Travel Technology - Verizon DSL Soft Launch Of 3.0M Down/768K Up Speed Available In Select Markets

On 8/30/2004 Verizon Online (http://www.verizon.net) began a soft launch offering which effectively doubles the available downstream DSL speed making the companys offerings on par with competetors like Comast Cable. (http://www.comcast.com)

Existing customers can call (800) 567-6789 and request the speed upgrade. Previously the maximum downstream speed on DSL was 1.5mb.

I'm not sure how much of the market territory offers this new service, but I was recently able to sign up in the Boston area, and download a file consistently at 300kb/sec.

I have not heard a peep about this launch on any internet site, on the streets, etc. Has anyone else heard of this?

Not sure when the official launch will be. Enjoy!

I was very excited about this, so I just called. I am also in the greater Boston area and my line did qualify for the 3mb speed. So, we were just about to activate it, but then the rep. said it was an extra $10/month - bringing my monthly fee from $29.95/month to $39.95/month.

I am currently at 1.5mb speed, and it seems more than sufficient to me. So, the bump to 3.0mb speed really isn't worth the hike in price.

(She did note that the last time they bumped it, from 768k to 1.5mb there was no fee. She wasn't sure why there was a fee this time.)

So with the price increase it makes it the same price or a little more as cable - I pay $41.95 (including tax) for Earthlink (through Time Warner Cable). Does Verizon add on fees and taxes to the DSL?

As much as I love Speakeasy, it looks like Verizon is now much cheaper AND faster. Might have to switch.

As much as I love Speakeasy, it looks like Verizon is now much cheaper AND faster. Might have to switch.Does Verizon still require that you use THEIR mail servers which only accept messages with from address at Verizon.net? BEWARE! :td:

This maybe slightly OT...

What is the correlation between the advertised connection speed of 1.5 Mbps (or 3.0 Mbps as the case may be) and the actual download speed of (in my case) 265 kbps as reported by dslreports.com? Is it just mistruth in advertising or is there some formula?

FWIW, I'm getting 265/106 with my $30/month (promo price, down from $60/month for a one-year contract) SBC DSL service. I understand that there is a bumped-up service for an additional $10/month but I'm not sure what all these numbers mean anyway.

xyzzy - Not sure what you mean about Verizon and problems with it's email servers. I have absolutely no problems receiving messages on my verizon account from any mail sender, Verizon.net or not.

bp888 - With Verizon DSL service that I have, when I goto http://www.dslreports.com/stest and run the speed test, I show a download speed of 1.6mb (and I am paying for 1.5mb speed). If you go to http://www.dslreports.com/archive you can then see results of what other people are getting (just put in your zipcode and/or domain.)

A couple of months back our local Cable company Shaw introduced High Speed Extreme. 5 Mbps download speed, 1 Mbps upload speed! This makes for quick file transfers.

Does Verizon still require that you use THEIR mail servers which only accept messages with from address at Verizon.net? BEWARE! :td:

I have Verizon DSL, I have never known them to require From addresses of verizon.net. But I'm in Tampa, which is former GTE before the merger that created Verizon. Maybe it was different in former Bell Atlantic territory?

I've heard that Verizon has some services that they honor when you call up to request them, but don't actively market.

xyzzy - Not sure what you mean about Verizon and problems with it's email servers. I have absolutely no problems receiving messages on my verizon account from any mail sender, Verizon.net or not.

the restriction is that if you use a verizon mail server to send mail, the from address of the email has to be a verizon address. if you use something else (i.e. your work address or a spamtrap at a web mail service), it will be rejected.

if you use a non-verizon mail server, even while connected using verizon, there is no restriction.

the restriction is that if you use a verizon mail server to send mail, the from address of the email has to be a verizon address. if you use something else (i.e. your work address or a spamtrap at a web mail service), it will be rejected.

if you use a non-verizon mail server, even while connected using verizon, there is no restriction.I have relatives who could not use my mail server because Verizon wouldn't let SMTP (port 25) traffic off of its network without going through its SMTP servers. These same servers only allowed Verizon.net From: addresses. This was in NJ. They switched to cable and all is well. Verizon may well have changed its policies, I don't know.

This maybe slightly OT...

What is the correlation between the advertised connection speed of 1.5 Mbps (or 3.0 Mbps as the case may be) and the actual download speed of (in my case) 265 kbps as reported by dslreports.com? Is it just mistruth in advertising or is there some formula?

Here's a "guideline" to follow for figuring out connection speed versus download speed:

Download speeds are shown typically in Bytes per second, expressed with a large B. For example, IE will show a file being downloaded at 255KBps/sec.

DSL circuit speeds are shown typically in bits per second, expressed with a little b. For example, Verizon will offer a 3 megabit DSL circuit, shown as 3Mbps.

To Convert: Divide the DSL Circuit speed by 8. This will give you the speed of your DSL line in Byes rather than bits. Nearly all customers will not get 100% of their DSL speed due to overhead built into IP and the DSL line. Figure in a maximum overhead of 20%. So what one would expect to see on their PC for download speeds can be figured as such:

Speed of DSL / 8 * .8 = download speed

3.0Mbps / 8 * .8 = 300000Bps (which is typically shown in KBps so divide by 1024) = 292.97KBps

Again, the 80% overhead is a gray area and can vary depending on a number of factors but otherwise all numbers are hard. I used to work for an ISP in upstate NY and had to explain this idea plenty of times.

One more note. The dslreports type of speedtest sites are indeed nice, but not always accurate. The speeds reflected on these sites are directly reflected to the hardware and software on the PC. I had DSL up in NY and was provisioned for 6Mbps down/600kbps up and depending on which PC I was using the dslreports.com speedtests could vary +/- 2Mbps on the speeds purely due to CPU and Java.

Enjoy!

-JC

I have relatives who could not use my mail server because Verizon wouldn't let SMTP (port 25) traffic off of its network without going through its SMTP servers.

Which is exactly what they should do for dynamic IP pools. When you say they couldn't use your server, do you mean you were aiming to relay outbound traffic?