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On a whim I went to Earthlinks site and checked to see what was available in my area. Saw that I could get 100/10 connection provided by Spectrum for only $40 a month for 12 months then after that it would go up $70. Thought that this was too good to be true but figured why not give it a try. Setup and talking to customer service can be a challenge as their call center is obviously located over seas. However if one exercises a small amount of patience and talks clearly to the PERSON on the other end it is not that bad. After I called TWC/Charter to switch my service I was initially provisioned at 25/2.5; I called Earthlink and they promptly re-provisioned my modem and now I get the speeds that were advertised. I have noticed that the connection does saturate quickly. Before I could have several devices streaming and for the most part maintain peak speeds on each device. Now I notice other devices contending for bandwidth much quicker. I think that TWC/Charter may lower the priority (QoS/Traffic Shape) Earthlink traffic on their network as they are a budget third party ISP. The funnest part of all of this is that according to TWC/Charter my residence is not setup to run at 100/10 and this speed is unavailable from them. I have been told this by both residential and business class. Obviously their network is setup for these speeds but their computers obviously are not talking to each other. End of the day I am paying TWC/Charter for my Earthlink internet, but I have speeds that they say do not exist on their network and I am paying less money with no one trying to shove HDTV down my throat. WIN! So far this connection has been hugely unreliable. I have not been able to narrow down why but I feel it involves their peering or routing as trying to play games while someone streams a video is all but impossible. member for 17.1 years, 2103 visits, last login: 5 days ago updated 7.5 years ago
Install took several weeks. Took numerous calls to get EL/MS+Covad+Bellsouth to get the line working. This is typical in this area, Bellsouth takes several tries to get the line/DSLAM setup properly. They also forgot to send me the modem (self install kit.) Hardest part of setup was getting tech support. Very long waits then had to get past tier-1 to get to any useable help. Took numerous calls just to get somene to look into the problem, they all assumed I had not installed the software properly. That had been verified. They sent out a tech (Covad.) He knew next to nothing. Plugged in his modem, got sync but no connection. Said it must be Bellsouth problem (I already knew that), called tech support, handed me the phone and left. Several calls later, ADSL light suddenly flickers on/off by itself. Then all 3 of my PC's connect (2 different OS's, 3 different PPPoE clients.) First year speeds were intermittent as ATL area redbacks were flaky. There are now more servers and they seem reliable. I now keep connections for weeks. member for 23.3 years, 8858 visits, last login: 4.1 years ago updated 9.6 years ago
UPDATED A LOT OF TIMES, READ THE BOTTOM AT LEAST... I joined Earthlink a year and a half ago. After first signing up they billed me for service before I even received the startup kit in the mail, huh?! By way of apology they gave us an additional free month (over and above the sign up deal). In fact whenever there was a billing dispute, there was lots of discounts and free months thrown in. After calling recently about a possible discount, they agreed I could get it, and instead added to the price of our bill instead of subtracting it. The billing department seems unable to do math, which could explain the interminable wait times on hold to talk to them. Tech support? Also long hold times, and don't expect anything above your run of the mill "Did you try turning the power off on your modem and rebooting your computer?" Outages were few and far between, mail has been fairly reliable. Earthlink's Pop-up blocker is very nice but difficult to get your hands on unless you install their full software package. Anyone with minor skills should avoid the software package for any ISP, and that goes double for Earthlink. Spaminator is merely a Brightmail spam filter with a user interface (webmail based) for sorting your spam for false positives. It is only 50% successful with my father's email account for some reason. Huge volumes of spam come to him every day (yes it is turned on). News downloads are kind of slow. Line speed tests come in around 85% of advertised rates. About 1200 kbps downstream. And the upstream, well... NOW THE REALLY BAD BIT: Sometime along the way Earthlink capped my bandwidth without notification. My 1500/256 line became 1500/128. Go check, that's what they're selling now. No apologies, no discounts to established customers, nothing. After talking with tech support who said "Huh?" And accounts, who blamed "Bellsouth, maybe?" I have gotten no good explaination. Every other ISP in south Florida using Bellsouth