DSL Installation Fail

An anonymous reader writes "Here's an example of fine Qwest workmanship. In our business park, they just installed a DSL connection for our neighbors, for which we share an exterior utility space. They left: a DSL modem stuffed in a cardboard box, wrapped in a Wal-Mart bag, sitting outside in what will be below-zero (F) temps, on top of a bank of ten natural gas meters in some of the driest air of the year. They also left it plugged into an exposed exterior power outlet above a snowbank, with network cables running around the building, through snowbanks, coupled and protected by zip-lock baggies, and into our neighbors office. Not to mention the hack-job of patching the phone cable directly into the demarcation box. And if you're wondering — I was told upon calling them that this is not their problem, and I need to contact my primary phone service provider."

Comments

Call the Fire Marshal

[Daniel_Staal]

Seriously. Call the Fire Marshal, tell them this is what Qwest did as electrical/phone work, and ask if it meets safety standards. Try to control your laughter as you ask.

Why submit anonymously?

[echucker]

When the picasa album has a real name on it?

Joke?

[superdave80]

I doubt this is real. The installation dude is smart enough to wire this into the junction box and wire a network cable a couple hundred feet long with a splice of some type. Yet he thinks that this modem will survive in the snow, with only a bag and box to protect it. And thinks that his network cable running the length of the building and across at least one walkway won't be tripped on/broken. And the business owner, when presented with a network cable popping in through his front door, said "Looks good. I don't even mind that I have to still run some type of cable to our router, which is NOT right next to our front door!" Oh, and this is from an anonymous reader.

Sorry, I call bullshit.

Not Suprised

[NevermindPhreak]

Note: I'm a low-voltage tech.

This kind of stuff doesn't suprise me. It's the nature of the industry. People don't want to pay $200 for a decent quality install, so a lot of the independent guys try to lowball where they can. Contractor companies will hire anyone to do the work, and they'll be lucky if they get a half a week of training. Most ISP's contract out their installs to these companies. (Mine is the exception to that fortunately.) This installer was probably never trained on this stuff, and his employer probably expected him to do it anyways or they wont use him anymore.

Quest probably leases the lines and contracts the installations through AT&T, who then contracts the installs through someone else. (Can't confirm this though.) That's why Quest told the customer to call their "primary phone service provider", although I think Quest should have done this work for them.

Re:Responding professionally to bad customer reque

[afidel]

No DSL or any other kind of electrical installation should be done outdoors unless it's in at least a NEMA 3 or NEMA 4 enclosure so it doesn't really matter what the conditions were outside that install is just all sorts of fail.

Re:But then what kind of asshole

[Mr. Slippery]

You'd be able to choose from dozens of Internet Companies, rather than just one, and lousy companies like quest would go bankrupt from lose of customers.

Uh huh. Just like telephone dereguation brought me dozens of companies for my landline, and cable TV deregulation brought me dozens of companies competing to offer me cable TV.

Chortle. Guffaw.

Re:Horatio Caine says

[DurendalMac]

Yes, because memes from throughout the internet have NEVER made their way to /. before!

Re:NOT QWEST AFTER ALL

[LodCrappo]

Here's an example of fine Slashdot submissionship. In the idle section, they just submitted a picture for our readers. They left an anonymous submission that links to a picasa album displaying their own name , blamed the entirely wrong people, failed to identify the correct people despite apparently knowing who they are, and generally wasted everyone's time with a crap story. And if you're wondering — ah fuck it, thats as far as I can go with this.