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Review by is2good2toss See Profile

  • Location: Orlando, Orange, FL, USA
  • Cost: $300 per month
better than nothing
not much better than nothing
not high speed intrenet
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

This is the ISP for so called "High-speed Internet” service in the rooms at Disney World resorts. A decade ago this Ethernet wired service might have been considered high speed in isolated parts of the world but at close to $10 per day, just about any dial-up service is a strong competitor. The fastest speed that I could force out of this carrier was 117KB/s. Worse, the network has a bad habit of returning Disney ads if you don't change the webpage your are viewing fairly often.

member for 17.7 years, 48 visits, last login: 179 days ago
lodged 12.6 years ago


Review by dlunsf See Profile

  • Location: Lakeland, Polk, FL, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 81 days
  • Telco party Verizon (ex GTE)
  • CLEC party: NorthPoint
Gave me a prepaid shipping label to return the dsl modem with.
Generally incompetent, bad customer service.
Don't put up with the hassle of dealing with MPInet, if you have a choice, get cable.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

The following letter that I sent to MPInet should pretty well sum up what it is like trying to deal with MPInet.

Ms. Tackett,

A couple of months ago, my 784k sdsl stopped working, so I picked up the phone to call tech support to see what was going on. After waiting for a little over an hour (which is only about twenty minutes more than I had come to expect to wait to talk to anyone at MPInet), I gave up and decided to call back the next day. The next day I called back and, after waiting about 45 minutes, I spoke to a gentleman who informed me that the outage was because NorthPoint had finally pulled the plug. I had known about the NorthPoint bankruptcy since they had filed for chapter 11, so I knew that it was only a matter of time before my service would be stopped and it didn't bother me. What bothered me was what happened next. I asked the gentleman from tech support if and how I would be released from my one-year contract. He told me that he would transfer me to another department and I would have to check to see if there was an alternative CLEC provider that I could use before they could release me from the contract. After waiting for another thirty minutes on hold, I was told that MPInet no longer offered residential dsl service and that I would be released from my contract. Why was I asked to hold so I could talk to someone else if the original person knew that MPInet didn't even offer residential dsl service? And, if he didn't know, why not? What a fitting end to my relationship with a company who, throughout the relationship, showed not only a general lack of competence, but also a lack of consideration for thier customers.

Today, I recieved your package asking for the return of the dsl modem that I was given. First of all, before I signed up for dsl service, I was told that the modem would be mine to keep (more of the incompetency and lack of consideration that I mentioned above) and I guess I am lucky that I didn't just throw it away. Now, I know that the modem is of no use to me or anyone else that doesn't know how to hard code a new username and password into it. I also know that the modem will only work with certain equipment at the CO (i.e. the equipment that AT&T just bought) so I really don't mind returning it. The letter that was sent in the box that I recieved today says, "Please drop the package off at your local post office..." yet, the shipping label that was included is for UPS. Am I missing something here, or does the US Post Office take packages for UPS now? I am assuming that you meant for me to take the package to my local UPS office, but I figured I would take the opportunity to point out your own lack of competence.

It took nearly three months to get my dsl hooked up in the first place. This was mainly because of Verizon, but things would have been greatly expedited if someone from MPInet would have gotten on the phone with the right people. If I had not taken it upon myself to get a hold of people, MPInet, NorthPoint, and Verizon would probably still be pointing fingers at each other and my service would probably have never been hooked up. Many companies try very hard to get customers, but once they get them, they really don't care how they are treated. It seems that MPInet doesn't even try to get customers and they especially don't care about keeping them.

Your web page says, "MPInet offers the full range of Internet access to our residential customers, from the blinding speed of a Residential ISDN connection, to the more conventional 56K Dial-Up plans." I am not sure why the word internet was capitalized there. Instead, it should probably read something like this, "MPInet offers a staggerlingly small range of internet access to our residential customers, we seem to be stuck in the early to mid nineties and will not offer you anything more than what was available during that time period." Also, I should mention that the words "blinding speed" in no way describe ISDN and to use them in such a way could probably be seen as false advertising.

I now use RoadRunner for internet access and in most ways it is better than the service I had from MPInet. First of all, it took a total of four days (one of the was sunday) from the time I ordered until the time it was online. Compare that to nearly three months with MPInet dsl. I get downloads at up to 4mb. Compare that to 0.75mb with MPInet dsl. The most I have waited to talk to customer service at RoadRunner has been about 5 minutes. The least I ever waited to talk to someone at MPInet was 25 minutes (normally sales lines are picked up very quickly...not at MPInet). I pay about $40 per month for RoadRunner. Compare that to $50 per month with MPInet. My contract with RoadRunner is month to month, so I can stop it at any time without penalty. Compare that to 1 year with MPInet and if you stop early you pay an extra fee. The only thing that was better with MPInet was the fact that my upstream was about 350kb more than it is with RoadRunner. This leaves me wondering if you could give me any reason why anyone would ever use MPInet if they had a choice. I know I would never have signed up with MPInet if RoadRunner had been available here at the time I signed up.

