Review by Ragnor Location: USA Cost: $100 per month (12 month contract) Install: about 3 days Usually up extremely variable bandwidth and wierd routing. It's better than nothing I guess and it's the only service available here.

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You will never get the advertised speed. Customer service is rude and mouthy. Biggest issue seams to be band width limiting.
They will limit your bandwidth. If you complain it might increase for a few days, but then it's back to poor quality in a few weeks.
I am currently getting .87 mb down on a 15mb connection...... at best it's 9.7mb

Queens @184.60.143.x Queens Anon 2014-Oct-3 5:48 pm true this is the worst service! It never works and when you call in the technicians are rude and nasty! 2014-Oct-3 5:48 pm: · hey mods ·

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Review by mariemorris Location: Tellico Plains, Monroe, TN, USA Business customer Cost: $45 per month the worst service I have ever had to endure

The DSL service with this company is the very worst I have ever encountered anywhere. Every time it rains here in East Tennessee, the DSL internet quits. The keep sending tech people out here for a look see and nothing is being done to fix this continuing problem. Today was a clear day and DSL quit twice for no obvuious reason. We have to keep manually disabling the DSL modem, wait 20 seconds and then power it on again. Often this doesn't work either. I'm trying to run a home biz online and can't do it when the internet connection doesn't work reliably. If I could switch to another DSL or satelite company I'd do it, but we are in mountains and limited. TDS would be my last choice even if the offered it free. Very unhappy.

davidc502 join:2002-03-06 Mount Juliet, TN davidc502 Member 2014-Jun-23 3:12 pm Every time it rains here in East Tennessee, the DSL internet quits More than likely the circuits are getting wet, and that's the reason why it's dropping you off. Unfortunately, it's a common problem, and hard to fix. Keep being persistent and request the issue be fixed. Send away anyone that might be doing rain dances in your area 2014-Jun-23 3:12 pm: · hey mods ·

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Review by R32Raines Location: La Vergne, Rutherford, TN, USA Cost: $61 per month Install: about 7 days 100/40 Fiber, Basic IPTV, Cheap for what's included. Great Customer Service. Must bundle IPTV to get 100mb connection. No NBA TV offered. Better alternative to Comcast. Very happy with TDS.

Pre Sales information: Install Co-ordination: Connection reliability: Tech Support: Services: Value for money:

I wanted a 100mb service. Comcast wanted $80/month, with only 20mb upload, and the price only good for 6 months, plus modem rental after negotiating. Because of that, I switched my internet to TDS Telecom 100/40 Fiber Optics. Internet is $45/mo. + Basic IPTV is $16/mo. These prices include a free Whole Home DVR (500gb hard drive), and free wireless router/gateway (not using). This internet service level required bundling with basic IPTV service. No contract, Not a promotional price, Free Installation.

So far customer service has been nearly perfect. Very friendly, knowledgeable, efficient, and helpful. Installation went very smooth. Installers were extremely nice, cared about their quality of work, were very thorough, and catered to my requests. They explained everything very well and detailed. Technicians even gave me a couple extra Ethernet cables to the length I needed to rewire everything the way I wanted so I could use my own equipment. Service was installed with a wall plate for the ethernet and power line for the ONT. Included a small battery backup that they placed where I requested. I was informed that they maintain all equipment for free, including the battery backup. Out of the advertised 100/40 speeds, I am getting about 97.5 down and 39.5 up. Pretty darn close and acceptable. No IPV6. Simple to use my own router and switch with service. My router is an Asus RT-N66U, and my switch is a Cisco SG200-26. Installation took about 4 hours. When setting up service, I was told it was required for 1 week until installation. It was exactly 1 week.

I would completely dump Comcast TV service if TDS offered NBA TV, but they don't at this time, so I kept Comcast for TV service.

Wireless router/gateway included is an Actiontec V1000H.

IPTV Whole Home DVR included is a Cisco ISB7050.

Service uses Cat 5e cabling.

Battery Backup is a CyberPower CS24U12V.

At this point, I've had service for 1 day, and I am very happy with everything about it, except that I have to bundle TV with the 100mb internet.

If you can get this service, I recommend that you do.

1 Year Edit:

I am still extremely happy with my decision to get TDS service. I consistently get right at 98 megs down and 39.5 megs up on speed tests. When doing real world downloads, it seems speeds exceed the 100/40 rate I am paying for. I have never seen a peak time speed slow down, never experience any peering issues, and everything seems to always stay consistent. I have seen only about 3-5 outages in a year, and they were usually in the middle of the night for only a couple of minutes, I would assume for maintenance.

Their customer service has been excellent as well. I call in inquiring about NBA TV nearly once a month and every time they have put in a channel request submission for me. When I signed up, they told me I wouldn't be charged for the router rental. I was charged $4.95 on my first bill for it, then I called in about it and was told I was correct in what was promised to me, so I was given a $10 monthly credit for a year to offset that cost and as a "thanks" for being a customer. I also recently wanted to reduce some monthly expenses and I called in thinking I would just downgrade to a lower speed tier... instead they just gave me another $10 monthly credit for the rest of the year to help me out. My most recent bill including taxes and fees is about $49 for 100 meg internet and basic tv with dvr and emergency (911) phone service.

