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 Review by shutrbug 
UPDATED: 6.6 years ago
member for 9.1 years, 2098 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
 $50 per month (24 month contract)
 about 6 days
 "Blazingly fast downloads; No more waiting for Godot (I mean PacBell)"
 "They drilled a hole in the wall of my house for the cable!"
 "No more waiting for DSL to come to my neighborhood..."
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Edit: Well, it's goodbye to Sprint Broadband Direct. I've made the switch to SBC Yahoo! DSL. They installed an RT near my home and I'm getting about 1200/130 consistently with DSL and nice, consistent ping times. So now it's time to cancel my SBBD and take the monstrosity of an antenna off my roof.
I've wanted DSL ever since I first heard of it. Unfortunately, I live too far (22,000 ft) from the nearest CO, and Pac Bell moves at glacial speed in terms of adding new COs. I hoped that IDSL would be more reasonably priced, but alas it is not to be. I just happened to check the Sprint website on the way to checking my PCS service when I saw the tab for Broadband. Lo and behold, they have service in San Jose and the on-line prequalification was positive. I called up last week and scheduled an on-site evaluation for Monday, 10/16. After some fussing around with a defective signal meter, the installers told me that the line-of-sight to the tower on Monument Peak was clear of trees, and that I would have good signal. Unfortunately, I had to go to work, so I called that afternoon to schedule the installation for Wednesday morning.
To make a long story short, I've got the 18" diamond-shaped antenna on a three foot mast atached to the gable of my roof with the coax cable routed under the shake shingles. I don't think my neighbors will complain... they haven't so far! The installers ended up drilling a hole through the exterior wall for the cable into my home office to my dismay. DSL would have been neater but much more hassle! The tech tried to install a 3Com NIC in my Compaq 5170, but it conflicted with something, perhaps the on-board Ethernet port, so he removed it. Now I'll have to buy another NIC or a router to share the single static IP address. Total installation time was about four hours.
As posted earlier, Sprint bought WavePath along with their licenses to select markets in the US. The WavePath site says that the equipment and installation used to cost $800 and the service was $150 per month. We're getting a heck of a deal with free installation, $100 equipment (with two year contract), and $50 a month! Sprint is doing a careful roll-out here in San Jose; no advertising so far. I'm sure there will be a backlog once the ads hit.
Advertised performance: 0.5 to 1.5 Mpbs download typical, 5 Mpbs burst download, 256 kbps max upload.
My performance: 4.8 to 6 Mpbs download (as measured on DSLReports after tweaks), 100 to 220 kpbs upload. DrPing reports 16 to 17 routers as not responding... maybe those are the cause of poor gaming performance reported by others. The average of the sites that do respond is 85.
Lots of people have complained about the Earthlink ISP that Sprint provides. I'm happy with the six e-mail address and six home pages with 6 MB storage each. I downgraded the tech support just slightly in that they seemed a bit annoyed that I called to ask the name of the mail and news servers.
Overall, I'm really glad that I signed up with Sprint Broadband. It exceeds my expectations in almost every way!
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 6.6 years ago
(review was emailed from domain lycosmail.com)
Tucson,Pima,AZ
$49 per month (12 month contract)
"When it works it's very good @ <>60 KBYTES per."
"Once you get through the DNS servers, that is. DNS resolution is VERY bad"
"It's the only game in town. I can only get 28.8 BAUD in my location."
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For the Tucson, Arizona area.
Sprint Broadband Direct (from now on SBB) is not very good. While the download speed is excellant the DNS resoultion appears to be terrible. It appears that there are dozens of DNS requests made to download a single page. I regularly get 404 errors for CNN.COM, MSNBC.COM, and other MAJOR pages. What else can this be but a failure in SBB's DNS server.
I wish there was a way to use someone elses DNS server but wouldn't that require going through Sprints on the way?
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Review by dneumark
UPDATED: 6.7 years ago
member for 8.6 years, 92 visits, last login: 1.4 years ago
Berkeley,Alameda,CA
$40 per month (24 month contract)
about 7 days
"Fast and reliable"
"The upgrade to a web cache server has caused me problems"
"Pretty good unless you need to deal with a proxy server (actually this is OK now)"
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Well, here I am about two years later. Sprint has basically been OK, with speeds similar to those given below in my earlier review. The major problem has been that they did something to their transmitter in San Jose that required my antenna to be lengthened from 10 to 20-25'. This did not go over well with the family. So I am planning to switch to Comcast, which just became available in my neighborhood (Oakland, in the hills behind the Claremont Hotel). It sounds like Comcast has its own problems, so let's see what happens. Incidentally, does Sprint have any interest in reclaiming its old equipment? Or do I need to take the antenna down myself?
