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Review by wizzards10 
Posted: 85 days ago
member for 7.3 years, 3 visits, last login: 85 days ago
 Appleton,Outagamie,WI
 Business customer
 $35 per month
 about 14 days
 "hmmm, better than dialup??"
 "disruptions, cheap equipment"
 "Consider someone else"
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I wasn't involved in the decission/setup process, but I have been supporting it ever since. We've been a customer for 2 years now and we are on our 3rd modem now as they keep dying. So we are completely down for about 2-3 days while the new one is shipped and configured. Also, we host our own EMail server, and recently all of a sudden TDS shutdown their mail relay, without warning. We were down for over a week until we finially had to purchase a static IP address. They gave us a $50 credit, which work out to 10 months of free Static IP Address, but still...
The modems have been made by ActionTec.
Please seriously consider someone else.
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Review by ollywho3549
UPDATED: 225 days ago
member for 2.9 years, 3 visits, last login: 225 days ago
Lewisport,Hancock,KY
Contract price not specified.
about 2 days
 TDS Metrocom
"Well Maintained"
"Does not over faster download speeds that others. Poor Upload speed"
"Barely OK. Better than dialup"
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TDS is not bad. Service is excellent. does not offer speed over 3. Since they changed over from tds.net mail to gmail.com upload speeds has dropped badly. Support is fairly good but sometimes with long wait time. A good point is that support is from within our Country and good support people. Very knowledgeable. Have been with them for a long time but would switch to another company for a faster download speed. That is not allowed for some reason.
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Review by xstriker
UPDATED: 287 days ago
member for 314 days, 4 visits, last login: 238 days ago
Madison,Dane,WI
$70 per month (24 month contract)
about 14 days
TDS Metrocom
"Good when it works"
"Connection drops VERY frequently"
"Save yourself the time and frustration, go somewhere else. Even ATT isn't this bad."
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This is a review of TDS's WiMax bundle in Madison, WI. I ordered the 4 meg down, 2 meg up wireless, along with its VOIP phone (30 min long distance, unlimited local).
First, the phone service.
The sound is clear both ways. The package includes call-forwarding, Caller ID, etc., and all of those are nice features that work pretty well. In fact, the phone service can be rather excellent. What is bad about the service is that phone calls tend to drop, especially when the call can last for more than an hour. I'll even say that my cell phone has less of a chance of dropping calls (even from the basement). In fact, when I have to call for technical support (and I've had to call more than several times), I use my cell phone for fear of the home phone call being dropped, and consequently, be placed into another 10 - 20 min queue.
Now, the WiMax Internet service.
TDS gives you 3 months before committing to the 2 year contract. Within the 3 months, you can cancel if you're not completely satisfied. The first 3 months, I was very happy. I had to call for another service, maybe just halfway through the first 3 months. I thought that was just a fluke, and decided to give TDS a chance since other than one time, I was pretty satisfied (internet and phone went down, had to call to fix it). I should have cancelled.
After committing to the two year contract, I had been pretty satisfied, but as time went on, I began to have more and more problems. For no reason at all, internet speeds would just dip to 100 kb/s. Speeds would stay that way until I call TDS to repair it. Sometimes, internet and phone would just stop for no reason. Sometimes, they'll come back (anytime from 6 to 18 hours), in which case, I'd have to call for technical support.
Technical support is garbage. First, getting someone on the phone takes about 15 minutes. Next, since WiMax is relatively new, whoever you DO get on the phone doesn't know you're talking about. If you call the internet dept., they send you to the phone dept. (something about VOIP as the phone service and that they can coordinate with WiMax from there), and then you get transferred to the phone dept (another 15 min wait) and they have no idea what to do. When you DO finally get to the right dept, they just say they'll send someone to you (who will come without notice, generally the next day at some fairly random time). All the technician does, is looks at the modem and router for a few seconds, then makes a phone call, and BAM, internet is back up and running. When you tell the person on the phone that you've had the problem in the past (oh, it comes up a lot), and that it can probably be fixed at the antenna or tower (because that's what the technician said, since all he had to do was make a phone call) without sending someone, they don't listen, and send someone anyway.
Fin
I went with TDS because it was relatively new, and I liked that it had a higher upload service than ATT and Charter. I thought I'd give it a try, and that it couldn't have been worse than ATT (I was wrong). But if I can, I'm jumping ship to Charter (or whatever alternatives I will have).
EDIT: I've heard from a friend who have also been using TDS that they haven't had any problems. They're not exactly computer literate though, so I didn't inquire too much about their experience. Customer service has also said that they didn't see the problem all that often (as if they could say otherwise), so experiences may vary. As of now, almost a year with TDS, I have cancelled, and they said they will waive the cancellation fee.
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Review by nekochan
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 1.4 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.4 years ago
Madison,Dane,WI
Contract price not specified.
