Review Of PacBell DSL (Richard)

I waited and waited and waited and finally it was available. Actually, DSL and Cable modem became available at the same time. Now, at work I use a T1 to access the internet, and I wanted the same speed at home. I had ISDN, which was not great both for speed and for reliability.

After some research I decided on DSL as the cable people didn't seem to have their act together.

Installation went very well. A technician came out in the morning, did some work and left. Another one came in the afternoon and I was online! Pretty simple.

This is a dream come true. All I can say is wow. Well, actually, I can say more. DSL is fast and, so far (four months now), it's been rock solid reliable. And I use it constantly (40+ hours per week) so am a good judge.

I like the always on feature (but get a firewall like BlackIce please), and the performance. I also liked the fact that now one phone line has DSL, internet access and voice access all bundled into one package. It actually came out cheaper than what I had before!

PacBell's customer support has been excellent, solving the few problems quickly and efficiently. My only complaint with them is the long, long wait times on their support line.

The other small disappointment is the 5mb web site you get with the service only has 500mb per month of bandwidth - not enough to be useful for anything but a home page. But I think with all of the free hosts available that's a minor issue.

Review Of DSL (Claudia)

The Internet is one of the most powerful tools we currently have and the simple truth about it is that it is communication tool. However, we all love good, fast and clear communication and DSL can be a good provider of these requirements.

Nonetheless, how close you are to the DSL provider's office will normally determine the speed of your line. I know, we are just blocks away from Pacbell and the line is fast, clear, and a blessing to have. Now, if you are a little bit further from the office the connection will be slower and less clean, and it continues to get worse the furthest you are from the provider.

One of the advantages is that you are connected twenty-four hours a day and if security is a problem (often is when connected twenty-four hours) get a good firewall to prevent any problems. Other advantage is that you can use your phone line while connected to the Internet.

As far as I know, DSL is one of the best tools we got for such a great communication tool and I am very happy with the results. But like I said, it is not for everyone and not for everyone's liking.