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Review by crange 
Posted: 4.8 years ago
member for 4.8 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.8 years ago
 Wellsboro,Tioga,PA
 $39 per month (12 month contract)
 about 7 days
 "Excellent tech support. Stable connection."
 "order process unclear"
 "recommended"
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After having cable, then moving to a location where dialup was the only choice, I was definately speed challenged. I was aware of DSL but not entirely familiar with any advantages/disadvantages over cable.
I signed up with the Jack Flash DSL package at jackflash.com and scheduled a "free installation" the following week. Nowhere on the site though did it say that the "installation" was a packaged delivered by UPS that you installed yourself. The modem arrived quickly - in 1 day and I hooked it up, but the DSL light wasn't on yet. The phone company had to clean the phone line first and configure it for DSL, which they did 5 days after.
Once the DSL light was on though, I still couldn't connect. Turns out that whoever processed my online order decided to misspell my name when giving me my account login. Once that was cleared up with customer support, I was on my way.
Works great - consistent connection! I recommend it!
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Review by Aquacare
UPDATED: 4.8 years ago
member for 8.4 years, 99 visits, last login: 144 days ago
Dallas,Luzerne,PA
$29 per month (12 month contract)
about 14 days
"Fast connection, Easy Install, I actually talked to a live person everytime I called."
"Didn't work exactly from setup, needed to be tweeked a little. Not Epix Fault."
"I would Recommend this system to anyone who can get it.. !!"
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I was a Sunlink customer who was bought out by Earthlink. The transition was a little less than smooth because of my web site. Earthlink finally got my site running and my dial-up connected after a few weeks and I was happy. I was Not happy however with my connection speeds. 29K up and 20K down with a 56 K modem. MODEMS STINK !!! I was notified that Jackflash was available and I jumped at the chance. I have been waiting for any broadband connection for two years. Every company that did my dial-up told me it is comming in
six months.(Yea right).
I am pleased with Epix. The people I talked to were helpful and the setup and installation was a breeze. The information in the box was made for anyone to read it. The modem (Fujitsu) instructions were easy to read and gave me a great deal of information about how they were going to install the splitter. They even ran a dedicated data line to my office..!
I did have a problem with a slow download speed 50k, but the upload speed was 150K out of the box. I went to DSLreports and ran a tweek program to see what was the matter. It turns out I needed to raise a registry number called RWIN. After I made the changes and rebooted my computer.... WOW was this connection screaming.. !!! 538K down and 156K up .. now that's surfing !!
The newest thing is Jackflash has upgraded me to 1.5M down and 364K up for free. WOW what a nice supprise. I guess they were getting some heat from Verizon and decided to try and keep their loyal customers. Nice job Epix. The $49.00 monthly price for the new speeds is very fair. As of sometime in November 04 they also lowered the rates to $39.00 per month.
On January 13, 2005 I was changed over to a new hardware system (Speedstream) with PPPOE. This went very well without a hitch. Keeping up the good work EPIX..!!
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 Review by billkat
UPDATED: 4.9 years ago
member for 8.2 years, 745 visits, last login: 238 days ago
Wilkes Barre,Luzerne,PA
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
"Recent speed upgrade, recent price decrease"
"Frequent maintenance outages"
"I am satisfied"
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I ordered Jack Flash service from Epix on a Tuesday and customer service was prepared to send out a phone tech to condition the line that Friday; but, due to my schedule, not epix's, the installation wasn't done until the following Friday. Ten days from order to completion. I ordered a 640/160 PPPoE connection at $49.00 per month. Installation and set up fees were waived.
Commonwealth Telephone (CTSE) conditioned the phone line and worked around a slight glitch when the order showed the wrong phone number to be set up for ADSL (I had two lines coming into the house prior to the DSL installation, and since I would no longer need the second line, I was dropping it. The tech's work order showed the second line as the one to be conditioned. Took less than a half hour to straighten out). The tech finished the phone lines in less than two hours. I installed all hardware and software myself.
Equipment provided includes an Efficient Networks 5260 Speed Stream external modem and A D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI NIC.
I have been using the equipment for just over three weeks now and, after a little tweaking, I find that I get about 520/110 speed, about 80%, wich I assume to be just about correct figuring a 20% overhead.
Overall impresion, smooth installation, good value.