For the reasons listed above, I will never deal with MPInet again, and I will recommend the same to all of my clients and friends. Also, I will be including this letter in my review of MPInet on www.dslreports.com so that potential customers will have the opportunity of knowing what they will be dealing with before they sign a contract with MPInet. If I want to be treated like this again, I will just sign up with AOL, at least it is cheaper. Please feel free to forward this letter to anyone who you feel should read it, like customer service, tech support, sales, and marketing. Have a nice day.

Donald Lunsford

member for 23.6 years, 411 visits, last login: 20.8 years ago
updated 22.8 years ago

znelson
join:2000-01-31
Reading, PA

znelson

Member

Yuck!

Verifying and ordering a line from GTE was one of the first things that NorthPoint should have done. So if there wasn't "room" for your line then you should have known within the first 2 weeks or so. Not 2 months later! I'd probe a little deeper and see why you weren't notified earlier about this.

dlunsf
join:2000-08-27
Lakeland, FL

dlunsf

Member

Re: Yuck!

For a reply to this, please read the additions to my review.
System

Anon

Another frustrated MPI customer

Looking to save a few bucks(5 dollars/month) I decided to go with MPInet instead of Sprint DSL. Now I knew that MPI was using Sprint's lines, so I figured they'd have just a reliable service as Sprint...and until I got hired to do tech support for DSL(not at mpi), I ignorantly thought that was the case.

Initially I was told I would be receiving an external ethernet modem, but they don't have any of those, so they lied to me there. I received an internal PCI Efficient Networks Speedstream 3060 modem. Thank God I did not go ahead and spend the 200 bucks on the Lynksys Router I had planned on using because it wouldn't work with the protocol that Mpi was using...PPoA. Had I known that Sprint used PPPoE and mpi used PPoA despite using the same lines, I'd have gone with Sprint for the $5 more a month(shame on me for not doing my research I guess).

So they get it working after 4 hours cause there was some mix ups with the provisioning in the DSLAM. I too had to call on several occassions to remind them that I was still waiting for at least a date that I would know when DSL would be installed. It didn't take as long as the above horror story, but with Sprint, mpi does not need to go through Northpoint, so they get the lines faster(yay for Sprint).

Then about 2 months later is when I started doing DSL tech support and learned that my company had discontinued use of the 3060 modems due to unreliable performance. Some of them worked beautifully...as did mine so far, but many people had nightmares with theirs, so they would swap out any problem modems as fast as possible. But not mpi...their only alternatives were another internal card by Alcatel and a USB modem(which I have a personal hate for USB devices). So 2 months later when my DSL died I asked for the 3060 to be replaced with their other internal card to see if it was any better. The Alcatel card loaded up without any problems but died about 4 weeks later.

Then came my customer service hell. My DSL went out, so I called to see if a router was down because I personally checked my line in the DSLAM and for some reason I was losing sync and had high attenuation on my line. I figure maybe there's some crosswiring going on after someone hooked up a new line at a cross-connect or something, so I ask them to send out a technician to test my line. They insist on troubleshooting my modem, so I indulge them and go through the routines that I had done prior to calling them. They finally agree to send out a tech from Sprint who says that a monkey could have wired my line better than the mpi guy did, so he fixed that issue. The sprint guy said he was surprised I even had dial-tone at all. He hooked up a modem(one of the nice Sprint modems) at the wall and got sync, but I still could not get sync with my modem, so I determined the alcatel modem had died.

I never did get Mpi to agree that the modem was dead. They insisted that I had a pc configuration problem and that they needed to send a tech to reconfigure my pc. I reluctantly agreed in order to get a new modem cause they usually have spares on them. Well the next day I swapped it out with the old 3060 and what do ya know? After the 9th installation of the 3060(which is pretty good, considering I've heard stories of having to install and uninstall it 15+ times) I got my line back up...to this day the tech has not shown up.

Needless to say, October first is the last day of my contract. I will be cancelling and switching over to Sprint's DSL. At least I get a quality modem this way.

