 Review by obeythelaw 
UPDATED: 2.2 years ago
member for 6.5 years, 3181 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Bayonne,Hudson,NJ
 $45 per month
 about 10 days
 "Relatively fast and pretty reliable"
 "Not much."
 "Speed is good and relatively reliable. If a choice between DSL and OOL, choose OOL for its speed, especially if networking"
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(ratings match consensus)
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OOL is simply one of the best ISP's around. Many people complain out the news server or port blocking and capping. I guess I'm an average user but I've never experienced any of that. All I experience is pretty fast speed!
Update 10/15/2004: Well, I've been with OOL for close to three years. I've never really had any problems with OOL. Speed is fast and I rarely see any downtime. Notwithstanding this, I decided to give Verizon DSL a try for 30 days. All I have to say is that after 2 days I am definitely sticking with OOL. First of all, I could "feel" slower on DSL. I guess I am spoiled by OOL's speeds but its just too slow. Second, my line was provisioned at 1.5/364. I confirmed this with two people. However, I noticed that as soon as I got DSL my download speed was half that. After two days of speaking with tech support, who I might add are courteous but somewhat clueless, they could not figure out why I wasn't getting the full speed I was provisioned at. Their final suggestion was that either 1) I should move my modem away from any magnetic interference or 2) that in the evenings, the network servers can slow down. My second gripe is that I tried networking my DSL connection. That was relatively easy. However, because I wasn't getting full speed, and even if I were, if my entire family was wirelessly connecting to the Internet at the same time, my speed took a major hit. Not so with OOL. Because OOL offers more bandwidth more people can be networked without feeling bandwidth slowdown. All, in all, I am not happy with Verizon DSL. Don't get me wrong. It's good for those that can't get anything else. But when OOL is an option, OOL beats DSL hands down.
Update 3-8-05--Well, this may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. OOL has begun throttling its connections for its members. Plan on downloading that 100 MB piece of software? The connection is now throttled instead of the normal speed you used to get. It's been throttled so much that it now matches Verizon's highest speed at around 3MB down. Also, many people, including myself, have begun experiencing annoying DNS issues. With all of this stuff, I'm afraid I may have to reconsider my shortlived Verizon experience and give Verizon a call.
Update 8-16-05: After being with OOL for more than 3 years, I think I've seen anything and everything that can be good and bad about OOL. I have to say that the good has outweighed any bad during the time I have had OOL. OOL is still reliable and rarely goes out. Email is now more stable than it probably has ever been. I no longer achieve the "max" speeds of 9000/1000 but its still faster than what I would get with DSL. The only thing that would make me switch now is if FIOS became available to me. Overall, I would still say that OOL is a good broadband provider with good speeds and reliability and low pings overall. Still a bit pricey but all of the cable providers are. Like I said, if FIOS became available, maybe then would I consider a switch. For now, I'm sticking with OOL.
5-16-06: I've been with OOL now for almost 5 years. Its been above average throughout the time. However, I can now feel my node completely saturated. So much so that in the evenings my speeds almost come to a crawl. But surfing the internet at 3:00 a.m. seems to be okay. When FIOS becomes available I will likely consider switching. Also, OOL has yet to provide BOOST or even the 15/2 speeds in my area yet. It seems like so many other areas have had it for a while.
6-3-06: Well, finally got upgraded to the 15/2 speeds. Its nice, but I notice a drop at peak times. Overall, pretty good. Haven't had mail problems in over a year. All in all, Optimum Online has proven that it can offer reliable, albeit, sometimes oversaturated speeds, for an okay price. If FIOS comes along I think I would try it out, but for now, OOL beats the competition.
12-10-16: I've had the 15/2 upgrade for some time. It comes close to about 11/1.5. OOL has now become consistent in terms of speed and overall reliability. Can't complain.
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