Updated 5/8/02
My overall impression of Jack Flash through Epix remains favorable. One thing has annoyed me, however, and I thought I should add it to my review. Epix does expierience frequent maintenance outages, by frequent I mean approximately every two weeks or so. They do notify ahead of time IF you check their start page, there is a link to scheduled maintenance alerts. They always schedule outages for the period of midnight to 5:00 AM to "minimize disruption" as they put it, to as few customers as possible, but that is prime surfing time for some of us. I guess it could be worse, as I said I am still very satisfied over all.
Update 11/19/02
Epix continues to deliver a reliable connection. Speeds, on the other hand, seem to go up and down frequently. I might see, from day to day, downloads of, from a high of 524kbps to a low of 120 or less. For instance, 8/16,17,18/2002 I could not get a dnL faster than 300, then, 8/19/2002 I get a 506kbps.Or 11/16,17,18/2002 I am getting dnL's of about 197 to 254 kbps and on the 19th I am getting 524 consistantly.
Update 5/28/03
Still using Epix as my ADSL provider. I am using a router to connect two PC's to the modem now (D-Link 704P) and speeds are much more consistant, around 524 down and 110 up. Maintenance outages have become much less frequent and up time is near 100% Overall I am still very satisfied with epix's service.
Update 4/6/04
I continue to pay $49.00 per month for 640/160 because I have no better broadband option in my neighborhood. Service Electric (my local cable provider) offers one way cable only and I do not want to pay for an additional phone line, the same reason I dont switch to satelite (although I did switch to satelite for TV, I got tired of Service Electric's bad service and bad attitude). Verizon has DSL available in Wilkes-Barre, but , they tell me, not in my neighborhood. So for now I am sticking with Epix's Jack Flash, but am keeping my eyes open faster cheaper options.
Updated 12/21/04
This past summer I was surprised to receive an email from CTSI stating that they had decided to upgrade everyone to a 1500 / 380 connection. I was a little sceptical at first, but sure enough, within 10 days I was connected at 1250 and thought "I could not be happier". Then another email arrived from Commonwealth, they had decided to lower my monthly fee by $10.00 a month! Well, out of the blue I went from 680 at $49.00 a month to 1250 at $39.00 a month, yeah, I know it ain't the greatest deal in the country but it is a good deal for my neighborhood, and I am pretty happy with epix right now.
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 Review by sg1234
Posted: 5.3 years ago
member for 9 years, 3311 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Clarks Summit,Lackawanna,PA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 30 days
"Solid Connection. Almost no downtime. Decent speeds"
"Has a 12 month contract."
"My only option at this point"
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When I moved to Clarks Summit, I was under the impression that Adelphia's Powerlink service was available in the area. Imagine my disappontment when I found that the area that I lived still had the old analog cable system, and could not handle Powerlink!! Having had broadband for the last 4+ years (first with Telocity, then with DirecTV DSL when they took over Telocity in CA and then with Adelphia once I moved to North Eastern PA) I started looking for alternatives to Adelphia for broadband. DSLR told me that a couple of DSL providers could provide service in the area based on the address and the distance from the nearest CO, but both turned out to be non-starters. The problem was with Commonwealth Telecom, the local telco - no third part DSL providers would provide service with them as the local carrier, and tere was no option to switch to a different local carrier either.
I came to know that Commonwealth Telecom did provide DSL services, but their their webpage and the CSRs told me that service was not yet available in my area.I was told that they had plans of expanding to my area "in the near future"(This was in March of 2004). I was so desparate that I even started looking at satellite as an option for broadband. Seeing all the bad reviews for satellite service and reading about the horrible ping times and incompatibility with VPN (I needed to connect to work from home via VPN), I decided to wait. By the end of April, I called up Commonwealth Telecom again, and was glad to hear that they could start my order, with an expected lead time of about 6 to 8 weeks.
I received the self install kit in the mail about 4weeks from order date. The install was a breeze. The kit included an Efficient Networks Speedstream 5200 ADSL Modem/Router and the necessary cables and DSL filters required to hook it up. The attached documentation was well laid out and easy to follow. The install took me less tan 30 minutes to complete. You can either use the modem are a modem/router combination or just as a modem and hook it up to your own router. The documentation on how to do this was very clear. I chose the second option and hooked up the modem to an Netgear wireless router, and used the routers PPPoE options to set up the connection.