"little downtime, no throttling"
"why throttle something this slow? they won't upgrade you when they upgrade themselves, terrible tech support"
"they don't care what you think as long as you pay"
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entries from years ago on this site talk about ~750k connections. I'm getting that right now, even though we had them upgrade us to the 1mbps probably a year ago now, since it cost the same as our old service. i guess they decided that since we were gladly paying the full price for lower speeds, we wouldn't notice. I called them multiple times to complain about this. the first time, all i got was "well, the computer says you do get 1mbps." second time? they asked some standard tech support questions then hung up on me. third time, they said that the modem (which they gave us when we first got their service) wasn't built for mbps-level speed, but didn't offer to send us a new one. i'm considering calling again, since the 1mbps connection is no longer advertised, so i'm assuming they got faster speeds for the same price without telling current customers again.
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Review by kenkanif
UPDATED: 2.2 years ago
member for 2.6 years, 2 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
Green Bay,Brown,WI
$45 per month
about 14 days
TDS Metrocom
"None"
"A ton"
"Don't Get DSL."
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I had a previous review, praising this company.
FORGET IT.
Do NOT go with any DSL service of any kind. My uncle told me this (he teaches computer classes at FVTC (tech college) and is the web administrator there, among a few other things. He said, "stay away from DSL." Did I listen? No, the people on the phone were convincing enough, and I even asked them about the specific problem he warned me about, assured me it wouldn't happen.
The problem I have is that the internet will go out, all the time. It doesn't last long enough for it to continue through the waiting period for customer service, so of course whenever I talk to a rep they say they can't help. HOW CONVENIENT. I asked what some common problems are, I know my computers enough to possibly figure it out on my own if I have some pointers. Everything they listed was not an issue any time the problems occurred.
When I initially ordered the DSL, my speeds weren't up to par, so I called them a few times, they told me the problem was on my end. I believed them, rewired some things, nothing changed. Ended up they had "accidentally" capped my speeds, when they weren't even supposed to be capped at all! OOPSIES.
All in all, looking back on the problems and customer support, there really was nothing good about them, I thought there was, but no more.
They can't solve the problem at all, I'm stuck with them. Don't make the same mistake I did, please, listen to us, you will regret it if you go with TDS, or any DSL for that matter.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 2.3 years ago
(review was emailed from domain tds.net)
Medford,Taylor,WI
$29 per month (12 month contract)
"Do not have to wait for dial up"
"My average speed is 300 kbps and am signed up for 3000!!"
"Paying way to much for not enough speed."
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To Whom This Concerns,
I have DSL now for about 6 months. I went with DSL from TDS as I was told of
how good it is and that speeds do not vary like broadband. Boy I do
wish I still had broadband. I never have to deal with this type of
speed, 202 kbps, sometime 340 kbps and am suppose to have 3000 kbps. I
had about 2000 kbps for about 1 week out of 6 months. SO I am not happy. I
have called tech support 3 times to no avail... what to do? Go with Net
Zero? I will be telling people of my demise... No one can seem to help
me. What is up with DSL?
Your almost formal customer, Mike.
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Review by kicknit
UPDATED: 3.4 years ago
member for 5.1 years, 12 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
Appleton,Outagamie,WI
$45 per month (24 month contract)
about 10 days
Southwestern Bell
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"Sales rep explained everything clearly; I felt I knew what I was getting"
"Not sure; location of antenna can't always be where you want it"
"I am impressed"
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I ordered the wireless DSL from TDS metrocom a little over a month ago. I was up and running 10 days later. I thought the idea of the wireless internet was an interesting idea, since I have no need for a landline. I got an advertisement in the mail, scanned over it, and thought about it for a few days. As I drove back and forth to work, I could see some other houses that had the white antenna. Not being a very shy guy, I stopped by a couple of the houses and asked straight out if they liked it. Both said yes, so I called TDS Metrocom. The rep on the phone was patient and answered all of my questions ... even the taboo question "What if I don't like it?". I was satisfied that the rep was sincere and I wasn't being hoodwinked. Four days after my call to TDS Metrocom, a guy from a company called Digicom (their contracted installers) to set up an appointment for installation. The installer that came to my home was polite, and the installation went exactly like the rep at TDS Metrcom said it would. The reception antenna is mounted, a small hole is made for the cable to come inside the house, and then it is all hooked up. The guy even took the time to make sure it was up and running before he left - unlike the other DSL providers who simply ship the modem to you and provide the instructions.
So I've been up and running about a month now, and I think I made a good choice. I ordered the 768kbps w/ dynamic ISP at $40/mo. I got the first 2 months free. The price is $5/mo cheaper if I ordered their phone service, but I really didn't need it. I'm consistently getting speeds between 700-768kbps down and a little less up. I haven't had to call tech support yet, so I don't have anything on that experience. The signal between the receiving antenna and the transmitting antenna is a secure one; it is coded so no one can "ride" your signal.