After building a new house with hard-wired networking capability, I was extremely annoyed that neither DSL nor cable modem were available. So I went with Sprint Broadband. I don't particularly like the 10' high antenna on my roof, but I guess I'm used to it now. And it is reasonably fast- about 2 Mb download and 150-200 Kb upload. It has worked reliably; the one day it was down I was able to fix the problem with a phone call.
The one problem that has caused me some irritation is associated with Sprint's recent upgrade to a web cache server. I need to access research info from the University of California, and web cache server apparently acts as a firewall to the proxy server used by UC to restrict access to their databases. I have complained to Sprint about this situation but have not made much headway toward getting it resolved.
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Review by rab
Posted: 6.7 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 443 visits, last login: 6 days ago
Saratoga,Santa Clara,CA
$54 per month
"Reliability and speed have gotten excellent over the past year"
"Do not accept new customers"
"Works for me!"
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This service has stabilized since not accepting new customers. The wireless service is apparently immune to weather, etc. I am a 5 year (+/-) customer. I have no viable alternative (no cable or DSL) and am very happy with the service.
This may be due to the fact that they are no longer adding installations.
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 Review by Rubicon
Posted: 6.8 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 2330 visits, last login: 276 days ago
Flemington,Hunterdon,NJ
$59 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
 Sprint
"Offer good bandwidth despite high home-to-CO distance."
"Little Pricey."
"Once you have tasted OOL, you'll never be satisfied with anything else."
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I've dealt with DSL in the past so I was extremely skeptical about getting quality service especially considering the distance limitations of DSL. At approximately over 15K feet, I am getting consistent 1500/256 speeds and latency.
Also, they are as efficient as they can be for a DSL service provider. With Sprint, they can address any issue directly unlike other CLECS that do their occasional finger pointing. Time from order and installation was about 1 week.
Not much more I can say - which in most cases - a GOOD thing! They delivered what they promised.
update:
This needs to be moved to Sprint's Fast Connect services. Also, I recently read about security issues with their service:
»Sprint DSL's Gaping Security Hole
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Review by mdh95
Posted: 6.9 years ago
member for 6.9 years, 1 visits, last login: 6.8 years ago
Chambersburg,Franklin,PA
$50 per month (12 month contract)
Sprint
"Setup was easy. The dsl modem is better at maintaining the ip address than Comcasts cable modem but is much slower"
"If Sprint didn't have people with their heads up their A@$, it would be a wonderful company (see below)"
"Be sure to document the package you ordered, every person you speak to (get their employee #). Record the calls if possible."
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Since I've had both Comcast service and Sprint service in the past 6 months, I would go with Comcast hands-down. Their 1.5mbps connection is way faster than the dsl. It never slowed down on nights or weekends, although I suspect that this may vary depending on the area.
FYI: the only reason I went with Sprint is because Comcast did not allow VPN connections on their $40/month service. They required the $95/month service (3.5mbps) service to use VPN. Comcast has changed their policy to allow the $40/month service to allow VPN, so their is no justification to go with dsl. Also, Comcast lets you go month-to-month. Sprint doesn't
Below is the detail of my experience with Sprint:
Everything started off just fine. The self install kit arrived quickly and setup was easy. The problems started when the bills arrived. The first months bill had 3-4 errors on it. It took about an hour of analyzing the bill and speaking with customer service to get it (supposedly) straightened out.
When the second months bill arrived, there were 18 (yes, 18) errors on it. It turns out that the customer service rep that I talked to for the problems on the first months bill had done the following without asking me (or even mentioning it).
1. Upgraded my dsl service from the 512/128 to the 1.5mbps/384 service, which is $10 a month more.
2. Signed me up for some service policy for $5.95 a month in case I have problems with my phone lines in my house.
3. Somehow deleted the intro package that I signed up for, which included the first 3 months for $29.99 instead of $49.99.
