Review by Stevert 
UPDATED: 1.7 years ago
member for 8 years, 2738 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Algonquin,Mchenry,IL
 $19 per month (12 month contract)
 about 5 days
 Ameritech
 "Stable, fast, good tech support"
 "First sales rep was shaky, e-mail not reliable at first"
 "Like a fine wine, it' improved as it's aged!"
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I got Ameritech/SBC DSL almost three years ago under my employer's Affinity Program and it has only gotten better as time goes by. The original one-year contract was for 768/128 and dynamic IP for $36.95/mo. Modem was the free-after-rebate Westell WireSpeed, model B90-36R16.
When I first tried to sign up, the sales rep said it wasn't available at my address, in spite of almost weekly postcards from Ameritech saying it was. Several Web sites also said it was available, including BBR and Ameritech's own prequal page! So I waited two weeks, filled out the form again, and was contacted by a different sales rep. Almost the first thing he said was, "When do you want it installed?"
I had asked for LS and a self-install, but was told it had to be a UL w/tech install. Not sure why, but no worries as the sales rep said there would be no installation charges. On the appointed day, the truck was parked in front of the house 15 minutes before the scheduled time. The tech was friendly, knowledgeable, competent, and left me with a working connection within an hour.
The first year or so was a little shaky. There would be frequent drops for maybe 5 minutes or so, often several times a week. E-mail was *very* unreliable, with both incoming and outgoing messages never making it to their final destinations. But both those issues have improved tremendously, to the point that I will probably drop my rock-solid dial-up with another ISP (that I kept only for it's email reliability).
Tech support has been good on those few occasions I've needed it. Can't comment on it for resolving major issues, though, as I haven't had any. Working now with the techs here on BBR to get switched to LS so I can get the faster speeds/lower price and so far they've been great.
Bottom line is that in spite of a few teething problems I'm been very happy with my Ameritech DSL.
Update 02/09/04 - Trying to get switched over to LS turned out to be a non-starter. However, Beach boy got me bumped up to the new profile so I'm still a happy camper. Got to give him an "A+" for effort!
Update 06/26/06 - Web page finally says I'm eligible for DSL "at my address". Signed up online for the PRO at $17.99 and was live on the morning of my due date five days later. Had some questions about migrating my old UL account so I posted in the AT&T Direct forum. Annonamoose and toaster to the rescue with the info I needed to make a smooth transition. Once again, the support folks in the Direct forum get an A+.
P.S. I like the 4100 modem that's now being shipped.
Update 08/15/07: Updated the monthly cost now that my 1-year promo rate has expired. Also dropping Connection reliability, Services, and Value for money from 5 to 4. Occasionally have some random, albeit short, drops and occasional problems connecting to the Yahoo! POP server to get my mail. That, along with the increased price, give me no choice but to pull back my ratings a little.
Update 02/20/08: Got myself re-rated with a 1 yr contract for an average monthly cost of $19.99 for the Pro service, thanks to a thread in the AT&T Midwest forum, so I'm bumping the "Value" rating back up. Also, the drops and mail issues seem to have disappeared so Reliability gets a bump as well. Don't really use any of the services (all I want is a pipe), so I'll leave that alone for now. All in all, I'm still very pleased.
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