Foo - Who has/knows about speakeasy.net

I've just about had it-

Since I moved into my new apartment, it's been one pain in the ass after another with my phone. I started with Comcast. They gave me what appeared to be someone else's number. I got calls for this girl, and I got Comcast operators calling my house asking for this girl and threatening to disconnect her (mine now) phone number. I even got this girl's bill- I moved into my apartment in November, but I got September and October from this girl tacked onto my phone. So I checked around. The only other phone service provider for my area was verizon. Fine. They had an internet deal, so I paid the deposit back in early December and set my phone service to be switched over to Verizon, and then I'd get my internet too. Well, 3 weeks later... nothing. I call, and it comes to find out they put my account on hold (but cashed my check!!!) because no one from Verizon called me to verify my information. Fine. So I verify, and they said Jan 7th it would be switched. Jan 7th comes and goes, and still no service and no indicating as to when I would get my service. So I call in on the 10th or so, and they apologize and said that my phone line is being held up by Comcast because Comcast doesn't have my name in their records- just some girl's (*sigh*). So I called Comcast myself and told them I was moving and to disconnect the line entirely. So then Verizon said they'd be connecting my phone lines on Jan 23rd. I had to haul ass from work and get home to make their scheduled appointment, since they said someone had to be at home the whole time, or else they wouldn't be able to enter my premises, even though the landlord was coming in. Fine. So they connect my service, and the next day, I leave town for the week. I got back, and I still have no internet! So they tell me that there's no available lines for me to have internet, but they'd give me dial up until the internet came through. Fine. So I used the dial up for a couple of days now. I had my service less than a week and made exactly 2 calls before the phone lines went dead in my apartment. So they now tell me the phone line is fine, but it must be the jacks and they'll have to charge me to come in and repair the jacks because I plugged in something that shorted the jacks. So I'm like "why should I pay for what obviously was my laptop causing a short when you all didn't get me my dsl to begin with, which forced me to use dial up, which then shorted my phone lines?". No answer from them.

So the long story is- no phone service, no internet. A friend of mine suggested speakeasy.net. If someone uses it and has it, can they tell me how it works? I can't deal with the hassle anymore. I just want phone and internet, and I don't want to deal with these ghetto companies anymore. Of all things, this shouldn't be something I should have to waste time over. *sigh*

Koffee

Hmm...there's a lack of replies, so I'll drop in some 3rd-person hearsay: generally the opinions I've heard have been: bit more expensive, well worth it.

You said comcast and verizon are both worthless...how about cable modem and one of them new-fangled IP phones? My bro's got one that he likes, and I've always had a bit more luck with cable companies than with phone companies. I'm trying to convince myself to drop the cell phone and just get one and save myself that much money a month.

One of the best bandwidth testers around :D

Sorry I am canadian, my loop is to small to know much information :)

Well, we can forget about it anyway. They are unfortunately not available in my area. :( I'm now on the phone with tigerdirect.com asking about Skype.

Koffee

The problem here is we have to separate the hardware from the software. The ISP, like speakeasy.net or AOL provide only the software, the internet data-feed. In order to get that data to you, it has to run across some hardware lines. These are owned by your local phone-company, either ComCast or Verizon. It appears you've got a hardware problem, like crappy lines and/or too many splitters/switching boxes in between your wall-jack and the phone-company. This will prevent DSL from operating correctly. So... in order to get internet, you have to resolve the hardware issue first before you can even get Speakeasy.net to come through. Unfortunately, this means fixing whatever is shorted in the line and getting a clean connection through the local company first... Good luck! :)

I've just about had it-
I had my service less than a week and made exactly 2 calls before the phone lines went dead in my apartment. So they now tell me the phone line is fine, but it must be the jacks and they'll have to charge me to come in and repair the jacks because I plugged in something that shorted the jacks. So I'm like "why should I pay for what obviously was my laptop causing a short when you all didn't get me my dsl to begin with, which forced me to use dial up, which then shorted my phone lines?". No answer from them.


Koffee


"Shorted the jacks", what sort of nonsense is that !? They're lying to you. This is the same sort of B.S. that mechanics feed women when they bring their cars in for a repair. There is nothing but a length of wire between the wall plate inside your apartment or house, and the outside. Look carefully inside the connector in the wall plate ( where you plug the phone line into the wall ); does anything look obviously crushed, bent, or damaged ? If not, then the connector is OK. If it looks damaged, you can get a new wall plate and connector from the Home Depot electrical department and replace it yourself in a few minutes. There are no elctronic components in your telephone circuit; only the connector and a piece of wire leading to the outside of your residence. Your computer didn't short out Jack Schidt.

Actually as a tele-tech I can honestly say jacks/wiring can in fact short out a line. Its a very very simple process. Old wiring, and or poor wiring where the potential for the two pairs touching each other can cause a hell of a lot of problems. If the house was built in serial instead of parellel then she has even more problems as the primary connector may be shorted which would screw every jack in the house. The pc directly cause a short, not likely unless somehow the pairs in the cable crossed, lightening struck and she farted at the same time. But it does show an underlying problem with the cabling, likely in the residence.

BTW, Telephones run on electricity. When a phone rings you can get upwards of 100v. A standard line not ringing sits around 25v to 50v. Want to test, strip the wires with your teeth and stick your tongue on both ends ;) do the same test and get someone to call you ;)...

More info if you are interested

http://www.ee.washington.edu/circuit_archive/circuits/F_ASCII_Schem_Tel.html

The pc directly cause a short, not likely unless somehow the pairs in the cable crossed, lightening struck and she farted at the same time. But it does show an underlying problem with the cabling, likely in the residence.




That is the point I was trying to make: it is highly unlikely that the computer did anything to her phone line. If you are in a rental, you should not be liable for repairs to the building wiring.

Actually, ringing voltage can be quite a bit higher than 100V ( I used to do this type of work too ).