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Review by nthdegree 
Posted: 2.3 years ago
member for 4.2 years, 15 visits, last login: 2.1 years ago
 Grand Rapids,Kent,MI
 Business customer
 $240 per month (36 month contract)
 about 45 days
 "Reliable connection, down time less than a day over two year period."
 "Technical support has been an issue, Good response time, lousy on resolution."
 "If you don't mind calling 4 or 5 times on the same problem, good service."
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We have the medium-speed option which is sufficient. Although at times, it can lag pretty badly for no apparent reason. Install went fairly smooth with only a couple of glitches which took a couple of days to iron out but service was up and running only a day later than promised.
Primary issue is and continues to be technical support. Choice One is not only our ISP but provides our phone service as well. For example: it took me 3 months making two phone calls a week to finally get them to properly transmit our company name for caller id. Service for the data portion of the service is better than it was when we first got it so a definite improvement there.
I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for the marketing staff. Turnover seems to be a big problem. We haven't had a courtesy call or visit in the two years we've had the service.
If you don't mind being ignored and just need a fairly reliable service, Choice One is not a bad option.
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Review by scooper
Posted: 3.1 years ago
(review was emailed from domain gms-inc.biz)
Saratoga Springs,Saratoga,NY
$159 per month (36 month contract)
"it works"
"pricing policies"
"I am stuck with it but I'll change suppliers as soon as I can"
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I bought ChoiceOne (now One Comm) back when business DSL was still
fairly new and expensive in our area. Overall their service has been
good. Their pricing has NOT been good. As DSL prices lowered I was stuck
with relatively slow service at a high price.
Even today, because of Verizon line problems, I get only 1/4 the service
from One Comm that I can get from their competitors at the same price. I
am stuck here for 32 months then I hope some lines have been replaced
and I can switch companies.
Susan
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Review by waspencer
Posted: 5.8 years ago
member for 6 years, 4 visits, last login: 5.8 years ago
Tallmadge,Summit,OH
Business customer
$290 per month (12 month contract)
about 30 days
 Choice One Communications
CLEC party: Choice One Communications
"I tried to be optomistic throughout the ordeal but have nothing good to say at this point"
"Everything from top to bottom."
"Gave them a month to remedy our problems before switching ... 3 months later ... still not totally switched back."
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If it sounds too good to be true ... it probably is. When we originally met with Choice One representatives in November of 2003, we were offered what seemed to be an excellent package which encompassed everything from DSL to phone/fax and web hosting. I really have nothing negative to say about the phone/fax service but cannot find a single positive related to their DSL service.
We decided to switch from our previous provider, which offered a 768k adsl service. We had never experienced problems with this provider but were offered a wonderful package deal at a great price. Our only concern at the time was that the speed that we were used to was maintained when we switched to Choice One. We were told that it would not be a problem and that we could expect even faster transfer rates once all was said and done. Sounded good to me and our office signed a one year contract.
It was just over a month before a technician arrived to install our new service. It was then that we were told about the need for a router. We were currently using a different router for the adsl service which was provided to us by our previous provider. We pointed out the fact that we were told by our sales consultant that no hardware of any type would be required of us and that everything would be provided for us. Anyway, we did not let this get in the way and made the purchase ourselves. It seems that our sales person was new to the company and was not aware of this.
We quickly acquired the recommended router and the technician returned a couple of days later to complete the install. We immediately noticed an incredible decrease in speed and quality of connectivity. We were constantly losing our connection which caused major problems with sending and receiving email. At this point in time, our file transfer rate was approximately 20 kb/sec. which is slower than most dial-up services I've used. I called to report the problem and although it was a couple of hours before I had my call returned, they did call back. They scheduled an appointment for a technician to return. We explained to him our disappointment and he informed us that our 256k/256k sdsl service was working just fine and that we would have to increase our bandwidth in order to obtain the service that we were promised. All of the tests that were conducted were done so with only one of our 5 pcs on line and we still did not come close to what we should have seen.
We then attempted to contact our sales person only to discover that he was no longer with the company. We did, however, manage to get in touch with another representative that seamed to take interest in our problem and scheduled yet another service visit. Our speed was increased to 768k/768k which made an incredible difference but still did not solve the problem. Our transfer rate increased to approximately 40 kb/sec on average.
Yeat another phone call ... we were told that a technician would be sent to solve the problem by increasing the bandwidth as needed to offer us the service that we were promised. The technician was very helpful and explained to us that it was impossible for him to provide us with what we were initially promised and that the only way we would recieve such service was through a T1 line which they would gladly be willing to provide for a price!
