VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Donna · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 9:39 am Post subject: DSL, cable, or ???

I know this topic has been covered again and again, but not in the last couple weeks, at least, so here goes again.
I have had it up to here with AT&T's Uverse and its dodgy upload speeds, but in my area (St Louis) it looks like the best available option is Charter cable (aka the devil). Verizon FIOS is not available in my sleepy suburban hamlet. Anybody in the Midwest US with advice?
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ChrisMezzolesta · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:00 am Post subject:

I avoided any cable internet because I was under the impression that heavy neighborhood use would pull speeds down into dialup area...but after a 6Mbps cap on my AT&T DSL and no reasonable price drop I said the heck with it and went with Charter cable internet. And I could not be happier. No more all-night uploads to clients, and no more turtle speeds for others in the house when uploading (could never figure out what was going on there) - now there is enough bandwidth for everything in my house to be running something at the same time...or if I am FTP-ing a file to a client, it is up in seconds, not hours. Granted, I am paying for the 100Mbps service, but it has been enough to replace not only AT&T DSL, but also AT&T phone and Charter cable TV - our Internet connection feeds everything (laptop into HDTV for any TV we might wanna watch, an Ooma instead of landline phone - works the same). I can Skype with a client, upload completed files as we talk, check email for updates, etc. at the same time. And I'm in a relatively "boonie" area, so I'd like to think that if you are in a relatively populated area, you should be ok...Of course Googling for your area will bring up local info and possible complaints...Good luck!
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Drew · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:27 am Post subject:

I'm not too thrilled with ATT, either. Last Wed a UPS package arrived. Inside there was a new modem and a bunch of wires and a letter announcing at 8:00 PM Friday, I was being switched to UVerse. Huh? Wha?
After numerous calls and conflicting information from various "customer care" agents I was instructed to hook up all new equipment after 8:00 PM-- "NOT SOONER", as all regular DSL would go down at that time.

So, at noon Friday, smack-dab in the middle of a client conference on Skype, DSL goes out.

I call ATT.
"Well, the tech was in the area then and decided to make the switch early. Go ahead and hook up the new equipment now."
"Well thank you very ****** much for the word up!"

It wasn't an easy transition. After three hours, numerous calls back-and-forth, and my studio a massive spaghetti junction of old and new cables---I finally had service again.

It ain't any faster, either.
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imaginator · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 11:08 am Post subject:

i must be specially blessed in this area. my DSL was just fine and i almost always had decent reponse when calling about an issue, which wasn't often.

switched to Uverse this spring and noticed a big improvement in upload speeds. installation was handled by a tech (who had a lot of wiring to do to make the whole-house installation work, but he did a great job).

it's been working great since and i have also enjoyed the improvement over the satellite tv i'd been using.

am not a shill for AT&T, but figured (as a well-known complainer) i might as well chime in with a positive when i had one.
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todd ellis · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 11:15 am Post subject:

i have had reasonably good luck with mediacom cable (31mbps down & sustained 1.5mbps with bursts of 3+ u Hobo Happy

--- that is until the major highway expansion/new intersection construction down the road that seems to cut some sort of major cable every week or two.

i am in a very residential neighborhood a few blocks from a community college (college has their own infrastructure - so it doesn't really apply) and i DO notice a bit of a dip when the kids get out of school - but it doesn't seem to be significant.
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Drew · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 11:37 am Post subject:

Interestingly, an ATT rep just called to get my input on how the transition went. I politely explained how I lost 3 hours of my day with the sudden change in switch-over schedule. They gave me a $30 discount. I can't really see any change in upload speeds.
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Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

Go cable Donna. Being that you probably do most of your up and downloads during the daytime local network traffic shouldn't be a problem. Cable is faster and more reliable than DSL. FIOS fiberoptic would be optimal if available. But your only real alternative is the devil for faster speeds and reliable connection.

