Review by rschulz - Location: Mountain View, Santa Clara, CA, USA
- Cost: $109 per month
- AT&T
? Doesn't deliver what's promised Caveat Emptor! Sonic.net Fusion is subject to the whims of the copper owner!
| Pre Sales information: Install Co-ordination: Connection reliability: Tech Support: Services: Value for money:
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Sonic.net advertises "up to" 40 Mbps for their Fusion DSL but they cannot make good on that claim. After a protracted period of "tuning" I was left with about 7 Mbps. One day I came home to find that cut in half and it took a week and a half for them restore the seven pitiful megabits per second. Their staff is not sufficiently careful to avoid wasting hours on the phone due to simple and obvious mistakes. They will ask to you be at home to do nothing more than answer the door for a service tech who will, after a short while tending to the exterior wiring, tell you there's nothing to be done about the poor service. Support staff will not address your specific complaints but will simply respond from a script. They might profess to be "sorry" that you "feel that way" (utterly dissatisfied), but they will not make good on their claims. I don't call this high-speed Internet access. I call it an advertising scam based on two words: "up to" You get what you get, not what they claim. And _not_ what you pay for! member for 21 years, 32 visits, last login: 12.5 years ago updated 12.6 years ago
Tobester join:2000-11-14 San Francisco, CA |
What provider did you have previously?And what were your speeds then? | |
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Re: What provider did you have previously?true. And the person should know that DSL distance based. You can order the 40Meg package and end up getting much lower speeds and a profile- the same happens ALL the time with T and VZ and others as well. They don't know fully until a physical tech goes out and checks when they install the service.
And "up to" is not miss-leading or anything. the OP is just unhappy about the service of a small company. | |
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rschulz join:2003-04-18 Mountain View, CA |
rschulz
Member
2011-Aug-13 11:09 am
Not a newbie nor ignorant of technologyI have been a Sonic.net subscriber since the dial-in modem days of the late 90s.
I switched from Sonic's basic DSL to Fusion. At a previous apartment near the CO I got 6 Mbps from that service. When I moved here that dropped in half. So I expected approximately half the advertised maximum of 40. Instead I get less than 1/6 that.
Sonic cannot make good on its claims and thus should not make them. What I get is pitiful compared to what is claimed. Why should I be at the whims of which wire AT&T assigns to Sonic for one of their DSL customers? | |
| | av9116 join:2001-12-17 San Francisco, CA |
av9116
Member
2011-Aug-14 12:02 am
Re: Not a newbie nor ignorant of technologysaid by rschulz:Sonic cannot make good on its claims and thus should not make them. Yes, they can. The fact that YOU can't get that speed doesn't mean EVERYONE else can't. said by rschulz:What I get is pitiful compared to what is claimed. Fusion's speed varies from 0.00mpbs to 20mbps, how do you think Sonic should advertise their speed without people b*tching? If Sonic advertise it at 10mbps, 15mbps, you'd still be b*tching that you couldn't attain the advertised speed. | |
| | Tobester join:2000-11-14 San Francisco, CA |
to rschulz
said by rschulz:I have been a Sonic.net subscriber since the dial-in modem days of the late 90s.
I switched from Sonic's basic DSL to Fusion. At a previous apartment near the CO I got 6 Mbps from that service. When I moved here that dropped in half. So I expected approximately half the advertised maximum of 40. Instead I get less than 1/6 that. So you haven't answered my question........did you previously have DSL service at this address, prior to switching to Sonic Fusion, and what speeds did you achieve? Sorry, but your expectation of 6Mbps just because your old apartment "near the CO" got 6Mbps screams newbie As many postings on DSL Reports will attest, your line speeds will vary based on your actual (not perceived) neighborhood copper wire gauge, length, and the condition of the lines within your apartment building. Sonic tech support is excellent, especially when compared to AT&T and others, and like you said in your initial posts Sonic is beholden to AT&T for the copper line loop. That said, I do hope you find the speeds you desire!! If, and when, you decide to change back to AT&T at your new apartment, please update this thread with your actual speeds. Sincerely, Tobester. | |
| | | rschulz join:2003-04-18 Mountain View, CA |
rschulz
Member
2011-Aug-15 12:38 am
Re: Not a newbie nor ignorant of technologyYou're deliberately not reading what I wrote and insulting me. Why should I engage with that? | |
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rschulz |
rschulz
Member
2011-Aug-14 10:53 am
"Up to" is not magic phraseYou're suggesting that by claiming "up to," they're under no obligation whatsoever, is that it? And you think this is a reasonable way to do business? That this is just one of those "caveat emptor" things?
