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Review by echelonzero See Profile

  • Location: San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Cost: $40 per month
  • Install: about 30 days
  • Telco party SBC
  • CLEC party: WorldCom
Cheap; fast speeds (when working)
Periods of severe packet loss; faulty mail and DNS; pathetic support
It helps to hire techs who know what 'that interweb thang' is
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

SPEED: When it works, it's fast: 1.5mbps/768k

COST: At $39.99/mo, it’s cheap--but is it worth it?

INSTALL: A week after the supposed arrival date, I had to stay on them to get an UPS tracking #. When router finally arrived, there were no instructions aside from the router manuals. I’m not a typical end-user; I’m a network engineer myself. However there isn’t much you can do without IP addresses, gateways, and DNS servers. Router had been shipped configured incorrectly. I learned this after 2 hours on the phone with tech support.

RELIABILITY: At least 2-3 times a week (possibly more when I'm not paying attention), I see packet loss from 15-50%. Yes, that's right, 50%. I pray to an assortment of gods in hopes I might be blessed with only 35% packet loss...hooray! This usually occurs for a few hours, and then subsides. As others have already mentioned, Cyberonic's mail and DNS servers SUCK. It takes *normally* 3-5 seconds to check my mailbox. Often mail is down and out. DNS servers given to me were across the country in Boston (I live in San Francisco. fyi, SBC's 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 work great). Sure you can use other DNS and mail providers, but isn't that part of the package your paying for? All of this, you can see why contacting support occasionally might be in order. Speaking of...

SUPPORT: I think Cyberonic Tech Support is run out of some employee's garage. The *single* line is always busy, and when it's not, sometimes you're put on hold without any music or greeting for a tech...I thought I was getting dead air initially. Wait times are horrendous. Techs are rude and incompetent.

Almost a full month ago, when I originally signed up for Cyberonic, I emailed Cyberonic tech support complaining of bounced emails from my SBCGlobal.net account to my Cyberonic.com email account, as well as possible other bounced emails to my Cyberonic.com account. After repeated ignored emails and 2 weeks of no response, I called Cyberonic "support." There I was greeted by a "tech" who, when not cutting me off, was ignoring my attempts to explain what the problem is. To summarize, I was on hold for almost 1 1/2 hours and when I wasn't, I was dealing with the jerk techs. Like horrendous wait times, rude and stupid techs, and unanswered support complaints? Cyberonic may be for YOU!

I never thought I would have to deal with a company whose support was worse than SBCs, which is pretty piss-poor itself. However, Cyberonic's support is absolutely abysmal. I am not asking to update routing tables, partition VLANs, or even guarantee acceptable latency--I have a simple mail issue that should have been fixed with days of my original request. I wonder how Cyberonic stays in business; the only conclusion I can reach is the sheer annoyance and pain to transfer to another DSL provider.

BOTTOM LINE: I realize that networks fail and everything can't be working perfectly 100% of the time. However, in regards to that, I would say: either ensure your service works well enough that I won't need to call support, or make sure your support system can actually function.

member for 21 years, 6 visits, last login: 21 years ago
lodged 21 years ago

garystevens4
join:2002-06-26
Boston, MA

garystevens4

Member

Cyberonic is great!

I have been using Cyberonic for 8 months now and been very happy. No down time and consistent speed all the time 1300k/700k. I have never had any problems with their support staff, they have always solved any issues and were very polite.

I have also recommended Cyberonic to several of my friends and they are also very pleased with the service.

-gary
echelonzero
join:2003-02-27
San Francisco, CA

echelonzero

Member

Re: Cyberonic is great!

Gary, sadly you appear to be in the minority of Cyberonic users. Check out the forums- Cyberonic gets a lot of bad press, and for good reason. The quality of service is very different on this side of the country.

However, I find your comment regarding their support staff quite hard to believe. How many times have you called? What were your wait times? What issues did you have them resolve? If you just called one time and through sheer luck spoke to a human being right away, I don't think you can make a quantitative judgement.

You sure you don't work for Cyberonic?

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: Cyberonic is great!

He doesn't work for Cyberonic, and I don't either, but I've had a smooth ride with Cyberonic. I'm not sure what your problem is, what kind of speed test results are you getting? Did you do a tweak test? How about line quality test?

Did you know that Worldcom has issued several tickets for maintenance for the east and west coast? That may have caused slow downs and drops for everybody that uses Worldcom's backbone. The problem might not even be on Cyberonic's side, heck it might even be on your side thats causing packet loss.

If you were in Cyberonic's shoes and have a overload of people calling at the same time to sign up for service, asking for an update of their equipment and line status, and tech support, I wonder how many customers could you take care of in an hour, all of them?

Cyberonic's email service has been slow and has been down sometimes, but just today I've seen posts from other users on dslreports that use Cyberonic's email, saying it's working a whole lot better now, I guess they (Cyberonic) have upgraded their email service or system. So try it out again and see if it's working better now, if it doesn't,(it's not the end of the world) just use another email service, like yahoo or hotmail it's free.

Come on your a network engineer, don't tell me you haven't learned how to be patient? When things don't go your way you raise all hell at the same time you want things to be fixed? No tech support would want to help you until you calm down. Oh yeah by the way, are you sure you don't work for another ISP?
[text was edited by author 2003-03-01 02:36:58]
echelonzero
join:2003-02-27
San Francisco, CA

echelonzero

Member

Re: Cyberonic is great!

Re: Cyberonic is great!
quote:
He doesn't work for Cyberonic, and I don't either, but I've had a smooth ride with Cyberonic. I'm not sure what your problem is, what kind of speed test results are you getting? Did you do a tweak test? How about line quality test?
1) I have multiple problems with Cyberonic, where to start?
2) Speed is ok (known as bandwidth, you knew that, right?)
3) line quality is ok.
quote:
Did you know that Worldcom has issued several tickets for>maintenance for the east and west coast? That may have caused slow downs and drops for everybody that uses Worldcom's backbone. The problem might not even be on Cyberonic's side, heck it might even be on your side thats causing packet loss.
1. As Cyberonic is using Worldcom's backbone, how about they relay such maintenance issues to THEIR customers? oh, that would involve truly caring about the *quality* of service for your customers.
2. as my line quality is ok, how would my "side" cause packet loss? also, how would explain other's packet loss? really, if you're going to spit random arguments to support "your side", it might be best if they have some grounding in reality.
quote:
If you were in Cyberonic's shoes and have a overload of people calling at the same time to sign up for service, asking for an update of their equipment and line status, and tech support, I wonder how many customers could you take care of in an hour, all of them?
awww, they oversubscribe their capacity and I should feel sorry for them! oh gosh! really, if they can't support the users they essentially lure into service with presales, why should I feel sympathy for them? it's real simple. Cyberonic is a business-- if they can't support the demand, then they shouldn't take on those *new* customers. this isn't a charity act. furthermore, why are all those people calling for updates on their equipment and line status? simple: because Cyberonic hasn't fulfilled their promise to deliver timely service as well as quality service. If Cyberonic spent the extra 5 minutes to send out maintenance notices, general issues, and other informaitve messages to their customers, they would cut down on support calls.

also, I am one person, not a company, why are you asking me how many support calls I could handle?!
quote:
Cyberonic's email service has been slow and has been down sometimes, but just today I've seen posts from other users on dslreports that use Cyberonic's email, saying it's working a whole lot better now, I guess they (Cyberonic) have upgraded their email service or system. So try it out again and see if it's working better now, if it doesn't,(it's not the end of the world) just use another email service, like yahoo or hotmail it's free.
Actually, as of today (2/28/03), the email server seems to be a lot better. Still, you suggest if their mail server fails, Cyberonic users should just use a free service. Why the hell do subscribers pay for it then? If it's not going to be available, then don't offer it as part of a package...and as such, reduce the total price. A POP3 account is a standard part of internet access, I shouldn't have to rely on hotmail or yahoo, as 1) they are not POP3, which is the service I'm paying for and 2) they are riddled with spam.
quote:
Come on your a network engineer, don't tell me you haven't learned how to be patient? When things don't go your way you raise all hell at the same time you want things to be fixed? No tech support would want to help you until you calm down. Oh yeah by the way, are you sure you don't work for another ISP?
I think a month of waiting for a just a reponse is pretty patient, don't you? Really, I'm paying for service, and if you can't provide it, then be ready to support your users. Likewise, if your service is great, then your support demands are reduced to possibly nil. That's not the case here. Regardless of whether it is Cyberonic's fault, Worldcom's fault, Sadaam's fault, or the Man on the Moon, the bottom line is Cyberonic is selling goods and services; if they can't support them when they fail then they need to reconsider their business plan.

