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Review by matt8911test 
member for 86 days, 13 visits, last login: 4 days ago
updated 22 days ago
 Riverside,Riverside,CA
 $30 per month- (12 month contract)
 about 124 days AT&T "Stable slow connection,Email address,No Caps" "must order modem to start then can use other modems, Tech support is hard to understand at times" "have to buy their modem to play ball or get ignored, then service is slow but stable."
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I considered ATT, but owner did not want extra service on phone bill, so I went with a different provider. Finally just ordered Earthlink service at 1.5MBPS down and 300kBps This cost me 15.00 per Mo for three months as a promotional offer and went to 30.00 as a regular rate. Little did I know they start charging from the date of turn on of service regardless if you have any authorised equipment or not. I wanted to use my equipment at first but the line was not turned on(provisioned). I ended up calling tech support numerous times to try to solve the no DSL sync problem. I read online that I could use my own modem but I just kept running into trouble connecting with my own equipment. Each any every way I tried to connect I failed. some tech told me they would help me when equipment was set up and then I call back when I am set up and another Tech tells me he cannot help me due to my refusal to order a modem from them. I claimed they can not support any other modem or advise me about any other modem at all- no exceptions. I took some time to look for my power cord for my equipment( about two months or more) I was dumb enough to not check my statement for the charges. I guess after trying to setup service with my equipment and failing, I put it on the back burner. Finally ordered the Zyxel modem for about 60.00 and then had to tell earthlink for a truck roll(tech visit). After that the service turned on and it was slow internet with no caps. The tech support is hard to understand at times but seem to get the job done.
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 Review by fivebyfive
member for 5.2 years, 67 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 34 days ago
- Morgan Hill,Santa Clara,CA
- $40 per month
- about 5 days
- Verizon (ex GTE)
- "Good spam and virus filtering at the ISP"
- "Install kit arrived a week after EarthLink cut off my Verizon DSL service"
- "Solid DSL service, poor installation coordination"
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I just switched from Verizon Online DSL to EarthLink DSL, mostly because I've been an EarthLink dial-up customer since about 1997. I signed up for Verizon Online DSL at a time when EarthLink didn't offer DSL in my area, but now that they do, I'll save money by getting email and DSL Internet access all from one source.
I woke up Wednesday morning, 22 November 2006, with no Internet connection. The problem was that EarthLink hadn't yet delivered the DSL "Welcome Kit" with the their modem, filters, cables and installation CD. They had cut off my Verizon Online DSL service at midnight and substituted their own signal. Thinking it might be as easy as rebooting the old Verizon-supplied Westell VersaLink Gateway Model 327W modem/router/wireless access point (Model A90-327W15-06, Rev. E; software version 03.00.63a), I cycled the power. The modem rebooted showing a green DSL light, but the Internet light remained dark. I called EarthLink on Friday to find out where the stuff was, and they told me it had shipped late Wednesday, with expected delivery next Thursday! So, here I sat, trying to run a business, limited to only 20 hours of dial-up service per month under the DSL contract! Unfortunately, they'd starting billing me for my nonexistent DSL service based on the date the order was placed, not the date at which I could first install it and take advantage of it.
When I asked about equipment compatibility at the time the DSL order was placed, the rep pleaded ignorance, saying there was no guarantee that Verizon's equipment would work with EarthLink DSL. In other words, it might work, but since EarthLink didn't supply the hardware, I'd be on my own if I tried to use it. In desperation, I spent Sunday afternoon on 26 November poring through DSL Reports forum archives to find the information needed to manually reconfigure my Westell 327W modem to work with EarthLink, and eventually succeeded (thanks to forum member Doctor Olds; no thanks to EarthLink). Sheesh! The modem reports it's now running at 1792 kbits/s downlink speed and 448 kbits/s uplink speed, which is quite good.
It would have been a lot smarter on EarthLink's part to modify their procedures for existing DSL customers — switch the DSL connection at the phone company's central office only after the installation kit was delivered and hooked up by the customer. That would have provided a seamless transition for me, with at most fifteen minutes to swap DSL modems and reboot.
(The EarthLink installation kit arrived on 29 November 2006, a week after it was shipped. I opened it to examine the contents and the packing slip, but haven't used any of the materials, since the equipment that I had been using with the Verizon DSL installation is still working fine, and the modem supplied by EarthLink has fewer features.)