I typically get speeds of aroung 400-500 kbps down with around 140-150 kbps up. While the speeds are on the low side when compared to cable internet, or other DSL service providers, the service seems to be pretty stable. I have had only one outage in the past 2 months of service and that was during the early hours of the morning (around 4 am) and was caused possibly by scheduled system maintenance. I have never had to call customer support/tech support, so cannot comment on that part.
I use their service for VPN access to work and for VOIP. Both work without any problems.
Bottomline, I like the service, though it is a bit pricey for the speeds they offer.It is defenitely cheaper, faster and more stable than satellite will be. It would be great if they could provide faster speeds for the same price.
Update 07/19/2004
Great news!!! Got an email from Epix that my DSL connection has been upgraded to 1500/384 as of today. Ran a couple of speed tests to verify the upgrade is complete. I am getting 1200 down/300 up. And the pings seem to be better than what they were.
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Review by icanoe2
UPDATED: 5.4 years ago
member for 9 years, 520 visits, last login: 3.3 years ago
Saylorsburg,Monroe,PA
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 8 days
"Very Little Down Time! Fast 1.5MBS/320KBS"
"None at this time"
"Solid DSL Service, Competitive Pricing Match with Competition"
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Update: 6.23.2004
Sevice continues to be solid and fast!
Cable competition in my area prompted me to call Epix and ask if they
were willing to upgrade service to their 1.5mb/320kb package.
I told them if they would not be willing to offer this to me I would be moving
cable (ProLog Express). They agreed to upgrade me to 1.5mb/320kb at
$39.99 month with one year contract. I took the offer.
The only hitch is your loop length must be no longer than 12,000 feet from the CO.
I was lucky as my length is 5,500 feet!
I recommend calling and asking for the upgrade if you have the cable option.
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 Review by delete
UPDATED: 6.5 years ago
member for 7.6 years, 1353 visits, last login: 39 days ago
Long Pond,Monroe,PA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
"Solid, No Down Time, Exceeded Advertised Speed, Very Few Dropped Connections"
"Tech support blows!"
"GREAT SPEED- GREAT RELIABILTY-NICE SETUP TIME-MORE FOR THE BUCK!"
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well, I am in Long Pond, PA. ProLog/BlueRidge says they will be here in a matter of weeks(I have heard that one before), Verizon does not provide phone or DSL service(not that I prefer them), so I have Epix. Epix is the only provider available in my area. Before I got connected, many people said I was wrong and that Epix would call and say that there was an error and that DSL is not available in my area, well today am on Epix. I would choose ProLog/BlueRidge when they make their way here, but for $40 for 600k/100k. That is crazy! and the fact that once its available, people will be signing up for the service, WHERE WILL WE GET BANDWIDTH FROM! Verizon will sell you 640/128 for $49 and then make you wait 2 hours just to get tech support,(trust me you will need to call)then the tech will read from a database and try to help you with your problem, its almost as if they have no actual troubleshooting experience(tech support today seems to have no idea about computers, DSL, cable, or much at all). I had Verizon DSL in NY when it first started up, and let me tell you, I have read complaints about Epix here, Epix is a walk in the park sucking on a lolipop compared to Verizon. They finally got there act together though. After about 2 years Verizon shaped up. What am trying to say s for everyone who has Epix DSL and can not get Verizon cause it is not available yet, when Verizon does become available, dont rush to it, you will experience much worse with them, give it time. I have the standard Epix package 640/160, and I must say, I see my max or more then my max in both directions. I have not had any downtime, and I have not experienced much packet loss. Tech support does blow, but I have nothing to complain about yet really. I wish all you guys a correction to your service, oh and if you use WINDOWS XP and use the PPPOE intergrated client, your ident will not show up (for all of you mIRC & FTP users). Hope I didnt jinx my great DSL running streak!
**************UPDATE*************
Cancelled service in March due to mvoing into an area where Epix did not cover ..my experience with Epix has been an excellent one .. GOOD JOB! Now lets see what PRoLog has to match 
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Review by rhymeswith
UPDATED: 6.8 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 308 visits, last login: 2.5 years ago
Lykens,Dauphin,PA
$39 per month
about 3 days
"Switched from Jackflash to Adelphia Cable...read on....."