There's only a couple of wishes. I wish that the modem that comes with the service had a wireless (or even wired) router with it. I think the price of the service is a little higher than other, but I'm not sure if that is comparing apples to oranges because the data isn't running on a copper wire. Because the data signal comes from the water tower, the antenna has to be facing the tower, which isn't always the most convenient place to put it. The antenna is a little smaller than a baseball plate, it's not easy to notice unless you are looking for it. You get 50' of cable with the installation, while I didn't have to get more (you need to buy the extra), I used all 50' to connect to my PC. If TDS Metrocom ever offered VoIP, I might consider it ... but then I may have to upgrade to the 1Mbps speed. Actually, I think I may upgrade to that speed anyway, as I was used to 1.5Mpbs before I moved here. Previously, I was paying $34.95/mo for 1.5Mbps through Verizon, so I kind of wish TDS Metrocom could match that speed for the same price. Actually, I wished they offered faster speeds. I think the equipment they use can handle speeds up to 3Mpbs. The homepage, tds.net, isn't all that impressive or offer a whole heck of a lot.
Overall, very happy so far.
updated 05/30/06 - for the most part, I am happy with the service. HOWEVER, in the 3-4 times I've called into tech support, the wait time has been at least 25 minutes. I thought that because I wasn't dealing with a ma bell or cable conglomerate I would receive faster response timese. This has turned out not to be the case.
I have also discovered that their web-based mail service has a lot of catch-up to do. I was adding a new mailbox and the next thing I know the system isn't recognizing me. Turned out to be a big pain.
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Review by d00d92
UPDATED: 4.5 years ago
member for 4.9 years, 31 visits, last login: 3.9 years ago
Chili,Clark,WI
$50 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"Dependable bandwidth, few blocked ports"
"expensive, typical crappy modem, idiot corporate tech support"
"ehhh its broadband i guess?"
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May 4,2005
Have experienced my first issue with TDS, they're trying to tell me that i'm an abusive user and that i make too much traffic. According to their 'accurate' bandwidth meter, i uploaded 195 gigs in April. I'm not sure if TDS uses a different type of math than the rest of the world, but the most that i could have possibly uploaded at 512kbit in a 30 day period is 162 gigs, and thats assuming full balls to the wall traffic. After explaining the math to the CSR via email they pretty much dismissed by claim non-sense and moved onto asking if i used a wireless router. What kind of idiots do they have working there? Apparently they have a traffic limit of 50 gigs upload or download per month. Considering i shell out $50/month for this service i'd imagine a little more bang for my buck. A dollar a gig essentially.. Doesn't sound all that good to me.
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Ordered on a monday, was up and running on friday. Their sales staff was excellent with answering all of my presales questions and directing me to any other information that would have been helpful. The technician gave me a call the second he had everything hooked up at the CO. The service so far has been excellent and very reliable. Had to restart the modem a couple times but that could be attributed to the excessive connections caused by p2p.
Line is rated at 1.5/512 and it pretty much runs at that all the time, occassionally sags a little bit during peak hours but nothing substancial to where my usage is inhibited. I'm impressed with TDS for them hooking up this CO for DSL considering local population is about 250 people at most.
For my area TDS Telecom is the only route to go, beats the hell out of the wireless ISPs and no cable provider exists.
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Review by anthony727
Posted: 5.6 years ago
member for 5.6 years, 0 visits, last login: 5.6 years ago
Waukesha,Waukesha,WI
$39 per month (12 month contract)
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"NONE"
"Slow setup, bad tech support."
"Stay away from these guys if you can"
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I called up TDS to install thier phone and DSL service. When we were talking to the sales rep, they said that they would send someone out to test the lines and see if we could get thier service and then call us back. Well they never called back to tell us what they found and if we could in fact get thier service. So we called them. They said it was all good and our phone would be active in a few days and same with the DSL. B-S. The phone took about a week and a half, and the DSL, well that still doesn't work, but the modem didn't come for another week. When the DSL modem finally came, I plugged in the filters like they said and then the modem. Well the modem wouldn't sync up. So I tried several other jacks in our house and came up with the same results. So I called thier TECH SUPPORT, and sat on hold for about 45 minutes before I got through to someone. He had me try several things, plugging into the main box, and cycling the power (thier number one answer to fix it), and trying other jacks, before he said the modem was bad. So they sent out a new modem, and well we got the same results. So back to the calling of tech support. Same thing though.... Power cycle your modem. Well after aboiut an hour of screwing around, they finally said that the lines were no good, and they would replace them but it would be expensive. So I was furious now and told they guy no that I wasn't paying for that. So they said I could cancel it, but I had to pay the first months service and a $150 cancellation fee. I argued with them cause they said they were testing the lines wich they aparently never did cause if they would have told me in the first place that the lines were bad, I would never had gotten the service. I finally got them to cancel the service and take thier modem back, but I had to pay a $40 cancellation fee and the first months service. So if you are in an area where RR is available or some kind of cable, get it instead. These guys suck.
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Review by csgamerdsl
Posted: 5.7 years ago
member for 6.4 years, 2 visits, last login: 5.5 years ago
Vassar,Tuscola,MI
$49 per month
"Not bad, WHEN working."
"Tech support is not great and does not try to resolve problems that gone on for more than a week."
"I would not recommend this ISP. Not worth it."
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Bad ISP.
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TDS
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Here's hoping we both find a better ISP.