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 Review by Sysadmin 
UPDATED: 149 days ago
member for 8.1 years, 3549 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Auburn,Placer,CA
 $25 per month (12 month contract)
 about 11 days
 SBC
 "The SBC employees here at BBR"
 "None"
 "Great deal at a great price!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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I am a former DirecTV DSL customer and the first time I called Pac Bell to do the switch I was told they could not do it due to my distance from the CO. After my whining about it in the DirecTV DSL forum I was contacted by a SBC employee from the Ameritech forum and he said that SBC wants everyone that is not outside the distance limit and would see what he can do to get it going for me.
I get a phone call from SBC the next day to get the ball rolling. We had to issue a disconnect so DirecTV DSL would release my line before we could go to the next step. On Tuesday, March 4th I receive a call from SBC saying the line is released and I should receive my router by Friday. On Friday the router arrives. Saturday afternoon I install the router and sync right up! This is awesome considering they gave me Monday, March 10th as the install date. 
I have a PPPoE setup running through a SMC Router. I'm still doing some tweaks to get the best speed out of this but I must say right now that page loads are faster then my experience on DirecTV DSL.
Update 03/13/03: I'm hoping I'm on the ramp up plan as my bandwidth is consistently low 159/106 (my last 4 speed tests). I'll post another update when the 10 days ramp up windows is up.
Update 07/29/03: Not too long after my post about the low download bandwidth I contacted a SBC employee in the Pac Bell SBC forum and the set the cap at 384/128.
I had some issues with the modem losing sync and I noticed them getting worse all the time. I also had some issues with a lot of static on my phone line that got to the point I would not be able to hear the person on the other end of the line or worse, it would drop the connection. I finally called SBC to have them check it out again (I've had the static problem for 2+ years and they could never find the problem or the static would go away while they were there so they could not trace it down). This tech found the problem was the line from the box on the wall to the pole near my house. He swapped it out with another one and the static was gone! I have not seen where I've lost sync since!!!
Update 1/29/04: I on occasion will have sync issues but I do think its due to distance and the quality of the lines in my area. Looks like its time to call SBC again since I also get static on the line while on the phone.
Update 8/18/04: The only thing I can add right now is that I wish they would add a CO or RT closer to me so I can get better speeds. Other than that at least I have broadband in an area where none of my neighbors do!
Update 07/13/05: The connection is rock solid and the upload is the same ad my download now 384/384! Not too bad for where I am.
Update 01/23/06: Not much to report other than it keeps working. I hope that some day I can get better speeds, some broadband is better than no broadband!
Update 01/05/07: I am still in the same boat as far as speeds, about 340/340. The latest is I am up for renewal an they want to charge me $39/mo. I can get wireless with 700/700 for the same price. My only worry there is it is a small company and I would expect to have more issues because of that.
Update 07/20/07: I finally have good news in the speed department. I found out despite being out of range per AT&T that I had a connection problem with my internal wiring. I replaced the jack in the kitchen and then went to the AT&T direct site here at BBR to have them test the line. The results came back great as far as the noise was concerned so I made a request to get the speed increased and now I am on the 1.5/384 plan. Oh yea, I am only paying $19.95/Mo now.
Trunk Status IS-NR
DSL Down
Relative Capacity Occupation (0 - 100%) 33
Noise Margin (-64 to 63 dB) 10
Transmitted Signal Power (-31 to 31 dBm) 18
Signal Attenuation (0 to 127 dB) 59
Max Attainable Bit Rate (Kbps) 1440
Current Bit Rate (Kbps) 384
Cell Count 21920504
DSL Up
Relative Capacity Occupation (0 - 100%) 61
Noise Margin (-64 to 63 dB) 15
Transmitted Signal Power (-31 to 31 dBm) 12
Signal Attenuation (0 to 127 dB) 35
Max Attainable Bit Rate (Kbps) 672
Current Bit Rate (Kbps) 384
Cell Count 63268848
Upload speed is 1311 and download is 311
Update 3/24/08: There's not much new to report. I am still getting the same speeds, the connection has been rock solid, the price went down due to a special they were running. It is now $12.99/mo.
Followup comments:  
David
Last man standing
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs: | I think you can get a lower month to month price. I believe there is a 384-768/128-384 package for around $15 a month.
I know it can be re-rated we do it all the time. | |
| 
ahtak
@pacbell.net
| BS is a better name for AT&T Promises, promises, and no delivery, when they first setup this "extreme" "pro" (fill in any BS name you would like) i was told i could get up to 6k down and .780 up or close to that, and it did give me 5.4, which i was very happy with and it stayed that way for about 6 weeks, then the errors started, and got worse and worse, called them up and they said WELL YOU CANT GET THAT SPEED IN YOUR AREA..Hmm then how did i get it for the first 6 weeks???? now i get 3.2x 512, and since its OVER 1/2 of the 6 possible they say they have fulfilled their promise. PLEASE get a new service in my area so that i can tell these BS artists goodbye. | |
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