Review by Tim618 
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 4.8 years, 1745 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Garrettsville,Portage,OH
 $35 per month (12 month contract)
 about 4 days
 AllTel
 "Finally have a stable connection with them"
 "low upload, horrble support"
 "decent deal if its your only option"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Update: 5-15-07
Well I've had a heck of a time with windstream. I still think there an ok ISP. If you read my previous update, i finally got them to get me 3 meg. Well it worked ok for a while, and then i started to get a really bad line problem, i was taking incrementing errors on the dsl modem. I'd log into the modem and see the errors (showed right beside SNR). There were tons of them. I had a tech come out and he acknowledged that there shouldn't be more than 2 errors, i was getting thousands. So they "worked" on my line. I called and recalled and had a tech switch out my modem, work on my line. Every time they would claim they found something and fixed it but it wouldn't help out at all. If any of you remember i also have had a terrible hum on my line for about a year and a half. Well it got so bad i coudln't take it anymore. I had tickets and techs out every week for two months working on phone or dsl, and they never could fix either. So i signed up with Via Talk VOIP phone service. I also tried to port my existing number over, but was unable to. In the process of trying to keep my home windstream number and port it over, i ordered a "new line" so i could get DSL on it and the viatalk could take my old number.
SO I order a "new" phone line. I got a new number and ordered 1.5 greenstreak (naked) DSL on it. Well after fighting with them for about 3 weeks they finally got it setup right, i now have 1.5 meg dsl, and NO ERRORS! With no more hum on my phone(because of the VOIP)! In a week and a half i had 16 errors on my modem, much better than 8000 in 3 days! The only downside is that the 1.5 greenstreak DSL costs 35 a month. But even with that, i get unlimited calling with Via talk for about 9 dollars a month! i'm still saving over 20 a month. The VOIP works great, the internet works great, im loving my setup finally! I'm pulling 1330/335 , 170 KBPS with my DSL and pings to the first hop are 22ms. Hopefully this stays like this! After everything got figured out, i tried to call windstream and ask for a a year and a half credit for all of my problems, especially with the hum on the phone, and said check the tickets from oct 05 and thats when i first reported it. She said she couldn't do anything for me because I didn't call in every month to the BILLING dept and let them know i had an on going problem. How was i supposed to know to do this? I called repair/tech support telling them its still not fixed! I ended up getting a 3 month credit out of her or 197$, so i won't be paying for my greenstreak until november or something like that. I wouldn't recommend this ISP unless its your only option. They are such a hassle to work with and are very shady in there service.
Update 7-21-06.
Well ever since being stuck with the 1.5 meg since last september, its just been a bummer because the DSL just seems a lot slower than it was, because it was! Anyways, i've called alltel every month since they bumped me back down to try to get them to bump me up but i just get into an argument everytime with the rep and them not doing anything for me. Well just this past week they were bought out by Windstream and now they are windstream communications. So i see that happened so i called windstream, and the very nice rep let me know that i was out of my contract and was paying full rate, so i verbally agreed to another year, so i could get the 24.95 a month for 1.5 then she asked what she could do for me and i said well I'd like to upgrade my DSL. She said okay, i said that i had 1.5 meg and i'd like to go to 3 meg, and she said okay let me check, and then i said i should be able to get it, i got a note in the mail a while ago telling me i could ( i tried this with alltel, but they still wouldn't upgrade me ) she said okay its upgraded and it will take effect within 2-6 hours, and about 4 hours later, im pulling 2500/310. FINALLY after 10 months of waiting i have my DSL ULTRA BACK!!! Windstream to me is by far much better than alltel. I hope they stay this good forever!
Update 9-29-05
had huge issues with my service disconnecting all the time, alltel sent me a new modem after about 2 weeks of begging, free of charge, its the brand new 4200 series modems, hooked it up, and the service was rock solid for 6 days without question, then it started disconnecting. had 3 techs out in the span of 2 weeks to look at it cuz my connection would stahl or drop everyday about 5-10 times a day. the one tech said there was something on the line that he had to take off, after that was supposedly fixed'' it still dropped, called them back again then the next guy said im 4000 feet over the max distance for ultra, so the next day they bump me down to 1200/300. well that is a bunch of crap because i've had ultra for almost 8 months and it worked fine! called back and a tech is supposed to come out today sometime and he will get an ear full from me and im still trying to get switched to fast path with ultra, if alltel somehow B.S.s there way out of giving me back my ultra, when i know my line is very cabable of having it, they will be hearing from me everyday till i get it back. when the techs came out they didn't even look at my line but theres something wrong because my SNR is jumping from 22 to 0.5 dB and thats why my connection is so unstable and if they wont look at it how can they fix it! will update once these issues are resolved...hopefully.