The third months bill arrived recently and there were only 2 errors on it. On this call to the customer service (I am only speaking to supervisors at this point) they give me a flat credit for ~$10 more than what I am owed. I have to say this is the absolute worst experience I've had with a company in my entire life.
As far as a technical standpoint, the dsl is very reliable. I can talk on the same line with no problem and dial out on a modem (RAS connection) with no problems. Sprint provides a good supply (5) of line filters so your regular phones don't get any static overflow from the dsl connection.
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Review by exxtreme6
Posted: 6.9 years ago
member for 6.9 years, 7 visits, last login: 6.9 years ago
Fort Worth,Tarrant,TX
$29 per month (12 month contract)
about 9 days
Sprint
CLEC party: Sprint
"Faser then suggested speeds, lots of packages to choose from"
"had a bad modem on first try, takes longer then suggested to get it installed"
"if you don't mind wiating to get it working, is a good setup"
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ordered on the 31 of the last month, and took till the 8 days to turn it on, the web site said it would only take 3 days. when the modem arrived i hooked it up, and got one that didn't work correctly. called sprint and got a tech that didnt listen to a word i said. suggested that my network cable was bad, and said he couldnt take what i said into account because i didnt know what i was talking about. i got mad and called back to a diffrent one. had to finally call a tech out to check the line and settings in the modem. The tech explained to me that they had problems of the same nature with other customers and tech support. he then issued me a new modem. then had to call sprint to get an account when included software came with errors. but when the all was done and said, it finally worked. it has faster then suggested speeds and seems to be normal.
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Review by z00om
Posted: 7 years ago
member for 7 years, 4 visits, last login: 6.2 years ago
Madera,Madera,CA
$44 per month (24 month contract)
about 14 days
CLEC party: Sprint
"Tons of bandwidth, very reliable, good instillation"
"Upstream speeds, consistency (or lack there of), a dish on your roof"
"Good, affordable (VERY worth the money), and they get where most other ISPs can't reach"
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Our instillation did take a while due to the large demand. It took approximatly 2 weeks from calling until we had it plugged in. The first month was smooth, VERY smooth. The next 4 or 5 months, however, were not smooth at all. We suffered from heavy packet loss (up to 30% JUST -to- THEM), and heavy down time. The severity of these symptoms varied from week to week, but mostly created a large hassle. For about 3 months, AOL Instant Messenger wouldn't stay signed on for more than about 15 minutes, sometimes not even 1 minute. It became very aggrivating so I called them and spent about 2 hours on the phone running various tests and diagnostics. They told me to tweak a few settings and check back if the problems persisted (they related to DHCP settings). When the problems did persist, I called back and they said they'd send a service guy. He arrived right on time and definatly ready to work. The guy, though not completely trained, did do his very best. He performed all the typical checks (line of sight, windows settings, etc). After that he concluded it was probably my $10 NIC doing what a $10 NIC does: what it's supposed to do, on a $10 budget. The guy walked out to his truck and said he'd be back in a minute, and after putting some things away he returned with a brand new NIC (the one they sell you for $99 w. the instillation), and some paperwork. He told me the NIC was free, but just don't say anything and all I had to do was sign that he came and did the perscribed tests.
The tech support people -used- to be very very polite and helpful, and their phone system though NOT preferable, was better than any of my previous ISPs. However they have been on the decline, RAPID decline.
The web page promises UP to about 5Mbps[640KB/s]/256Kbps[32KB/s]. My fastest download ever was about 657KB/s, fastest upload was about 24KB/s. At the time, to get a 256/128 cable, which is 24KB/s down and 12KB/s up was about $65-$70/month. I think that for a 27x performance increase in download speed for about $20/mo less was a fair deal.
They install a microwave transciever on your roof or on a pole up to 100ft high. They will either bolt the unit to your roof and use guy-wires if it's heigh exceedes a certain amount or put the pole into the ground and attach it to the side of your house and raise it up to 100ft above that with guy-wires. They have a couple other bolt-on-and-go brackets, but those are rarely used (where I live anyway). So, quite simply: you have to be willing to accept atleast a few large bolts being driven into your house somewhere, and perhaps a few wires and a lot of poles should your line-of-sight suffer that bad. Inside you are previded with a power unit for the transciever and the modem, the modem (which varied in size/shape/colour), and the appropriate cabling. They were very quick and prompt, clean, and the job was done very professionally. The hole was drilled to exactly the size necessary, all cables were wrapped/tied and bundled very nicely, and I was left with a positive opinion of their work.