Because of how great TDS has been, I have recently considered dropping Comcast as my primary TV provider, and switching completely to TDS for TV as well, even without having NBA TV, which is very important to me.

TDS recently announcing they are rolling out 1 gig service makes them even more exciting. Once it is in La Vergne, TN, I will be very very tempted. The only negatives I can see with TDS is still no NBA TV, and the fact they are still slightly more expensive than Google Fiber or Chattanooga's EPB service.

ALovelyGust join:2009-09-20 Fayetteville, OH ALovelyGust Member 2013-Jul-16 6:14 pm TDS review Wow, that is really nice. I'm incredibly "jelly" right now. 2013-Jul-16 6:14 pm: · hey mods ·

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Review by wgfinley Location: Elkhorn, Walworth, WI, USA Cost: $80 per month (24 month contract) Install: about 5 days TDS Metrocom Speeds have been as advertised, good latency, haven't experienced any outages. Router isn't the greatest, took forever to get a password issue straightened out. Decent reliable service at a good price that's kept me away from Charter.

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I'm about 18 months into my contract and overall have been pleased. I moved to a somewhat rural area of Wisconsin from suburban Illinois. I was an AT&T Uverse user for several years (was one of the first to get it when it hit my neighborhood). Uverse was great internet service, rock solid and very fast, TDS has been okay.

The connection has been reliable, I can't think of any outages that I've had and latency has been great. I get a typical 18 ms ping to Speedtest. My speeds have also been solid as well, I am pretty fortunate to live near the CO so they pretty much hit my advertised speed. Were I still on Uverse I'd have 45 mbps available so being stuck at 20 mbps (advertised at 22 max) is a bit of a disappointment but given my area not terrible.

I spent several months not being able to log into their website. Finally found a rep who was able to figure out they had a typo on my user ID (doh) and that was what was causing my issues. Once he updated that I've been fine ever since (though their website is a bit kludgy, doesn't like Firefox, I have to use Safari).

On the modem side I haven't checked for options to swap out the VDSL modem they include, it's an Actiontec. The wifi isn't bad but I got my own wireless. The configuration is pretty easy but the modem has no self-health options. Every week or so I have to go in and do a reboot to improve or fix health, I'd love to be able to automate that so i didn't have to do it all the time.

My alternative is Charter and I've found them simply unacceptable dealing with them at my wife's home before we got married. They strung her along for years without a modem upgrade and gouging her for service (I got better service and the price went down). I found their line health to be absolutely pitiful though: regular outages, rarely near the 30 mbps rated speed and constant modem lock ups. I've had none of that with TDS.

So, long and short, decent service at a decent price ($80 includes the 22 "Extreme" Package plus a no frills phone line), they have some much better deals right now, I am about to see what can be done with my contract as they seem to have dropped their prices.

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Review by MrTaylorM Location: Rison, Cleveland, AR, USA Cost: $80 per month (24 month contract) Install: about 7 days No Cap Stable Connection Speed, QofS, Local Equipment Issues, Local Capacity issue It's not worth paying $80 if I can only use it during the middle of the night and it still will be slow

Lite(only what was "available")

The mailed a modem. That's it.

Actiontec

The Quality of Service

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Review by SteveSBE Location: Black Earth, Dane, WI, USA Cost Contract price not specified. TDS Metrocom Not much except the people on the phone and tried but admitted they couldn't really help Terrible DSL speeds...not what is advertised Avoid

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Been with TDS for years. When we first got DSL we got close to the advertised speed. Now we get on average about 40% and often 20% of the speed we are paying for. When I call and they "reset" our connection we might get up to 80% of the advertised speed...for usually less than 4-6 hours. They admitted on the phone that there is a KNOWN CAPACITY PROBLEM but they don't know anything about whether or not it will be fixed. This company has problems I believe because they have such such poor reaction to their customers' plights. If you have an alternative take it.

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Review by HarperJG Location: Mount Juliet, Wilson, TN, USA Cost Contract price not specified. Fiber connection Download speed drops to 2 to 3 Mbps at nights and weekends Good to have an alternative to Comcast

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I've had TDSTV service for a little over a year. Service was fine, until the upload speed would just go to practically nothing. I would reset the hub, and the problem would be fixed. This went on for about 3 to 4 month, and changing out the hub would fix it. Recently I had an issue with the download speed dropping to around 2 to 3 Mbps on nights and weekends (service was 25Mbps down/10Mbps). I did bring this to TDS' attention, and they did issue me a credit.

Yesterday I got upgraded to new service (Microsoft Media room with OnDemand). OnDemad offerings are ok, but I guess it because it's new. Hopfully there will be more offerings later on. I also got updated to the 50Mbps down/25 Mbps up service. So far, speeds are pretty much consistent with that. True test will be over the weekend to see if the upgrade resolves that issue.

Overall, I have been happy with TDS. When compaired to Comcast, their customer service is significantly better. I'm not sure if TDS outsources their support (like Comcast does), but so far everyone I have talked to could speak English clearly and be understood. It's just nice having someone other than Comcast to choose from, and after experiencing the service I have received from TDS, I would never go back to Comcast.