Anon

Re: Another frustrated MPI customer

I guess this is too late for you, but for others:
If you have windows 2000, tell MPInet that you don't have a free ICQ/PCI slot and they will send you an external USB modem (no add'l charge). Then you can use a software firewall running on Win2000 to share the connection, but don't tell them I told you this

Anon

HA HA HA HA HA

This page is funny as hell! It blows my mind that you people actually have enough time to sit and whine on pages like this! Especially internet access! If you don't like your access, get someone else and to all you people complaining about the time it takes to set up your service, well, it seems like y'all have plenty of time to waste bitchin and moaning on here! F'n babies! See ya, I got better places to be online!

to Anon

Anon

to Anon

Re: Another frustrated MPI customer

FYI MPInet now only uses ethernet based modems.

knobbykness
@mpinet.net

knobbykness

Anon

Re: Another frustrated MPI customer

not they dont

educated1
@mpinet.net

educated1

Anon

MODEMS

IF you call MPI, you will only have an option of an ethernet modem with Nic Card. They NO LONGER use internal modems.

dlunsf
join:2000-08-27
Lakeland, FL

dlunsf

Member

Re: MODEMS

Yes, it is actually in the user contract/agreement under system requirements. It states that you must have a NIC installed and configured. I would take this to mean that they do only use ethernet based modems. Either that or they just want everyone to buy a NIC just in case.
acp5
join:2000-09-04
Lady Lake, FL

acp5

Member

Re: MODEMS

MPInet provided me with the external LAN modem AND NIC. All free of charge.
System

to Anon

Anon

to Anon
FYI MPInet now only uses ethernet based modems

to dlunsf

Anon

to dlunsf

What is up With DLUNSF????

Geeez Loueeeezzz! What is up with this DLUNSF guy? I do not have DSL from mpinet but I do have an isdn connection. Every time I have called mpi they have been extremely helpfull! I check review pages and reports all the time so I know what is going on as I do have a cable modem also. I have never in my life seen someone as coo-coo as this guy! They should change the name of this site to DLUNSF complain.com!!!! Get a job, man...

dlunsf
join:2000-08-27
Lakeland, FL

dlunsf

Member

Re: What is up With DLUNSF????

If you don't like it, don't read it. NO ONE at MPInet was willing to help me until I posted this review and notified Cal Cole of the posting. No one is making you read this and if you have a problem with it, just don't read it, it's that simple. Last time I checked, the purpose if this page was to let people know if your isp was good or if it sucks. If you have no use for a page like this, why dont you begin the process of removing your head from your ass and stop posting idiotic comments. Maybe you are the one who needs to get a job if you have time to sit around and write stupid comments like that one. Or maybe you do already have a job...........at MPInet. Why do you have to post anon? What are you afraid of?

[text was edited by author 2000-09-10 03:33:42]

[text was edited by author 2000-09-10 03:35:29]
System

to znelson

Anon

to znelson

NO PROBLEM WITH MPINET HERE!

Ordered DSL on my Sprint line from MPINET. Was past dial-up customer and never had any problems! Sales people very friendly and educated on their products. Sent in agreement, and was up and running on DSL in about 15 days! (Sprint did mess up my configuration the first time but Mpi contacted them and had it fixed within a day) If anyone asks me, I'd definately give 2 thumbs up!

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx

Premium Member

Yikes...

She told me that I can only get IDSL because there is a "remote service unit" somewhere in the line.

I think the term they're looking for is Embedded DLC. Click on the link to see DSLreports' description of it. It took Pacific Bell 2 months to determine that I was behind one of them as well.
dubsac
join:2000-06-26
Miami, FL

dubsac

Member

MPINet is TERRIBLE!

I am not surprised in the least by your experience. MPINet is one of the least competent businesses I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Fortunately for the consumer, MPINet no longer offers residential DSL. Unfortunately, I wasted over 4 months dealing with this company, and they could not have botched my order any worse if they were trying (see my review).

The fact that MPINet considers ISDN "blindingly fast" is a perfect example of how in touch this company is with reality.

Review by guynfla See Profile

  • Location: New Port Richey, Pasco, FL, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Telco party NorthPoint
  • CLEC party: NorthPoint
Not much
everything else
MPI motto "To hell with the customer"....`
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Well I too am a victim of the North Point disaster. But it seems as some companies are following up and trying to offer a solution to the problem
where as MPIsuck net is not. Their solution.... Terminate the contract. Now of course if I would have terminated the contract that would have
cost me 250.00. What do I get from them. Bye... nice knowing you. Great huh. Anyone with a business looking for DSL, I would recommend
another area of service. And since I am too far from the CO to get regular DSL ( I have IDSL) Im pretty much SOL since Verizon, who's lines
were being used anyway doesnt offer the IDSL service. Once again To hell with the customer. I guess when you have a monopoly you dont
need to add additonal customers to you base.

member for 23 years, 1 visits, last login: 23 years ago
lodged 23 years ago

puterman5
join:2000-08-07
New Port Richey, FL

puterman5

Member

Satisfied in New Port Richey

how far away are you? I live in the same town as you. I am right the limit of 3.5 miles. On a good day i can d/l about 80/k per second, sucky days around the same as dial up>Did Verizon tell you how far you are? I almost went with northpoint but glad I didn't
System

Anon

MPInet and Northpoint..Class Action Lawsuit!