"none so far....and after over a year, still no complaints other than support"
"I will never go back to dial-up"
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I Had Jackflash adsl for over a year, and was very pleased with the service. within the past 2 months, Adelphia began offering Powerlink in our area, at a lower price for higher speeds, so I tried it. (I kept the dsl, though) For a month, I a-b tested both providers, and the only signifigant difference was that customer support was a little quicker with the dsl. as for downloads and uploads, the cable was consistently faster than the dsl. neither service had any downtime in the month I tested, and all in all it was a difficult decision. but value for the money (and the fact that I am close to low income) I picked adelphia.
*after all of the bad reports on dsl reports about adelphia, I was pleasantly surprised.
1/25/03
Just came back from my local office. Apparently Adelphia is going to be switching to 3 different speed options, and from the list that I saw, the price is going to go up, and download speeds will go down. (Actually, I will be getting slower download speeds at same price, although the upload speeds will be faster)
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Review by joep42
Posted: 7.7 years ago
member for 7.7 years, 7 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
Clarks Summit,Lackawanna,PA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 3 days
"Excellent availability, very professional and friendly, highly supportive"
"No live support after 10PM"
"Exemplary model for other DSL providers"
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We signed up for Jack Flash (Epix.net Commonwealth Telephone Co, NE PA) DSL service last October (2001). Sales support was excellent and the sales folks called to inform me of DSL availability even though my location had not yet made the official availability list. Installation was free.
I opted for the self install, and the modem, line splitters, cables, etc. arrived in a few days. Clear instructions, plus everything I needed was included and worked on the first try. I plugged the DSL line (from the DSL modem) directly into the Uplink port on my LinkSys 5 port switch and loaded the Jack Flash software on each of my 4 networked Dell PC's (running Win98SE and WinMe) and never looked back.
Speeds are consistent and as advertised (640kb/160kb) even with 4 PC's accessing the single DSL line. While Epix will not provide help for home networks, there is no additional charge for connecting multiple PC's to a single DSL line.
DSL availability is usually excellent, with only rare (once or twice a week) but short delays (up to several minutes) in logging on. On a few occasions DSL has unexpectedly went down after midnight for several minutes to over 2 hours (I'm a night person). Only one major DSL outage since October lasting about 18 hours but I was able to access Epix by dial up modem via their backup line. Even though I exceeded the monthly 5 hours of free backup dial up time, the charges (only $1.00) were waived.
Dynamic IP addresses (PPPoE) assigned and the software can be set to disconnect after a specified number of minutes of inactivity. Therefore, one can leave their system on and unattended and reduce the exposure window for potentially unwelcome intrusions. Four (4) free Pop3 Email addresses included in monthly fee of $49.99.
Customer and technical support service is very friendly, competent and they bend over backwards to be of help. Almost no wait time ever to speak to a friendly human being, but only staffed during day and evening hours.
Overall the whole thing has been a very positive and pleasant experience.
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Review by Demyan14
Posted: 7.8 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 10 visits, last login: 6.7 years ago
Bangor,Northampton,PA
$49 per month
about 14 days
"Fast installation. Very few problems with maintaining connection."
"PPPoE Client could use work"
"Good service for the price"
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Have had JackFlash DSL through Epix.net and Commonwealth Telephone for over 2 years now. Time from my initial order and my connection was under 2 weeks and I was amazed.
DSL was great and trouble free until they switched to EnterNet PPPoE Client. While DSL itself remains trouble free with less than 1% downtime the PPPoE Client is full of bugs and causes random crashes and system lockups. Provider tech support claims they cannot offer support for my ssytem for these problems since it's home built and not name brand. This on a system with and Intel Mainboard(815EPEA2) and an Intel PIII 1 GHZ CPU.
If they lose the PPPoE client then they would have the best service you could imagine.
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Review by petek8
UPDATED: 8 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 93 visits, last login: 2.9 years ago
Upper Black Eddy,Bucks,PA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 28 days
"Up time"
"No tech support beyond one computer connection - no support for router problems."
"Very good service, but poor tech support."
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540/135 connection during prime time, all the time.
Over one year with several months between outages, and when they do occur it's usually for just a few hours (server maint., etc.) Other than the problems getting tech support when I set up my router and again when they changed authentication protocols, I'm pretty happy with Epix service.
The telco is a local regional, Commonwealth, which also owns Epix.
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