Unfortunately, if you get your service directly from Bell Atlantic, you will probably have as many problems as you have now. As far as I can tell, Bell Atlantic has two major weaknesses: 1) It is not in Bell Atlantic's interest to be helpful to other DSL providers that are using Bell's lines. In my experience, they do the bare minimum to meet the requirements of the law and that is it. 2) Bell Atlantic is still primarily a phone company. The company is not good at dealing with data networks. My observations stem from the six months my husband and I spent trying to get DSL service into our apartment. We decided to go with a third party provider of DSL service after watching many of our aquaintances **try** to get service from Bell Atlantic. As of a couple of months ago, Bell Atlantic would give you a DSL modem along with instructions to set it up. My husband set it up for someone with an iMac. It worked except for the minor problem that they couldn't browse. As I recall, they could get to the Bell Atlantic web site but that was it. Furthermore, following Bell's directions blew away all of the custom setup connections that had already been set up on the computer. When my husband called Bell for help, they told him that he couldn't browse because they had the wrong version of MacTCP. This explanation didn't make sense for a plethora of reasons that I won't belabor now. The point is, they couldn't solve the most basic networking issues; they have almost no Mac experience despite the popularity of iMacs; and they blamed the consumer for the problem. In this case, the consumers in question terminated their "DSL service" from Bell Atlantic that never worked, and we had to fix all of the connection set ups that Bell Atlantic had blown away. In setting up DSL at our own apartment, we had to do much of the wiring ourselves. The situation between the Bell phone techs coming out, running and tagging a second line for DSL service, and then having a Northpoint tech come out to actually get it running was difficult to say the least. The only saving grace was that the Northpoint folks were competent, considering what they were given to work with, and nice. But, it was still an incredible hassle and if we were not technical ourselves, we would never have gotten it to work. So, to sum up, I don't think there is a good DSL answer at this point, but going to Bell Atlantic is unlikely to help. It's hard to tell where the line between Bell's own incompetence and their lack of desire to be helpful to other DSL providers is, but in the end, what it spells for consumers is terrible to non-existent service. As much of a hassle as it is, I would still recommend that if you use DSL you go through a third party provider because at least a third party provider is likely to have better grasp of data networking.
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Unfortunately, if you get your service directly from Bell Atlantic, you will probably have as many problems as you have now. As far as I can tell, Bell Atlantic has two major weaknesses: 1) It is not in Bell Atlantic's interest to be helpful to other DSL providers that are using Bell's lines. In my experience, they do the bare minimum to meet the requirements of the law and that is it. 2) Bell Atlantic is still primarily a phone company. The company is not good at dealing with data networks. My observations stem from the six months my husband and I spent trying to get DSL service into our apartment. We decided to go with a third party provider of DSL service after watching many of our aquaintances **try** to get service from Bell Atlantic. As of a couple of months ago, Bell Atlantic would give you a DSL modem along with instructions to set it up. My husband set it up for someone with an iMac. It worked except for the minor problem that they couldn't browse. As I recall, they could get to the Bell Atlantic web site but that was it. Furthermore, following Bell's directions blew away all of the custom setup connections that had already been set up on the computer. When my husband called Bell for help, they told him that he couldn't browse because they had the wrong version of MacTCP. This explanation didn't make sense for a plethora of reasons that I won't belabor now. The point is, they couldn't solve the most basic networking issues; they have almost no Mac experience despite the popularity of iMacs; and they blamed the consumer for the problem. In this case, the consumers in question terminated their "DSL service" from Bell Atlantic that never worked, and we had to fix all of the connection set ups that Bell Atlantic had blown away. In setting up DSL at our own apartment, we had to do much of the wiring ourselves. The situation between the Bell phone techs coming out, running and tagging a second line for DSL service, and then having a Northpoint tech come out to actually get it running was difficult to say the least. The only saving grace was that the Northpoint folks were competent, considering what they were given to work with, and nice. But, it was still an incredible hassle and if we were not technical ourselves, we would never have gotten it to work. So, to sum up, I don't think there is a good DSL answer at this point, but going to Bell Atlantic is unlikely to help. It's hard to tell where the line between Bell's own incompetence and their lack of desire to be helpful to other DSL providers is, but in the end, what it spells for consumers is terrible to non-existent service. As much of a hassle as it is, I would still recommend that if you use DSL you go through a third party provider because at least a third party provider is likely to have better grasp of data networking.