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Review by ALovelyGust Location: Fayetteville, Brown, OH, USA Cost: $140 per month Couldn't ask for much more from DSL, it just works great. None. Bandwidth may be lacking, but you're a person here, not a number.

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01/02/13 Update:

DSL is basically perfect right now, couldn't ask for much more, aside from maybe one day getting on the 25/5 plan they offer to other communities. Ping is low, line numbers are amazing, as long as the network is maintained, I don't foresee any reason why I would terminate service.

I had a problem develop at the residence with noise and crosstalk that also affected my phone service recently that started in early December, and I couldn't be happier with support or with the local tech that works here. Haven't been this satisfied with service since day 1 with my 10/1 data plan. Awesome work.

06/01/12 Update:

It's gotten better, I've seen evidence of changes on the line, so they're trying. I'm more inclined to believe the now stable ping times are because it's summer though, I'm planning on updating again in early 2013.

My plan is 10/1 with up to 15 mb download available.

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Review by (hidden by request) Location: Tellico Plains, Monroe, TN, USA Cost: $40 per month very reliable and enough bandwidth to work from home Price could be better

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TDS provides me with more than enough DSL bandwidth to Work from Home as
i am a Remote Support Tech. and live on a mountain where DSL or
satellite are the only high speed options.
Hardly ever haver a disruption in service. very reliable.

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Review by neonrider Location: North, Orangeburg, SC, USA Cost Contract price not specified. TDS Metrocom You get a land line and a DSL and the cost came down recently! No outsourcing for support! Line gets cut sometimes and their voice mail system is not the brightest. The DSL speed is ridiculously slow! New site is joke. Needs improvement and more attention to cutomers needs and wants.

Pre Sales information: Install Co-ordination: Connection reliability: Tech Support: Services: Value for money:

Mostly mixed experiences, but I'd like to note the following issues (mixed, both DSL and the phone service):

1. While talking for a long time (20-30 minutes) the line suddenly gets disconnected. Not a battery issue and not an inside wiring issue.

2. Voicemail is not the brightest, because:

a. After listening to your voice message(s) it says "This was your last message" (funeral music is not playing indeed); I suggested (many times and years ago and now also) to TDS to change the wording to something less "terminal".

b) The user options and voice mail options take something like 5 sec. to be described by recorded voice, but once it starts, the options are shot at you at the speed of a machine gun; Although you can read them in a TDS phonebook.

c) There is no option for the voice mail to pick up after an X number of rings. You have to call the customer service (and sometimes be transferred from a rep to a rep to a rep and to another rep) to achieve that and sometimes it takes a long time for them to understand what you need done to your voice mail setting. All you want to do is for the voice mail to activate itself after 5 or 4 or 3 rings and not immediately. Their default seems (unfortunately) be "immediately". So when someone calls you you hear the voicemail instead of the caller... They have changed voicemail pick up after 5 rings now. Technician tested it yesterday, he said it works now after 5 rings (I hear 4 rings, the caller hears 5 rings). OK! Yet this morning all calls went into voicemail after no ring or just 1 ring. Called support, they told me it needs time to get P-R-O-C-E-S-S-E-D. Okay, let's give it some time. What a backwards system. Why can't I change the number of rings options myself?

d) There is no option to eliminate (delete) message and/or your name from the voicemail. All you can do is to change it. You can ask them to disable your voice mail though and save yourself some money.

I'd say a very user-UNfriendly and even failing voicemail system and can be very annoying and slow and inconvenient to make any change. A very backwards system that I would NOT recommend.

TDS! Consider dumping the current voicemail "machine" and get a better one. No one wants to hear "THIS WAS YOUR LAST MESSAGE" on their voicemail as if one's gonna die soon after that or something...

3. After an "old" modem died, they sent me a new one "Actiontec" which is more round-looking and then they started charging me every month for it without my consent. One month they even double-charged me for the modem. Once I called them and notified also that I saw some lower priced plans now available they signed me up with new plan and that saved me about $12 a month.

4. Sometimes (every few days) the internet connection becomes "stale" (down). I have to powercycle everything to get back online. Not a huge problem though.

5. Faster than 3G speeds are unavailable, not even if you pay more.

6. Don't shut your modem down every night, - that will kill your modem sooner.

7. Is there a firewall in the modem? Seems not.

8. TDS! DUMP YOUR VOICEMAIL SYSTEM PROVIDER N-O-W!!!

9. NEW! July 2009. Just noticed this month that TDS has increased the modem "rental" (never knew I was renting the modem until they started charging me this fee!) charge from $2.95 to $3.95 a month without any prior notification. Soooooo TDS! They never let me know before they raise their charges.

10. NEW! September 2012: I am paying TDS $50 monthly for a 15 Mbps DSL connection and I'm getting measly 0.22 to 1 Mbps and if i'm lucky I get up to 5 Mbps. They told me that is normal as it is "up to". Nice... No kidding! Take a look:

TDS speed test result: »tinypic.com/r/vql2ko/6

and at the same time:

Speakeasy speed test: »tinypic.com/r/rk8x05/6

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