Update: 2-10-05
Alltel finally announced they would be upgrading to 3 megs this past week, finally. I promptly called the service desk and talked to a young man, and he quickly said, within 30 seconds, no you cant get it, your too far away from the DSL equipment, mind you, im 24,500 feet from the CO. but i had a great connecttion with the 1.5/384 (1240/350) and i just thought this guy was a little short with me about it so i called the next day and talked to a very nice lady about it and she said, well were not sure we'll have to send a tech out to look at your line, i said thats fine, she said it would be the following monday the 7th. waited all day for the tech but he never showed, called back tuesday afternoon and said whats the deal here, and they said the tech moved the day ahead to today (tuesday) but the guy i talked to said the tech wasnt needed and that my line would be provisioned with the upgraded speeds sometime in the afternoon that day. then he said hang on a minute let me call your local office, he did and he said ok sometime this afternoon you should be good. i hung up wiht him, about 30 minutes later the alltel rep from my local office called and said that i could not get this upgrade yet because im too far and its too new and to call back in a few months. supremely bummed, i said ok, but it was just weird to me that the one guy said i'd get the speeds that afternoon, so i went out, came home that night and noticed pages loading more quickly, did a speed test and got 2450/350, and downloading files at 315 kb/sec. so i guess alltel thinks i dont have it but i really do, im not complaining, so far, the upgrade has been far more consistent and stable then the 1.5 service, and i've only had it for 3 days. im enjoying, faster load times, better ping times for better gaming, and i can download bigger files a lot faster, way to go alltel.
Update 10/4.04-
Got a bill for 89 dollars! Didn't know what that was about, my DSL said it was 49.95 a month! got curious and called, they said that the contract was never renewed! GRRR. i renewed it myself! so they told me to go to this website and redo it so hopefully i will get credit for my account, also, my DSL has been pretty much completely dead this past saturday morning till today.. my DSL was losing sync, and not doing anything. it would be really sporatic, and one second it would be fine, then i'd go to a different page and nothing, and i'd lose the connection, nothing i did fixed this, i tried cycling the modem and router, going directly through the router, taking all of my phones off the hook, still nothing, called tech support 3 times, they put in a trouble ticket and insisted their was nothing they could do, i would be on the phone and they would be like: your line margins are fine... OMG your signals just dropped drastically! im like yeah no kidding, i dont have sync now. their like ok ok. tech came out this morning and he said their was a cut in my line and he repaired it, it seemed to fix the problem somewhat, although it has still been iffy today, not sure, sometimes its fine othertimes it lags, dont know what to do.. hopefully its just a hiccup in their system or something. Also, a buddy of mine who has SBC DSL just upgraded his DSL to 3.0/512 for 36.95 a month! alltel seriously needs to raise their downstream. for 2 dollars more a month he has DOUBLE my speeds!
UPDATE: 9-22-04. Was surfing around and all of a sudden my connection died. never did that before. tried to reboot the modem and router wiht no luck getting the internet back up..i was stumped, called teh help desk and the guy said, wow... your really lucky you got through, hundreds of people are on hold.. im like why? he said because all of alltel had temporarily gone down for about an hour or so. he said he didn't know why.. within about 20 mins or so i was back up and running... go figure..
Did a speed test for the heck of it today and noticed i was getting 1230/330!!! Alltel confirmed the upgrade was a 384 upgrade. much happier now. and for 34.95, its not bad at all...i'd liek it to be about 29.99. I'd also like them to have a 39.99 for 3.0/512 to compete with verizons 3.0/768 package for 44.95. alltel has become a much better deal, just wish it was a bit more stable connection and stable speeds... i've done speed tests with upload and gotten 180, 202, 240,256, 292,303, 320,and 331. not in any particular order..i don't know if its because the upgrade just happened or if its something on my end..who knows. all in all a good value now...
I waited for 4 years for broadband to be available in my area, finally, alltel got it available. signed up 12 month contract at 768/128 for 39.99, within 6 months they changed their teir 1 speeds to 1536/128 for 34.95. i was happy about that.setting up was easy, i didnt use the PPPoE software because i got a router and im on a 3 pc network, setup a static ip for each one and pretty stable connection. i get about 1150/105 and im about 22,000 feet from the CO. I do have sync loss problems and speed drops at least once a week, i call tech support and they tell me its a filter, but i have everything filtered. they finally concluded that its becasue i live 22,000 feet ( more than 4 miles!) from the CO. That's understandable. I download at about 150 kbps. I've had lots of calls to the tech support and they usually have been able to help me except for my latest problem, my speed dropping to about 15 kbps sometimes! grr! And I want more upload.. I would switch to the verizon 3.0/768 if i could get verizon, because its only 5 dollars more, yet alltel does nothing, they say they;ll increase their upload to 256 eventually. who knows when. If i could get out of alltel i would, but since their the only option around me, i have no choice if i want broadband. Alltel says their new standard plan will be 1536/256 for 34.95. who knows when that will happen, i still want more upload and download. come on alltel. get on the broadband bandwagon and get higher speeds and lower prices! But this is a decent value for broadband.