Well, I disagree. A business is not fulfilling its obligations if it only gives some of its customers what it claims to.
And a complaint is not "bitching," it's me expressing legitimate dissatisfaction with a service that falls far short of what is advertised. As I said, I'd be satisfied with half what's advertised, but 1/6 is far too little to be considered satisfactory. | |
| | Tobester join:2000-11-14 San Francisco, CA |
Re: "Up to" is not magic phrasesaid by rschulz:And a complaint is not "bitching," it's me expressing legitimate dissatisfaction with a service that falls far short of what is advertised. As I said, I'd be satisfied with half what's advertised, but 1/6 is far too little to be considered satisfactory. uh, yes it is bitching. You joined DSLReports in 2003 and have only visited 9 times, including this thread. Join in the discussion and learn. | |
| | | trchen join:2011-07-25 Palo Alto, CA |
trchen
Member
2011-Aug-17 4:13 am
Re: "Up to" is not magic phrasesaid by Tobester:uh, yes it is bitching.
You joined DSLReports in 2003 and have only visited 9 times, including this thread. Join in the discussion and learn. And what are you trying to say? Blaming on other's ignorant isn't very helpful either. There is definitely something ISP can do better. Say, the ISP should try its best to provide pre-sales information like the destination to CO and expected achievable speed. Also it's never the customer's fault for living far from the CO. I paid the same telephone fee as everyone, why should some people get better served than me? Isn't it the ISP's responsibility to build enough CO to serve everyone? Remember, customers are always right. If a customer is not satisfied it's the service provider's problem. For rschulz: I'm in a similar situation to you. I ordered the 40Mbps service but got only 17Mbps from it. I was expecting much better than that because the pre-sales information told me that I was 5000ft from the CO, but it turns out to be actually 7000ft. Unfortunately, any DSL-based ISP cannot give you better than what you get now due to the physical restriction, and it is unlikely that they will build a new CO only to serve you. However you may try AT&T U-verse if that is available to you. U-verse uses fiber from the CO to your curb-side phone box, and the distance running on copper is usually shorter than 1000ft. In my situation U-verse is available to me, but I don't want to bet if AT&T can give me more than 17Mbps (their advertised speed is 24Mbps). But if U-verse is available to you, I think it definitely worth a try. | |
| | | | Tobester join:2000-11-14 San Francisco, CA 2 edits |
Re: "Up to" is not magic phraseSonic is excellent providing pre-sales information. Their pre-qualification tool states the ~distance to the Central Office; and in the link below, Dane Jasper (Sonic CEO) has a graph of other users actual speeds based on distance. » Re: Is ~7000 feet away from CO supposed to be about 6 Mbps?I found their information and service to be the BEST of any ISP I have ever dealt with, including Covad, Earthlink, Comcast, Frontier, Cable One and AT&T. Several posters, myself included, attempted to explain to rschulz how DSL speed is determined to no avail. | |
| | | | rschulz join:2003-04-18 Mountain View, CA |
to trchen
So... You're dissatisfied with 17 Mbps. I get 7 Mbps. Should I not be extremely dissatisfied?
And in the "This Just In" category, my speed today has dropped below 4 Mbps.
It's an outrage, frankly. | |
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Re: "Up to" is not magic phrasethey told me i was about 7k from the CO, but it turns out im actually 10k, i get 2.7mbps with the single line at 40bucks a month, however, it seems pretty snappy when compared to att that i used to have when i was living about 2 miles away from my current location.
their customer support is pretty helpful in terms of courtesy and everything, but i might just delve into the dual bonded line to see what kind of speed i am getting before i decide to jump ship.
i dont exactly blame them for att's poor wiring gauge, but they should atleast update their location software a tad bit... | |
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