[CALUG] Choosing a residential/SMB high speed internet provider

[Ken Jackson]

My Verizon FIOS service has been extremely reliable.
But I just have to add my Verizon customer service story anyway.

I use SSH to access my home Linux PC from outside, but one day
port forward stopped working.  I called Verizon for help, but
the technician didn't know what "port forwarding" is and didn't
believe me when I explained that it's a feature of the router
she was hired to support.  Even her supervisor was clueless.

I specifically asked if they had pushed a firmware update within
the last few days and she said no. (Not "I don't know", but "No".)

Fortunately, there are knowledgeable customers.  I found a forum
where someone said there's a log of firmware updates buried on the
router's web page and a way to revert them.  So I looked.  Yep!
They had pushed a firmware update about that time.  I reverted
and it everything suddenly worked again.

I had forgotten.  I have a policy of never calling any tech support
unless I'm going to die.

-Ken Jackson

On 08/07/2012 04:24 PM, Randal T. Rioux wrote:
...
>   (+) Verizon customer service can be great. You have a 3 in 5 chance of
> getting someone who knows what they're doing. Otherwise, hang up and
> call back. Hope for a different voice.
>