I've had 768/768 sdsl provided by MPInet thru Northpoint for
about 5 months. I've had limited outages and was really not dissatisfied with the service. The only problems I've had were trying to get customer support (endless hours of music on hold).
Now that Northpoint went down, MPInet has no answers. They did provide me with a 90 day "free" dialup but after talking to several people I've concluded they will just forget about the residential dsl customers, and hope they go away. I just started logging my experiences, here they are so far:

On Thursday,March 29, 2001 sometime after 7:00am and before 12:00 noon,My DSL service went dead.

On Friday, March 30, 2001 at aprox. 3:45 pm, I contacted customer support at MPInet and inquired about my DSL service. I was told basically that because
their provider, Northpoint Communications went bankrupt, that all of their DSL customers thru Northpoints lines went dead. I was given a "free" 90 day dial-up account to use until the issue was resolved. I was lead to believe that
MPINet was trying to come up with a solution, such as an agreement with another provider, to reactivate these accounts.

After talking to Customer Support, I called back, asked for Business DSL Sales, and talked to a man named Chris. He checked my phone number and address, and then told
me that I pre-qualified for Business DSL. He went on to quote me a price of 379.00 a month for SDSL at a speed of 764k upload and download. I asked if this connection
would be provided from Northpoint Communications, and Chris told me it would be provided thru a company called New Edge.

I then told Chris that I was a residential DSL customer and had a SDSL 764k connection that MPInet was charging me 49.95 a month. I then inquired why they cannot provide me
with a "business" DSL at my contracted rate. Chris then informed me that there are considerable differences between Business and Residential DSL. He mentioned that a DSL router would be needed instead of a DSL modem. He also mentioned that the equipment in the phone company central office is different in both cases. At this point, I asked to speak to someone in Corporate. Chris then transfered me to a man named Kalley.

Kalley was very knowledgeable about the situation and stated that he has had this conversation numerous times today. I basically stated that I, as an end user, saw no
difference in a "residential 764k SDSL connection" and a "business 764k SDSL connection", as long as each was only connecting one computer to the internet and was not used as a server. I asked why I couldn't be provided with a business DSL account thru New Edge for the same price as my residential service. He stated that New Edge doesn't provide
residential DSL service and that I wasn't comparing apples to apples, and he proceded to say that If I had a new Toyota that broke down, the dealership wouldn't be expected to replace it with a Porsche. I commented that I believed that MPINet may have some lawsuits from this situation, and he said that since Northpoint went bankrupt, that MPINet wasn't liable for the disconnected customers. He also said that there were about 500 displaced customers. I asked what was going to be done with the customers, and he basically said that it was over, the contracts were terminated, and that the customers would have to find other DSL providers. I thanked him for his time and said goodbye.

I have since found out that their new provider, New Edge, provides residential 768/384 adsl.
(See »www.newedgenetworks.com/ ··· ork.html )

Am I wrong for believing that MPInet should provide their customers this service or business 768/768 sdsl service at their contracted price? It is available to them, although at a higher price. Kally pointed out that Toyota wouldn't give you a Porsche, but I believe they would give you the next Toyota up in their line, and eat the difference.

I am gathering information and plan to file a civil suit for Breech of Contract against MPInet. If you were affected by the Northpoint outage, I urge you call MPInet as a new customer, and if, after pre-qualifying you find that they can provide you service, email me with your info and let's
compare notes.

Review by dubsac See Profile

  • Location: Miami, Miami-Dade, FL, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Telco party BellSouth
  • CLEC party: NorthPoint
MPINet is no longer offering Residential DSL!
Total disregard for the customer, almost never returned phone calls.
Its a good thing MPINet is getting out of residential DSL!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

MPINet took my order in October as a simple ISP swap on a running Northpoint line. At first I was very optimistic as they had a contract with minimum acceptable speeds that I signed. I switched to MPINet because my previous ISP was unable to give me the speed I ordered (784/784) and gave me an ADSL product (784/416) on an SDSL circuit.

My optimism began to fade after a few weeks when MPINet dropped the ball on the ISP transfer. I was still patient even though they botched the transfer, and figured even though they had to place a new order, I would be satisfied if they could provide me the line I wanted.

MPINet confirmed to me in the beginning of December that a FOC date had been confirmed (12/20 I believe) and I asked them if I would need to be at my apartment to meet the Inside Wiring technician. They assured me that I would not need to be at the premises and that everything would be set up soon. 12/20 came along and I got home from work to messages on my answering machine from a Bellsouth technician who could not get into my building because I was not there. I called MPINet and explained that I had asked them a few weeks before if I needed to be at the premises and they had said no, and to make sure to let me know of the next FOC date so that I could be at home to let the tech in.