No, I don't work for another ISP. Are sure you're not an AOL user?
[text was edited by author 2003-03-01 15:50:57]

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: Cyberonic is great!

I use AOL, AIM what's your point? I understand you're upset with Cyberonic. Give them sometime to work it out with you. Or you can cancel service with Cyberonic and eat that early termination fee and look for another ISP. I wish you the best of luck.

[text was edited by author 2003-03-01 22:18:13]
modsite2003
join:2003-02-25
Brooklyn, NY

modsite2003

Member

What is your speeds?

I have cyberonic for two years with no down-time. They are great. What are your speeds and pings?

Review by (hidden by request)

  • Location: San Jose, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $59 per month (12 month contract)
  • Telco party SBC
  • CLEC party: SBC
They aren't evil, just incompetent.
They are completely inept assuming that you can actually get through to them.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

This is very possibly the worst ISP I have ever done business with. I
placed my initial order with them on Dec 3 2002. On Dec 18 I called to
verify when the circuit would be completed. They had never heard of
me. Despite being furious I placed a new order. On Dec 23 I called
again to get a status report. Surprise, they lost my order again. I
placed another order. On Dec 28 I called and they told me my router
was on the way and the circuit would be complete within 7 days. Sure
enough, the router arrived soon after. However after 7 days the line
still wasn't provisioned. They told me that the router would be sent
out and the line would be provisioned within 7 days, again. I pointed
out that I already had a router. The girl on the phone then told me
the line would be provisioned in 14 days. After 7 days I called back.
Again, they offered to send me a router and promised to have the line
provisioned right away. A few days later I got ahold of someone who
let me know the provisioning order had never been sent in. I waited on
hold while he called SBC to put in the order. Within 5 hours the line
was setup. Thinking that I was in business I tried to surf the
internet with pride. No such luck. The router was fresh from the
factory. After an hour on hold (Oh yeah, did I mention that ever time
I tried to call them I'd get a busy signal. For days I was unable to
get through. Assuming that I did get a ring, I'd spend an hour on hold
before talking to anyone.) the CSR I got said he didn't know how to fix
the router and that the one person in the company that did was off, but
he did promise me the guy would call me first thing in the morning.
That didn't happen. Three days later I was finally able to get through
the busy signals and talked to the same guy that didn't know what to do
the previous call. This time he was armed with a three ring binder.
He bravely walked me through the steps to setting up the router. Never
mind that he had never touched a console himself or know what the
commands actually did, or in this case didn't do. The poor bastard had
no idea that his instructions were all wrong or that by not saving the
changes to firmware none of them would take. (Seriously, the router
prompted me to save the changes before rebooting. He had threatened me
with buying the router if I broke it, so I figured I'd play it
straight. I said, You want me to save the changes before rebooting?
He said, doesn't say you are supposed to on this sheet. Better not,
might hurt something.) Going through this several times he finally got
frustrated, again admitted that he didn't know what he was doing and
promised to have another tech call me in the morning. That didn't
happen. I went through the configuration again with the guy to no
avail. After several more attempts the router wouldn't me log back
into it. The guy went ballistic. Knowing full well that there was
nothing to do but send me a new router he flipped and asked me if I
could restore the router to factory settings, if I could check the
manual for how to do that and finally if I could fix the router on my
own. He promised me that he would send me a new router over night and
that UPS would be by to pick up the old one in the morning. That was a
Monday. On Wed the new router hadn't arrived. I was livid. I called
and after getting past my favorite tech guy, his supervisor promised me
the new router would be overnighted that day. He did promise me that
the activation fee would be waived because of all the trouble that I
had. On monday of the next week the same guy promised me it would be
overnighted that day and that the reason it hadn't gone out was because
of the snow that they got Saturday, 6 days after he promised it would
ship. He told me then that Worldcom might be able to fix my old router
and as soon as they knew they would ship it back. Baffled as to why
Worldcom was all of a sudden responsible for their inability to fulfill
their contracts, and further why I should care, I hung up. I talked to
them every day for the next week, mostly getting the same story.
Worldcom would ship it out as soon as it was fixed. I tried explaining
to them how unacceptable that was and how it had been three months
since I contracted service with them. They were sympathetic but
claimed their hands were tied. Finally on Saturday the router arrived.
It wasn't configured properly. Since the line was actually active
they could login to it and reconfigure it. Yeah, after three months I
finally had service. The following day my bank account was charged the
full setup fee. After several days of phone run around (Oh, sorry, the
Billing department is closed today. Its Monday. Yeah, sorry.) I
talked to Bill. I think that Bill might BE the billing department. He
told me in no uncertain terms that no one offered to waive the setup
fee. Because there was no record I had to be lying. If he found out
who it was he would personally fire them. He was completely unwilling
to make amends over the gross incompetence demonstrated over the
previous three months. He basically told me to shove off and quite
complaining. I had service now so I shouldn't rock the boat.
I terminated service and am currently looking for a new provider. I
recommend that you do not do business with these pirates.

(review was emailed from domain chromataphor.org)
lodged 21 years ago

ploofer2000
join:2001-12-01
Cary, IL

ploofer2000

Member

Yes! YES! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Yes! YES! AVOID AT ALL COSTS! My full story is at »User reviews - CYBERONIC INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS INC

I still can't believe the night and day difference between Cybersucks and SpeakEasy.net.

Cybersucks: busy, no status updates, unstable line, bad BAD customer service, and I could go on

SpeakEasy.net: No Franky, No busy signal EVER, Status email every 24 hours, I was provided a dialup until connected, Knowledge base database, access to email before hooked up, access to web space, access to SeakEasy.net network, and I could go on with the list of SERVICES provided.

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: Yes! YES! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

If you like speakeasy so much. Why didn't you join them in the first place? »Re: Speakeasy is overpriced Hey if you want someone to hold your hand to cross the street(it's going to cost you more money), then again your paying for it.

[text was edited by author 2003-03-01 02:49:37]
CitYbYdBaY

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Did you mix up Cyberonic with another ISP?

First of all when you ordered did you even get a conformation number? Did you even order or even get qualified conformation that you can get dsl from Cyberonic?
Sbc has nothing to do with Cyberonic/Worldcom.

What were you doing messing with the routers settings anyway? Are you sure you didn't mess up the settings yourself? And when you claim that Cyberonic offered you to waive the setup fee did you even get a conformation number for that? Did they even offer you to waive the setup fee? Or are you making this up?

Cyberonic doesn't offer $59 a month service with a 12 month contract? Are you sure you're even writing a review about Cyberonic, Or did you select the wrong ISP to write a review about? And why do you have to hide your username? I don't know what all of you guys think about this user writing this review, I think it's pretty shady, sounds and looks kind of fishy too.
echelonzero
join:2003-02-27
San Francisco, CA

echelonzero

Member

Re: Did you mix up Cyberonic with another ISP?

has anybody noticed this guy is a total tool? go home fanboy!