You get a static IP address - and I should also mention that the dish isn't that large: only about 1ft x 1ft diamond.
Currently, in the last 6 or 7 months I have not noticed but 2 total hours of downtime (2 periods, 1 hr each). Not bad: 4,798 hours out of 4,800. Speeds are not always consistent, but I blame that mostly on the variation of the quality and location of the hosts I'm pulling from. My upload speeds are not great, but they beat dialup! I'm very pleased with the speeds, and I can get pings as low as 90ms, but average about 175ms (no, not GREAT but better than Dial-Up). We currently have a NETGEAR RT-314 router hooked to the modem, which is connected to one computer and a D-LINK 5-Port switch which is connected to two computers. Ocasionally my friend(s) will come over and we'll have as many as 4 computers pulling from it at once and I never notice any drop in performence. Though the speeds may not be great enough to yank all of your bandwidth at once, the bandwidth IS there to serve multiple requests from different locations at once flawlessly.
All in all, I am very pleased with my service from sprint. I think it is a very good value for anyone seeking a reliable, fast broadband connection -especially- if they have no other options. Unforutinatly, in my area sales have ended and no new customers are being accepted to prevent over-selling. I would recomend sprint to most people, including power users, web developers, etc...
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Review by phirephoto
Posted: 7.1 years ago
member for 9.8 years, 304 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Sunnyvale,Santa Clara,CA
$49 per month
about 7 days
"Can be INCREDIBLY fast."
"Can be INCREDIBLY slow."
"Horrible. You'll need a second job to pay for your Aspirin habit."
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Pre-Sales Support: Hahah. "Umm, we guarantee speeds up to and above 1.5 Megs/second, but make no guarantee of minimum or maximum speeds".
Value For Money? Hahaha AGAIN. Get DSL. Or even dial-up.
I've had Sprint broadband going on 2 years now. And the second my modem arrives from PacBell DSL, I am throwing this thing in the trash! Their tech support is useless. I've called on numerous occasions to complain about the slow speeds. So they have me go to THEIR web site to download a file to test the speed. And I'll typically get 130+ KB/SSEC. And that's all they'll guarantee - THEIR connection. Yet, I work for an ISP (My company bought out an isp about a year ago), and connecting to my companies ftp site (the company is all of 3 blocks away and connected via multiple DS3's to Woldcom and Geunity, I get all of 18 KB/sec. Sprint tech support says since they don't 'own' that network, they can't guarantee any quality. I told the tech I WORK for that network, and I'd be happy to walk down the street, walk into the NOC, and unplug EVERYBODY connected to the network BUT ME, so I'm connected to 3 DS-3's, but that's not good enough. Their news server is HORRIBLE.- luckily my company has a news server. At one support call, when he ACKNOWELDGED I was having a bad connection (although he couldn't see WHY, but he acknowledged the speed even to their site was horrible, he said "Hold On." Put me on hold 5 minutes, came back, and said "Ok, I changed your IP, try now." And after that did NOTHING, he tells me he cannot get my old IP back.
It's a good thing Sprint is no longer adding any more customers - Their network needs some SERIOUS attention. I admit, there's times when I get 400 KB/sec downloads from sites, but the times I get 18- 20 make it not worth it. Go DSL..
And 24/7 support? When they go down, calling support gives you a prerecorded message that says "We are experiencing a problem. We have no update at this time." and hangs up.
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Review by mondomac
UPDATED: 7.1 years ago
member for 8.6 years, 57 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Chicago,Cook,IL
$39 per month (48 month contract)
about 12 days
Sprint
CLEC party: Sprint
"Works most of the time"
"Frequent downtime, slow speeds that never meet the original promise"
"Once decent, now not so good"
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The speed we were told to expect was "around" 640 down and 128 up. We used to average 700 down and 80 up, but it's been getting much worse. Today I have around 300 down and 10 (ten!) up, and those were measured on Sprint's own site, while talking to a "tech support" person. They were down for a total of 12 hours this week so far. Each time I call I'm told they guarantee NO upstream speed time at all, which of course is insane since both are used to transfer data in any direction. Sprint no longer sells this service to new users BTW, so this cannot be due to overselling our market. If things don't shape up soon we will switch.
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Sprint Broadband Direct
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