lines provides 1500/256 for $50/mo. EXCEPT Earthlink. They've been reliable, but I refuse to put up with a company with an uninformed support staff, and is will to make SERIOUS changes to your account on the sly. STAY AWAY. BELLSOUTH.NET PROVIDES FASTER SPEEDS, AT THE SAME PRICE WITH NEARLY THE SAME DSLREPORTS RATING. Additional info: The sign up package was great with everything free including the first month or so. The modem is an Efficient Networks 5260 and I have it hooked in to a Linksys DSL Router providing PPPoE. Did a self install and built the network at the same time, no hitches. Update: I guess too many people complained: 1500/256 was quietly restored without comment (benched at 1157/196 that's 78% for the math disabled) . I'm not sure when. Sigh. Earthlink USE to be a good company. Also Usenet servers were upgraded. You can get about full speed access to them now, though there is a monthly limit of 5gb/30 days (not calendar months, but over the last 30 days), then they throttle your connection. Usenet not your entire connection. UPDATE 5/1/04: Earthlink has gone to a 2 tier dsl service. The $50/month I've been spending is now suppose to provide 3000/128kbps (Bellsouth.net is also offering this for a few dollars more ($55) and calling it 3000/384 with a static IP!) 1500/128kbps is now only $40 (upload speeds may be higher as they are for the 1500/129kbps). Anyway, Earthlink has CHOSEN NOT TO MENTION THIS to existing customers (making it only available to NEW customers). In fact I was rerouted a dozen times in over an hour around India trying to express my outrage, and desire to receive the service I am in fact paying for. My contract finished up 2 years ago, and they tell me the service isn't available to existing customers (but may be later this year). FINALLY, I got transferred back to the U.S. and talked to an AMERICAN, WOO-HOO. He resolved my problem in all of 1 minute by sending an Email to Covad requesting an upgrade to my service (for my same monthly fee). He CLAIMS 24-48hrs until that happens. We shall see. I did take the opportunity to yell about the crappy support they now have. India tech support sucks. Earthlink use to be known for outstanding customer service. Those days are gone. Go to BellSouth.net, I'm told they still have U.S. reps, and have a better price+features/performance. $5 more to get more, and if you use TotalChoice, it is cheaper than Earthlink. IF YOU ARE AN EXISTING CUSTOMER, CALL AND YELL AT EARTHLINK UNTIL THEY EITHER REDUCE YOUR RATE OR UPGRADE YOUR SERVICE!!!!!!! 5/4/04 Update: Well no 3Mbps for me. Turns out Bellsouth is starting out small and close to the CO and then spreading out and upgrading as it goes. So... not yet for me, but they are going to cut my rate to $40/mo. for my 1.5mbps. I can't hate that anyway. 9/11/07 Has it really been almost 7 years now? Well, it's finally time to jump ship. Earthlink is dead. Ok not dead, but someone should shoot it and put it out of it's misery. Their tech support is a bunch inept script monkeys that will tie you up for an hour or more rewiring routers and changing OS settings before they will tell you 'there is a known outage in your area'. Their price is excessive, their line speed is 'meh'. They want another year contract to upgrade my speed to the 3.0mbps service (like the change costs them anything.) I'm uncomfortable with AT&T's decisions to outsource tech support and rumblings that they may monitor customer activities (for the NSA, RIAA, etc.) but the fact still remains: they are cheaper, faster, and better. ($3 less a month ($38) will double my bandwidth. For $43 I can get 6.0mbps now. No contract, no new modem needed, not costs up front.) Don't even think about Earthlink as a provider anymore, their best is behind them. 4/15/14 Interesting conversations the past couple days with Earthlink. I asked them the current prices for 6.0mbps because of AT&T's recent rate hike and was quoted $44.95/mo. That's a surprising $6 less a month less than the AT&T on the same lines. Thinking about it a couple days, I very nearly upgraded my service, but then I saw my bill last month. It went up from $39.95 for the 3.0 service to $44.95/mo. Yeah, that's confusing. I know AT&T raised rates, but I wasn't even notified by Earthlink of the price hike so I complained. (Why not, right?) The guy checked my records, apologized, and changed my monthly fee to $37.95/mo. Yup, a $2 DROP. So, to be clear I asked if that changed anything about my service or if this were some special for a limited time and his answer was: "You will get same service DSL service with speed up to 3.0 mbps for $37.95 per month and we have deceased your prices with same service. This price will be for you as long as you use Earthlink service." (sic) I've printed that conversation out and will stuff it in their face if they ever try to raise rates again. Sure I'd LIKE to bump to 6.0, but that is a conversation for another day. For those that wonder why I keep DSL over Cable? DSL is more than competitively priced (per mbps), doesn't involve the scams that Comcast shovels out and is more reliable. (I've talked to my neighbors, they're ALWAYS lowing service). Why do I keep Earthlink? Because for less money a month than AT&T I'm getting service with no bandwidth caps(!), usenet(!!) that is surprisingly robust for still being included by any ISP and would AT&T have actually LOWERED a customer's rate(!!!)? Permanently(!!!!)? My estimation of Earthlink really went up today. member for 20.9 years, 317 visits, last login: 356 days ago updated 10 years ago
