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Review by ozziescum 
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 6.6 years, 10 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
 Marietta,Cobb,GA
 $49 per month
 BellSouth
 "Nostalgia"
 "Slow speeds, frequent drops"
 "Finally saying goodbye after years as an Earthlink/Mindspring customer"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
It was great, Earthlink, it really was. Sure, we had our ups and downs -- remember that synch issue we had a couple years ago? It was frustrating for a while, but you sent out your techs and patched it all up. You were willing to work with me, and I appreciated that.
You've changed. This relationship is doomed, and I'm afraid it's you, not me. I'm tired of your frequent disconnects, your download speeds that are slower than your upload speeds. I can't stream a video, or stay connected to a game or IM service for more than half an hour some nights. And don't think I haven't noticed that you're worse at night.
I would have been willing to work through this too, if you'd only given me a chance. Every time I try to talk to you about the problem you pretend like it's the first time I've mentioned it, even though I have trouble ticket numbers to prove we've been through it before. You try to blame me and my hardware, when you're the one with the violent mood swings. Even when you're acting like your old dependable self I don't trust you, because I know your bad spells can strike without warning.
I wish this could have ended better, but you left me with no choice. This is goodbye.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of EarthLink |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by actualsize
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 1.3 years, 13 visits, last login: 349 days ago
Yorba Linda,Orange,CA
$49 per month
AT&T
"Same e-mail address for many years"
"Slow, expensive, can't realign price without 12 month commitment"
"After something like 8 years, I'm ditching Earthlink ASAP"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
I've had Earthlink for something like 8 years--the last 5 have been DSL. At the time I first signed-up, there was only one price and one speed, I think. My bill has been on auto-pay for several years, so I've gotten used to entering the same amount in Quicken every month without a second thought.
But, over time, the speed has gradually seemed to slow. Also, I have semi-frequent drop outs and an unstable VPN connection (yes, I know about the Earthlink DNS/VPN issue.) Since I now have a super-stable high-speed connection at work, the difference when I get home is stark. I'm not sure if my home service has actually slowed over the years, or if modern websites simply take longer to load. Probably a bit of both. Either way, a recent speed test returned just 0.5~0.8Mbps download time, and I'm still paying the same $49.99 I always have.
I spoke with a telephone rep today to see if faster service is available. At first, he told me he could give me 6.0 Mbps for the same price. (Is it that easy? I did a slow burn knowing how much I'd been overpaying all these years.) But he had to check with "installation" to see if I could get that speed (CO distance, etc.). I spent the next 50 minutes on hold, but he never came back. I hung up and tried live chat.
Live chat #1 (sales) told me he couldn't help, as he didn't seem to be able to determine if I could get 6.0 or not. He kindly referred me to...
Live chat #2 (tech support) told me that 1.5 Mbps was as fast as I could get at my address. Funny, a call to my local Telco, AT&T, an hour earlier, came up with a 6,200 ft CO distance and a green light for 6.0. And the AT&T guy had been able to confirm that on his screen after a few quick keystrokes.
After I expressed my displeasure with the speed and price, the Earthlink chat rep seemed ready to end the call--until I mentioned the possibility of cancelling. Suddenly, 1.5 @ $39.99 became possible, but only with a 12 month contract. I don't want a 12-month commitment--I've been a customer for years, doesn't that count as commitment? How about $29.99 with a 12-month commitment? Nope. I have the modem. It has been paid off for years. No contract for me, I said. That ended the conversation.
If I can convince my wife that a new e-mail address isn't such a bad thing, I'm switching to AT&T, my local Telco, for DSL. They require no contract. I can be month-to-month from day 1. It's a lot cheaper. And they just installed AT&T U-verse TV and internet on my street, so now I have that option, too.
Even though I have been an Earthlink DSL customer for 5 years, with 3 or 4 dial-up years before that, they are unwilling to revise my price (a price that is clearly out of line) unless I agree to a fresh 12-month contract. They don't seem to understand that their product and customer service isn't as good as it once was. I hadn't realized it, either, to be honest. An ingrained e-mail address is all that is keeping me with them.
