 Review by swilliams 
UPDATED: 267 days ago
member for 8.9 years, 3163 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Mount Prospect,Cook,IL
 $37 per month
 about 90 days
 AT&T
 "Was turned on 10 days early, Worked right out of the box"
 "Website never showed order status; install CD puts extra stuff on your PC (but it's bypassable from the FAQ from the forum)."
 "Once past the CD setup process and it's running, it's very, very nice"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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11/22/07 EDIT:
ATT Direct ROCKS! No DSL here in my specific building as the POTS were still connected as pair gained CO lines. However, full Elite speed was across the street. Several orders, LOTS of posts, two trucks rolls, and IT'S DONE. Full Elite rock solid speed. This NEVER could have gotten done without ATT Direct because I'd never be able to call the correct people (or even know where they were) if I had to do this alone.
Your Throughput
Download = 5.061 Mbps
Upload = 654.77 kbps
THANK YOU ATT, ASI and ATT Direct DSLR people. You guys are awesome.
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06/30/07 EDIT:
Well, it's been fun SBC/AT&T. But I'm moving and my new town does not have any AT&T DSL availability (confirmed by AT&T Direct here on DSLR). So, while the relationship was fun, it's time to break up and move on to that new hot little number, Comcast. (sigh...........)
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05/11/06 EDIT:
All's well still. Upgraded to the 'Elite' package and even though they botched the Redback setting, a quick post to AT&T Direct here got it fixed in a day. Speeds are solid and consistent.
Interesting note... My very first speed test when I first signed up in Nov. 2002:
2002-11-20 19:15:14 EST: 630 / 133
Your download speed : 630934 bps, or 630 kbps.
A 77 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 133578 bps, or 133 kbps.
My current speed test on 05/11/2006:
Your Throughput
Download = 5.097 Mbps
Upload = 660.17 kbps
A little different. And half the original $49.95 price I was THRILLED to pay back in 2002.
No problems at all. Highly recommended.
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07/11/05 EDIT:
All's well. Nothing goes wrong. It just flat out works. All the time. In fact, my dyndns.org entry keeps timing out on me (and threatening cancellation) because my IP address doesn't change often enough (30 days) to keep the service up to date. I have to powercycle my router just to keep the service. How strange is THAT? Who would have thought a TELCO would ever be that reliable with DSL service. I remain incredibly impressed.
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09/23/04 EDIT:
Things were fine. Contract was up in early December so I decided to renew early on 09/17/04 so the billing would be caught up by the time the existing contract ended. (Didn't want to jump from $26.95 to $49.95 for the same service). Upgraded via the SBC website to the 3.0/512 package for $36.95 from the current 1.5/128 one for $26.95. Site said 10 business days as a due date. Posted in the SBC Direct to ensure the upgrade was received as I never received an email confirming the order. Toaster responded and said the actual due date was 09/23. On the 21st, the sync (per the Efficient 5100b modem) showed a new sync rate of 3008/512. Speeds tests showed the upload had been changed but not the download. No problem... it's a two step process. Came home from work on 09/22 and the line was synced as before but I could not login to the SBC network (said "server not found.") using the DSL line. Dial up back up using the same user name/password worked perfectly, so it was most likely my line. Posted the problem in the SBC Direct forum again. Beach Boy responded almost immediately and said the line looked good from their end. Tried a few things here (changed modem to an old 5360 and changed the filter) and still had no luck. Decided to call it a night and then plug into the NID the next evening. However, I came home from work on 09/23 and it everything worked perfectly again. After a little RWIN/MTU tweaking, speeds are:
Download = 2.491 Mbps
Upload = 438.35 kbps
Outstanding. Just the way it's supposed to work. I NEVER thought I'd renew a 2nd time. I've now had SBC DSL for over just about two years now. I've never had an ISP for more than six months prior to this. For an ILEC, and for me, they are doing a terrific job.
THANKS TOASTER AND BEACH BOY.
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05/02/04 EDIT:
Things are still fine. Billing has been $26.95, speeds have been right where they should be morning, noon and night. There was some goofy stuff with DNS servers this last week or so but statically setting them in the router to Genuity's servers have fixed that. Even with some unfortunate SBC cutbacks on the official people in the forums, things still are getting done, if perhaps a bit longer then before. NOTE TO SBC MANAGEMENT: GET MORE PEOPLE IN THE FORUMS! It works really well here and is a great way for customers who know what they're doing to get to the people they need inside SBC and ASI to get things done.
Still glad I've got the service. Even though Comcast keeps sending me flyers, I'm sticking with SBC.
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12/02/03 EDIT:
One year contract was up. Contacted Annonamoose (out of the Emerging Products Center) and also helping out here in the Ameritech forum. Asked to have the 1.5/256 profile dropped to 1.5/128 as I don't need the upload speed and down the road, the /128 will be changed to 256, so in the end, I will lose nothing. Oh, and my monthly rate drops from $49.95 to $26.95. Service is rock solid. Never in a million years did I think I'd renew a contract with an ILEC. But they're *that* good, at least in my experience. If you can, get them, if for no other reason than the support in the SBC-Ameritech forum here on BBR.
Thanks, Annonamoose!
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09/04/03 EDIT:
Speeds are still fine. Service is reliable. I can think of maybe two very minor outages I've experienced since my last update in February. Very good service. I've recommended it to many people who were considering SBC versus Comcast.
Just ran the SBC Speed Test out of Elmhurst IL:
Your Throughput
Download = 1.296 Mbps
Upload = 245.70 kbps
Also ran the Chicago Speakeasy.net Speed Test:
2003-09-04 14:29:10 EST: 1294 / 242
Your download speed : 1294727 bps, or 1294 kbps.
A 158 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 242424 bps, or 242 kbps.
