[G4] [WAY OT] BellSouth DSL

[Johns Maillist]

Same exact issues.
I had one tech tell me I needed Outlook express to use the news 
servers. He said OE for OS X was the best.
I informed them that MS does not make OE for X, but Entourage. He was 
dumbfounded.
After a few weeks, I also noticed that my connect speed was down around 
500-800 kbps.
They were never able to resolve it.
I switched to Comcast, I am getting 4MB, and they support Mac's No 
problems.
Bell allowed me to cancel my 1 year contract/commitment  without any 
problems.
Apparently they realize their support is a bit lacking.
I do know one friend who uses Bellsouth, and seems very happy with it.
Anyway, as Dennis would say, That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
John

On Feb 2, 2005, at 7:17 AM, Tim Collier wrote:

> I'd like to add something to think about here:  I started with 
> BellSouth DSL
> back in 1999 (I was still using PC's back then) and have had a strained
> relationship with them for several years.  When I first started with 
> them,
> service was down more than up.  If you called for help, you usually 
> got the
> run around.  It seemed as though most of the 'script kiddies' didn't 
> have a
> clue as to what was going on.  If you ever got to speak with a 'tech', 
> they
> didn't seem to have much of a clue as to how to resolve a problem 
> either.
> I dropped them for a while and went with Adelphia Cable and then 
> Direcpc
> (huge mistake).  My last experience with BellSouth was about a year 
> ago.  I
> had switched over to all Macs by 2002 and I got their DSL Extreme.
> Everything was working fine for about 2 weeks.....I had the Westell 
> modem
> when one day service 'seemed' to be down.  I called up tech support 
> and was
> placed on eternal hold as usual.  I finally got a script kiddie and he 
> had
> me disconnecting things all over the house....he even insisted that I 
> needed
> to disconnect my house alarm.  Still nothing worked to restore service 
> even
> though the modem showed all green.  Finally he said a tech person 
> would call
> me back.
> I got my call back and the tech told me to try connecting using 
> Internet
> Explorer.  I didn't have it installed and he said that he didn't 
> believe me.
> I told him that I was using a Mac and he said THAT was the real 
> problem as
> OS X was flawed and not supported by them.  When I told him that their 
> web
> site didn't say anything about that, all he could say was to download
> Internet Explorer via dialup and then call him back.
> I did this and loaded it up.....called him back and guess what, 
> Internet
> Explorer connected to the web....Safari and Apple Mail still wouldn't.
> Once again, he says that the fault is in OS X and the Macintosh....I 
> told
> him that I didn't believe him.  I even called Apple Tech support and 
> asked
> them if they had ever been presented with such an issue....they said 
> no.
> Called BellSouth tech guy back and told him what Apple had said.  His
> response was that to use BellSouth DSL, I would have to use Internet
> Explorer and for mail I'd have to load OS 9 and run Outlook Express.  
> I told
> him that this was completely ridiculous as I had had DSL previously and
> everything worked them and since re-establishing service 2 weeks prior,
> everything had been working fine.  He had no answer for this and just 
> stuck
> with his 'suggestion'.  I said 'fine, just cancel service'.  I called
> Adelphia cable back and got installation scheduled for the next day.
> The following morning, I attempted to connect via BellSouth (not
> disconnected yet) using Safari and guess what?  Everything worked 
> fine.  So
> did Apple Mail!
> After that stupidity, I'll NEVER go back to BellSouth!  Their support 
> is
> horrible for the Mac user....and even still sucks when you use a PC.  
> With
> Adelphia, I've NEVER had a problem.
> Sorry for the length of this post and that it is WAY off topic, but I 
> just
> wanted to let you know of my experience with them as a Mac user.
>
> Tim
>
> On 2/1/05 8:42 PM, "Dale Hoffman" <dhoff at margnat.com> wrote:
>
>>> I don't know if it will help but you can access the Westell DSL
>>> Modem and check it's configuration.
>>>
>>> Use a web browser and type in the address of :
>>> 192.168.1.254
>>> You will see a menu on the left hand side. The last menu is Expert
>>> Mode. Click that and it will bring up new menus. Try clicking on
>>> Configuration and see if anything there might looks wrong.
>>>
>>> Steve Adams
>>>
>>
>> Steve,
>> The Bell South tech gave us the same number as a means of
>> re-connecting with the modem if and when it is moved or or otherwise
>> looses "touch" with the computer. The modem is set up OK. The tech
>> said it wasn't the first instance of Hub and router not working
>> together.
>> I'll need to borrow some hubs and swap them out with the Farallon.
>> Dale
>> _______________________________________________
>> G4 mailing list
>> G4 at listserver.themacintoshguy.com
>> http://listserver.themacintoshguy.com/mailman/listinfo/g4
>
> --
> Exterminate all rational thought.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> G4 mailing list
> G4 at listserver.themacintoshguy.com
> http://listserver.themacintoshguy.com/mailman/listinfo/g4