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: Did you mix up Cyberonic with another ISP?

Look who's talking.
modsite2003
join:2003-02-25
Brooklyn, NY

modsite2003

Member

Cyberonic is #1 ISP.

I have cyberonic for two years in my business and never had any problems. They are great and I highly recommand them. I have already recommeneded to some of my friends and they love the service. I think you need to slow down and be a little more professional and stop nagging. I read the last response you wrote and you dont even have etiquette to response to the message titles. Read the last respose you wrote. Dont you think so?

Review by bigtuna89 See Profile

  • Location: Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month
  • Install: about 20 days
Pre-Sales, Speed (throughput)
Support, Speed
I think they're in over their heads.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I went with Cyberonic because of all the great reviews here on DSL reports.

I'm actually happy to see their scores are dropping.

We all know the service/support sucks (as has been stated many many many times). In my case, they have hung up on me twice. No, I don't mean when I was on hold I got disconnected. I mean they hung up in the middle of a conversation. Did they bother to call me back? Riiiight...

I'm here to tell you the connection sucks as well. Sure, it's fast, WHEN IT WORKS.

At least daily I completely lose my link. I can't hit any websites, can't ping any servers, and, when playing games (e.g. DAoC), I get booted ("link dead").

This lasts usually for 30 seconds to a minute or two, then everything starts working again. I never had anything like this happen with DirecTV DSL, nor PacBell DSL.

So, while the connection may be fast, the reliability has been poor for me. I'm eyeing other ISPs now. Not sure if I'll switch, but the fact that Cyberonic has made me consider switching prompted me to post here. Buyer beware.

member for 21.1 years, 7 visits, last login: 21 years ago
lodged 21.1 years ago

economist14
join:1999-10-21
Los Angeles, CA

economist14

Member

Cyberonic is for experts

After using Cyberonic for about a month, here's my advice.

1. It is excellent value for knowledgeable users.
2. It is only good for a high-speed connection and static IPs.
3. Nothing else is acceptable:
A. Tech support is swamped; it takes forever to get through.
B. The POP is glacially slow. But for about $3 extra a month you
can subscribe (directly) to Yahoo POP mail, which is blazing
fast and very reliable. In fact, Cyberonic should give up on
POPmail and bundle Yahoo POP mail with the subscription.
4. It is important to have a virtual forwarding service such as
NameSecure or RegisterSite (the latter is my current favorite as
it offers the most comprehensive package for a low price). Get
your own domain name; forward mail to Yahoo POP, forward
your web address wherever you want (including Cyberonic),
and you can change these whenever you want, even if you
change to a different ISP.

5. I haven't experienced the daily outages, but I did get an outage of a few hours one day. Not sure if it was Cyberonic's fault but very likely it was Worldcom. Cyberonic can't do much about that. You can have BroadBand reports monitor your static IP address every 10 minutes for a week free, and $1 a week thereafter if you continue this useful service. Then you will know exactly what's going on with outages, even when you're not there.
bigtuna89
join:2003-02-22
Santa Cruz, CA

bigtuna89

Member

Re: Cyberonic is for experts

said by economist14:
You can have BroadBand reports monitor your static IP address every 10 minutes for a week free.
»/monit ··· k_sort=2

Packet loss with Cyberonic is 'ok'. Looks like Broadband reports own tools are seeing that I am.

Nonetheless, I'll try the monitor and see what happens...
OLDmcli
join:2000-07-24
Irvine, CA

OLDmcli

Member

Tech support is reasonable....

Hi there...

Tech support actually has been very reasonable for me. I've had service for less than a month, and one time I was in middle of talking to tech support and accidentally unplugged the phone line. The tech support person actually tried calling me back. I was already calling them back and waiting on hold. He cycled through the people on hold until he got me back again.

Sunday seems to be the least busy time to call. They answered right away today (twice!).

My connection has been intermittent for the last couple of days and they have created a trouble ticket. I asked them for a dialup account for backup, and they provided it.

-Maurice
inprog2002
join:2003-02-24
Chicago, IL

inprog2002

Member

Cyberonic Rocks

I am very happy with the service. I called today to setup my email and tech support pickedup the phone right away. NO WAIT. I give them credit for being the most active company switching Directv refugees. I hope they stay around.
ploofer2000
join:2001-12-01
Cary, IL

ploofer2000

Member

Sometimes you get what you pay for...

You do get want you pay for sometimes. I tried to go with Cyberonics, but I to had problem after problem. It might not have been so bad if the teenagers that live there would just get off the phone. This bring up the point, if it is that easy to setup with Cybersucks, then why is the phone always so damn busy? Anyway, may full story is at

»User reviews - CYBERONIC INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS INC

Check it out.

I guess I did learn the Frank Sinatra tunes real well though.

In the end, I actually cancelled my service with Cybersucks and went with SpeakEasy.net. I did not have to call them, not even once. Why? Because they sent me an e-mail update everyday, they gave me access to the SpeakEasy network, and supplied me with a dialup until service was connected. Hmmm... More service for the buck, YES!!!!

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: Sometimes you get what you pay for...

Another impatient person wants everything done within a minute.
CitYbYdBaY

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Cyberonic rocks!

About your connection problem did you try using different DNS? And when you said that Cyberonic hung up on you and didn't call you back, did you say anything to offend them in any way?
gts072
join:2003-02-26
Daly City, CA

gts072

Member

Re: Cyberonic rocks!

Hey CitYbYdBaY. What DNS numbers do you use? I am getting Cyberonic's service in a few days and would like to bypass the bad DNS servers. I also live in S.F. with the same zip code (94122) as you. Thanks...

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: Cyberonic rocks!

I use 198.6.1.146 as primary and 198.6.1.3 as secondary.
Good luck! Oh yeah by the way I live in the 94121 area.
Welcome to BroadBandReports.com
[text was edited by author 2003-03-12 21:28:52]
gts072
join:2003-02-26
Daly City, CA

gts072

Member

Re: Cyberonic rocks!

94121? Is that still in the Sunset area? I live right next to Sunset Blvd. Did you have DSL access before with another ISP? If so, who was your previous Telco and CLEC?
Thanks...

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: Cyberonic rocks!

I was with Directv.

Review by ploofer2000 See Profile

  • Location: Cary, Mchenry, IL, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month (18 month contract)
  • Install: about 999 days
  • Telco party Ameritech
  • CLEC party: Ameritech
The Frank Sinatra music while on hold
No customer service
You get what you pay for
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I could sit here and give you the full story, but that would take way too long. Bottom line, I have a blister on my finger from dial thier number to get through the busy signal. When I finally got through I began to get a blister on my ear while I waited on hold. Service was "connected" but never what Cyberonic advertised:

"Fast backbone connectivity · Full-time Internet access · Unlimited access · 5 email accounts · 10mb web space · Secure end to end connection · Cost effective · Scaleable · First class support by expert network support engineers · Robust and reliable networking · 24x7 Network watch."

I blistered up my other finger and other ear trying to get back through to Cyberonic to cancel the service. I finally did and they charged my card anyway. I am with SpeakEasy.net now and they have, this far, exceeded my expectations. Including providing the status of my order via email once every 24 hours, they gave me access to the "MySpeakeasy" so that I could get my IP and other info, and I even had an e-mail account BEFORE the DSL was connected to my house. What a concept, customer service. It does come at a higher price, but well worth it.