Followup comments:  
Hotmail
@sbcglobal.net
| Get a free Email account I had that issue about Email 10 yrs ago....But after signing up with Hotmail, that issue went away. Thus I'm free to move from one ISP to another. You may want to bring that idea up with your wife.
Only draw back I think, is that you can't use hotmail with certain 3rp party Email programs like Thunderbird. It does work with Outlook and Outlook Express (but of course). | |
| | 8744675
join:2000-10-10
Decatur, GA | Re: Get a free Email account I believe that you can now keep your Earthlink e-mail address after you cancel your service. | |
| Keith Gordon
join:2008-07-15
Fontana, CA | LINKLINE try LINKLINE for your ISP. Support is located in Ontario California. The company is 12 years old. | |
| 
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
1 edit | If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... quote:
I've been a customer for years, doesn't that count as commitment? How about $29.99 with a 12-month commitment? Nope. I have the modem. It has been paid off for years. No contract for me, I said. That ended the conversation.
....anywhere, why does the contract bother you so much? It is to protect you and them. They want to make sure you don't pull the cancel after 2 months trick.
I've been through 4 or 5 contracts and I have 5 free Modems of which I sold 4 on eBay. 
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
| | Sarentack
join:2008-02-07
Lumberton, MS
 ·magicjack.com
 ·EarthLink
·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... commitments dont protect anyone, it only benefeits them and theirs no point to it but to make money for nothing unless of course you get the equipment from them.
As for the 1.5 thing and 6.0 being available, I had that same issue to, as you can see in my review, Earthlink has just about become a full fledged scam. | |
| | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
2 edits | Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... Scam? That is hilarious.
It is actually a AT&T contract restriction on Earthlink that prevents people from getting 6.0 Speeds if their line is close enough to support it since Bellsouth limits EL to 3.0 Speeds Maximum on the re-sold DSL, and only lines that connect to a CO that has a Covad equipped DSLAM are eligible for 6.0 Speeds since AT&T can't dictate to Covad or EL on speeds.
This was explained to you already.
»Re: [OT] Earthlink Outage
And is in the FAQs.
»EarthLink DSL FAQ »How do I tell who's *really* provisioning my line? | |
| | | | RogerADSL
join:2004-12-10
Lawrenceville, GA | Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... EarthLink negotiates that contract with ATT, didn't do too good a job obviously. | |
| | | | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... said by RogerADSL :EarthLink negotiates that contract with ATT, didn't do too good a job obviously. Seriously, you are not that naive?
AT&T says to EL, you can only have 1.5 and 3.0 and you will be happy, and EL says, thank you. Who has the leverage in this? The Telco who owns the last mile does. You do know which is the larger company, right?
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
| | | | | | RogerADSL
join:2004-12-10
Lawrenceville, GA | Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... I know a little from my time there...yes I know who is bigger, and yes I know who owns the last mile. | |
| | | | | | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... Then why would you, knowing that AT&T dictates what their resellers can have and not have, make a statement like the above as if EL had any say in the process? If EL wants to resell AT&T DSL (which they do want to be able to do), they can only resell what AT&T lets them have since AT&T holds all the cards in the deck.
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
| | | | | | | | RogerADSL
join:2004-12-10
Lawrenceville, GA | Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... Because they choose not to resell 6.0...??? | |
| | | | | | | | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| Re: If you want the locked in lower price and are not going..... said by RogerADSL :Because they choose not to resell 6.0...??? Right-O. I forgot you were sitting in on the contract negotiations plus were one of the signatures and know this.  Especially when EL does resell 6.0 via Covad who does let them contract for that speed.
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
| | RogerADSL
join:2004-12-10
Lawrenceville, GA | No, but I know the BellSouth guy... | |
| | | | | RogerADSL
join:2004-12-10
Lawrenceville, GA | See then you can ask him directly then! How easy is that.  | |
| | | | | RogerADSL
join:2004-12-10
Lawrenceville, GA | Now my tongue is in a not! Thanks a lot!  | |
| Neilkn
join:2000-03-26
Yorba Linda, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| AT&T SUCKS Worse If you think AT&T DSL might be good, think again. I've been a Pacbell/SBC DSL user for about 10 years or more. I'm in YL too. Since AT&T took over from SBC service has gone down down and even more down. Their DSL is slow, their customer support ... learn to speak Indian maybe (as in India). AT&T is why I'm here looking around after over 10 years with the same DSL line. From all we've read, U-verse has lousy HD TV service as it is over-compressed. Their FIOS is to the corner, not to the house. From the corner is your regular copper wire ... not much advantage. The 6.0 or 7.0 they mentioned is probably cable, using Time Warner's cable, not DSL. My neighbor is happy so far with TW's Roadrunner, says her internet phone is much clearer and better than when she had AT&T a month ago. She uses her Internet to VPN into her office and client sites, as I do. AT&T has been very frustratingly slow since they installed U-verse in my area. | |
| | | |
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Review by tommy122
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 355 visits, last login: 26 days ago
Raleigh,Wake,NC
Contract price not specified.
