Separating what is and what could be for DSL?

[alexyang]

I'm on dial-up and I have two questions about DSL service.

1. Guaranteed speed.

Exactly what does this mean? Is this guaranteed speed at least or at most? The salesperson I spoke to said my GS was 1 meg down. I figure the up is probably 256 k.

2. Scruples

The salesperson said that the company, Frontier, would not install service unless my home was qualified for ADSL. Do most companies adhere to such policies, or are they unscrupulous? </paranoia>

Thanks.

 

[XOR != OR]

1) Typically, it's "at least" AND "at most". At least, that's what they guarantee, but the realities could be wildly different. It's marketing speak, so your best bet would be to find someone with the same service and talk to them about it.

2) Depends on what they mean by qualified, but yeah that's about normal. They obviously won't sell you a service that you can't use. If you are too far away from your CO, then you don't qualify for dsl.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

You don't see "Guaranteed Speed" with most DSL packages, it's usually "Up To". DSL is distance dependent...the farther you are from the CO, the slower it goes.

 

[scoob8000]

Usually by qualified they mean you live within a distance they know their service to work. (DSL is limited by the distance between you and the DSLAM could be your local CO or a remote setup in your area).

It could also mean they will come and test the connection on your lines before selling the service. They won't sell you the service if it won't run, or doesn run good..