I did log a complaint the BBB and would encourage other dissatisfied Cyberonic customers to do the same. Other than DSL Reports how is anyone gonna find out about them?

member for 22.3 years, 10 visits, last login: 19.6 years ago
lodged 21.1 years ago


Hermz
@uu.net

Hermz

Anon

1300/488

This is driving me insain, everyone talking about how there so happy they got 640 upload, I'm 1.45 miles away and I get a 488, I need to get that extra hundred somehow, thats how much I need for a server , any suggestions? And why is my d/l so high and up so low?

leibold
MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA

leibold

MVM

Re: 1300/488

Have you considered that the speed problem may be on your end ? If you haven't already try the performance tuning tips and tools on this site.

Also it seems most get around 620 up, I'm getting results between 606-611.
voicebx2003
join:2003-02-22
Cleveland, OH

voicebx2003

Member

GO Easy bro cyberonics is awesome ---

I am sorry for your bad experience but I am real happy with the service. These guys are real professional All i got to say is that my DSL with Cyberonic is fast. $39.99/mon for 1.5/768 solid - you must be kiddin. LOVE It. Rock baby ROCk.
kugat
join:2003-02-22
San Francisco, CA

kugat

Member

Re: GO Easy bro cyberonics is awesome ---

I agree. Sure, they took a few weeks to get me up and get my router to me, but it was during the great DirecTv DSL exodus. Now, you get through on the phone fast and the speed cannot be beat for the $.

Since I was connected a month ago, my Cyberonic connection has been consistent, and hassle-free. They even called me twice to make sure everything was working as it should.
ploofer2000
join:2001-12-01
Cary, IL

ploofer2000 to voicebx2003

Member

to voicebx2003
Hmmmm... I thought I was being easy? I am glad that you are happy and that you feel that they are professionals. However, I do not agree. Especially since I have had my new DSL service installed and working in less time, with less hassle, and less HOPS to get to my destinations. Speed is one thing, but when you have to go through 20 to 30 hops to ge to a destination speed does not matter anymore. Not to mention that each hop is 50ms and over.

In any case, I never did get a "clear" or "consistant" DSL connection. Not to mention I couldn't get a "clear" or "consistant" call to Cyberonic either. The phone was always busy and when I did get through I had to wait up to and over an hour to get a person on the phone.

As they say, "You get what you pay for."

CitYbYdBaY
join:2002-12-10
San Francisco, CA

CitYbYdBaY

Member

How can you get blisters over the phone?

Try not to press the phone buttons so hard and turn the volume down on your phone handset.
Since you were on a 18 month contract and you cancelled service with Cyberonic, was there a early termination fee they charged you?
CitYbYdBaY

CitYbYdBaY

Member

Re: How can you get blisters over the phone?

Don't you just hate it when a person asks you a hundred of questions at once, and when your try to answer one of their questions and explain to them they start to ask you another question and on and on and next thing you know it they are asking you the same questions again?

Review by Mr Pete See Profile

  • Location: San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month
  • Install: about 40 days
  • Telco party SBC
  • CLEC party: WorldCom
reliable internet connection
everything else
choose another dsl provider
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Cyberonic is the dsl provider from hell. I chose it because it required no contract and had competitive prices and fast speeds. However, I've had nothing but trouble ever since.

When I ordered cyberonic dsl, I was told that my modem would arrive in 7 to 21 days and would be pre-programmed so that all I had to do was plug everything in and I would be on-line. My modem only arrived after 40 days and when it did arrive, it did not work. It I had to work with tech support for over an hour to reprogram the modem before I could get on-line. Once on-line I still had no e-mail. Tech support promosed me that I'd get a call the next day from someone who would get my e-mail working. No one called. It was impossible to reach tech support due to constant busy signals. I called the sales department and they were able to start my e-mail. It worked for only two days but very slowly with lots of failures to connect and error messages.

After those first two days, (four days ago), I lost the ability to send e-mail although I could receive it. I was unable to reach tech support through the constant busy signals so I called the sales department. First they told me that there was a problem with my computer and someone in tech support would call me back in one hour. (Four days later, nobody has called.) I called sales again the next day after failing to get through to tech support and was told that there was a problem on their end and it would be corrected within about two hours. Nothing changed. Today, when busy signals blocked my access to tech support, I called sales and was able to reach a supervisor who told me that their computer was rejecting my i.p. address and it would take two more days to fix. In the meantime, sometimes I can send e-mail by the company's webmail service and sometimes I cannot.

When I ordered this service, I was told that it would cost an extra $12.50 per month for a web hosting fee. Once I was on-line and inquired about the details, I was told that the fee was $20 per month plus a $25 set-up fee.

The sales department told me that the busy signals at tech support and the technical problems were due to the large number of new customers who, like me, used to contract with the now defunct DirectTV DSL. It would appear that Cyberonic is growing too big for its britches by taking on far more customers than it can adequately handle. Accordingly, I would urge anyone looking for a dsl provider to look elsewhere. If I could do it over again without being off-line for additional weeks, I would never go with Cyberonic.

member for 21.1 years, 4 visits, last login: 20.6 years ago
updated 21.1 years ago

forichon
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

forichon

Member

Cyberonic is great!

Cyberonic has great speeds, consistent with no or very little downtime. I am going thru an install process for a business ADSL and although the phones was busy a couple of times I was still able to go thru within a few minutes. I called yesterday and today and had somebody answered my call right away. The mail issue has been fixed. You have definitely never dealt with a company from hell!!! Cyberonic is an honest company, and has been around for many years. They are professional. They are doing their very best to get the DTV customers up and running. I am using them for my residential DSL and have been extremely happy.

DBowmanJr
join:2003-01-22
Arlington, VA

DBowmanJr

Member

Re: Cyberonic is great!

Sorry, but you are extremely lucky compared to others that have purchased there broadband services. But I admit that my company from hell was Comcast. No one can be lower then them.

IgorKane
@66.58.x.x

IgorKane to forichon

Anon

to forichon
I am very lucky, too!
lienhei
join:2003-01-29
San Francisco, CA

lienhei

Member

Re: Cyberonic AIN'T great!

Cyberonic is just a joke...! Their "tech" staff is incompetent, and the manager "tomp@cyberonic.com" doesn't reply to any emails from victimized customers like me... I've posted already a review here, after countless calls, busy signals, endless on-holds with Frank Sinatra, voice messages for callbacks that never happened, dropped lines, and then, the useless "tech" support...I certainly have been patient enough...
R we in still in the "dot-com" age, where companies just hire any joe with no skills at all?

In short...
DON'T EVER TRY CYBERONIC...even a monkey can give you better support! And it's funnier...! cyberonic isn't!
lilskook
join:2002-07-13
Seagoville, TX

lilskook

Member

Re: Cyberonic AIN'T great!

Obviously you're not a monkey!
forichon
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

forichon

Member

I am still maintaining what I said. I do not regret being with Cyberonic. I am going thru last phase of an install process for a Business ADSL. I have called them, they gave me the appropriate info. The phone was busy once. (maybe I was lucky). When I call I just make sure I ask all the questions I need to ask so I do not have to call many times for nothing.
Timmn
join:2000-04-23
Tinley Park, IL

Timmn

Member

Re: Cyberonic is great!

If you are having such an easy time calling the Tech Support number, could you please call them and tell them I have been trying to contact them for the past three weeks?

I need my router switched into bridged mode, and I also need the supporting IP addresses.

I'm sure there are several others who have questions for Tech Support if you wouldn't mind passing them along.

Thanks.
cabz
join:2003-01-24
Los Angeles, CA

cabz to forichon

Member

to forichon
Is it just me, or does forichon just sound like a Cyberonic rep. taking this opportunity to advertise their service? He doesn't even have service yet, but he knows that the mail issues are resolved and the speeds are great with little downtime? What a joke.