"None"
"Many"
"The worst"
| |
I have been with Earthlink for quite a while. Their support is the worst that I have ever seen. If they needed to outsource their support, they could have at a minimum insisted that the support person speak English. I tried to use their support today and all I can say is terrible, terrible, terrible. I hope that Earthlink is soon taken over by some other ISP. It would be impossible for them to be worse.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of EarthLink |
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Review by CecilTurtle
Posted: 1.3 years ago
member for 5 years, 15 visits, last login: 361 days ago
Forest Hills,Queens,NY
$45 per month
 about 5 days
Verizon
"Alternative to Verizon DSL, Time Warner Cable, still has free Usenet"
"Sporadic speed drops, should be cheaper"
"Decent so far, but make sure you have a quick exit plan"
| |
I haven't read any Earthlink reviews to avoid influencing my opinion of it. FiOS is too expensive for what need, and I just despise Time Warner, so RoadRunner was not on my list. However, it seems that all the installation and equipment is done through Time Warner.  $29.95 for 12/mo with RCA modem.
I signed up for 10Mbit/s but the maximum speed I have ever reached was 6Mbit/s. I was warned about cable's varying speeds depending on your location and the number of users at a particular time. Just like rush hour, your speeds will drop considerably during peak hours (8PM-10PM for me). I normally get speeds of 4-5Mbit/s, but around peak hours, it drops to under 700Kbit/s almost all the time. This is particularly bad for you if you subscribe to online services like MLB.TV which airs games during those hours. I also have had speed reductions at other hours but I just walk away and come back later. I also have had disconnects with EL a few times a week, so if you run a web server, I might be wary of using EL. A quick modem reboot usually fixes the problem.
Another point you should consider is that RoadRunner in NY discontinued support of newsgroups and Usenet (settlement with Attorney General for child porn distribution?), but Earthlink still seems to carry it. I think Verizon abandoned just the alt.binaries groups, but I'm not sure. I don't use Usenet much, but it's nice to know it's available for free if I do need it.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of EarthLink |
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Review by rocket1
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 1.8 years, 145 visits, last login: 322 days ago
Dallas,Collin,TX
$39 per month
"very reliable"
"support has gone downhill"
"don't have many choices right now"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have been at 768kbs for years now. I wish (really wish) I had a faster option, but the reviews of Time Warner Cable in my area are awefull. Maybe they will eventually increase their capacity. One thing I have to say about my connection...it's solid. I never experience slowdowns or outages. The few times I needed support (years ago) it was ok. Since they have outsourced support since then, it's terrible. Communication is very difficult when the agent and I cannot understand each other (over a bad connection certainly doesn't help). Since I don't anticipate having to use support again anytime soon, I'll stick it out because my connection simply works. The only reason I've had a problem in a long time is because my modem died after eight years. I certainly am envious of those getting 3Mbs, heck I would be thrilled with 1.5 Mbs...
6/29/08 I discovered that I live in one of the few areas where I can actually choose between Verizon and AT&T. After eight years with Earthlink (Verizon) I now have ADSL from AT&T and have 3Mbs service-and have the option of 6Mbs. What a difference over 768kbs.
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Review by rsrphotos
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 1.5 years, 34 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
$29 per month (month by month)
about 999 days
AT&T
"Reliable at configured speed...."
"Tech support is worst imagineable"
"DO NOT use Earthlink for DSL. Anyone else would be better."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
I first signed up with Earthlink for dialup service around 1995. They were one of the best ISPs around at that time. Multiple phone access numbers everywhere you went including 800 numbers to get on and update your local access number from your new locale. Tech support was fast and reliable.
