Does Verizon DSL in Philly use PPPoE?

Factual Questions
1

Hey all - I’m setting up a new computer for my mother in law this weekend in Wynnewood PA (the Philly “Main Line”) but she has said that I shouldn’t bother driving all the way up to Philly if her internet isn’t turned on yet. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have any inkling of how DSL works, and I don’t know how Verizon is going to set her up. It looks like her line will be live by the weekend, but she won’t have the DSL modem at her house until early next week. Happily, I have a spare DSL modem or two, and enough line filters for several homes, so I could do the installation this weekend as long as I know what to prepare for.

If her line is live and they use DHCP, I’m golden, because I should be able to just plug everything in and have Windows XP talk to the Verizon boxes. They’ll do their mating dance, she’ll get an IP address, and Bob’s my uncle. If they require MAC address filtering, it could be trickier, but I think I can handle that.

If her line is live and they use PPPoE, I could be stuck with a live line, a perfectly working computer, and a login/password combination written down on a piece of paper in a box that won’t arrive until Tuesday. I really don’t want to drive two hours up there with her PC and then discover that the interweb tubes are password protected.

So, Philly-area Dopers: what setup does Verizon use? If it’s PPPoE, how did they deliver your username & password? Will my mother-in-law get to download baby pictures through something other than dial up this weekend?

2

I live in Philly, I have Verizon DSL, but I don’t speak geek so I can’t help you.

This will keep the question active till someone who does comes along, though.

3

I live in Philly, and use Verizon DSL, and because of their lousy service, I have been forced to learn geek-speak.

Yes: they do use PPPoE. You can call and they’ll reset your password and give you a 24-hour one that’ll work for connecting long enough to reset it. They’re actually quite nice on the phone. Obsequious even. But they’ve been running a diagnostic on my line for TWO weeks now, and I still don’t have service.

Their number is 800 567 6789. Their hold time has always been < 1 minute for me. They’ll need to talk to the primary account holder before giving the new temp password.