Followup comments:  hottboiinnc
Kyle
join:2003-10-15
Toledo, OH
 ·buckeye cable
 ·Time Warner VOIP
 ·1and1
| Buyout? Alltel spun their landline business off and then they merged it with VALOR Telecom who in return together formed Windstream Communications. Windstream never bought Alltel.
"Our name may be new, but our roots run deep. Headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., Windstream Communications offers phone, broadband and digital TV services, and has a long and proud history. Windstream was formed through the spinoff of Alltel's landline business and merger with VALOR Telecom." »www.windstream.com/about/overview.aspx | |
|  | clarenceamp
join:2006-09-27
Matthews, NC
| Re: Buyout? Yes this is correct. I am a Windstream employee previously an Alltel employee. Since we have changed to Windstream nothing has changed as far as the level of service, we are essentially Alltel. We are still operating on the same systems databases and also same equipment. The only thing that really change was the name. We are continually upgrading our equipment that may allow you to get higher speed DSL than you did in the past, but it has nothing to do with changing from Alltel to Windstream. 6mb DSL Extreme is availible in some areas but we are expanding this service throughout. So be on the lookout for it. | |
| | | hottboiinnc
Kyle
join:2003-10-15
Toledo, OH | Re: Buyout? I know. I was commenting on the part where the OP said that Windstream bought out Alltel. | |
| 
AT0918
@alltel.net
|  Alltel/Windstream Terrible Customer Service!!
Day 1- I called Alltel DSL customer support (July 12, 2006) when I noticed the terrible performance about 1:00pm. They actually told me it was on my end. They said I had some type of spyware or virus that was causing the problem. I wish that would have been the case, but it was not. That day I ran 3 different types of anti-spyware software and ran my updated Norton and nothing was found. You need to understand that I have a practically new $4,000+ Dell Computer as my home/office computer (It's a monster powerhouse). It has more speed and memory than most servers and is also packed with all the latest anti-virus and spyware software. I don't take any chances when it comes to my work and I want a computer and an internet provider that can keep up (Alltel did just fine up until July 12th. Since then they have not done a damn thing!).
Day 2- I called back and told them there were no viruses or spyware on my computer. They did a few more tests and confirmed that it was on their end and said the technicians would be getting the issued resolved A.S.A.P. The weekend was a day away, so I figured that it would be back to normal by no later than Monday July 17th. I thought to myself "Surely their technicians are capable of fixing a latency issue in 6 days!?" Wow was I WRONG to think that.... Alltel/Windstream either has technicians (or customer support people) that are lazy or just don't care, because they still to this day (July 29, 2006) DO NOT have this issue resolved and at this point I'm going CRAZY!!!
Days 3 thru 17- Same old crap from Alltel/Windstream customer support... Since July 12, I've called them 10 times on 10 different days. I've tried being nice. I've tried being mean. I've tried begging. I've pretended to cry. I've talked with as few as 1 person and as many as 5 in a single phone call. I've been told the issue would be resolved soon. I've been told they don't have a clue when it will be resolved. I've been told a technician would be coming to my house. I've been told everything but the truth and not a damn one of the people I've spoken with has been even the least bit helpful.
Bottom line is.... Alltel DSL Customer Support SUCKS and will not give me any answers. They will not let me speak to a technician. They won't tell me even what the hell the problem is... I personally think they are not even working on the issue and don't really give a crap about customer service or whether their customers have an internet connection or not. If they did, they would be able to give me some answers, but I've got nothing but the run-around since day 1. Maybe they are more worried about they're change over from Alltel to Windstream to take care of customers...
Where is Windstream's great customer service that I hear about every time I'm on hold for 30 mins waiting to be lied to again???
Definitely Dissatisfied!!
London, KY | |
| | andyu
join:2006-09-30
Sugar Land, TX
 ·Windstream
| Re: Alltel/Windstream Terrible Customer Service!! I have the $179 3mb/768k package, and I've been having similar problems dating back to about the same time your problems began.
I've been getting huge run-arounds from tech support and customer service - they show no records of most of my many calls, they show no records of the tech that THEY dispatched to my house, they deny telling me that the problem was with my home wiring (thus costing me $200 to run a new line from d-mark to router) etc, etc.
One phone tech had trouble accessing the router for my circuit, saying that it was "so new" that it wasn't in his database yet - after about 10 minutes he was able to access it. He said the change had been made about 2 months ago (at that time), which is just about the time I started having problems.
Today, a tech "rebuilt" my circuit. Speeds improved somewhat, but i'm still dropping packets. I'm getting at or better than 1.5mb down, but never much more than 2mb. I should be able to sustain 2.5mb or better on a 3mb connection, and I can't even PEAK that high. Throughout all of this I've been getting OK uploads - 615k on average - s/b better than that on a 768k connection, but I'll live with it.
I have a "ticket" open now, but this is the last time. If Winstream can't deliver me sustained speeds within 80% of the rated speeds, I'm going to find a different carrier and complain to the PUC. This has been going on for far too long. Frankly, I think they've over-selling bandwidth.
I agree that Alltel was bad, but so far, Windstream is worse. | |
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