During this time, almost all of the communication between MPINet and myself was when I called MPINet. They almost never contacted me, even when I left messages to be called back regarding status or anything else. Another 3 FOC dates came and went, NONE of which MPINet even let me know were scheduled, much less let me know of when to be at home for the Bellsouth techs to access my building. I had specifically told MPINet to inform me of the dates so I would not leave a BS tech stranded at the fornt gate of my building, yet again MPINet did not do a thing to let me know, and kept sending techs out to the premises. One morning in early March, I got a phone call from a tech who was stranded outside my building, and he had gotten my cell phone number off of my answering machine. Naturally I had no idea he was due to show up, as again MPINet did nothing to let me know about the appointment. I told him that even though I was at work, I could take the next morning off to meet him, and the tech said that would be fine, and even though they do not schedule appointments he would make an exception for me as I explained to him my story.

I was pretty content at the time, until the tech called me back in the afternoon to let me know that Northpoint had cancelled my order because apparently they were tired of sending techs out to my apartment that could not access the building. He said he tried his hardest to get Northpoint not to cancel the order, but they wouldn't budge. I was furious, and called MPINet to let them hear about it. They said that since my order was cancelled, and since they are no longer offering residential DSL (I wonder why?) they could not do anything for me. I spoke with the head of the DSL provisioning department, and explained just how badly their company had botched my order, which OVER 100 DAYS BEFORE should have been taken care of simply as an ISP transfer, and that the least they could do was try to give me a good deal on a business-class DSL line since they could not place a new residential order or resurrect mine. They offered me nothing.

A few days of investigation revealed that my order had been downgraded to IDSL without me even being notified, sometime in December!! They claimed that BellSouth said there was no copper available, which is funny seeing as how I had an operational NP SDSL line before MPINet botched the ISP transfer and I had a BS ADSL line installed around the same time, both on copper pairs, obviously. I also wonder how they were planning to give me a guaranteed speed of at least 700/700Kbps as I had specified on my contract with a 144K IDSL line! Unbelieveable..

In short, I don't know if MPINet could have done worse if they were TRYING to botch my order. Who knows, maybe they were trying to as they were getting out of the residential DSL market. Thats probably a good thing for consumers given my experiences with MPINet. They didn't return 90% of calls, botched an easy ISP transfer, and then failed to notify me of 4 FOC dates and downgraded my order to IDSL without notifying me or noticing that it would void my contract anyways.

Thankfully, MPINet did not get any money from me, but they wasted over 4 months of my time with their incompetence. Business customers BEWARE, this company is run very poorly.

member for 23.7 years, 263 visits, last login: 20 years ago
lodged 23 years ago

System

Anon

Oh, I know

The sad thing about this situation is that Mpinet used to be one of the best around. The problems began when they sold to Duro Communications. Duro went on an ISP buying frenzy (They purchased about 10 ISP's in a years time), and then refused to hire the people to take the workload. They even fired 110 people two weeks before Christmas this year. How is that for "Good Business?"

Review by oldskoolnet8 See Profile

  • Location: Delray Beach, Palm Beach, FL, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Telco party BellSouth
  • CLEC party: NorthPoint
commercial sdsl at residential pricing, good coordination
tech support not open past 9pm
excellent deal, when it was available
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

MpiNet no longer offers residential DSL anymore, however when they did, I was overjoyed when I was emailed by them telling me I can get static ip and 416k/416k SDSL in my house on a conditioned circuit in Delray Beach for only 49.95/month. I replied and was emailed a contract to sign and fax to them.

I left it sit and for a month, while I researched Northpoint's other partners, and since flashcom was down, the other providers' prices were jacked and I had to pay for the modem and installation.

When I returned to mpinet's website and called them, they told me the residential price was jacked up to 69.95 -- and a week later they no longer offered residential DSL (adsl, sdsl, idsl, anything). I called once more and told them I had an email and a contract in my inbox and wondered if that would work. Chris Laneve faxed me an edited version of the contract, and told me because I already had a pending order, I could go through with it.

Due to ABSOLUTELY F$%CKING HORRIBLE EXPERIENCES WITH BELLSOUTH ADSL I HAVE A LOT OF PATIENCE, SO I DECIDED NOT TO BOTHER calling Mpinet but twice.

1/6/01
Faxed contract to MpiNet

1/17/01
Called Mpinet, was told my line was successfully
provisioned and Bellsouth would drop a fresh circuit in on the 29th of jan

1/29/01
Bellsouth dude shows up and dry humps the side of my house for a short while

1/31/01
Northpoint calls house asking when they can come install
Scheduled date of 2/8/01

2/2/01
Modem arrives
Netopia SDSL lan modem
(I already had a linksys usb 10baset ethernet adapter from my cable modem

2/8/01
Northpoint installer "Juan shows up. Drills hole in wall, drags a line through,
blah blah does his thing. I'm not pinging, and they shipped the wrong ip printed on the sheet that give you your details when you signup.
He calls northpoint and northpoint calls MpiNet,
I'm given a new ip (static) and Melanie clears my circuit
(they did not activate my circuit until northpoint came)
First speed test was exactly 362k down / 362k up
No problems ever since, getting 384k down no slower / 392k up no slower
( I have tried tweaking )