(Update 9 December 2006)
The modem is still reporting 1792 kbits/s downlink speed and 448 kbits/s uplink speed. Error rate is zero. Flawless performance, so far. My service location is just under 4500 feet from the central office.
(Update 7 November 2007)
Just one hiccup about a month ago, where the carrier dropped for a few minutes. It required a modem reboot. Otherwise, no problems.
(Update 26 February 2008)
The Westell 327W DSL modem from Verizon just gave up the ghost, so I ended up using the ZyXEL P-600 series DSL modem from EarthLink after all. It has a rudimentary router built into it, a rather poor firewall which fails the Gibson Research online firewall probe test, and no wireless capability. I turned the modem's firewall and router off using the browser-accessible configuration screen, i.e., put it into "bridge" mode, and set the modem to automatically log into EarthLink via PPPoE, so that if the carrier were to drop, in theory the modem would automatically get my home network back online within about 10 minutes. Then, I bought a Netgear WGR614 v7 Wireless Router that has better 802.11g wireless range and a better firewall than the Westell 327W had, making my computers totally invisible to the Internet. The wireless chip set in the WGR614 is by Atheros Communications ( »www.atheros.com ), the same as in the WG511 networking card in one of my laptop computers, so they talk to each other flawlessly, though the WGR614 still has trouble talking to my Compaq laptop equipped with a Broadcom wireless chip set. (Broadcom seems to make cheap junk that laptop vendors love to buy because it saves them a few pennies, at the expense of customers of said laptops beating their heads against the wall because they won't reliably connect to 802.11 hot spots half the time.) I don't know what chip set the Westell 327W uses, but it wouldn't connect to Compaq and Dell laptops with built-in wireless networking either.
(Update 28 September 2010)
The ZyXEL P-660R-ELNK modem from EarthLink is still working fine. However, based on my previous problem with the Westell 327W modem, I purchased a used P-660R-ELNK modem for $5 (+$5 S&H) via an eBay auction to keep as a backup if the modem in use should fail. I haven't had to contact EarthLink about replacement hardware, but would expect to be disconnected from the 'net for 7-10 days if I were to rely on them sending me a replacement modem. It's cheap insurance.
Since early July EarthLink has had a problem with logging into Web Mail. I left an inquiry with the "Web Mail Guy" on the blog site several weeks ago, but so far there hasn't been any response. The login works, but has become extremely slow, taking 1-2 minutes before the page finishes loading and my browser can auto-fill the login and password fields. This process used to take less than 10 seconds. Up-time on the DSL line has been better than 99.999% and performance has been better than the nominal 1500/384 kbps, so I have no complaints in that regard.
(Update 26 January 2011)
The slow log-in to EarthLink Web Mail finally got fixed in early October. I never did see a statement about the cause of the problem. Whatever; at least it works as it should again. I'm getting a bit tired of paying $39 per month (up from the $29 per month introductory rate) for 1.5Mbps DSL. EarthLink is capable of far faster DSL speeds at my location, although I don't really feel like I need it, since I don't download movies and the like. I'd go for reduced cost, say $14.95 to $19.95 per month for the service I now have.
(Update 17 August 2011)
When I originally got EarthLink DSL service, it was allegedly provisioned by Covad, a CLEC. A check with »www.ipchicken.com/ today indicates that the service is now provisioned by Verizon, my ILEC and land line provider. The change happened without notification, and as far as I can tell, with no interruption in service.
(Update 3 January 2012)
EarthLink's DSL service has been nearly flawless, but the EarthLink Web Mail has gone sour since around Labor Day, September 2011 -- pages and individual messages load with glacial slowness. I wouldn't have believed it, but my long relationship with EarthLink may be coming to an end soon. Multiple calls to their technical support have resulted in no resolution, and they just put the blame on my equipment. (That's unlikely, since I haven't seen any slowdown with any other sites, just EarthLink Web Mail.) I like the fact that I can send messages via EarthLink's SMTP outgoing server with an alias of my choosing, something that isn't allowed on Gmail or Yahoo! Premium, so I may keep EarthLink as an email-only account. On the other hand, other ISPs or email providers may offer the same capability. I already know I can get DSL service from Netzero here at the same speed for nearly half the price, or go to Charter Internet LITE without television service for less than $30 per month and twice the speed. EarthLink DSL was $29 per month when I started and it has increased to $39.95 per month. Since EarthLink seems to be increasingly falling behind the technology curve, the alternatives look attractive now.
