I was at the verizon web site a few days ago, and just for fun see if my home now qualify for ADSL, and this time they said yes ! (My house is just about as far from the CO as it is possible in Lexington, 23000+ last time I tried DSL). So I just ordered it online. Do you think it works? Meanwhile, just found out about these few items: The Lexington internet group, and the Arlington Wireless effort.

Update:

Well, I received automated emails on the order, everything looks great. Today, 2003/01/08, I got an email saying the line is activated (two days ahead of schedule), and when I got home, a box from Verizon arrived at my front door. It has a modem, all necessary cables, and instructions and software (for PPPoE). Great news? Of course not. Plug the line in, not syncing up. Called their help desk. Waited on hold for 30 minutes, then the fun really starts:

The phone rep runs through his script:

Is the phone line plugged in?
Is there any thing between the cable and the wall jack (to see if I put the filter on the modem line -- no)
are all other lines have filter installed? -- I told him I unplugged all the phones, which is not true...
can you try a different jack? sure
are you on a cellphone? yes
(this is a funny one), the cellphone may be interferring, can you stand as far as possible and see if it start working? -- sure
ok. I will open a trouble ticket and send someone to check the lines (at last!!)

Background: My house is at the edge of town, and the telco lines are routed through a old section of town, so it should be too far from the CO for DSL to work. I had a SDSL line for about 6 months, and it never stayed up for more than a few days at a time.