We called to cancel our service at this point after dealing with on headache after another for a month. We were asked to give them one more chance to rectify the situation and we did so. They claimed that the problem may be with our router so they provided us with one of their own which they installed for us. They left our office without testing the service and I discovered that we had absolutely no connection at that point. I was able to reach the technician on his mobile phone and explained the situation. He returned to re-install our router which worked at the unacceptable level of service. We were told that they would return with yet another router to help resolve the situation. That was well over a month ago and we have yet to hear back from them.
We have cancelled all services with them and were terribly dissatisfied with nearly every aspect of the company. We were promised services and later told that we were misled by the salesman and that we would either have to settle for what we had or pay for better service. I can't fault the technician that were on site from time to time as they did what they could in most cases but the problem was out of their control. As for their 24/7 customer service ... you get to speak to an operator that logs your name and number and you wait as long as a day or two for a response. It has been 3 months since we initially began service and we are still in the process of switching back to our original service provider.
To sum everything up ... BEWARE! Although everything sounds good up front, you may be hearing empty promises. Although the service we recieved is slightly better than your typical dial-up connection, most subscribers would be completely disappointed if they have had the opportunity to experience cable, dsl, T1, etc. Choice One is far cry from a legitimate dsl service provider.
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Review by tjohn44
UPDATED: 8.2 years ago
member for 8.3 years, 36 visits, last login: 6 years ago
Springfield,Hampden,MA
$290 per month (12 month contract)
about 30 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Choice One Communications
"Nothing good to say"
"I operated at around 100-200K for 60+ days"
"switched providers"
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My subscription rate was for 1544K, but something is wrong and ChoiceOne could not fix it. More annoying than that, they didn't even have the courtesy to return most of my calls. I couldn't live with this any longer and switched providers.
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Review by awago1
Posted: 8.2 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 20 visits, last login: 5.9 years ago
Menasha,Winnebago,WI
Contract price not specified. (60 month contract)
about 90 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: Choice One Communications
"They try!"
"They are too small, not enough budget, and there prices are too high"
"Look some where else!"
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Choice One Communications have some good people working for them but because they are at the mercy of Ameritech, which means that, any involvement with them or ANY Clecs is greatly hindered. In terms of data really all copper products are antiquated (xDSL,ISDN, T1) any type of DSL is difficult to install and will have network issues regularly. ISDN is a 128K circuit that is too slow and too expensive. T1s process at a maximum of 1.55M which is good but plan to spend some money for the MRC and for the equipment on your end to process the information. There are more viable products out there that utilize fiber optics that may be a better solution then the before mentioned. Good Luck!
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Review by nhdunhill
Posted: 8.4 years ago
member for 8.4 years, 2 visits, last login: 8.4 years ago
New Haven,New Haven,CT
$89 per month (12 month contract)
about 127 days
Choice One Communications
CLEC party: Choice One Communications
"none"
"everything"
"this company is a complete nitemare"
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I signed up with them February 12, they told me it would take 4-6 weeks to get up and running. I did not have DSL running until June 14.
They tried to nickle and dime me with all these extra charges, they made promises to me and lied to me. Now my bills are all screwed up, they tried to bill me for some of the months I didnt even have the service.
Its July 10th and Im still chasing them down to make everything work smoothly,,its a matter of principle now.
It just seems like no one cares,,they all want to make their quota and cover their butts so so one can yell at them when things (inevitably) go wrong
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Review by swamprat
Posted: 8.5 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 318 visits, last login: 9 days ago
Fitchburg,Worcester,MA
$204 per month (60 month contract)
about 14 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Choice One Communications
"Quick with install BUT it doesn't perform as purchased."
"Lousiest InterNet connection we have had yet!"
"Go to someone else..."
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Our first sDSL provider was Vitts which are now debunked.
Because there are not a lot of options in this area we decided to go with Choice One in April of 2001. The install went great but when we started testing the throughput we discovered the lopsided download upload ratio and also packet drops.
Most people either don't know or care about upload speed, but because we have an SMTP feed for our Exchange server and we also upload our databases to our web sites. So, needless to say, uploading VERY is important to us.
I contacted Choice One and explained the problem. They said they would look into it. I never heard back from them so I compiled a weeks worth of information at DSL Reports. I also did ping times, tracert to their DNS servers. Additionally I discovered the gateway i.p. they had assigned to us was incorrect. I e-mailed the complete compilation of information to them.
Two weeks later I finally got a phone call. They said that 'Yes, there is a problem! I mean, what could they say at that point.
They checked the firmware at the DSLAM and on our DSL modem, which just happened to be a few revs off. They then flashed both to the most current revision and said 'That should take care of the problem.
Well it didn't make a ANY difference AT ALL! So another call was made. Again, after a week, they called and said they would send over a tech to see if it was a line problem.
Naturally ANOTHER week goes by.
