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I came to the new house today armed with the laptop, the cellphone, and a pen and paper, determined to slay the dragon which is Verizon's DSL activation.
Tried again to verify that their web-based activation system wouldn't work. It wouldn't. I could get there, but it would get halfway through the process and want to start installing software which I didn't want. Yay.
So I called Verizon, and waded through their byzantine menu system, which finally asked me if I was using Windows or Mac. I replied Mac and it promptly send me to Windows support... in India... over a b-a-d VOIP connection.
Lovely.
First hurdle was the barely understandable tech telling me that there's an outage in my area and we wouldn't be able to do anything. Sorry... wrong answer. I can get to activatemydsl.verizon.net, so I've obviously got connectivity. And besides, what I really want is the admin login and password to the modem and the config information to put into it so that I don't have to use the stupid online activation tool. Oh, and my account login and password please.
"Let me confirm your operating system... are you using Windows XP or Vista?"
"Mac OS X."
"I'm sorry? XP or Vista?"
"Neither... I'm using Mac OS X and I simply need the configuration information for the modem, and my account name and password, please."
"Well, there's an outage in your area..."
"No, you're obviously not understanding me. I don't _care_ whether I have an outage right now (and, in fact, I can guarantee you that I don't)... but I need the admin and config information for the modem and my account information, please."
"But, ma'am, there's an outage..."
"I need to talk to someone who can tell me how to manually configure this modem and my Mac. If that's not you, please transfer me."
"I'll transfer you to Macintosh Technical Support now, ma'am."
Ye flipping gods. 17 minutes of my life and half of my hair gone (not to mention all of my patience).
Next connection was even worse, but the tech had a clue! Yay for techs with clue! Yay for techs who don't assume users are idiots! I reiterated that I just needed to get through the initial connectivity steps for this modem (because honestly, nothing should need to be done on the Mac other than, as it turned out, clearing the browser cache to get it to stop trying to go to the activatemydsl page). She promptly gave me the necessary login information for the modem, walked me through what little configuration needed to happen, then was promptly baffled when I was able to browse. (Her system also said that all Verizon DSL service in this area code is having issues.)
So I'm online from the new house now!
Now to lock down the wireless router, which is currently wide-open. Yay for functioning internet!
Tried again to verify that their web-based activation system wouldn't work. It wouldn't. I could get there, but it would get halfway through the process and want to start installing software which I didn't want. Yay.
So I called Verizon, and waded through their byzantine menu system, which finally asked me if I was using Windows or Mac. I replied Mac and it promptly send me to Windows support... in India... over a b-a-d VOIP connection.
Lovely.
First hurdle was the barely understandable tech telling me that there's an outage in my area and we wouldn't be able to do anything. Sorry... wrong answer. I can get to activatemydsl.verizon.net, so I've obviously got connectivity. And besides, what I really want is the admin login and password to the modem and the config information to put into it so that I don't have to use the stupid online activation tool. Oh, and my account login and password please.
"Let me confirm your operating system... are you using Windows XP or Vista?"
"Mac OS X."
"I'm sorry? XP or Vista?"
"Neither... I'm using Mac OS X and I simply need the configuration information for the modem, and my account name and password, please."
"Well, there's an outage in your area..."
"No, you're obviously not understanding me. I don't _care_ whether I have an outage right now (and, in fact, I can guarantee you that I don't)... but I need the admin and config information for the modem and my account information, please."
"But, ma'am, there's an outage..."
"I need to talk to someone who can tell me how to manually configure this modem and my Mac. If that's not you, please transfer me."
"I'll transfer you to Macintosh Technical Support now, ma'am."
Ye flipping gods. 17 minutes of my life and half of my hair gone (not to mention all of my patience).
Next connection was even worse, but the tech had a clue! Yay for techs with clue! Yay for techs who don't assume users are idiots! I reiterated that I just needed to get through the initial connectivity steps for this modem (because honestly, nothing should need to be done on the Mac other than, as it turned out, clearing the browser cache to get it to stop trying to go to the activatemydsl page). She promptly gave me the necessary login information for the modem, walked me through what little configuration needed to happen, then was promptly baffled when I was able to browse. (Her system also said that all Verizon DSL service in this area code is having issues.)
So I'm online from the new house now!
Now to lock down the wireless router, which is currently wide-open. Yay for functioning internet!
