Setting Up Internet Service with AT&T U-Verse, Part 1

So I’ve been with ATT for a long time now, and in the new apartment I looked around at some different options for connecting to the Internet. Comcast was a possibility, but after finding that I needed 2 of their 3 services (no Internet service just on its own), they were out of the running. We don’t watch enough TV to justify any kind of cable package, and though the speed of cable is nice… it was just too much.

ATT it was then. I cancelled the service at the old apartment, and set up new service at the new place. I found out a while ago that the Internet-only option is referred to as a “dry loop.” So if you ever talk with ATT folks, drop this if term if you want to sound all insider-y and fancy.

Our new place doesn’t support DSL, so I have to go with the U-verse thing. I placed the order on March 23rd, and opted for the self-install. I’ve set up a few routers in my time, and while I’m no tech guru… I can manage. Not a big deal. When I set up the service, I’m given a date of April 7th and a window of 1-3PM.

The following week, I end up being the annoying guy who calls every other day. I checked in to verify the date, and to see if there have been any cancellations. The only way I’d get an earlier activation, I was told, if someone cancelled and a spot magically opened up. I tried a few times, and each time… no dice.

So April 7th rolls around. I take off of work, and I’m home during my 1:00 – 3:00 PM window. 2:30 PM rolls around, and I get a little nervous. I call to verify that I’m still on the schedule for the day, but the woman I speak with can’t get through to the tech folks. I hang tight and wait until 3:00 PM.

At about 3:15 PM I call back, and check in to see what’s going on. The woman I speak to then tells me that oh, I have the self-install package… and I don’t actually need anyone to show up to “activate” the line. In fact, the DSL should just come on sometime between 8 AM and 8PM.

I’m a little agitated at this, as I actually spent a vacation day to accommodate this “window.” And it turns out this was absolutely unnecessary. Why I was told a technician needed to show up is beyond me.


So I set up the router, configure everything – and no dice. Red lights, no green. So I decide to wait it out (again) and see if things magically work.

8:15 PM and still no dice on the lights. I call and talk to a tech support guy who is able to help me out some. He sees that my order was “stuck” and he spends some time “pushing it through” the process. In hindsight, I think this was a bit of BS, given what happened later. He’s pretty talkative and there’s a lot of back and forth, and a lot of me waiting on hold.

He ends up elevating things to Tier 2, and lets me know they’ve encountered a problem. It’s 8:45 PM and he tells me that I should have Internet in the next four hours. Although, according to him, the kind of fix they’re doing usually kicks in in about 30 to 60 minutes.

A few hours later, after brushing my teeth, I checked in on the router. Still red, no green.

I headed to bed and turned off the lights.

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