So not only does Cyberonic have horrible service at the moment (mostly due to the DTV switchover I assume), but instead of spending time helping customers like the one who posted here they use their time to post blatant lies while posing as users of the service?

Sad, very sad.
lilskook
join:2002-07-13
Seagoville, TX

lilskook

Member

Re: Cyberonic is great!

If you read the ENTIRE post, hey, you might actually notice that he/she already has residential service nd is currently obtaining the business account. Before mouthing off about something, be sure it's legit.
kruszka
join:2003-02-03
San Francisco, CA

kruszka

Member

Does 47kbps qualify as broadband?!?!

Please someone tell me it's not just me. Yesterday was the
worst, but over the past 2 weeks, it hasn't been much
better. Along with many others, I was lured by the
Syren's call of fast speeds at reasonable prices.
Somehow, however, I don't believe that the download
speed of 47kbps that I had yesterday (according to
dslreports.com speed test through Megapath) measures
up to the promises that Cyberonic makes.

Since I switched to Cyberonic (please come back
DirecTV DSL) I have had throughput that is on par
with dial-up speeds, and dropped connections just
about every 3 minutes.

I won't rant much about the customer service. But
one thing I will mention is that I have encountered
3 different service reps who were not helpful at all.
As an example, when I called yesterday and finally
talked to "Mike" and told him that my connection was
godawful slow with excessive drops, HE ASKED ME why
that was happening! After sending a trouble ticket
to worldcom on my behalf, he informed me emphatically
that a service rep will contact me today. Of course, he
wouldn't guarantee it.

I'm giving them just one last chance and then I'm
running for the hills people!

SMCinAZ
Premium Member
join:2000-11-29
Glendale, AZ

SMCinAZ

Premium Member

You guys should try digizip

digizip.com

Same MCI reseller connection speeds as Cyberonics but none of the delays and hassles.

I wish I was not on a RT-if I wasn't, I would jump at digizip.
garystevens4
join:2002-06-26
Boston, MA

garystevens4

Member

Re: You guys should try digizip

I called Digizip.com for some info, I pressed the tech support option and when to some guys voice box. ya okay, 1 guy for tech support. Good luck.

I have been using Cyberonic for the past 7 month with no down time and great speed 1300k/700k. Had to call the support only once when I first got the service to setup my router to bridge mode, support staff were great and very polite.

-gary

Greenie17
@covad.net

Greenie17 to SMCinAZ

Anon

to SMCinAZ
I am trying to get info on digizip, but I can't get anyone to respond to me about this deal. I sent emails to Greg and also Param. How do I get the form and the 10% deal? Is it still available? Should I just call digizip and ask them about it? any help?

thanks.

Mark

Review by fastasican See Profile

  • Location: Atlanta, Fulton, GA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Telco party WorldCom
  • CLEC party: WorldCom
I thought I would have a solid connection at a reasonable price
The wait on hold...then no intrest in your business at all
Does anyone remember Winfire...
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Tech Support:
Value for money:



I am a very patient man. I didn't rant when after I spent 1hr waiting attempting to just get a ring through then 2hrs waiting for a CSR to get me off hold. I was not irritated when the router did not show until week after the DTVDSL I had been on was set to expire. I sat patiently for another 3hrs between busy signals, hold, and one disconnect to finally speak to a beleaguered tech guy who said the one thing that could really iritate some one who has been waiting for so long. I was told flatly 'we can't help you because you are on a BellSouth Fiber Loop'. I understand the technical limitations and if nothing can be done so be it. But that should be in the presales information in the web, or the sales person should have known, or there could have been an onhold message, or a menu driven telephone system would suffice. Instead, I have 5 wasted hours and DSL service that will undoubtedly go dark very soon.

Undoutedly, Cyberonic was over come by the deluge of calls from orphaned DTV customers, but if you are open from 8:30AM-12:00AM and customers are getting constant busy signals and are on hold for extended periods, and you are going to run a business that relies on people calling you for you to make money. Buy some phones and hire some people to answer them. Cyberonic has missed an opportunity here to become a shining star by absorbing all the qualified leads that were basically dropped in its lap from DTV. One has to wonder if a small company who doesn't have the where with all to adjust to changing demand will be around very long.



member for 22.7 years, 73 visits, last login: 9.5 years ago
lodged 21.1 years ago

daddyof8
join:2003-02-04
Austin, TX

daddyof8

Member

Me2

I just got the same "bad news". (No service for me due to fiber optic loop) While I do not understand all the technical details, I agree with everything you said. If a great provider like DTV could not be profitable in the $50 market, one really has to wonder if Cyberonic won't be far behind in declaring it's business model can not compete. Hopefully those who did manage to successfully switch from DTV to Cyberonic won't be blindsided by "bad news" any time soon.

Summary of my experience:
Ordered 1/7/2003. Promised hot-swap in 7-14 days.
Week 1 status: call back at the end of the week
Week 2 status: Busy,busy,busy
Week 3 status: Busy,busy,busy, ring,hold,hold,hold answer: Waiting for telco
2/4/2003: Busy,busy,busy, ring hold, answer: BAD NEWS!

DirectTV is scheduled to go off-line any day now and I have to start over:-(
HAL6664
join:2003-01-15
Beverly Hills, CA

HAL6664

Member

Re: Me2

It's too bad you guys got screwed. DSL technology is optimized for copper wires, having fiber in the communicaton path often presents problems for DSL for most ISP's, and Cyberonic unfortunately apparently can't deal with it.

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

Hayward0

Premium Member

What this REALLY translates to is

You are both on RT's.

CLECS do not have access to RT's which are fiber linked back to the CO.

Probably what happened is you number qualified because Worldcom is in your CO. BS's prequal database probably does not differentiate RT customer numbers, just they are connected to CO X that is DSL ready... therefore Cyberonic doesn't really know it until they begin to process the order.

You both should still be able to get DSL from any BS reseller (as DTV was)
OLDmcli
join:2000-07-24
Irvine, CA

OLDmcli

Member

Was delayed because they THOUGHT it was fiber

I just switched to Cyberonic. SBC initially said that I was on a fiber link, but I insisted that I wasn't. Finally, they resubmitted the order a couple times and it made it through! I say, be persistent and it should work. I'm getting great bandwidth now (got the modem today). It did take a while though (I ordered end of December '02).

Try faxing them too. They will call you back.

Review by billbored See Profile

  • Location: Palo Alto, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month (18 month contract)
  • Install: about 30 days
  • Telco party SBC
  • CLEC party: WorldCom
Good Speeds for a low price? I'm still dreaming it will actually happen
Just give me an honest answer. Will say anything to get you off the phone.
I don't think they really want any new customers!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I am a DTV refugee. When I received the notification from DTV that they were shutting down I immedicately began searching for a new ISP. The reviews and customer comments on DSL Reports made me choose Cyberonic as the best way to go. Being out of town over Christmas I missed out on the two group deals at Cyberonic but based on the reviews and positive feedback I decided I didn't need the free installation and free modem others were offering and gave Cyberonic a call. Better to support the small guy with a good rep than PacHell (been there).

My first call to Cyberonic was just after the New Year. I gave the sales rep my address and phone number. "Sorry, we don't offer service there". I have a neighbor (next door) who uses WorldCom so I asked him to check again. Oooohhhh, amazingly I now qualify and am only 4000' from the CO. I decide to commit to the 18 month deal and the sales rep says he will e-mail me a contract immediately.

3 days go by and no contract from Cyberonic. I call back and get a more knowledgeable sales rep. No record of my previous call. This rep tells me that activation is taking about 10 to 14 days and promises me that Cyberonic can and will do a "hot swap" and that my down time will only be a few hours at the most. WooHooo. I get the contract and fax it back immediately.

