Verizon Dry-Loop DSL Service, Mac OS X, Connection Issues

I decided to get Verizon DSL dry-loop service. It's 29.95 without tax since it's not a phone service, only internet. Now on Verizon's website they'll try and sell you the phone service to get DSL. This is not necessary. You can call them and ask for the Dry-Loop service instead. I don't know what Dry-Loop means, but all you need to know is that it's purely the DSL service. They have the cheaper 768kpbs download service but I opted for something called the 3M service or 3000kpbs and about 700kpbs upload. It gets the job done.

I got the "nicer" modem with WiFi which I'll never use free (or so they told me) by telling them about the hard times of the Great Second Depression. They said they'd credit the $55 dollars back to me if I were to add on the "extras" (which you can cancel right away on the DSL account website). This credit did not happen and now I have to call them back to get the credit back on top of getting a credit back for the "extras" they charged me. These extras include $3 / month for insurance (for the cheapo modem) and something like $6 / month for access to Verizon online games and movies from Starz - which I'll never use because you need to download some software which only seems to work on a PC. They also told me that I couldn't pay for the invoice online because they'd send me a paper invoice instead and would have to sign up separately for the online billing service. Lies. You just need to go to http://www.verizon.net.

Now once you ask for service, some person will schedule to come by to install the line sometime between early morning and late afternoon on a rainy workday. They will be late and they will walk in with their boots as you pad around barefoot. The technician, nice fella as he is, will then hang around after doing some stuff in the telephone room in the basement, not knowing anything about how to set up the thing, waiting for a tip. You will euphemistically ask the technician if he needs to wait around for the whole thing to set up, since you can figure it out from the large pictures drawn out in the Setup Poster. The technician will say, "not really," and will create an awkward silence not realizing that his imaginary tip will not be forthcoming because you are poor and he was late. In any case, you somehow get him out the door once the DSL is up and resist the urge to even mention the idea of a tip or that he was late and you had to cancel a potential meeting for a freelance job which basically needed the DSL up in time in order for you to do the work anyway. Nice one guy.

So. Yeah. You try to get to a website and the browser redirects you to an Activate my DSL page. It asks for username and password. Well shit. You don't have none. At the same time, the browser will install a Firefox extension which will download some Verizon installation software which will never work on the Mac. You'll download it a couple of times, because everytime you try to get somewhere in Firefox or Safari, the extension will download the install software again, automatically mount it and you'll double click and let the thing run for an hour or so giving it the benefit of the doubt even though you sure as heck know it'll never get past that ominously blank incomplete screen.

Now you have to make a call and use minutes. Minutes you've recently reduced because you notice you never use all those minutes anyway, it's a recession baby and you think I never make any calls so let's save me some of that money. You call and the recorded operator is trying her damnest to get you to look up the information online. She goes as far as to spell out the URL when you know damn well... well, you get it right? The damned irony? You dial "0" at every opportunity or "1" whenever it makes sense to do it, because you do listen even if you don't want to and wait for a technician.

You get a technician. You've already logged into the modem control panel, the URL is http://192.168.1.1 - who the fuck doesn't know that? I'm a professional. But you pretend like you're following him one step at a time as he spells out "H-T-T-P COLON FORWARD SLASH FORWARD SLASH" you say "uh-huh" at the appropriate moments, all the while looking at the control panel and changing the admin password which clearly must be "password" to something much less insane.

Anyhow, he'll neglect to tell you that you need to go through the activation page to make a username. And in fact, as I write this I have no idea how I even got a username you know. Now I remember, it was in one of the multitudes of emails I received which let me "pre-register." But it does nothing really because even if you "pre" register, once you get your DSL up and running you have to activate the motherfucker again and you'll have to change your password a few times once everything is said and done. Remember this folks. Everytime you reset your modem you need to activate again.

Now, now I'm getting tired of even thinking about this again so here's the short and sweet. You need to pre-register (http://www.verizon.net/whatsnext/) and get a username and password. You'll need to use the telephone number they'll send you for your Dry-Loop service (yes, you get a telephone number and no, you can't dial it) in one of your emails. You go into the modem control panel and change the admin password. Login again. Now if the DSL like on your Westell 7500 is green and your internet light is green go to the main page.

In the modem control panel on the left there will be an Internet Status: Connected area. Click Connected, that will take you to the Broadband Connection area. There will be one connection, click on Edit. This will be where you will need to change the username and password to the one you pre-registered to. If you don't do this, your internet may work for some time and then it will stop suddenly when something jiggles in "Central Headquarters" as they call it and your credentials won't match. Change that shit, because the technician may not tell you that the "newdsl" account will tell your Netflix Watch Instantly that you have a "basic" connection and will consistently lower your bandwidth in the middle of a 30 Rock marathon until it eventually conks out. Let me save you the grief.

Wait. The activate software. Yes delete it and go to this address instead: 192.168.1.1/verizon/redirect.htm then click "disable." What the hell does that do? I don't think anyone knows except that you don't need to install no nonsense, non-working software and activate nada (you pre-registered right?). Now you should be able to go to any website. The technician will tell you to go to Google, but you can try Nyt.com, check your email, or do both like I did instead. That's why we have tabs folks.

If you got duped into letting Firefox install that unsigned extension which will now subsequently install that software everytime you open a browser, you do one of two things. Go to add-ons and install the "temporary DSL installer" or in your finder, go to Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Firefox/YOUR DEFAULT/extensions/verizon_whatever_directory. There you go.

By the way, if your DSL goes down, and the Internet light is red but your DSL light is green, this username/password issue might be the problem. You can call tech support and ask them to reset your password, after which you'll have to change it in your modem control panel. When you login to verizon.net to look at your bill, they'll ask you to reset your password. After which you will eventually have to reset your password again on your modem. Good stuff.