Review by mike_f 
UPDATED: 197 days ago
member for 2.9 years, 180 visits, last login: 6 days ago
 Hawthorne,Los Angeles,CA
 $23 per month (12 month contract)
 about 2 days
 AT&T
 "Quick self serve install, solid connection, decent services"
 "Inconsistent tech support"
 "Still better than the other DSL alternatives"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Due to the high cost of cable internet access I only considered AT&T, Sonic.net and DSLExtreme in my area (metropolitan Los Angeles). Sonic.net had good reviews but some cost issue, AT&T is now the arrogant monopoly so I went with DSLX at the basic 768k service (upgraded to 1.5m).
The modem arrived by overnight shipping, plugged it in and it synced IMMEDIATELY - impressively fast provisioning! I chose not to install the provided software, and no PPPoE 'dialer' is needed since they use DHCP. Set up a LAN connection (after my firewall s/w was verified) and was online quickly.
Email service was OK but I use another provider (fastmail) for that; DSLX uses Google hosting now which I'm leery of. Personal web site hosting is basic - code your own HTML and upload it. UseNet access is above average, not too hard for that rating since all the big boys are eliminating the alt. groups or UseNet entirely.
I've only been disconnected (lost sync) a few times for short periods. Unfortunately tech support insists on reading their scripts, invoking the obvious (reboot your modem) and often refuses to escalate for more esoteric issues like excessive packet loss or latency.
Billing has been reliable but occasionally inscrutable - the descriptions on the invoice may not be helpful.
The company is very smart to participate in the forums here - more complex issues can get explained or resolved much better.
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