Initially I had a lot of problems with Earthlink. Here is my DSL history: I first ordered on the 20th of December 1999 DSL from GTE (now Verizon). That was one big nightmare, I couldn't believe how patient I had become, they kept saying wait another month we are experiencing a lot of glitches. I told my neighbors at least 10 times "Oh yeah I'm getting DSL in a week" every time to see the day come and go. I finally canceled the order in May of 2000. After some more negotiation with my parents I went through Earthlink who was already my ISP (bought out my ISP: Netcom) so I could keep my existing e-mail address. A major plus. When I ordered it, it was the 3rd of July. That got delayed because either GTE would miss an appointment therefore causing Covad to automatically cancel the order or that the local CO was maxed out. So then in September of 2000 I cancelled the order yet again because I was going to get a cell phone, and GTE had still not even activated the line. Finally after my mom had hired someone to look at my sis computer and our network he recommended that we get DSL rather than share a 56k connection. So finally on the 10th of December I ordered DSL yet again. On the 18th of December the line was activated without a hitch and on the 21st of December I hope to have my line installed by Covad. It was quite amazing how fast this went and I am very happy. I will stay with Earthlink only until a more reliable and faster solution comes along. Here is some of the technical and additional stuff I wanted to add about the Earthlink DSL. They are indeed using PPPoE but I have a Umax Ugate 3200 which automatically takes the PPPoE so that I don't have to worry about it. Covad will send out an Efficient Networks Speedstream 3260 DSL "Modem". The speed of the DSL service is advertised as "Best effort" which means that it can be as high as 1.5mbs or as low as 360kbs. In my neighborhood I live 5000 ft. away from the CO and I am also getting what Covad calls the Tele Surfer Pro, which should run at or near 1.5mbs. I put in this review what I wished I could have seen in other reviews. One big tip though. Call about every 3 days with any ISP, keep yourself in their computers, because then you have less of a chance to fall through the cracks in the DSL ordering process. One other thing, when my DSL does get installed I will be sure to update this so that I can give a full circle of the ordering/install process, and my installation is a Professional one. THURSDAY December 21st: THE DSL IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm 1.3 down and 300 up, I love it!!! Covad technician was the very best! Thursday June 22nd: I wanted to do a checkup on this... Initially I had service going in and out at a rate of about 10-15 times a week, for about 2 hours.... This was shortly after I wrote the December 21st review. Since the 3 week period of instability, my connection has been out ONCE! I love Covad and hope they don't go under, they are by far the best DSL provider. member for 23.3 years, 518 visits, last login: 1.9 years ago updated 10.4 years ago
Earthlink resells Time Warner Cable. We switched this month to EL when TWC wouldn't budge on the new rate they were charging us after the last promo expired, so we're still paying $30/month for 15/1 service and getting 35/1. In six months, the EL rate will expire, EL will likely offer to extend the rate plan another six months, but if not, we'll switch back to TWC. Other than a confusing set of phone calls to both companies, each not knowing who is on first, the switch, billing, and service is completely transparent member for 23.3 years, 5066 visits, last login: 1 day ago updated 10.7 years ago
Update February 2013 - Comcast Business Internet supplies dual stack IPv4/IPv6. Many times the speed with around twice the cost of Earthlink DSL. Earthlink still cannot spell IPv6. With regret, I'm gone. UPDATE June 2012 - OK, System, I'm still here. Except for three or four temporary PPPoE Server failures, service is still robust and reliable. (2.5 down/.43 up) Of course, the support people all wanted me to rewire my network and reboot all elements before they would even consider that there might be a problem on their end. My standard approach is, "I did that and the problem was still there.", because, for the most part, I did and it was. In _every_ case the problem was resolved outside of my CPE. I still want IPv6 connectivity. UVerse is _not_ a choice for me because of no IPv6 and also