I love mpinet
thanks chris
thanks melanie


member for 23.2 years, 131 visits, last login: 17.8 years ago
lodged 23.1 years ago

Roaddawg43
join:2000-07-20
Miami, FL

Roaddawg43

Member

CALL DSLi

Call DSLi they are the best provider i have ever dealt with! 784k sdsl for 50$ a month. Awesome tech support! i would call if i were you! I am in North Miami Beach Fl not to far from you. it would be worth it to sign up for that extra speed!
oldskoolnet8
join:2001-01-08
Delray Beach, FL

oldskoolnet8

Member

Re: CALL DSLi

I'm 14,000feet away from my CO, and dsli no longer deals with northpoint customers, however, rhythms services my area, I could do a service turnaround, but I need to ride out my contract?

Review by nandosftp See Profile

  • Location: Miami, Miami-Dade, FL, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 18 days
  • Telco party BellSouth
  • CLEC party: NorthPoint
Good Install coordination with Northpoint and Bellsouth
None so far. DHCP. PPPoe
Its worth the money.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Well I placed my order on my 3rd DSL line at my residence on october 17 , 2000. Everything has been going smooth since im been around all the installation BS , that the ILEC or the TELCO can throw at you. Well this time I said screw it, if there a company thats good enought I will not even call them or email them just send them the contract and see what they do, and well I've been suprised. No calls to MPInet and they managed to keep their appointments and promise. So far my line is totally clean and can a except either a 6.5Mbit/1mbit ADSL or a 1.5mbit SDSL. Well Since I got a 768 SDSL line from covad already installed almost a year ago. Im cancelling that one and keep the MPInet as the replacement hoping for a nice ping and some realiable speed.

I will keep you posted on the installation of the inside wiring and hardware.

-nando

member for 24.1 years, 146 visits, last login: 17.9 years ago
lodged 23.3 years ago


dlunsf
join:2000-08-27
Lakeland, FL

dlunsf

Member

I am utterly surprised!!

When I was trying to get mine set up, I had trouble even getting the sales rep to email me the contract, let alone call me. Maybe MPInet is finally getting their act together.
nandosftp
join:2000-01-30
Miami, FL

nandosftp

Member

Yea....they came through

Well with little problems and time ( only an hour ) I setup and installed the new northpoint 786 SDSL line for just 50$ a month and a static IP ...Its awesome..there is nothing wrong with it..My ping on CS are like 10 - 50 on 50 different servers...and for Quake 3 the same..

Im completely satisfied and happy. If your in Florida and can get MPInet. I strongly encourage you to do so.

-nando

Sanch
@204.95.x.x

Sanch

Anon

Re: Yea....they came through

Wow you got lucky, i put in my order for SDSL in early Sept. Didn't hear anything from them for about 2 months...then I get a call from MPI saying its going to take about 2 weeks longer becuase of something with Northpoint expanding their network to accomodate new users. Last week I called MPI to find out what was the status of my DSL and they said that Sprint's delivery date of the circuit is on the 11th and then they'll setup an appointment to do the wiring in my house. They said it shouldnt take longer than a week after I get the circuit. *keeping fingers crossed*

Review by terr3 See Profile

  • Location: Altamonte Springs, Seminole, FL, USA
  • Cost: $159 per month (25 month contract)
  • Install: about 21 days
  • Telco party Sprint
Competent staff, Quality equipment, Takes Responsibilty for the whole DSL connection
Growing Pains - phone contact sometimes difficult
Good compentent service provider with excellent pricing and no surprise charges
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Please note that the review price/speed specifics are based on my employer's business account account. MPI provides a wide range of price/speed/type DSL accounts. (Go to www.mpinet.net.) My home account costs $45/mo 512k/128k. But, installation was smooth-sailing, requiring no support and minimal contact, leaving little experience on which to base a review.

We are satisfied with the connection and service provided by MPINet. Getting DSL connectd to Xenotronix hit a few snags. The phone service to our building had a cross connection, and the internal phone line we chose to use was of inadequate quality. MPI managed the difficulties at a great deal of time/expense to themselves. And, once up, the connection has been reliable and no-maintenance. The DSL router provided was first rate, and the techs that resolved the snags were competent. We also have a domain with them that has been manage with few problems. A minor snag with outgoing e-mail from the domain was resolved quickly by their tech-support. If I have one complaint, it would be that getting through by telephone can sometimes be difficult, as the company seems to be growing faster than its staff. The receptionist easily got me through whenever making contact was a problem. (Mostly the problem was voice-mail tag.)

