My internet service has gotten worse with Verizon since a price increase some time ago. Half an hour wait for customer service has meant that, in months of trying, I have not been able to get through (I have a job.)
Today, determined to get some resolution, I spent more than three hours, most of them on hold, to get service. I was hung up on during the first call when I refused to accept that a non-branded router was the problem, even after the technician had confirmed that the line was problematic. I called back and, after an interminable wait, the second technician says the same thing and tell me that a technician needs to come to my home.
Great, except for losing a day's wages to wait and being told that if I miss the morning phone call, no one will show up (I guess going to the bathroom until I get that call is out of the question.) Further, I have no confidence in this, as yet, anonymous technician. When I put this service in at my current residence six years ago, I lost two days wages when no one showed, and another day when the technician came and could not resolve the problem. At that point I went out to the DMARC and fixed the issue myself. I am an IT professional and had spent hours trying to explain the issue to folks who insisted that I did not know what I was talking about before just doing Verizon's job.
There are several good reasons I stick with DSL rather going to cable. I save $15 a month which, in this economy, is nothing to sneeze at. Most importantly is the difference in the technology between DSL and Cable. DSL is more secure than cable and it not a shared line. For that reason, the speed should be more stable; though in high customer areas, the line can saturate and slow things down (also an issue for Cable.) Cable companies have also taking to monitoring and limiting download capacity. Lastly while both the phone and cable industries support monopolies, the phone company is not trying to cannibalize (and control?) all media (at least not yet, not sure what the Google-Verizon deal will mean in the long term.)
Having said all that, if Verizon can't right my ship, I will have to start looking elsewhere. Hopefully a small DSL provider or, as a last resort, Cable.
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