From reading the forums and knowing that Cyberonic is completely overwhelmed I'm not surprised that they don't get back to me very quickly. But after 10 days and no response to my fax I call to just make sure that they have received it. I am told thet it is "in process". Whew, at least they got my fax.

On day 21 my DTV line goes dead, a week before the scheduled DTV turn-off. I call Cyberonic to find out what's happening with my account. The tech who finally answers the phone after 1 hour 20 minutes on hold tells me that my line is to be tested in 2 days and then it will be a week to 10 days more. I ask how this can be possible since I already have (had) DSL and was told that it would be a simple "hot swap". "Oh, you're right, you're swap date is in two days". I was also told that the modem was going out the next morning overnight and I would have it when the swap was performed. To tide me over in the mean time I was given a dial-up. OooooBoy, I can really telecommute now!

Two days later, nothing! On the third day (24 days after faxing my contract) I call back. "Oh, yesterday wasn't a swap, only a line test. Our records show your line was tested good at 10 pm last night" (Great, what happened to the promised swap, was I ever given a line of crap), "you'll be live in 24-48 hours". OK, I've waited this long, I can wait another 48 hours.

That was 5 days ago. Still nothing. After an hour on hold today I was told that someone would give me a call back within an hour. That was 10 AM. It is now midnight. I'm still waiting.

The dial-up? I can download my e-mail from the several domains that I manage, but I cannot send. That works well! Cybermoronic techs are unable or unwilling to help solve the problem. I'm having to to my telecommuting at my neighbors house. Blazing fast WorldCom.

I chose Cyberonic based in part on their promise a of a hot swap. For those of us who rely on a hight speed connection to make our living, no connection means no $$. PacHell has told me that they can make me live in 24 hours. I'm still hopeful that Cyberonic can come through. I wish I had signed up for the $49/month to give them a test before committing to the 18 month. I figure I can still cancel since they have not delivered on any of the promised deadlines but that would mean Pac Hell. But if that is what I must do......

Cyberonic. If anyone from the company reads these messages; I know that you are overwhelmed and things are not happening as fast as either of us would like, but just Please Give Us an HONEST ANSWER when we call.

Still waiting, but not much longer.

member for 21.1 years, 10 visits, last login: 21 years ago
lodged 21.1 years ago

pressureEze
join:2002-11-16
Rochester, NY

pressureEze

Member

SMTP problems

You can't send mail with other servers while on Cyberonic's dial up because the other servers are not open relays. Just swap in the SMTP server for Cyberonic and you'll be able to send fine.

Sorry I don't have a magic bullet to fix the install problems, but hopefully limping along with dial up won't hurt as much if you can send mail. Good luck!
billbored
join:2003-02-04
Palo Alto, CA

billbored

Member

Re: SMTP problems

Had tried that, didn't work. Called tech support. Person who answered the phone had to go check with someone else. Came back and said that they didn't support outgoing mail on that temp account, that I needed to use the Cyberonic webmail. I asked doesn't that require that my individual account be set-up? Yes, but that won't be done until I my line is active.

I'm using my neighbors set-up with no problems so I'm sending mail there. Lucky he works during the day. Probably going to cost me a lot of favors though.
IMTheGame
join:2001-11-27
Florissant, MO

IMTheGame

Member

That kinda sucks...

I think it really sucks that you were "promised" a hot swap of your line. The truth is that there is no such thing. Youre area is served by ASI, which handles all the DSL lines for all the ISP in that area. Cybertronic does not own their own lines and are merely renting them just like Direct TV was. When you changed providers, a new order had to be placed on that line with the new company. By law, ASI cannot give one provider quicker treatment than anyone else. So when you placed that order, it had be released by DirectTV and then placed as a new order for Cybertronic. Thats just the way it works.

Review by peterng See Profile

  • Location: Chicago, Cook, IL, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (month by month)
The modem is received.
I have to pay $99 activation fee for the service is NEVER been activated.
You have just to forget about Cyberonic and go for another company.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

If you are shopping for DSL service, please make sure the company is not Cyberonic.

When I had received the router, I started the installation process with the help from Cyberonic. After more than an hour on the phone, unfortunately, the router was still disconnected from the Internet. Well, I had been using DSL for years. I fully understood the Cyberonic installation process involved with WorldCom and SBC. In this case, the Cyberonic promised to call me back.

In fact, the Cyberonic had never really called me back. They left messages in my answer machine during the day time. After work, I called back in the following days and nights, nights and days, days and nights. I was unable to connect by phone. The Cyberonic toll free number was too busy. Even the emails are not replied.

After a few weeks, the router is still sitting there disconnected from the Internet. What had happened? Why the toll free number is unable to connect? Why the emails are not replied? Is Cyberonic out of business?

Finally, (it is my luck) I am able to talk to somebody in the Cyberonic. According to the Cyberonic, they have too many new customers and they cannot handle the situation. I just cannot believe they don't even send out a letter to explain the situation to their customers.

When I ask for the cancellation of my account, the Cyberonic say I have to paid $99 activation fee for the service is never been activated.

If you are considering Cyberonic for your DSL service provider, please think again.

member for 22.4 years, 24 visits, last login: 20.5 years ago
lodged 21.1 years ago

mosheping
join:2003-02-04
Irvine, CA

mosheping

Member

Stop Bashing!!!

If you never had their service why you claim - Bad Connection Reliablity, Services and Value for Money. Come on stop bashing this company. I prepaid for 18 months and I want to see them around. Stop acting like a frustrated consumer.
peterng
join:2001-10-23
Chicago, IL

peterng

Member

Re: Stop Bashing!!!

I am sorry that I checked the "Bad Connection Reliability." I was too angry after I had a discussion with Cyberonic. I have tried to correct it but I cannot change it. If anyone know how to change it, would you let me know. My email is png@yeomen.net.

For the Services and the Value of Money, I push it down based on my experience with Cyberonic.

The technician who help me for the installation process has just forget about my case. I learn this when I call back and talk to a lady who redirect calls. Is this a good service?

When I complain about the busy toll free number, one of the customer service representative say Cyberonic has called me. It sound like it is the problem I am not at home to wait for there call. Is this a good service?

The service is unacceptable!

How did AOL's "American On Hold" story turn out to be a "successful failure"? AOL did the right things to face their customers.

For Cyberonic, the customers cannot even know what is going on. At some point, I do really think Cyberonic may be going out of business. The phone line is busy. If you are lucky, your call may be connected. But, most of the time, your line will be dropped. If you can talk to someone, she is just a person to redirect calls. After your call is redirected, you line will be dropped. I have sent emails to different departments, but none of it get any reply.

If you call this is a good service, I guess you have not contact Cyberonic lately.

The value for the money is bad because Cyberonic has to charge me $99 activation fee for the service is never been activated. How could you say this is good value.

From most of the reviews, I do see people saying good things on the connection speed. I guess if you get connected, the line is stable. But, this is the credit for the WorldCom and SBC anyway.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: Stop Bashing!!!

Click "Reviews" at the very top of the page, and that will give you this page with an edit link to your review.
peterng
join:2001-10-23
Chicago, IL

peterng

Member

Re: Stop Bashing!!!

Thanks for your reply!
How can I unselect it?

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: Stop Bashing!!!

Well damn. You can't. That little snafu needs to be fixed. Sorry for getting your hopes up...

Almost three years here and I never noticed that before.
[text was edited by author 2003-02-04 13:10:02]
garystevens4
join:2002-06-26
Boston, MA

garystevens4

Member

I love Cyberonic

I had Cyberonic for the past 7 months with no down time at 1.5m/768k (actual 1300k/700k) for $49.99/mo. Best deal great service. I have also worked with tech support and they are great. I have recommended them to several of my friends and they are very happy too...

