I went through a similar scenario. I fought with USWest for over 18 months about DSL. I was sure I could get it - a hunch you might say - and the fact that I always received 51 to 53 Kbps connections with my Sportster. I talked with a tech in a newsgroup - unofficially, and he simulated my setup from records and said that technically, I should be able to get DSL. I could not convince USWest to rerun the loop test. Finally, VISI.com persuaded USWest to rerun a few tests - and in a window of about 3 days, I managed to get DSL from them. 256/256. I used VISI for quite some time. Then COVAD came around. They claimed that I was 11000 feet out and that I qualified for 1.5Mbps service. I went for it with Concentric (now XO) and Covad. I had quite a trial be fire getting the people out when I took the required time off work - but eventually I got my install. I am 13500 feet out. You might think, that I am right at the limit. Well - I am getting about 140 KB/s download and 39 KB/s uploads (yes, kilobytes). Damn near T1 down. Latency was bad (because XO was oversold) but a few complaints and a major network upgrade later - and I can say I have never had better service (technically). I worked with an excellent saleman at XO and things are going very well. Covad has it going for DSL and XO is now quite good providing the connectivity. No complaints. I would recommend them. Oh yeah - I am using the speedstream bridge - no router - but I use FreeBSD and/or Linux in between my network and the internet. Very happy with XO/Covad :) Tom Veldhouse veldy at veldy.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jason J" <jasonj at innominatus.com> To: <tclug-list at lists.real-time.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 3:16 PM Subject: [TCLUG] Re:[TCLUG]Alternatives to Qwaste DSL > The following is my pleasant experience with Onvoy/Covad. If you could > care less don't read anymore. <snip> > Very happy with Onvoy/Covad! Very peeved at Qwest(US West) >