Speed of connection: 512kb downstream / 128kb upstream

Order/Install process: Hit a few snags, but competently resolved

Equipment: Efficient Networks SpeedStream 5660, Dynamic IP

member for 23.4 years, 8 visits, last login: 22.1 years ago
lodged 23.4 years ago

watson2037
join:2000-09-03
Sarasota, FL

watson2037

Member

Price?

528/128?? $159?? Are you just really far from the CO and that the best u can get?
terr3
join:2000-11-01
Altamonte Springs, FL

terr3

Member

Re: Price?

That was for a business account with web hosting, corporate e-mail, domain management, higher volume router, etc. My home account costs $45/mo.

Review by abctuba7 See Profile

  • Location: Boca Raton, Palm Beach, FL, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Telco party BellSouth
  • CLEC party: NorthPoint
MPI seems to be a good company
They have very poor customer communication
Bellsouth Strikes Again!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:

I ordered 768/768 SDSL from MPInet on August 29th, 2000 for $49 a month, with free nstall and equipment. My TOS was faxed on the 1st of september, and I was told the order was placed with Bellsouth on that date. After reading some of the stories here, and the fact that I was dealing with the greastest Telco in the world, I decieded I needed to be proactive and call every week.

As far as MPI goes I found it hard to get a hold of my sales rep. Either he was not in yet, busy, or not answering his phone. I was always geting transfered to someone who most of the time didn't know what was going on. When I did get to my rep it was smooth saling, although one of the last times I called (about 20 days into the 30-45 day window) I was transfered to the DSL Coordinator and was told I was going to have to wait 45-60 days before Northpoint even got the circuit.

The porblem came back to Bellsouth as it has everytime in my two year quest for DSL. This time my order was cancelled because my distance was to great. This is after a wire distance estimate buy two companies and a drive by myself that confirmed these. This falles into line with bellsouth' previous excuses... "possible load coil", "we don't know", "bad copper". The people a BS must be so inept that only their monoply is keeping them in bussiness.

The problem with this entire set-up is the souless monsters at bellsouth. They do not nor have they ever cared about customers. They know we have to go through them somehow. I am getting to the point where I am going to make it my life quest to bring bellsouth down. What I blame MPInet for is poor communication. I was run around alot by their reps and to find out my order was cancelled I had to call them not them call me. MPInet needs to learn to communicate with their customers and their Telcos.

My advice to others is limited as there is very little you can do to cause Bellsouth any pain. I've heard writing the state Puplic services office can help. As for MPInet I believe they were stuck between a rock and a hard place and wanted to save face. I only lay 25% of the blame on them.

member for 23.5 years, 52 visits, last login: 13.8 years ago
lodged 23.4 years ago


dlunsf
join:2000-08-27
Lakeland, FL

dlunsf

Member

MPInet's communication is TERRIBLE

Yeah, that is the exact kind of crap I had to put up with for almost 3 months while my dsl was being hooked up. MPInet WILL NOT ever call you about anything. You always have to call them and then you get put on hold forever or you get voice mail and since they wont return your call, that is pointless too. No one at MPInet ever returned my calls until I posted my very lengthy review that can be seen below. Then I emailed Cal Cole, the DSL sales manager, about the review. He called me the next day.

Review by acp5 See Profile

  • Location: Lady Lake, Lake, FL, USA
  • Cost: $45 per month (6 month contract)
  • Install: about 68 days
  • Telco party Sprint
Actual vs. Claimed Speed
News Server
Excellent Value
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Services:
Value for money:

I have been a MPInet customer for 4-1/2 years. They provided excellent dial-up service and so far I'm very pleased with the 512/128 ADSL connection.

I had to sign a 6 month contract. There were no install charges and MPInet provided the NIC and bridge at no charge. I won the equipment at the end of six months.

I am one of the first to have DSL in this rather rural area in Central Florida about 50 miles north of Orlando. I ordered DSL service in June of this year and was told they would contact me in about two weeks for an installation appointment. I had to leave town for three weeks just about the time the two week wait time was expiring. While I was out of town MPInet contacted my wife and she told them to wait til I returned.

When I returned the first week of August I called MPInet and was informed that there was a hold on new installs due to a "Sprint" problem that should be resolved within two weeks.

My hardware is a home built PC based on a two year old Soyo mobo with a 333 Mhz. AMD K6 II and 128MB of SDRAM. MPInet provied a CNET 200 PRO NIC and ZyXEL 642M bridge, NTS PPPoE software and dynamic IP.

I was contacted on August 28th and an install appointment was set for September 1st. The tech arrived on time. The installer is not a MPInet employee but a subcontractor that works for All Tech that does some or all of MPInet's installs.

I had everything ready for him to install the NIC and external modem. He checked for sync and all was fine. Everything went well until he tried to instal the NTS software. No mater what he tried, different NIC cards and different modems the system would not come up.

By now the tech had been here three hours and it was 9:00P. He said he would return the next day with some different hardware and try again. He returned the next as scheduled with different hardware and still could not get the software configured.