I initially signed up for DSL with Mindspring around 2000. It wasn't long before they were absorbed into Earthlink and it became Earthlink DSL. I don't recall the speed I signed up for, but I think it was 1.5/300. I never did better than 750 down but this seemed sufficient so I just lived with it and my work payed for it. The few times I had to call tech support or billing over the next few years showed a continuous downward slide in capability, knowledge and efficiency and severely increased wait times.
In 2006 we moved out of our house to rebuild and transferred our telephone number to a rental apartment in the same exchange. Earthlink was able to transfer our DSL service to the new location which gave us marginally better speeds. The billing however was a mess and required numerous phone calls to Earthlink. In the end I negotiated a deal in which they would transfer the service, but to transfer the service back to our house when we moved back in, I would have to agree to a new 12 month contract, but at a seriously discounted rate, like 12.95/mo. It sounded great until we moved back and when the service was transferred, our download speeds never exceed 610kbps and uploads were now capped at ~200kbps, despite being provisioned at 1.5/128 according to their records. Over the next 1 1/2 years I spent hours on the phone with tech support attempting to resolve the speed issues. There first line tech support by this time consisted entirely of marginally competent people in India. In one memorable conversation, the guy prattled on about how nice the US and how being from Maine he loves lobster. I asked if he had ever had a lobster, and he sheepishly replied that, no actually he had never had it. I spent half a dozen phone conversations which included a few managers arguing about the facts that I refused to allow them to access my computer so that they could run some diagnostics remotely, that I was using my own broadband router to make PPPoE connections and so on. I actually had one conversation end with the supposed manager giving me a scripted sales pitch for Earthlinks internal network package which would solve my problem for an additional 14:95/mo. On two occasions I was bumped to that mystical 'tier 3' tech support. They were unfriendly, not helpful and never ever made call backs which were promised.
Finally after letting a few months pass, I made one last attempt and actually spoke with a reasonably competent first line tech support person who had me walk through a few tracert's and speed tests, he pinged my modem to give some indication of line quality and finally told me he would contact the telco to do the line provisioning again. Within a day I was syncing at the provisioned speed and getting full bandwidth.
Fast forward a couple months. On my doorstep arrives the Roku/Netflix video streaming box, thanks to my wife. You need 3-6Mbps to really use this thing, so I crossed my fingers and called Earthlink to upgrade my speed to 3/512 service. I knew something was going to go bad here when the friendly and capable saleswoman placed the order but then was unable to give me an order number stating that something was locked up in her system. But she assured me the order was in place with a scheduled completion of no more than 3 days. The next morning my speeds were at 1.7Mbps/415Mbps so they had done something, but not well. I called them to find out the status and they had no record of the upgrade order and said to wait until three days had passed and to call again. I called back in three days and the first person I spoke with found one item in the log stating that the telco was unable to upgrade the line, no further explanation. I was transfered to another service department to get more information, which landed me at a recorded message stating this was outside of business hours. I called that number back the next day and was given the exact same information: telco says cannot upgrade line. Sorry, can I be of any further assistance today.... And of course two days after this, my new ebill from Earthlink shows that I was already being charged the higher fee for 3Mbps service.
This was the end of the road with Earthlink. I signed up for service with DSLExtreme which is now providing me 6Mpbs service at full bandwidth.
Followup comments:
astiyosti1
@verizon.net
| sorry to hear this i worked for earthlink a while back and it not earthlinks fault they put in work orders it the phone companies who screw over earthlink by undercutting them since they own the lines the make their product look better.but any way good luck with ur new dsl | |
| | rsrphotos
join:2008-05-24
Los Angeles, CA
·DSL EXTREME
·EarthLink
| Re: sorry to hear this Actually I totally disagree. It is absolutely Earthlinks fault when they don't follow up with work orders that they place with the telco. This is proven for my by my recent experience switching to a new ISP in which a work order to ATT involving a dispatch to my house was involved. Said ISP is, in my case, in direct competition for service on my line and ATT simply fixed the issue promptly and professionally. | |
| | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| Re: sorry to hear this No ISP is perfect, and EL isn't in the top 8 anymore, what about when they do timely followup and they even submit additional work orders and ultimately find out that it is the Telco that is closing the work orders un-dispatched, un-fixed and obviously still broken. The Telcos do it all the time knowing there is no penalty to them and each time it still cost EL regardless, but then when they get the customer as a direct account the problems magically get fixed.