-gary
peterng
join:2001-10-23
Chicago, IL

peterng

Member

Re: I love Cyberonic

I really hope your story is my experience.

Cyberonic may be a good company. But, the reaction for the problem is really bad. Now, I learned that they have too much new customers and they cannot handle it. I personally think it is ok. But, you get to let your customers know it. It is not a problem for hours. It is a problem for weeks.

For weeks, the Cyberonic has never tried to explain to their customers what is happening. A letter is the best. A email is the most easy way. A short notes on the web is an other common way to do it. What did Cyberonic do? Nothing!

The worst part is the customer representative. He just pretend it is not their problem.

There are countless companies has either similar problem or something like it. They faced it, and they continue business with their customers. They ignored it, and they loss their customers.
garystevens4
join:2002-06-26
Boston, MA

garystevens4

Member

Yes, but you also have to realize that it is not their fault that DTV decided to go out of business in 1 month. I'm sure this is the case with many other ISPs, and is worse with Cyberonic, since they have the best deal and everyone wants to go with them.

-gary

Review by lienhei See Profile

  • Location: San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Cost: $40 per month (18 month contract)
  • Install: about 7 days
  • Telco party SBC
nothing
false advertisement on its website, incompetent tech support, busy support lines, endless on-hold time, etc.
don't let the cheaper price, higher speed attract you...because customer support is totally useless...
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was a directvdsl.com user looking to transition "smoothly" to another ISP, and saw a couple nice reviews (speed & price) for cyberonic.con on this site before taking the plunge...!

Well, the staff @cyberonic doesn't really care too much for the user, because when I faxed my 18-month contract on 1/3/03, I explicitly requested them ship the dsl-modem to my workplace, and to keep in my the loop when they would ship it...the result? No communication, and they shipped it to my home address...missed the UPS 3 times, so the modem got shipped back...I was "hotswapped" without knowing, and down for the long "Martin Luther King Jr." weekend...(because I telecommute every now & then, and go to school, I lost a couple days of work & schoolwork because I needed to use VPN to access my my office, pull out X-apps, and the same for school)...

I called cyberonic.com support line to inquire about the modem, and after so many times trying to get thru the busy signal, I requested (again) to have the modem re-shippedto my workplace...

I finally got the modem a couple days later, and had (again) hard time trying to get thru the always-busy phone lines...in order to get a tech walk-me thru the installation/activation of the dsl-modem...a guy told me that a tech would call me back...sure, after a couple hours...

The tech suppossedly "configured" the cisco 678 dsl-modem, and rebooted it, assuring me that I'd be on a static IP, and gave me the info on IP, netmasks, DNS servers, etc...! and then left me...

Strangely enough, the cisco dsl-mdem came configured to give me DHCP even after the tech "suppossedly" configured it, and rebooted my modem remotely...! I tried configuring my pc with the static ip given, but it didn't work...! reverting back to using DHCP on my pc worked, but that is not what I was suppossed to get thru the ad on cyberonic's website...! They promised static IP!

The tech never informed about my email address and pasword, and gave me the wrong news server when I asked him soon before the hang-up...

Well, I emailed dsl@cyberonic.com to clarify about my news server, because the one that the tech gave me initially didn't work...it took 2 days+ for them to reply...

I emailed cyberonic support inquiring about my email address & password, and didn't get a reply...

I called cyberonic support on 1/25/03 to inquire about why my dsl-modem was giving me dhcp address when in fact I should be on static ip...(of course, as usual, long busy lines, and long onholds...like 30 minutes busy, and then 40 min on hold)...a tech attended me, and I explained the situation to him, he remotely logged on to the dsl-modem, "reconfigured" it, and rebooted it...after that, he wasn't able to gain access to the dsl-modem...I wasn't home at that time, but he assured me that it should work with static ip once I power-cycle it at home...at that time, I inquired about the email login & password, and the guy set it up for me...

I went back home last night, power-cycled the dsl-modem to find out that I wasn;t able to surf the web at all! not with the static ip info, and now, the dsl-modem wouldn't give me a dhcp address to start with! I WAS LEFT IN A WORSE STATE THAN BEFORE!!!!!! I called cyberonic support on 1/26/03 (and after the usual busy lines, and endless onholds, 2 hours wasted), a guy Matt attended me, and I explained the situation to him...! He wasn;t able to access the dsl-modem either, and said that another guy (who comes on tuesday) should walk me thru configuring the modem manually over the phone...! So, the earliest day would be tuesday 1/28/03...with my busy schedule, and cyberonic dismal support lines, I figured out that I would be down for 1/26/03, 1/27/03 (I told my manager I was going to telecommute on monday 1/27/03), so I told Matt to better ship me a working modem (like they did before), so that I don't have to be home trying to get thru the busy lines, just to be onhold forever on 1/28/03...so he agreed. I asked Matt for the name of his manager to contact him, and he only gave me tomp@cyberonic.com...I did email tomp on 1/26/03...explaining him the situation, and how much lost work (that my team was 100% depending on me to get it done for different projects), productivity, and schoolwork would be affected...thanks to

human error, total lack of customer orientation, and mildly putting, an incompetent support staff.

BTW, Matt offered me a dialup account, which I found useless due to the line of work that I do requiring the use of X-windows applications, so a simple dialup account wouldn't have enough bandwidth to run the apps I require, that's why I applied for broadband in the first place, otherwise I would get dialup from NetZero!

1/28/03 came, and I still didn't receive the modem, I again, called cyberonic support (and again, after long waits of busy lines, and onholds...totally 1.5 hours), a guy Ken answers, I explained the situation, and asked him if the modem was shipped at all...he put me onholld in order to check, and he never came back...! after 20+ minutes, another guy (Mike?) picked up the phone, and I said that Ken was helping me, then he puts me on hold for 30+ minutes, then after that, another tech picks up the phone, (I think it was Neal), then I told him that Ken was helping me, and that the problem was convoluted, so he puts me on hold for 40+ minutes! I already lost count how many techs picked up the phone, and decided to put me back on hold forever...! Finally, another tech, Mike picked up the phone, and I requested him NOT to put me on hold no more, explained the situation...Mike wasn't able to check if the modem was in fact shipped or not...!!!!!!!

Mike agreed to ship me another modem, but by now, I have lost my faith in the core competency skills of cyberonic's tech support staff...I have lost many days of work on pivotal projects for my company, and also this has set me back in my schoolwork...how can cyberonic make up for all the lost time & productivity the made me go thru at work? what about my schoolwork? I really want my way out of cyberonic, and emailed Mike stating him to also email me info on cancelling my account...

I am VERY DISSATISFIED with cyberonic's tech support, because it shows that the don't care about customer relations...Still up to the day, 1/30/03, I haven't received a reply from "tomp@cyberonic.com"...I believe the management should take proactive measures to avoid this kinda "errors" because it's pretty obvious that the tech staff is incompetent, lack of good business conduct & judgement. They should have accountability of the actions made by the tech staff, because everything should be documented...

In short, avoid cyberonic like the plague, unless you want to deal with always-busy-lines, long, endless onholds, and finally, and incompetent "tech" staff...

----

2/1/03...

After countless calls & emails to the useless tech support, I am still dsl-less (after shipping back the misconfigured modem), and the suppossedly "manager" of the support staff "tomp@cyberonic.com" hasn't replied my emails, no explanations, apolologies from him, nothing to make-up for the lost time & productivity...

I talked to "tony@cyberonic.com" on 1/30/03, and (after I've emailed him twice after talking to him on the phone on 1/30/03), he said that the modem was NEVER shipped on 1/27/03 as I discussed previously with "Matt" on 1/26/03...! and that the thingy was finally straightened-up...! Well, I was suppossed to "tele-commute" on 2/3/03, so with no dsl by 1/31/03, basically cyberonic is not giving a damn (to put it very mildly) to its customers...

