posted on December 9, 2000 01:54:36 PM
ebay sellers who use DSL I have a question. Is DSL very frustrating? When your DSL goes down what is the number one fix for it? Do you often have to call for help reconfiguring settings and stuff?
I am learning to support DSL service and have already had some ebayers call for help. Is the service worth it? Are there alot of bugs?
posted on December 9, 2000 02:37:53 PM
I've had DSL for 16 months now. I can honestly say that it's only been down once (very briefly) in all that time and came back up with no problems. I would NEVER go back to a dial-up ISP...
posted on December 9, 2000 02:49:43 PM
I love my DSL and don't find it frustrating at all. On the odd occasion that I have to deal with my provider (in this case, Southwestern Bell) I find it EXTREMELY frustrating, as they seem to be very disorganized and clueless when it comes to DSL issues.
I've had it since March, and it's only been down once, after a thunderstorm. However, the number one fix that I pass on to others is to power down ther modem, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on.
I do not hear of people in my area having trouble with DSL once it is up and running, however different service providers have different ways of implementing DSL, so your area may be different.
I hear a lot about problems getting it to work the first time, especially with older computers. However, I think this is just due to the fact that most people have their computers so screwed up already, the installation tech is doomed before he gets there. I would not want that job for anything.
But all things considered, I would recommend DSL without hesitation to anyone who can get it, and especially to any serious eBay seller.
posted on December 9, 2000 02:57:22 PM
I am with AllTel for DSL. The whole DSL thing is pretty new to them. I first got service back in July. For the first 3 months it was unpredictable. They oversold their bandwidth, had frequent equipment failures and sometimes just made dumb mistakes. Those first three months were very frustrating. Outages were experienced about 3 times a week.
After that point things became much better. There was a significant improvement in speed and no more outages. They seem to have their bandwidth requirements balanced out now.
As for hassles. I use Alltel for DSL and as an ISP. I chose to do this because it all rests in their laps no matter if its the ISP or DSL service fault.
If you have an internet provider who is not your DSL provider I can guarantee one thing will happen. If you have an outage each with point fingers at the other as to whose fault it is. It will take longer to localize where the problem is really happening.
posted on December 9, 2000 03:55:09 PM
You'll experience slowdowns in peak periods. Alltel came pretty much close to a standstill. ISPs experience extreme usage from about 4pm until midnight. During those periods most providers will slow down. If they are severely underserved for the amount of customers you will see a significant drop in speed.
I have a utility that tests the current state of the connection. It does a pretty accurate job of it. When they were experiencing significant problems the speed dropped into the 90s up to around 120. Since they've added and reconfigured things I get around the 600s during peak times and around 1100 in non-peak. I only pay for 768k.
posted on December 10, 2000 06:54:33 AMDoes DSL allow you to navigate faster in eBay, or does the heavy traffic to eBay still slow down DSL users?
Yes, but not as much as you might expect.
If you are pulling up long ads with lots of graphics, it can help a lot. But even then, the processer speed of your computer, your amount of memory, other apps running, etc, all make a big difference.
But for general browsing, checking auctions, My Ebay, etc. it doesn't make a huge difference. This is because the "botttleneck" is with Ebay's servers. Even on a regular modem, you are often receiving the information as fast as it is being processed.
This is true of DSL in general. It does not generally make a huge difference in the speed of browsing normal web sites.
The big advantage is in downloading files, and in using "cutting edge" web technology such as embedded flash movies, etc.
posted on December 10, 2000 07:44:23 AM
THANKS to all who responded to this questions -it has helped me decide to just hang in here with my local ISP.
Since we are in a very rural area, and don’t' have cable available DSL is our only choice. We have had the DSL type satellite TV service for 5 years, and it is FANTASTIC!
Since we are on line 10 to 18 hours a day, every day, we have checked into all alternative systems, but are still hanging in there with our local ISP, since we like to see any type of new system get through it's growing pains, and work out the basic bugs before we jump.
I must admit, I have been straining at the bit to try DSL, but haven't jumped yet, and with your comments about speed where I need it, which is working on line - NOT downloading and such, it still appears that DSL doesn't make that major a difference.