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
|
InAtlanta
@mindspring.com
| Totally agree - don't get Earthlink I've been trapped with Earthlink for the past year - after they turned my service off without telling me and then fixed it (after a MONTH of many calls to tech support) but forced me into another year contract. Blek. I've had the date I could leave Earthlink posted on my computer for months. The service is terrible, goes out very frequently and sometimes just gets slow. The support is usually worse. I talked to many many tech support people there, some very nice, some downright rude and unable to help at all. | |
| |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| Re: Totally agree - get Earthlink via Covad I had similar problems too and it was from Bellsouth provisioning the DSL for EL. When I switched to having Covad provisioning the EL DSL instead all issues went away and I've not had downtime in 4 or 5 years in N Metro ATL.....
Of course Bellsouth is now AT&T. That is no improvement since all the good ole boys are still running the crews.
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
| | | |
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Review by xm4yh3mx
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 4.8 years, 164 visits, last login: 131 days ago
Princeton,Mercer,NJ
$39 per month (12 month contract)
Covad
"Good speeds"
"none?"
"Good speeds, customer service good and efficient."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Speed test
New York City speakeasy.net speed test on 6/20/08
Last Result:
Download Speed: 5159 kbps (644.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 650 kbps (81.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Update 6/20/08
My previous phone line couldn't be upgraded to the new 6mb/768 speeds so i had to switch it over to another phone line in the house. I called in and asked to setup the new service on the other line at the new speeds and had the previous older service removed. Within about a week the new line had dsl service. I myself had to do a little work with the inhouse wiring, i just had to make sure that the outlet i wanted to use for the model inside the house had access to the new number so i just swapped a few wires in the NID. If you don't want to bother with that i think Earthlink would probably tell you to call up your telco i.e. verizon, or perhaps covad, to do it. Btw my phone company is verizon but the dsl is provided by COVAD; verizon doesnt provide 6/768 dsl.
Price is good 39.95/month
customer service used to suck but seems to have changed for the better. I used to have such trouble getting customer service to help me with what i needed (usually upgrades for new speeds). Now it was really efficient and quick and the customer service employee knew what he was doing. I later called in to make sure that i wouldn't be billed twice for the same month b/c i had two lines active in the same month (during the switch over) and the customer service employee ensured that I wouldn't be charged twice.
--------------------------------
Note**
My distance from the TELCO - about 1520 feet
My noise margin - 21
I'm a subscriber since 12/16/01. At first the service offer was 1.5mbps/384kbps for 49.95 us $. The order and setup went fine and everything occured on time. They sent me a speedstream 5260 modem, which actually has 5660 capabilities if you hack its firmware. It started off really well, i got speeds of 1.2mbps/320kbps. Then for some reason i got connection problems. The connection would be lost, the modem would then try to reconnect and get a signal but the dsl led would not become steady green. Instead the led would blink green. I tested at the NID to see if the problem was the inhouse wiring but the same problem occured. After several weeks, if i recall properly, of talking (and more talking...) with cust. reps. they finally fixed the problem. Unfortunately they capped me at 928kbps. Upload stayed the same. I was satisfied enough because the connection was extremely reliable. I ended up getting a router to share the connection w/ 3 other computers in the house, i also got the router so that i would automatically be connected upon boot up. The router (BEFSR41 linksys) automatically dials up. No need to manually dial up because the router does it for you but your ip still changes after disconnects. The service used to stay up for 2 days max, then you would reconnect. I dont know if it still does.