I don't really care if they used to be "good" before, the reality today is that they suck bigtime, and shouldn't even be in business...even a monkey would offer better support...!

From their webpage...

»cyberonic.com/int_for_ho ··· sl.shtml

"First class support by expert network support engineers" -- what a joke!

---

AVOID CYBERONIC.COM AT ALL COST!

Thanks for reading...!

A regretful cyberonic victim...

Lienhei

member for 21.1 years, 2 visits, last login: 21.1 years ago
lodged 21.1 years ago

blacksquid6
join:2001-07-08
Alexandria, VA

blacksquid6

Member

DTV Was Better!

I too am a former DTV customer who, after reading some favorable reviews, decided to jump on the Cyberonic bandwagon.

This has been nothing short of a disaster! I place my order early in January and since that time I've not received my modem (I don't think that it has shipped); I cannot get through to sales/tech support to ask status; have not received any response to email that I have sent; have been prematurely disconnected from DTV (DTV was supposed to be available through 1/31).

Does anyone know how to get in touch with these guys to find out the status of an order? I'd cancel my order but I can't get in touch with them! This is ridiculous.

bigchris
Do Not Shoot The Messenger
Premium Member
join:2002-04-29
Leesburg, VA

bigchris

Premium Member

Re: DTV Was Better!

Simply keep hitting re-dial till you get sore fingers. Don't bother telling the receptionist to have someone call you back, they won't call.

All I've had success with was emailing my original sales person who's email address I asked for at the beginning of the sales fiasco. When I say 'success' I use it loosely. It usually takes him 48 hours to return and email and then I get a literary digest back... (I think he's a frustrated English teacher), and btw, his English is terrible so he should probably stick to the same job, although they don't do that very well either.

I eventually got online the other night. I'm yet to write my review, but speed and service seem pretty good (although they aren't providing it, Rythms is!). I was given the wrong DNS server information when provisioned so that kept me off the Net for another day but I worked that one out myself from earlier communication with my frustrated professor.

Good luck with it. Sometimes you get through on the forth ring, but mostly you don't and just have to keep redialing for a couple of hours.
blacksquid6
join:2001-07-08
Alexandria, VA

blacksquid6

Member

Re: DTV Was Better!

Surprise! The router was waiting for me when I got home. Now for the fun...

It seems that Worldcom has setup the router for its' networking and has changed a few settings on the modem. I have two issues with this. First, the private network was not as described in the documentation. Second, I cannot access the router to change the LAN configuration since Worldcom has change the router administrative password.

The documentation states that the IP address of the router is 192.168.254.254. However, after much gnashing of teeth, I determined that my router LAN IP was set to 192.168.1.1 (I didn't believe the output from ipconfig)! This was a lucky chance for me since my internal network uses the same IP subnetwork. If any other IP address had been used, I would have been hosed since I use a VPN to connect to our colocation facility.

I am very concerned about security and I don't feel comfortable with the idea that someone at either Worldcom or Cyberonic could either connect to my network or configure my router (I did buy this thing didn't I?) without my knowledge. I have no intention of screwing with the routers WAN connection parameters, but I would like the option of tightening/changing NAT, DHCP, IP filter, etc.

bigchris
Do Not Shoot The Messenger
Premium Member
join:2002-04-29
Leesburg, VA

bigchris

Premium Member

Re: DTV Was Better!

Do what the rest of us do and buy a router (mine is Linksys but there are plenty of good ones) and sit that behind their router.. then ask them to put it in bridge mode.

Then, they can't get to your internal network no matter what they do.
blacksquid6
join:2001-07-08
Alexandria, VA

blacksquid6

Member

Re: DTV Was Better!

Yeah, I could put another router in place. But I've already bought a perfectly good router through Cyberonix! I don't think that there is language in the agreement that says I don't get access to the router. If I don't have full access to the LAN side of the router then maybe Cyberonix should refund the $99 they charged for the router.

bigchris
Do Not Shoot The Messenger
Premium Member
join:2002-04-29
Leesburg, VA

bigchris

Premium Member

Re: DTV Was Better!

Yeah but they aint gonna give you the password, although I agree with you that you bought it so why not!?! Good luck with the argument, let us know how it goes.

Off topic question for everyone.. my postings still say i'm a qwest customer. I thought I changed this but maybe not in the right place.. how do I change it to be Cyberonic?
bobdmoses
join:2003-01-31
Sayville, NY

bobdmoses

Member

Re: DTV Was Better!

You can reset the router password by inserting a paperclip into the small hole next to the console input on the rear of the router. Press until the test lite turns amber. The password will default to the serial # - the letter. example:
serial # W356, password will be 356. You will have 10 minutes to access the router and enter a new password.
bobdmoses

bobdmoses to blacksquid6

Member

to blacksquid6
You can reset the router password by inserting a paperclip into the small hole next to the console input on the rear of the router. Press until the test lite turns amber. The password will default to the serial # - the letter. example:
serial # W356, password will be 356. You will have 10 minutes to access the router and enter a new password.
acb453
join:2003-01-25
San Jose, CA

acb453

Member

indeed DTV was much better

They said I was qualified for their DSL service, and recieved the modem and everything. When I called in to check the status to see when I was up and running, they said I was not qualified for their service and said Worldcom made a mistake sending out the modem. They wasted a month of my time and now I have to find another service provider because DTV ends on Jan 31.

Review by (hidden by request)

  • Location: Boston, Suffolk, MA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified. (month by month)
  • Telco party Verizon
  • CLEC party: Covad
My memory of them 3 years ago
What I have to deal with now
A tragic tale of a company that went from best to bad
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I have been a Cyberonic customer since March of 2000. The first year was excellent service and support. I knew some of the people's names, some of them even knew me. The 2nd year service went down and got spotty. I think it was right after COVAD declared Chapter 11 (or whatever it was). And they made me buy a brand new DSL package even though I had the same exact modem from before. But the support was still there and I hated changing emails constantly, so I stuck with them. Beginning late 2002 everything seems to have gone

downhill. Problems with my domains on and off. And now, late January 2003, none of my domains are working, some of my email doesn't get sent out for hours on end, and they do not respond to email themselves, nor do they answer their phones (we're talking busy signal 99% of the time... very bad for a company that has a working answering service that works when you finally get through). After many many calls, I've gotten through the busy signal about 3 times. Once last week, and I was on hold for 1 hour and then got somebody that told me someone would call me back. Once early this week I got through to an answering machine and left a message stating my concerns and problems. No callbacks since. And today I finally got through again... only to be told after 30 minutes someone would call me back. Cyberonic in

Worcester, MA has NO intention or inclination to remain in business as far as I can tell. And they are dropping the ball in the worst way possible. By holding hostage everyone's service and support that we rely on. I'm thinking about writing the Better Business Bureau in Worcester. In fact, as my finishing this review, my email client has been churning for about 10 minutes now trying to send out my outgoing mail. This happens regularly.

(review was emailed from domain cyberonic.com)
lodged 21.1 years ago

ssloane
join:2002-06-12
Spain

ssloane

Member

Yes!

Frustration is definitely the order of the day here. I haven't been able to send email from my domain in six days. I have spoken to two supervisors (yesterday and today) with the promise that he would call me back when they were finished doing what they had to do. Nothing. This morning I only had to redial about 10 times before I got through and only was on hold for 15 minutes. Yesterday I redialed for over an hour and was on hold for about 45 minutes. The supervisor today said that he would print out my account and give it to the webmaster to have him add my IP address to the mail header so that I can send mail from my domain. I told him that someone said that last Thursday. He told me they've been hiring loads of new people and that person probably didn't know what to do...