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Review by markell2011
member for 1.9 years, 419 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 58 days ago
- Saint Louis,Saint Louis City,MO
- $34 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 9 days
- AT&T
- "internet acsess"
- "support is horrible"
- "if you dont want to use cable or wireless use earthlink"
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I ordered th 3mb down/ 512 up plan whiched turned out to be the 3mb down/ 384 up plan I didn't accept the modem they sent because i have enough of them so im just using my old moto 2210 from att it took them 9 da to connect me to the dslam which with att it take 3 day but they no longer offer dsl so this is my only option that offers a somewhat fast stable connection but if my snr drops any lower it not going to be stable ( its 6.0 down 9.0 up ) and my line attn is 50 down 30 up when i was connected to the att dslam it was never that horrible I just hope i didn't waste my money like i did with dslextreme wasn't nothing extreme about it more like dslslow they only offered me 1.5 mb down ( but the snr and line attn was perfect) bottom line since i dont have cable anymore and i can't get uverse this will have to do
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 Review by TMMerlin
member for 8.6 years, 988 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 100 days ago
- Oxford,Oakland,MI
- Contract price not specified.
- SBC
- "Not anymore"
- "1.5 Meg just like a dial-up line !"
- "Was a member of Mindspring.com for 13 years."
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I cancelled Earthlink on 1/14/2010 ... 1.5-Meg was just tooooo slow and EL had no plans for 3-Meg in my area. I converted to U-Verse .
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Review by robinart
member for 128 days, 0 visits, last login: 128 days ago
updated 128 days ago
- Locust Grove,Henry,GA
- $49 per month
- BellSouth
- "Earthlink Reliability Going Downhill"
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Have been with Earthlink ever since they bought out MindSpring and for the
most part have been very satisfied with their service. But lately, my basic
DSL connectivity gets dropped at least once a day and usually multiple times
in one day. The FAQ forum in Earthlink supports seems to only acknowledge a
problem with establishing service, not with the reliability of their
service. Considering how long I have had to endure dropped connections while
online, I rate their service for reliable connects poor.
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Review by TechMech539
member for 132 days, 1 visits, last login: 131 days ago
lodged 132 days ago
- Clarksburg,Harrison,WV
- Contract price not specified.
- "when it works, it's fine"
- "trying to deal with customer 'service'"
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09/26/2011, in the middle of the afternoon, my internet connection goes dead. (yes, my bill is paid to date) No amount of powercycling the modem, pressing the reset button and/or shutting everything down and powering up again works to bring it on again. No, I can't check the phone line because I have DSL service only.
So, as much as I hate to, I have to call customer service. I got right through with only a ten minute wait, and then the fun began. In my job, I deal with people from all over the world, with all sorts of accents, but the man I was speaking with had such a thick Indian accent I couldn't understand him more than half the time, and had to constantly ask him to repeat himself. (Here's a clue; your customer base is in America. Stop outsourcing customer service and hire people here in America. This call ran over 40 minutes and half of that was because of having to get everything repeated.)
Anyway, after about twenty minutes of 'what lights are on your modem?', and having me try to sign onto the service by entering my email and password DESPITE the fact that I kept telling him that the 'Internet' light on the modem was not on.... he finally decides to run a line test. Or rather, that's what he said he was doing. He wouldn't tell me the results of said test when he came back to the phone. Instead, he thought that changing my email (for the sign in) would fix it. Another twenty minutes later, and another hold while he 'talked with my telephone provider', he comes back and says that /VERIZON/ says the lines are down. I asked him if he was sure he had talked to "my" provider, as Frontier took over a while back. He backpedaled and tried to assure me that he had talked to Frontier... hmm.
By this time, I'm mad enough that I don't want to stay on the phone any longer, so I let him advise me to keep trying to sign in... again, with the 'Internet' light still out on the modem, as if that's going to do any good. And of course he wouldn't disconnect the call so I couldn't get to the survey.