He called NTS for any suggestions they might have. The NTS tech support suggested maybe the PCI drivers on my mother board needed upgrading. We connected, via dial-up, to the mother board vendors web site and found some new drivers. Those were downloaded, installed, and immediately the tech was able to get me up and running with an ADSL connection.

The only negative I have concerning MPInet is there choice of usenet providers. I have complained to them over the years about poor performance. It's not the quantity of groups, about 35K, but occasionally I can't connect or the download speed is very slow. This happens infrequently and is not a major negative as far as I'm concerned.

After several speed tests of timing large file downloads I find the average down speed to be close to 500K.

I did not rate their tech support as I have not had to contact them.

member for 23.5 years, 44 visits, last login: 21.1 years ago
lodged 23.5 years ago

acp5
join:2000-09-04
Lady Lake, FL

acp5

Member

MPInet Customer Service

In my original post I didn't comment on MPInet's DSL customer service.

Now, as a follow-up, I have a comment.

Last Wednesday I noticed a degradation in download/upload speeds. It was intermittent. On Thursday as the intermittent problem continued I contacted MPInet DSL customer service. The tech I spoke with couldn't find a problem and told me Pamela would call be the next morning.

Pamela called about mid-morning as promised. With Sprint on one line and me on the other we tried a few things that didn't seem to help. Pamela scheduled a home service call by Sprint for Tuesday, that would be tomorrow.

Today, Monday, my connection dropped about 3:40PM. As I was trying to reconnect Pamela called me. She explained she was working with Sprint and that's why my connection dropped. After a few minutes she had me reconnect. I reconnected at the expected 512/128 speed. She said the Sprint tech made some speed setting changes on the DSLAM.

Now we'll see if the intermittent problem is fixed.

I have read several negative comments on in this forum about the MPInet tech support service. I thought I would throw in a favorable experience. I have been with MPInet for almost five years now, both dial-up and DSL and the very few times I've had to contact tech support my problems were give prompt and courteous attention.

dlunsf
join:2000-08-27
Lakeland, FL

dlunsf

Member

I am glad someone is getting good service.

It is good to see that someone is getting good customer service from MPInet. Last night my connection wouldn't work. I didn't lose sync, it just wouldn't to connect to anything. So I called tech support and the guy told me that they were having a problem with their authentication server and it would be up in 15 to 25 minutes. An hour later I called back and didn't know a thing about dsl and couldn't even let me talk to someone who did because there is no one there. Now I realize it was late, but that is ridiculous. He had me unplug my modem and reboot the computer a couple of times and then he told me that they were still having problems with their authentication server and it would be another 15 minutes. I tried again 30 minutes and it still didn't work so just went to bed. Someone called me today and checked to make sure it was working and it was working fine. Now, I am sure they were working hard to fix the problem, but why couldn't the second tech just tell me that it would be a while longer instead of having me reboot and resync the modem? Oh well, after dealing with inept sales reps for 3 months, I have come to expect this from MPInet and it doesn't really bother me as much anymore.

Review by heatersbu11 See Profile

  • Location: West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Telco party BellSouth
  • CLEC party: NorthPoint
Great to talk to on the phone
They are not squared away in the office
never recieved service
Pre Sales information:
Tech Support:

On 8/17/2000 I placed order. They insured me I would have service within 40 days. On 09/11/ they notified me that my line had been dropped by bellsouth on 09/06/2000. It would be on week of testing from here. Today (one week later) I called them to find they never got the order in, they needed to call northpoint and request the line to be dropped and I should have service within 40 - 60 days. NO THANKS, now they say I need to pay $200.00 to cancel order, that they never put in.

member for 23.6 years, 34 visits, last login: 23.2 years ago
lodged 23.5 years ago


allama
@mpinet.net

allama

Anon

No Fee

If your order was not put in at Northpoint, (usually due to the fax not coming through with the paperwork) then there is no cancelation fee! Cancelation fees only apply if your order is PLACED with Northpoint then you cancel after the order has been submitted. I know this because I had an issue like that. I suggest speaking to the DSL Manager Cal Cole. He helped me out.. his email address is cal@mpinet.net.

dlunsf
join:2000-08-27
Lakeland, FL

dlunsf

Member

This is the kind of crap MPInet does.

Yep, sounds exactly like the kind of crap I would expect from MPInet. I would definately suggest talking to Cal Cole and if he doesn't help you, ask for his boss.
heatersbu11
join:2000-08-02
West Palm Beach, FL

heatersbu11

Member

Re: This is the kind of crap MPInet does.

I spoke to Cal. He told me the problem was with my line. The line will not be upgraded until November, which they cannot install service until then. Faith in sales knew this and told me she would not let me out of this contract. Thank you Cal. Maybe we will try it again after they upgrade my line.