The tech finally shows up. He attaches his laptop to the line and gets the SAME results of our tests. (Funny how that works.) I show him the report and point out to him where the drops are and the high ping times. He tests the line in the building and it tests ok. He then says ' I can't find any problems here so I'm going to the C/O and check there. Either I or some one from Choice One will call to let you know what we've found to be the problem.
Well it's been yet ANOTHER week and not one phone call!
We recommended Choice One's Fractional T1 lines to one of our customers. (May I say, for a VERY SHORT time and may GOD forgive us!)
When I set up one of our customer's new proxy server on a 512 Fracline I ran some speed tests. Guess what? Yep the same lopsided results (and this is a Fractional T1, NOT DSL!). I didn't push the issue as the customer was happy anyway (at this point).
We're in the process of switching to another DSL provider. I say 'It can't happen soon enough!
There have been days where an aDSL connection would have been faster. Heck, even days that a modem connection would have been faster. At least I get better than 25k from MY modem!
My advice to you is if you want the best bang for the buck DON'T GO WITH CHOICE ONE!
When I find a good provider I'll be sure to let everyone know.
Oh... one more thing... Choice One only got the rating of 1 star on SOME of the items because I couldn't choose NONE... so the overall rating is inflated.
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Review by MEDPRAC
UPDATED: 8.7 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 111 visits, last login: 7 years ago
Kingston,Luzerne,PA
$500 per month (60 month contract)
about 45 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Choice One Communications
"Fast Speed....depending on your location."
"Double check your contracts with a lawyer! They'll try to CHEAT YOU later on! Terrible Support - 72 Hrs or more for call back!"
"FIND SOME OTHER sDSL ISP !!!!"
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There was much delay in getting paticipating telephone company (Verizon) to bring loops to two locations (home & business). Some lack of knowledge of what modems to install for a network with many IP's. Much problems in setting up alias addresses for forwarding mail to alternate computers (business, home & portable computers). Some problems in getting sDSL speeds for which you are paying. They had no idea what Usenet groups were or where to get it!
The ChoiceOne people have cheated me. The sales persons have sold one package deal to me (home & office) and then 7 months later changed the deal and tried to bill me twice as much for the same service. Now they are sending me three bills. DO NOT GO WITH CHOICEONE IF THERE IS ANY WAY TO AVOID IT!!!!! Tech support is TERRIBLE! Dont expect any service from them (or even a call back) for 72 hours or more! THEY ARE TERRIBLE! Find somewhere else to go to get internet service!!!!
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 8.9 years ago
(review was emailed from domain phasorcorp.com)
Kingston,Luzerne,PA
$160 per month (24 month contract)
Verizon
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Hi,
I'd like to fill you in on my experience with my new DSL ISP, Choice One
Communications. I live in Wilkes-Barre, PA where I had struggled for years
with dial-up ISPs while I waited for DSL or Cable access. Cable came around
first, but it was only one way service. I wanted to setup a web server at
home and needed to have good transfer speeds both ways (not stellar). Then,
I stumbled upon Choice One who could give me DSL (256k/256k). I was inside
the radius of the CO and I was good to go.
Now, on to the real story...
I ordered the line at the end of September, I didn't have access till
December. Somewhere on the order of 10 weeks for the initial installation.
I get the call from the field technician that he's ready to come and get me
setup. OK, so I leave work and meet him. Well, none of the lines were
identified by Verizon and the Tech refused to do his thing until Verizon
marked the lines. OK, round 2 (ding ding ding). I get the call from the
Tech, I leave work, again. This time, the lines still weren't marked by
Verizon, but the Tech pushed on and found the line. They try to test it out
and find a short. All action HALT! So, the Tech leaves and Verizon
attempts to fix the line, which they kind of did. Round 3. I get the call
and leave work, again. This time the Tech works it out and gets me up and
running, so I thought. I use the line for a day or two and notice that it
really doesn't work much better than my dial-up. Now I'm getting a little
annoyed (I have a lot of patience). So I run a bunch of tests on my line
and find that I have 10-20% packet loss and have a throughput of less than
45% of what I'm paying for. So I call up Choice One and give them an
earful. Verizon had stray voltages on my line which were causing some
havoc. Verizon brings a bucket truck out and went down the line and really
fixed the problem, this time. Everything is working absolutely great, now!
I have to say that Choice One was actually very good to me throughout the
whole ordeal. Verizon was the guilty suspect here. One thing I don't
understand is I called Verizon for DSL service and they told me I couldn't
get it. 2 minutes later, I called Choice One and they said sure. But
Verizon still had to do the work to get it to me. Whatever, it works and
I'm happy! It was just an installation nightmare.
Thank You,
Matt Kuhn
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Choice One Communications
