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 Review by PatientGuy 
member for 11.4 years, 1280 visits, last login: 88 days ago
updated 6.6 years ago
 22207
 $49 per month- (24 month contract)
 about 180 days Verizon- CLEC party: NorthPoint
 "Used to offer good deals" "THIEVES!!!" "They are history now."
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This defunct company (IBS Networks) sold long term "pay in advance" contracts for Northpoint SDSL lines for very low prices. Northpoint delivered outstanding throughput for it's day but IBS's customer service was minimal at best. When Northpoint went belly up, Mr. & Ms. Franks, the owners of IBS, kept their customer's money and beat feet. I was lucky enough to get all they money back by having Bank of America reverse the check card charges. Others weren't so lucky. The Alexandria VA Federal bankruptcy court sold off what little assets IBS had left but no customers got any of the proceeds.
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Review by bflong
member for 11.4 years, 240 visits, last login: 2 years ago
updated 7.3 years ago
- 53217
- $39 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 65 days
- Ameritech
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "None Anymore -> Service went away with Northpoint Collapse"
- "Long wait for hookup; financial condition of Northpoint?"
- "I'd recommend in my area for IDSL."
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They went away - was able to get pro-rated refund for remaining 8 monthss of my service via my credit card.... Weren't able to stay in business...
I am an Earthlink/Time Warner cable customer now and am very pleased with my new service.
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Old review
Well, it took quite awhile, but I now have an always on, static IP, IDSL connection through IBS Networks. I'm a few hundred feet too far from the C.O. for SDSL or ADSL. It took just over 2 months from my order until Ameritech brought the ISDN line to my house. But, one day later I had my IDSL modem delivered and a call from Northpoint to schedule the interior hookup. I called Northpoint's dispatch center back and set up an appointment for an evening 4 days later. The installer showed up on schedule, was very polite and skilled and had me hooked up and working that evening. My service has been reliable and data rates good (between 128 and 143 kbps using 2Wire's bandwith tester). Also, I have been getting downloads listed at up to 164 kbps?? The SMTP outgoing mail server has gone offline a couple of times for a few hours, but otherwise very pleased. My only concern now is if Northpoint goes under what will happen to my service? Otherwise, I recommend IBS Networks to anyone else in my area (Milwaukee, WI) - as long as you can wait the two months for the entire install. I will add more detail as time goes on - hopefully additional positive comments.
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Review by cgcarter
member for 11.1 years, 43 visits, last login: 4.6 years ago
lodged 8 years ago
- 30135
- Contract price not specified.
- "Left them for someone else..."
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During the whole NorthPoint thing, they pretty much left their users hanging. You didn't know if they were going to continue service for you or if you were simply going to die. Finally, I got fed up with it all and went to another service. Ofcourse IBS was of absolutely no, NONE, Zippo help. I've seen a box of hammers be more constructive then these guys.
When I did have service with them, I was down maybe 3 or 4 times in the year of service (The provider I'm with now, has not gone down once in 2 years). I do not consider this that bad considering we have some severe storms in Georgia. However, when I called tech support (which as a hint, it's not a 24 hour gig), I quite frankly absolutely could not understand the dude on the other side of the phone. Made in America doesn't mean all that much anymore I reckon. All the times I was down, it took usually around 72 hours before I was up again. I can guarentee that I was not back up within 48 hours.
It's good to see they finally made it out of their Brankruptcy Protection Hearing, looks like that went well for them.
All in all, you couldn't pay me to suggest this service to anyone. Move on, there are better out there. You'd get better service shooting electrons into the rear end of a carrier pigeon.
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 Review by Frink
member for 11.8 years, 4020 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 8.1 years ago
- Hoboken,Hudson,NJ
- Contract price not specified.
- "N/A"
- "N/A"
- "N/A"
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The service was canceled before I was able to complete the process of obtaining it, thanks to Verizon's mess, and OOL coming to my area.
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Review by gperry
member for 11 years, 16 visits, last login: 7.2 years ago
updated 10.8 years ago
- 21401
 Business customer- Contract price not specified.
- (12 month contract)
- Verizon
- CLEC party: Network Access Solutions
- "when we were up under Northpoint, service was OK"
- "everything else - tech support is the worst I've seen in ANY industry, took money from customers after filing for chapter 11"
- "even if they didn't do anything illegal, they're still a bunch of crooks"
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My company used IBS for about a year. When the Northpoint fiasco happend, the recording we got (they don't answer their phones during any kind of crisis) told us to check their web site. Ummm, does anyone else think that's monumentally stupid?? We even sent someone over to their headquarters. The door was locked, and there was an intercom beside the door. They did answer the intercom, but they would not let us in. This was back in early April.
Then we signed on with them again, not knowing their bankruptcy situation, and they re-activated us using NAS. That service stayed on for about 5 hours. It's off now, and I expect it never to return. Once again, IBS is not answering their phones and is not responding to messages left on voice mail. NAS says they cannot deal with us directly concerning our current outage because of the arrangement they have with IBS. IBS doesn't respond in any way, so we can't do anything. The bottom line is that IBS is a bunch of bottom feeders.
BTW, I have observed that some people enjoy posting "I told you so" type messages on this site, as in "I posted a message about IBS months ago" and "you should have known better". I only work for a company that used IBS services. I personally have never been a customer of IBS, and I had nothing to do with the process of selecting an ISP. I even recommended that we switch providers after Northpoint went belly up. So, I am preemptively asking everyone not to tell me "I told you so". Thank you.
