllll along, just like I knew and the e-mail support people said. 
Then we go on to discover we MUST use their SMTP servers.  This
relationship has about as much long term potential as a girl who, on
your first date,  shows you pictures of her dead [ex-]boyfriend (yes,
that happened to me).