because Carrier Grade Nat (CGN) is due soon. My conversations with Comcast IPv6 people give me hope (but no dates). Maybe this fall. UPDATE Nov 2010 - I want native IPv6 connectivity. IPv6 cannot be found on the Earthlink web site. Calling the sales contact number got first no recognition of the term IPv6. After I supplied my father's middle name, the rep paused and said, "We don't offer IPv6." I asked, "When will you offer IPv6?" The response was, "We don't offer IPv6." (rinse and repeat) Then I asked, "Who in Earthlink can tell me when I can get IPv6 from Earthlink.?" After consultation, the rep said I must contact my system vendor. After my pressing the point, the rep said, "Nobody at Earthlink knows." I offered my opinion about that and thanked him for his time. My rating of Earthlink Pre Sales information has declined accordingly. UPDATE Feb 2010 - I realized that my speed was down from the ~2.5Mbps down I've had for years. I called Earthlink and the call dropped after a while. While I was on the line with another rep, the first called me back!!! I did cooperate in performing diagnostics. Then my complaint was referred to ATT. The next day I got a call offering appointment times. THEY CALLED ME, AGAIN! The ATT tech arrived early in the window, fixed the line, and told us it was fixed. IT WAS FIXED!! Except for the temporary drop in speed, my service has been rock solid. !!! I have to give Earthlink/ATT kudos for good and effective response. !!! I blame the previous problem (below) on poor training of the support personnel about the changeover. Fall 2009 **I've had Earthlink DSL since 2001. My 3Mbps service has consistently delivered 2.5Mbps/325Kbps until they recently changed without notification from covad.net to sbcglobal.net. My speeds changed to 1.7/430. It took three hours of online chat and telephone calls, spread over two days, to get it fixed. Most of that time was spent waiting for Earthlink to admit that they had changed their network. I finally got a fifth someone who called ATT and got it fixed and even called me to let me know. Now I get 2.5/430, actually an improvement. Bottom line - reliable service, BOFH support - most nice people with poor communications skills and no ability to actually help. It should not take over 16 hours wall clock to get through to a helpful person. Oh, also, the sales contact would not even discuss the problem to tell me if my service terms had changed. member for 19.2 years, 4405 visits, last login: a few hours ago updated 11.1 years ago
We signed up for Earthlink DSL in 2000, when 3.5Mbps was a really high speed. Due to the quality of the telephone lines we only get 2.5Mbps but it's good enough for our daily uses. The modem was a breeze to install, and over the years I received an update from an Arescom 800 to the ZyXEL P660R-ELNK Router for ADSL I currently use. Originally we had signed up for Netcom, and through them I was given six accounts each with 10MB of personal web space. As Netcom was absorbed by Mindspring and ultimately Earthlink, I was allowed to keep the web space and my established pages. Other services I have looked into over the years don't offer the hosting space for the price. My only complaint is the occasional drop in speed, sometimes to 367kbps. I dread contacting support, especially when the problem is in their line, because they have me reset the modem over and over. I have the script memorized, in fact. But when it works, it works great for the price. member for 13.5 years, 42 visits, last login: 4.1 years ago lodged 11.2 years ago
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. member for 12.4 years, 44 visits, last login: 169 days ago updated 12.2 years ago
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. member for 23.3 years, 3886 visits, last login: 4.1 years ago updated 12.9 years ago
I have stayed with them because the service, dependability and speeds are as promised. The tech support has been very good for me when needed. When they have experienced a major area outage, when you call the system tells you they are aware of the area outage and are working the problem. No need to report again. my speed paid for is 1.5m and always get 1.33m my up speed is always around .32m I am using an the original westel modem 10 years old So I'm very happy with them and would recommend them. member for 23.4 years, 184 visits, last login: 12.7 years ago lodged 12.9 years ago
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BellSouth
No new modem or contract involved either (but if you wanted it, it is actually cheaper at $19.95 for 3 to 6 months under a new contract and that comes with a free modem unlike BS that charges and then rebates the price of the "Refurbished" DSL Modem at 6 months later) and no B-S recovery fees of $3.00 per month like BS used to (and still may charge). Plus no servers in BS areas as it is against the TOS which makes Earthlink look way superior since EL allows servers on their residential DSL.
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