[mdlug] AT&T DSL -- ity, bitty rant

[Aaron Kulkis]

Robert Citek wrote:
> I just had AT&T DSL installed in my house.  What was different is that
> I got the dry-loop, the kind that does not require phone service nor
> do I need the filters as the jacks wouldn't be used for phones.  The
> house was wired via a line splitter to go to three jacks in the house,
> one in each of three rooms: kitchen, family room, and master bedroom.
> The line splitter is in the basement and was not the modular kind but
> rather the old screw-post kind.  What amazes me is that the tech from
> AT&T cut the wires to all the jacks and then connected the kitchen
> wires to the incoming line with wire connectors.  And not the screw
> kind connectors, but the crimp kind.  Unlike the other jacks in the
> house, the kitchen jack is a mounted at about shoulder level on a bare
> wall with no shelf nor counter nor power outlet.  So now I have a
> phone cable snaking across the wall and wall edges to the closest
> power outlet about 15 feet away in the dining room instead of
> someplace less conspicuous, e.g. the family room next to the
> entertainment system.
> 
> Sure, I could go in the basement, splice cable, and rewire things the
> way they should be, but I shouldn't have to.  That's like going to a
> restaurant expecting good service and food, getting served a
> half-baked chicken pot pie, and having to take the pie back into the
> kitchen to finish baking it myself.
> 
> What's odd is that I have had AT&T DSL in the past.  Never had an
> issue.  At that time I also had phone service on the same line, so
> cutting wires wouldn't make sense.
> 
> Why would the AT&T tech cut the wires to the other rooms?  And if he
> had to cut wires and had to choose, why didn't he ask me (I was in the
> house the entire time)?  And if he would not ask, why keep the wires
> live that lead to the most inconvenient place to put a DSL modem?
> 
> Mind boggling.

1. Call AT&T and ask why they did that.
2. Then explain that the current situation is less than acceptable
3. And lastly, ask what they will do to make you happy.

Maybe they'll give you a month of free service or something
to compensate you for having to repair your indoor wiring.
[AT&T can do whatever they want to the outdoor wiring, and
will do whatever, without charging you, but repairing indoor
wiring, they charge you -- likewise, if they damage indoor
wiring, they are liable for the repair thereof.]