Seems like broadband .. above the 1mbit barrier!
Works for me!
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02/07/03 EDIT:
Speeds are still holding perfectly. Speeds at 8:00pm are the same as 8:00am. I've tested it every night for the past week and it's always right where it should be, both on the SBC Speed Test and on »chi.speakeasy.net. Sync has never been lost either since the speed upgrade in December. Nice job SBC and Beach Boy and the others involved!
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01/30/03 EDIT:
My download speeds were dropping in the evening to about half or less of what they should have been. Felt *exactly* like an oversold network. Would have perfect speeds at 8:00am but lousy ones at 8:00pm. I (and several others who were experiencing the same problems) politely complained in the Ameritech forum. And you know what? Beach Boy, an internal SBC employee who is in the forum as part of his position, listened and got the PROBLEM FIXED!!! No "it's your fault, stupid customer, not ours." No "your speeds aren't guaranteed - they're good enough." He and his coworkers found the problem and fixed it. Speeds are now:
Your Throughput
Download = 1.289 Mbps
Upload = 245.94 kbps
And that was run at 7:30pm on a Thursday night. Perfect with the PPPoE overhead. Thanks so much to SBC for caring about this and doing something about it. I'm impressed.
Also, connection reliability has been stellar since my upgrade request was completed.
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12/10/02 EDIT:
I decided to upgrade my speed and called Team Data. They said no problem and it would be turned up in a week or so. Sure enough, on that day, I lost sync for a few minutes and when it came up, I was getting 648/235. Which said to me they goofed on the profile setting and set the upload correctly but not the download. Called tech support. Was transfered amongst several people since they either didn't know what I was talking about or didn't wish to dig into it. One person even said "648/225? That's pretty good speed. You're not happy?" [SIGH]. Finally got a guy who said I should wait til the end of the day as he showed the speed order upgrade still open. OK. Got a trouble ticket number and hung up. Waited a few hours and nothing changed so I called back to check on the repair status.. A few transfers later I was told the order's still going - wait was the suggestion again.
OK. Around the same time as the upload/no download occured, I posted in the Ameritech forum about it. Got a few replies. Then the line went totally dead. Waited a few hours and still had no sync at all. IM'd ADSL Guy from backup dial up around the end of the day. Was told the RT I was connected to was messed up. I know that ADSL Guy is daytime and Toaster2K is evenings so I waited a little more time til after business hours then I IM'd Toaster. A few rounds back and forth confirming the RT was messed and my profile was screwed. A few more IM rounds and about 11:00PM, it all came back up. Speed: 1265/245. Outstanding. THANKS SO MUCH TO ADSL GUY AND TOASTER2K!!!!
Moral of the story - if you have a due date for anything, wait until the day after that date before calling in if things aren't correct. With my impatience, I most likely forced something that should have been left alone and in the process, I broke it.....
Since that day, I've never lost sync or had any speeds less than about 1250/225ish. Very nice.
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11/24/02: EDIT:
I complained about having to use the CD to register a user name. I missed the link (»SBC DSL FAQ »How do I register a newly activated DSL line with SBC Yahoo?) in one of the FAQ's in the Ameritech forum that shows how to register a new SBC/Yahoo! DSL account without using the CD.
After tweaking, speed is solid 648/136 kbps. I'm very happy so far.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW: Been trying to get ANY DSL other than IDSL for 3+ years. When I bought a new house 3 years ago, I thought for sure the new wiring in the ground for the POTS service would make it that much easier for solid DSL. Nope. Fiber-in-the-line just like lots of folks.
Nonetheless... SBC/Ameritech just installed a brand new RT over the summer (right next to the old one) at the entrance to my subdivision. Ameritech's Team Data said it would be on by the end of November.
I tried to place the order online on 11/14. Wouldn't accept it saying their servers were down. Called instead. HelpfulOrderingGuy on the phone went through everything step by scripted step and it took quite awhile to order but he was complete.
Was given a turn on date of 12/2. Called today (11/20) to check on the order as the "Track Your Order" section of access.yahoo.com showed no order for me.
OrderCheckGuy was very helpful. Said service was to be on by the 22nd (10 days early!) and that the modem (Speedstream 5360) was shipped and scheduled to arrive today. Gave me the tracking #. Sure enough, UPS was at my door 3 hours later.
Plugged in the modem and got the DSL light. Hooked up the laptop and started the LONG process of setting it up with the supplied CD. Got to the "locating registration servers" and it kept timing out. Turns out even though it was using a Flash routine for the registration, the IE settings (set for proxy at work) blocked the access. Turned that off and the rest of the registration went fine.
Unfortunately, the CD adds ALL kinds of extra programs and other stuff. It practically wrecks the browser with all its crap. And you have to wade through rejecting all kinds of Yahoo! add ons from Consumer Reports subscriptions to extra SBC Yahoo! Photos and Briefcase Storage.
But once it was done (took almost an hour on my slow laptop), it rebooted and connected perfectly. Apparently, you need to go through the entire process once so you can get your primary user name and password. You can't get it any other way I don't think... Once it was done, put RASPPPoE on the main PC (that I didn't want clogged up) and it connected right off the bat.
First speed test showed:
2002-11-20 19:15:14 EST: 630 / 133
Your download speed : 630934 bps, or 630 kbps.
A 77 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 133578 bps, or 133 kbps.
So far, it's exactly what I'd hoped for. Can't speak for the connection reliability or Tech Support as it's too new to tell. I’ll update as things progress.
NOTE: On the "fill out the review" page, it asks for a rating of the "Mail,DNS,News" which so far works fine and I rated it five stars. Yet on the completed review, these show up as "Services" which might mean "how are the extras?" The extras of all the Yahoo! add on stuff isn't worth anything to me...
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