Transmit Port Speed (bps)- 384000
Receive Port Speed (bps) - 928000
3 years later
Earthlink just offered a promotion for speed and price. The price is now 39.95 instead of 49.95, that is if you agree to another 12 months contract. The speed upgrade is available if your TELCO is covad. The new speed max is 3000kbps/384kbps. I am currently trying to get that speed upgrade w/ the help of one of the elnk techs in the earthlink forum (very nice people who are willing to go out of their way to help, much more reliable then help through earthlink customer support online or on the phone) The tech and i checked the line to see if it is capable of supporting the new downstream speed of 3.0mbps and it seems that it can. I'll post a follow-up in a few days to inform readers if the upgrade was successfull.
update 1/15/05
A covad technician in the covad direct forum here was kind enough to change my downstream to 1536kbps. Unfortunately he couldn't get it at 3008kbps for some reason. Hopefully earthlink will fix that for me. I now test at 1270kbps.
Transmit Port Speed (bps)- 384000
Receive Port Speed (bps) - 1536000
update 1/27/05
A tech in the earthlink forum successfully upgraded my line speed to 3008 kbps down.
Transmit Port Speed (bps)- 384000
Receive Port Speed (bps) - 3008000
-West coast (lax.speakeasy.net) test
2005-01-27 20:00:41 EST: 2483 / 316
Your download speed : 2542954 bps, or 2483 kbps.
A 310.4 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 324991 bps, or 317 kbps.
-East Coast (nyc.speakeasy.net)
2005-01-27 20:05:40 EST: 2460 / 318
Your download speed : 2519688 bps, or 2460 kbps.
A 307.5 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 325785 bps, or 318 kbps.
-MidWest (cle.speakeasy.net)
2005-01-27 20:06:36 EST: 2494 / 317
Your download speed : 2554603 bps, or 2494 kbps.
A 311.8 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 324728 bps, or 317 kbps.
--reliable speed testing server below
**http://speedtest.umnet.umich.edu/
running 10s outbound test (client to server) . . . . . 330.10Kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server to client) . . . . . . 2.55Mb/s
Update 2/17/05
Service as consistent as before. No problems what so ever. Speed up to 2.5 mb/s down and up to 330kbps up.
update 3/19/05
2005-03-19 19:15:27 EST: 2503 / 319
Your download speed : 2563116 bps, or 2503 kbps.
A 312.8 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 327359 bps, or 319 kbps.
update 09/23/06
earthlink wont upgrade to 6.0 even though covad tested the line and proved it is serviceable for 6.0. earthlink says their data is not synchronized with covad's. earthlink get ure sh*t together.
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Review by turkman143
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 7.6 years, 1156 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Moorestown,Burlington,NJ
$6 per month (month by month)
Verizon
"Great SPAM protection. ProtectionPack Anonymous Email exceptionally good. Alternate DNS services."
"Bad tech support (in the sense it does not meet my expectations)"
"Good SPAM protection to keep from downloading SPAM on a PC. Most other filters use POP3 after download."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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Drawback is that the mail and DNS server are 24 hops away, subject to packet loss and/or Long Transaction delays.
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Review by thefatchef
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 2.4 years, 24 visits, last login: 32 days ago
San Francisco,San Francisco,CA
$69 per month (12 month contract)
about 90 days
Covad
"It's everywhere"
"Very poor comunication from one department to another"
"If and when I move I would consider another ISP"
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My original ISP was Netcom and they were taken over by Earthlink; it was a smooth transition and all went well.
Once I decided to use Earthlink for my phone system, it was a real Bitch to get my Truevoice and phone system hooked up and to keep my original phone number. It took about three months from start to finish to get everything working right. Sometimes I still loose my DSL or phone connections.
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Review by MIA_Dogs
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 2.5 years, 91 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Miami,Miami-Dade,FL
$69 per month (12 month contract)
about 60 days
BellSouth
"Good price for Home Phone & DSL Service"
"Outsourced tech support can't help for anything but the simplest issues."
"Be very careful about entering a contract with Earthlink. The risk is not worth the small amount you are saving in my opinion."
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We were using Bellsouth phone service with their DSL 3.0 down and never had any major issues. When Earthlink offered Home Phone & DSL service at a higher download speed (up to 8.0 Mb/s) and for slightly less per month we decided to go for it. The first thing that should have caught our attention was the 12 month contract. It's a good way yo tie you into the service by hanging an expensive ETF over your head.
