Wednesday, July 23, 2008

July 23, 2008

Well... I've received quite a number of messages about Qwest and their FTTH articles. Seems Qwest has done it again by bending terms a bit. Perhaps it was unintentional. Thing is I spoke with people who work there and they also said FTTH along with an email I received from Qwest as well.

I apologize for adding to the confusion. Since I've been contacting them again asking for confirmation. I'm hearing it's Fiber to the Node which isn't the same thing.

Here is a part of the email I received

Thank you for your recent e-mail inquiry to Qwest regarding the
high-speed Internet upgrades. I apologize for any confusion or inconvenience you have experienced as well as the delay in responding toyour e-mail.

We now offer Fiber to the Node in some areas. The upgrading process has begun and will be completed over the next several months across the 14 state region. I apologize for any misinformation you have received previously.


So there you have it. But I have to ask why? They don't want to provide video service and it seems they don't want to build out the infrastructure they were supposed to have under NII.

It looks like Utopia is moving forward with U-CAN meetings. Basically working with the public and learning more about what's going on with Utopia. Great place to give them feedback. I'll have to see if I can break away to chat with them at the next meeting.

I've received several notes on web sites people may be interested in. I'm checking them out when I have time. One of interest is Internet for Everyone Seems there is a growing interest here in America to make Internet access a basic right along with other services we've pushed the Government to provide. They also have a nice map of where broadband is, and where it isn't. I've contacted them to learn more about their organization and hopefully will be able to give an update. It certainly makes sense as most other developed countries are already moving forward. Leading the way so America can follow. Someday...

One more item and a bit offtopic. I've been working heavily with WINE under Ubuntu Linux (8.04) and have been able to fix the In game voice problem with CounterStrike Source. Until now people have been grumbling that they couldn't hear me so I had to use Vent or type my messages. When I started it up the other day everyone was complaining that their ears were bleeding and to turn the volume down ;-)

Gotta Love Linux!

Soon I'll be free of Windows at home. All my gaming needs handled by WINE or Linux. May even purchase a Nintendo Wii later this year.

It's going to be a good year :-)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is interesting the Quest has taken this position.

Jody McAllister said...

Hello, just found your blog. I would have emailed you this information, but didn't see an email address.
I think that not enough attention is focused on how Comcast deceives new and potential customers into thinking they are getting unlimited internet access - even going so far as telling them that there is " no limit on bandwidth usage" which is obviously not true. My HS internet account was just canceled 2 days ago. Yesterday, I logged onto Comcast's online chat help, and here is part of the transcript between me and the CSR:

----
Maria.25372(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:44:26 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Hi there! How are you doing today?


Kurt_(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:44:44 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

hello, I'm wondering, if I sign up for high speed internet service, how often I can use it?


Kurt_(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:44:59 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

I mean are there any limits?


Maria.25372(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:45:38 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Kurt, once you have signed up for our Internet Services, you can use it 24/7.


Maria.25372(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:45:47 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

There a re no limits on the usage of the service.


Kurt_(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:46:29 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Are you sure, because I've read on the net about some peoples accounts getting canceled because of excessive bandwidth usage, is this not true?


Maria.25372(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:46:32 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

You can create up to 7 email accounts with the Comcast service; 1 primary (owner) account and up to 6 additional accounts. Each Comcast email address has 250MB space for email, up to a total of 1.75GB across all 7 possible email accounts.


Maria.25372(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:47:48 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

There is no bandwidth usage limit, Kurt.


Kurt_(Wed Aug 27 2008 19:48:12 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

That's good to know.
------

Then, I pointed out to Maria that my account was just canceled for "excessive bandwidth usage", and asked her to explain why - she then came back and apologized, and cited (she obviously was copying and pasting) certain provisions from their acceptable use policy. The point is, the are CLEARLY deceiving people. When I called the Comcast billing department to get a partial refund for my service, the lady was baffled at why my service was canceled... she was like "I don't get it, you pay your bill..."
I would bet that if you try talking to one of their CSRs via the online chat, or on the phone, pretending to be a potential customer, and ask about limits of use, they will tell you the same thing this CSR told me - that there are no limits, even on bandwidth usage. Deceptive. And I have no recourse.

Rooks said...

Comcast officially announces bandwidth caps:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082803858.html

Lashek said...

Just a note, not sure if you've seen or followed this...

Comcast is moving to a 250gb/mo bandwidth usage as of October 1st.

In case you don't remember me, I was here approx 5 months ago trying to reveal what I knew about the limit and roughly 10 minutes ago, this has been confirmed in a meeting at Comcast.

Lashek said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lashek said...

Should have posted this in my last post as well. Congratz on WINE working :)

If you want best performance on any Windows games, I would suggest WineX/Cedega as it is more optimized specifically for gaming and some games run roughly 5% better then what they did in windows. :)

Jody McAllister said...

Today I just saw the article in the Wall Street Journal about Comcast's new 250Gb policy. I wish I had known this earlier.

That takes care of one problem - the "invisible line" that they used to draw which no one could cross. Now, I just wonder if they will properly train all of their customer service reps so that they are familiar with the policy and are not deceiving people into thinking they are getting "unlimited" usage.

WSJ link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122004003325884079.html

bestonline323 said...

Qwest has received numerous distinguished awards from the industry, and from business and community organizations for exceptional performance, service to customers, community leadership and commitment to diversity.

2008 Honors

* Qwest wins seven awards from Nemertes Research:
o Best Customer Service
o Best Network Performance & Reliability
o Best Value
o Best Overall Carrier Performance
o Favorite Provider
o MPLS: Best Customer Service
o Ethernet: Best Customer Service
* Qwest has been honored as North American Partner of the Year by Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, an Alcatel-Lucent company.
* Qwest attorney Leonard Segreti won the Colorado Lawyers Committee's 2007 Individual/Team of the Year Award.
* Corporate Counsel Magazine named the Qwest legal department as its 2008 "Best Legal Department" winner.
* Qwest Mass Markets Group receives 2008 Gallup Great Workplace award. This prestigious award goes to companies with the most productive and engaged workforces in the world.
* Colorado Super Lawyers magazine named three Qwest attorneys to its prestigious list of Super Lawyers. Recognized in 2007 and now again in 2008 for professional and community excellence were Rich Baer, Stefan Stein and David Miller.
* Qwest Wholesale wins "Best In Class" awards from leading research firm ATLANTIC-ACM.

Cheers,
Ed
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