Pam · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 1:50 pm Post subject:

Interesting this has come up as I've been dealing with this for about 7 weeks. AT&T came by in early August with a great deal to sign up folks along my street for Uverse. I currently have RCN which has been ok but the costs are starting to get ridiculous and I figured I might get faster speed. So I signed up. Then I started getting calls from the order fulfillment department saying I had DSL (which I didn't) and they couldn't process my order. Many days and calls later I'm with a rep from the Office of the President (whoopdidoo) saying no I don't have DSL, I have coax cable running into the house. The only other thing running into my house was my ISDN service which is provided (at GREAT expense) by AT&T. I finally get a message last week saying the only way I could get their Uverse service is to disconnect my ISDN. Which made me laugh. I'll certainly be disconnecting your income providing service to add your income reducing service. Talk about a stupid business!
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Donna · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 2:41 pm Post subject:

Wow Pam, doesn't that give you such confidence in the reliability and quality of, well, anything from them? Ewwp.
Well, I ordered Charter today, the install is tomorrow, and the beat goes on.
One of my new year's goals (September Is the Beginning of the Year) is to need ISDN within the next 12 months, so I am looking forward to that adventure as well!
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Stormtrooper 7 · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 3:11 pm Post subject:

Hi Donna,

Hope it goes well for you. As far as AT&T goes... I avoid those guys like the plague. I even had cell service with them for years before my reception at home vaporized with the inception of 3G. Turns out they turned the signal from the towers away from my house to cover 2 interstates. They told me that I still had service at my street so I couldn't get out of the contract. As long as there was a signal on my property it was considered "available." So basically to use my phone I would have to go outside and stand in the street to make a phone call. Even in the snow.... Well after 6 months, 7 store visits and 32 phone calls, and finally getting to the regional head honcho, I was able to get out of the contract.

I was going to try DSL from them because at the time they were faster than Charter, and at the time Charter an I were at odds. Well... when I tried to get DSL installed, it was a complete disaster. The tech never showed... twice. Then when he did he just popped in 3 weeks later and began installing a box on my house. I went out to see what was going on and I told him to get lost. So after we had a few words he left. Then.... AT&T began charging me for DSL and a modem I didn't have. Then it took me 4 months to get them to take it off my billing for my home phone and another 2 months to get all of the refunds. And this was after numerous phone calls to a bunch of morons in customer service.

DSL here is still at 6 meg. I get 35 meg consistently from Charter and sometimes a bit higher depending on time of day. Two months ago I asked about my speed becasue I was having trouble. They did a check, sent a guy out the next day and replaced my modem for nothing.

I was having trouble with Charter 2 or 3 years ago, but around here it seems they sure have gotten their act together and now.. I wouldn't trade them for anything at this point. (Hope this doesn't jinx it...) I have almost zero down time and my speed is rarely if ever under 35. And from what I understand, they are thinking about doing an increase again before the end of the year. Back in January I had a rep tell me they were shooting for 100 before this coming January. But we'll see.

They have their moments, but I would go with Charter any day of the week.
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ccpetersen · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:38 pm Post subject:

We had Charter before we moved West and loved the service. Out here, we can't get cable, can't get DSL, can't get FiOs because we're in that rural area that we all pay taxes on our cell and other bills to support access to.... except, we can't get any of that here.

ISDN? Yeah, try asking Century Link about that... they have no freeking clue. I tried. They kept referring me to people in Salt Lake City who don't know what ISDN is.

And, do NOT get me started on AT&T, esp. the wireless side.

It took three years of dealing with moron-grade phone answerers in 'customer service' to fix a problem that one technician told us was a five-minute fix. THREE FRICKING YEARS of calls to people who barely spoke English, or weren't trained to deal with customers who had a problem slightly outside of their limited areas of "expertise." Plus, we had a contract we couldn't get out of.

I finally had to resort to publicizing our issues on Twitter. Lo and behold, a "customer care rep" saw the tweets and finally took us under her wing.

I WISH we could get charter back.. but nobody wants to service rural areas with cable. The taxes are being collected to service us... but, as usual, the big cities get all the service.

The upside is, we have gorgeous sunsets, fresh air, and solitude. And, our internet access is via microwave relay at a whopping 7 mpbs.
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Donna · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:45 am Post subject:

Doo doo doo, waitin' for the cable guy...
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imaginator · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 7:25 am Post subject:

...i must have jinxed myself.

after my effusive praise of UVerse, i've had two total outages in the past four days, both attributed to bad switching/connection/software/black magic. told the guy this morning as much as i absolutely despise time/warner cable, i'm starting to wonder.
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