Review by dashfan9 
UPDATED: 38 days ago
member for 47 days, 5 visits, last login: 33 days ago
 Fort Polk,Vernon,LA
 $60 per month
 about 1 days
 "Tech came and installed the same day"
 "Speed issues,"
 "Horrible service, unknowledgable techs, unreliable"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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My wife and I are stuck in Fort Polk, Louisiana. Coming from Kansas, we had Cox, and their internet was great.
My wife was lucky enough that her office let her take her laptop and connect to their VPN from down here. We chose Suddenlink because they offered the fastest speed - 10mpbs. I thought their service would be excellent because they came and hooked us up the same day - I was extremely impressed.
Once my wife was up and working, we found that the speed during the day varied greatly. Using several speed tests, it ranges from ALMOST the promised 10 mbps, to 1.5mpbs.
The tech that came out ran his own speed test and said everything was fine. We explained that it was during certain periods of the day, especially when other people are home, and he said he would return the next morning at 8am to check it again. He was a no-show the next morning. He did, however, show up 1-2 days after that, unannounced. Not even a phone call. He came out to the house an additional time, and same results - he said he would "check with his boss and senior tech" and see what they could figure out. Nothing changed.
Over the next month or so, the speed kept going up and down, but my wife tried to work around it. Last Thursday, there was a large storm, and now we are able to connect to the internet, but the speed is horribly unreliable, and it keeps doing real quick disconnects that bump my wife off her network and slow her programs on the VPN to a crawl. Her billing rate is $120 an hour, so we're losing a lot of money.
Suddenlink keeps coming out and "testing the line" and is unable to find a problem. I'm currently looking at switching ISPs, but there is only one other available service provider on post. They offer a slower speed, but if it's reliable, we're done with Suddenlink.
A note about their cable TV service - it's horrible too. Channels sound or look like a weak broadcast, several channels always go out (ESPN!!!!!)...I can't wait to get out of this place, or at least find a decent provider down here.
***UPDATE - 29 Oct 09 - Suddenlink contacted me today and sent out a tech that tested our up/down speed. He said that our ping speed was miserable and our speed definitely was a problem. Later on this evening, I received a call and was told that on Tuesday at 2:00 am they will split us to two channels - one up and one down. Hopefully that fixes the problem. He at least admitted what I thought before - there are way, way too many people on the node. Hopefully splitting the channels works. I'll update next time something noteworthy comes up. Ping is currently 51ms, download is 1.64mpbs, and up is .76mpbs.
***UPDATE - 4 Nov 09 - It seems that the issue has been resolved. Speed tests throughout the day are consistently 10 mpbs, plus or minus a little. Ping tests are quite fast, too. A tech stopped by today to make sure that we are receiving the speeds we are paying for. I am very satisfied with the fix thus far, and I appreciate Mr. Abel's quick response to my complaint.
Followup comments:  Pete Abel
Premium
join:2008-01-15
Saint Louis, MO
 ·Charter Pipeline
| With Suddenlink I'm in the Corp. office and am vetted to assist customers in this forum (»Suddenlink Tech Support). If you'll share the name on the account -- you can IM me -- I'd be happy to escalate these issues to senior managers in your area. Let me know. | |
| tasmithe
join:2002-09-16
Graham, NC | rating? Why did you give the top rating if it's so horrible? | |
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