The problems began immediately after we switched. We couldn't get a connection at 8 or 6 Mb/s, understandable since we can't make them move their CO closer to us so we were reprovisioned to 3.0 and although we were getting a connection it was unstable. Still we spent countless hours on the phone with their worthless outsourced tech support (they are Filipino or Indian - I'm not being prejudiced against these cultures, but the language barrier is very real sometimes and their technical expertise is questionable as well as the case logging and escalation procedure). We went past the 30 day window before we were tied into the contract, but by then we were having techs dispatched to our house to check out the lines. Finally we were able to get a stable connection after a Bellsouth tech was dispatched to our house. I'm not completely sure what was done, but it worked.
Fast forward to a few months ago, we had a heavy rain and started having DSL sync issues again. I mentioned tech support being ineffective. I was a Tech Support Representative for over 5 years and when I'm dealing with tech support I know there are hoops to jump through as far as basic troubleshooting goes, but either they don't take proper notes or they are absolute script monkeys who are there to waste your time on the phone. They seem to not understand the meaning "intermittent". They didn't know what to look for beyond the most elementary issues. If hey were going to bother giving me a case number and taking notes about my problem they really should have thought about skipping some of the troubleshooting steps they are programmed to spew out.
My particular problem was never resolved, but there were about 9 case numbers for it. This is important because of what happened later. After they found out rolling out Covad techs to check for any issues in my house was not going anywhere, they sent a couple of Bellsouth techs to look for a line problem. Since Bellsouth is only required by law to provide a working phone line, their tests went through without a hitch and it didn't take long for them to determine my lines were Technically Not Feasible or TNF. After that there was no more possibility of getting this checked out by Bellsouth. Since Earthlink tech support wouldn't give a good explanation of the problem when calling for the Bellsouth techs, I'm pretty sure they screwed this up for me. Since Earthlink support saw so many case numbers opened up for my DSL line they even started giving me their "best effort service" shpiel. That basically meant "we can't provide any more support, you might as well quit trying to have your problem resolved".
I learned my lesson that when you deal with a company like Earthlink you better hope you never have a problem or else you can almost be sure it will be like pulling teeth to get your service back up. I'm pretty sure Earthlink is going to be bought out or will fold within a couple of years due to the way their service has gone to hell. I really wish we could have made it work with them.
Oh and the DSL sync issue, it was never resolved, but I did notice a workaround and this was due to Earthlink support shutting down the "phone port" of my service. When the "phone port" was locked - meaning my phone service was completely shut off - my DSL issue went away. I mentioned this many times to a lot of their phone support reps and only one of them even hinted that this should be followed up. As a tech person I would have seen this as a very important clue towards resolving this issue. Earthlink tech support lacked any kind of escalation procedure or just lacked the brains to resolve this problem. I'd like to add that I was talking to "TRON" or the third level support department. I believe this was as high a level of support they offered. My contract ended thankfully and now we are getting set up for Bellsouth again. Bellsouth is actually pretty competitive now and we're getting basically the same service for a little bit less than what we payed at Earthlink with no contract. If I have a problem that they can't fix at least I know I can just say forget it and get cable.
Followup comments: MIA_Dogs
join:2007-05-08
Miami, FL
·EarthLink
| One thing I didn't mention I'd like to thank dslreports.com for providing so much knowledge and even tech support once upon a time. When I had my initial problems, an Earthlink tech who posted in the Earthlink forums here was the guy who was able to resolve the issue by opening a Bellsouth ticket with proper notes. By the time I had my latest problems, Earthlink had gotten rid of these guys. I had to rely fully on their outsourced phone support and coincidentally my issue was never resolved. | |
| Dust_er
join:2002-11-16
San Marcos, CA
1 edit | Agree with you 100% word to word! I just moved to a new location so I contacted Earthlink and they moved service to new home. They automatically put me back in new contract for 1 more year. Then they switched my 6.0Mbps DSL to 1.5Mbps with out notifying me. Now my connection is 320/320. I called tech support so many times but always end up with the same problem. I've never had to manually configure anything in my Network properties (IP, DNS, gateway, etc...), until now. I have to set those settings to specific number in order to go online with very slow speed. I can't cancel because of the early cancellation fee. I've never filed/sued no one before, but EL is making me to have that kind of thought lately.
PS the speed is 320/320 when tested on dslreports but the real download speed with I download something is 30K - 40K max. | |
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