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Review by mist668 See Profile

  • Location: Middleburg, Snyder, PA, USA
  • Cost: $75 per month
  • Install: about 35 days
Having a docsis 3 modem it works flawless
Having older modem not docsis 3 does not work well
There are NO OTHER OPTIONS except verizon crap dsl
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I moved from the other side of town about 10 miles and moving to an area that had a better internet option was the deal breaker for me. Found a rental at same price monthly where I could get SECV who resells prolog or ptd.net whatever you want to call it. I had an old motorola modem sb5100 from my Nittney Media in New Bloomfield days and when I called the local office in Northumberland they said yeah it will work with the 20/2 package at 50.95. Ordered installation for after I moved into new place and was about a month out for installation. Service guy got the internet from the box outside on a remote building into the house in about an hour and the only thing I can complain about is him ripping out the old wires from the previous people (who had directv install cables through the access hole in the wall) as my goals were to use the old sat cables to hook up my OTA. Some connectors later and back up and running. Not to mind silicone caulking... for some reason he left a hole open on the side of the house.

All was hooked up and the installation tech had to call the home office and when he said can you set up the modem to the lady he was talking to, on his work phone, said let me call you back. After 20 minutes she did not and he ended up calling another person to program my modem to ensure it was working before he left. When this lady answered she programmed the modem but the whole time you could hear people in the background laughing and having a good time, whatever was going on at the office was a joke. After all that the service was hooked up and set, speed tests showed about 18-19 down and 2 up which is right where a speed test should be.

THE BAD

After a week the modem I had started dropping out. I did a power cycle and all would work again for about another week until drop outs again. I called PTD for tech support and they said they couldn't do anything at all for me until the modem dropped out again so they could see what was up. After a week the modem dropped out again. I called PTD tech support and they, after putting me on hold for about 10 minutes to obviously get a supervisor or tech to review my case, told me I need to have SECV come out and check my lines. They gave me a service ticket number and basically said tough shit. I called SECV in Northumberland and talked to with wicked witch of the west who told me that my modem was very old and was not really supported and there wasn't anything she could do except send me an update to the modem and hope that would work. I went about a week and then the modem dropped again. I called PTD tech support and said what is going on with the modem dropping out. They couldn't see anything wrong except that it was in a "not online not offline state" and remotely reset the modem. I asked I said is this an issue with the modem or the line since SECV is not helping me. The PTD rep wouldn't answer me saying that they were unable to determine that since SECV was not out to test. I asked again I said if my modem is dropping there has to be some kind of error report or failure trigger they could see, hell I could log into my browser and see that I was having sync issues myself. Once again PTD basically said they were stumped. Good job guys you run a data center and serve a hell of a lot of area in PA and other places but couldn't answer a very basic question. I had asked if I purchased the SB6141 if that would solve my issues and if they knew of anyone having that modem and it working well. If you have any idea of where the last few sentences have been going you could have guessed that when I say they have no idea in hell what that model even is, that was their response.

Conclusion

After buying the SB6141 I haven't had any drops at all since I have been using that modem. I'm not against the idea of buying a modem to use to access the internet as I will take it with me in the future, but when a customer simply asks you what the heck is going to work on your network tell them either it will or won't. SECV and PTD are a hell of a better option then verizon DSL 3/1 at 37 a month versus my 51 for PTD 20/2. I haven't had any reason to complain since the new modem and I rarely type reviews. If it wasn't for the "wicked witch of the west" that answered the phone quite rudely like I was inconveniencing her when I asked why my modem quit, I wouldn't have typed this review. A+ effort to you who works in the office in Northumberland PA.

ON A SIDE NOTE

I have a 200 gig down and 20 gig up cap that is enforced from 5 pm to 1 am daily. I just move my heavy downloading and streaming to off peak times. My family uses hulu and netflix with OTA only so that is why I do so. I have only come close to hitting that cap once on the download and I was about 10 gigs away from doing so.

10/2/15

Overall have been happy. Not excited about having a capped service now as when I signed up I had peak windows that were only capped, now it is all the time. Closest I have been to my 500GB cap is about 450 and that is with xbox game downloads and heavy streaming. No issues with connection or speed what so ever and now that I am on auto pay and they got my new card details straightened out, I have no need to contact them ever.

4/3/16

Opened my mail and saw the new rate hikes. Non TV subscribers start at 40/4 for $70 a month 600 gig cap. Every year the price goes up $10!!!!! We don't use that much speed and have no other option. I wish we could opt out of speed and price increases.

4/6/17

Another bend over and take it rate hike. $75 for 50/4 with a 750 cap. I wish I could say screw off but just my only option. Had to have multiple service calls to fix an amp that went bad on the pole. No other issues other than price.

4/10/18

Once again another yearly price increase. My plan of $80 a month now for 75/5-6 not sure on upload without looking. No issues to report at all in a years time other than some billing issues which were on my end with an expired card.

member for 13.1 years, 922 visits, last login: 3.1 years ago
updated 5.9 years ago


jazzlady
join:2005-08-04
Tannersville, PA

jazzlady

Member

PTD/BRC blows chunks...

If I had a choice of SECTV I would grab it in a heartbeat.

I'm stuck with Blue Ridge Cable (PTD) and it's bandwidth caps and high prices.

When I cut the cord, my 15/2 is going to cost me $68 a month, with a 500GB cap.

If I had SECTV, I could get the same speed for $50 a month, with NO caps.

ALL the bandwidth for BOTH companies comes from PTD.

This is what happens when you let a monopoly rule an area... :-/
mist668
join:2011-02-15
Middleburg, PA

1 recommendation

mist668

Member

Re: PTD/BRC blows chunks...

Yeah well ask anyone in the area and while their services are extremely reliable for most, they keep jacking the price up $5 every 6 months to a year and slowly raise caps. That's cool and all but when I signed up for $50 initially, now I'm at $70 and have no other lower option.