Verizon Keeps Jacking Up The Price For its Aging, Slow DSL Users in our Verizon FiOS forum indicate that the company continues to try and drive away DSL customers with a steady stream of price hikes for what are often very much last-generation broadband speeds. With its focus now on acquiring failed 90s internet brands and wireless, Verizon has been trying to push these customers away for years with a one-two punch of apathy and price hikes, and judging from the company's loss of another 72,000 DSL customers last quarter, this effort can probably be considered a success.

Users in our forums, however, aren't particularly impressed, several users noting that Verizon is pushing another $5 price hike across Pennsylvania. "Got a notice on my bill today that in 30 days, HSI service is increasing by $5," notes DSLReports.com user pjsutton . "I find that absurd! Will bring the phone + DSL to $61 before taxes and a $10 Connections Discount that I have. This month's bill came to $63.67." For many of these customers, the $5 price hike this year is coming on the heels of a $7 price hike last year. And again, these are often sub-7 Mbps connections that consistently rank among the worst when it comes to streaming Netflix and other uses. Of course Verizon wants these customers to either leave (if they're in one of countless Verizon areas the company is unwilling to upgrade), subscribe to significantly more expensive wireless service, or upgrade to FiOS should the option be available. The problem of course is that with AT&T and Verizon leaving many DSL customers behind, that means a stronger cable monopoly in these markets (especially at speeds of 25 Mbps and above) -- resulting in higher prices and worse customer service for everybody due to an overall reduction in competition. Of course Verizon wants these customers to either leave (if they're in one of countless Verizon areas the company is unwilling to upgrade), subscribe to significantly more expensive wireless service, or upgrade to FiOS should the option be available. The problem of course is that with AT&T and Verizon leaving many DSL customers behind, that means a stronger cable monopoly in these markets (especially at speeds of 25 Mbps and above) -- resulting in higher prices and worse customer service for everybody due to an overall reduction in competition.







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Most recommended from 95 comments



StuckOnVZDSL

join:2015-02-26

Pittsfield, PA 19 recommendations StuckOnVZDSL Member And once more Verizon shafts its users. And as one of those without the availability of any other comparable service, my bill will increase once again.



My 3 meg DSL will now be above $70/month.

SuperSpy

join:2012-06-15

Coldwater, MI 13 recommendations SuperSpy Member All part of the plan Just so Verizon can go to the government in a few years and go "look at all these people dropping DSL/POTS, clearly the American public doesn't want it anymore, therefore we should be allowed to discontinue it for everyone".

Smith6612

MVM

join:2008-02-01

North Tonawanda, NY Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway

Ubee E31U2V1

Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-HD

1 edit 7 recommendations Smith6612 MVM More Expensive, slower, less reliable service One would think that the higher priced a service is, the better the quality of the connection is. In many areas, customers have been observing the lack of upgrades to the DSL network taking a toll on the quality of service. Such as congestion, drop-outs caused by overloaded equipment, and more.



In my area, many of my neighbors and friends have been complaining of frequent night-time slow-downs. As well as inability to connect for up to several hours, because of the explosive growth of traffic as well as the lack of upgrades. Many have started jumping ship to Spectrum, who so far seems to be handling the growth well, because the DSL service keeps getting more expensive, and is becoming worse in quality than it was at a $30 price point.



In some areas Verizon has begun building out FiOS again, notably North Buffalo is receiving FiOS, but it really can't come soon enough at this point. The DSL network can't seem to take the load anymore.



I also have little faith with any wireless solution Verizon might propose to use. Their LTE barely works in this area unless it's 2AM-5AM. Even before the unlimited plan was rolled, it was common to get 300Kbps down, 1.5-ishMbps up, and 200ms latencies. This started around the time Verizon began Safety Mode, and I have a suspicion it is due to disproportionate use of the spectrum caused by throttling a device not by how many timeslots in LTE they receive, but on an IP level. Thus leaving the devices which are throttled to chew up air time. The SNR on many towers has also gone in the toilet in around the same time, with a tower at 90dB giving an SNR of -0.2 or worse, while only a year or two ago the same tower could get to -120dB before the SNR even got that low. andre2

join:2005-08-24

Brookline, MA 1 edit 5 recommendations andre2 Member DSL Extreme I switched to DSLX in March 2013 to escape Verizon's rate increases on my grandfathered dry loop DSL. The price still hasn't increased (except for the $5 promotional discount the first year). I'm still paying about $4/month less than I would have been paying VZ in 2013.



Edit: Should mention that that's with a 1-year contract. Verizon didn't have a contract. With a contract, the price per month would be $5 higher, but that would be only slightly higher than Verizon would have charged me back on 2013, and they've probably raised the price again by now.

Takuro

join:2016-10-17

Chapel Hill, NC 5 recommendations Takuro Member Switch to LTE





I know this has become my standard response for customers feeling disparaged by Verizon and AT&T ADSL customers, but seriously, f*** em and move on to LTE. It isn't as bad as you might think. Buy a Mobley to take advantage of AT&T's cheapo $20/month unlimited plan and see how you do. You could be pleasantly surprised in some cases. Pop the SIM into an AT&T Unite Explore for even better results. Totally allowed by AT&T's own ToS due to loopholes they themselves created. kinda pissed

join:2012-06-06

Newsoms, VA 4 recommendations kinda pissed Member I honestly have no problem with VZ ripping my copper up Just so long as they're laying fiber as the copper is being removed

TIGERON

join:2008-03-11

Boston, MA 3 recommendations TIGERON Member Wireline sale coming soon Either Cincinnati Bell or Consolidated Communications will most likely end up buying Verizon's and AT&T's unwanted remaining copper wireline assets. kinda pissed

join:2012-06-06

Newsoms, VA 3 recommendations kinda pissed Member All these supposed barriers to wire up the country are not new To expensive

To hard

Area not populated enough

Grumpy property owners



All those problems existed when we wired up the country for pots and electricity. You know what didn't exist? The current mindset that we must appease the mighty shareholders above all else and entrenched companies that will spend whatever it takes to make sure the status quo doesn't change