So I waited, periodically turning the modem on to see if it would connect. Finally, around 11 pm (EDT) I got the Internet light on, so I tried to get online. No joy. At this point, I really loathe the idea of calling, but if I want to find out what's going on, I have no other choice. At least this call went better.
The man I spoke with this time, while he still had an extremely thick accent, took the time to speak slowly enough so I could understand him. He also didn't make me jump through a million hoops.. he actually looked at the previous call record, and the first thing he did was call Frontier. When he came back, he said that they were reporting partial service, but had not given him an estimate of when service would be restored. He also said that while the repairs were still going on, that I could expect the service to cut in and out, and recommended that I wait until tomorrow to try to get back online.
Here it is now tomorrow, and I'm now able to get back online.
I only use Earthlink because it costs less than the very few available options in my area (West Virginia) for DSL and/or cable. But if I have another experience like that with their customer 'service'....
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Review by Bobcat
member for 11 years, 5950 visits, last login: 193 days ago
updated 193 days ago
- undisclosed location
- Contract price not specified.
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delete
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Review by (hidden by request)
(review was emailed from domain earthlink.net)
lodged 251 days ago
- Chicago,Cook,IL
- $39 per month
- (12 month contract)
- AT&T
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I have had Earthlink dsl for over 10 years (zip 60618). Started having problems in
Nov 2010. My service has been intermittent since. No internet connection for
days at a time. Especially during, what I believe are the peak times, during business hours. Covad tech out 3 times. I received a new dsl modem and still no steady connection. Techs say I'm getting good speeds in, but because of my distance from the phone center I need to be at a speed no higher than 1.5 mpbs. Right now I'm paying for speeds up to
3.0 mpbs. I'm running on windows 7with I7 chip. All of my equipment is new including a E3000 router and EL provided ZyZel P-600 dsl modem. I just did a test and I am at a whopping 0.80. I am NOT HAPPY WITH EARTHLINK IN CHICAGO. Has anyone had better luck with a different dsl provider or EarthLink itself in zip 60618 area? My neighbor, who relies on the internet to do work from his home uses ComCast and is very happy with his high speed connection. I do not look forward to changing my email address after all these years, but EL has worn me out.
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 | | earthlink for over 8 years Chicago Northwest suburbs, started having issues about 2010 also, Tech aid not a big help. Went from Turn computer on, and internet available. to having to dial up. E link often unavialable, and trouble w/ email. Use daily. hate it going to change. | |
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Review by NC_Resident
member for 10.1 years, 2248 visits, last login: 8 days ago
lodged 261 days ago
- Goldsboro,Wayne,NC
- Contract price not specified.
- "Sometimes fast"
- "Mostly slow"
- "Speed needs improved"
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Earthlink through Time Warner cable
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 Review by XBL2009
member for 11 years, 3672 visits, last login: 3 days ago
updated 278 days ago
- Chicago,Cook,IL
- $49 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 23 days
- Ameritech
- "1536 downstream 384 upstream"
- "tech support is bad.....no need for winpoet with the arescom 800 modem but they instruct people to use it."
- "good connection for $49.95"
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I ordered Earthlink DSL on March 27 was given a line activation date of April 5th which got bumped to April 10th. Was told my modem kit shipped on April 11th (actually they send a notice to a third party company which then final sent it on April 16th and it showed up on April 18th.) So the only real problem I had is the modem kit taken longer then it needed.
BTW: The filters really work and are required, I had another arescom 800 hooked up on the 12th but the speed was 898K at the time because I didn't have any filters. I finally bought one at CompUSA and my speed went to 1536K. I have one filter which filters 6 phones.
Update: 9 months and everything is still running great, once in a while there is a network problem and things crawl but most of the time it's greasy fast and reliable.
Phone support still sucks and hold times can be up to an hour or more. If I need tech support or an answer I call at 2 am but you still have to wait 45 minutes. Some techs know there stuff others don't have a clue.
Update: March 9, 2002.....still running fast and reliable. I did have one or two glitches but they were resolved fast.
Update: November 9, 2002.....getting close to two years with Earthlink via Covad and service has been good. I've had only two short outages otherwise it's completely reliable which is great cause I hate outages. There phone support is bad but I haven't needed to call them so it doesn't matter.
Update: June 2003..... Well I no longer have Earthlink DSL, I have moved on.
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