UPDATE: We're up and running and happy with NAS as the LEC and ISP. The service has gone down a couple of times for up to an hour, but NAS actually answers the phone when you call during an outage. Under IBS, there were only 2 ways you would know anything about your service during an outage: 1) your service comes back on, OR 2) check their web site, which is what their automated phone greeting told us to do on multiple occasions.
Here's the saddest part. Someone from IBS was able to connect my username here on DSLReports to my my company, so they knew that someone who works for my company wrote these things about them. The details of how they did that are not important, but they did. This person called a guy who works at my company and complained to them about the stuff I wrote here about IBS. I assure you that all of the facts I have relayed in this forum are absolutely correct, and I would challenge anyone from IBS to dispute them. The commentary is my own, but the facts are the facts.
As far as I can tell from looking at their web site, IBS is still accepting applications for new service. I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed, and I feel sorry for anyone who is still using their service (is anyone still using it?) and especially anyone who actually orders new service from them. Now, I won't necessarily advise anyone not to order from IBS. Instead, I would prefer to let people read what I've written, and what other people have written on this site, and draw their own conclusions. If it was me, would I order service from IBS after reading all of that stuff? I think not.
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Review by tedfordgif
member for 11.3 years, 10 visits, last login: 9.3 years ago
updated 10.9 years ago
- 92373
- $40 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 20 days
- Verizon
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "Faster than blazes (78 ft from CO)"
- "They went out of business"
- "This was an incredible deal!"
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We signed up for IBS after we went through HELL Atlantic DSL for a year. Our IBS service started in August 2000, and it's been a strong 784 ever since. Granted, we are only 78 feet from the CO. The speedtest sites say we get higher than 784, but that *might* be inaccurate. Download speeds are generally between 80-90 K/s from good sites, which is close to theoretical 784 Kbps speed. We haven't had any problems running a network off our linux server, so we haven't had to contact support that often. When we did, they were very prompt and professional. Sorry that it hasn't been so great for everyone else.. And I'm serious about that $40/month... Did I mention there wasn't an install fee? I'm about to add a second static IP address. Hope it goes well.
...and then we got screwed when they went belly-up. Well, it was nice for a while.
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Review by oscars2212
member for 10.9 years, 2 visits, last login: 10.9 years ago
lodged 10.9 years ago
- 22209
- Contract price not specified.
- Verizon
- CLEC party: Verizon
- "none. This provider is the worst I have EVER dealt with. I am surprised they are still functioning."
- "Waited 4 months for DSL, then they told me they couldn't install it. I HAVE NOT GOTTEN MY MONEY BACK!!!"
- "Please do not order DSL from this service. No one ever answers the phone, and they have ripped me off."
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I originally ordered residential DSL from IBS Networks in October 2000. They represented to me that installation would take between 3 and 8 weeks. After 13 weeks, and 2-3 calls a week from me, I had gotten nowhere. They could not tell me what the problem was in getting my line installed, and they would not allow me to cancel my order and get a refund of my $150 deposit (I could cancel the order, but in that event they would keep my deposit). After 16 weeks, I was informed that they would be unable to provide the service they had contracted with me for. When I asked them about my deposit, and when I could expect it to be refunded, I was told by accounting that it would be "in the near future". When i asked for a more exact date, the accounting department (a one-person operation) became downright rude. Now it is early June, and I have heard nothing from them. My calls to their listed phone number are unanswered, my e-mail message are ignored from what I can tell. I am preparing to take them to small-claims court for a refund of my $150 deposit. PLEASE DO NOT ORDER DSL SERVICE FROM IBS NETWORKS, I DO NOT WANT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME TO HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE.
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Review by knewit
member for 11 years, 33 visits, last login: 10.9 years ago
lodged 10.9 years ago
- Herndon,Fairfax,VA
- Contract price not specified.
- Verizon
- "NOTHING THEY HAVE GONE BLACK AND EVEN THEIR WEBSITE IS OFF LINE"
- "THEY SUCK, STAY AWAY"
- "THEY DESERVE TO GO BANKRUPT AND LOSE EVERYTHING"
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THEY HAVE SHUT DOWN THE EMAIL, AND NOW THEIR WEBSITE IS OFFLINE AND SINCE YOU CANNOT EVER GET SOMEONE ON THE PHONE AND THEY WON'T LET YOU IN THE DOOR, WE ALL NEED TO FILE A CLAIM AND COMPLAINT IN THE BANKRUPCY COURT, WHAT IS THAT OLD SAYING, YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE.........WELL NOW DEB AND DAVE FRANK ARE GETTING EXACTLY WHAT THEY DESERVE, SINCE THEY RIPPED OFF ALL OF THEIR CUSTOMER, AND GOT RICH OFF OF OUR MONEY THAT THEY ARE REFUSING TO REFUND, BEWARE AND PLEASE ANYONE WHO CHECKS THIS WARN EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO STAY AWAY FROM IBS, THEY ARE A BOTTEM FEEDER AND LIKE I SAID THEY ARE OFFLINE NOW.
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Review by gkhanrahan
member for 11.5 years, 351 visits, last login: 3.3 years ago
updated 11 years ago
- Silver Spring,Montgomery,MD
- $39 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 53 days
- Verizon
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "Great performance while it lasted"
- "They filed Chapter 11 just before the Northpoint shutdown"
- "unprofessional, dishonest cheats"
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I read a lot of negative reviews about IBS here after I ordered my service. I must say I got pretty nervous. When Verizon missed their install date I felt even worse. I had already pre-paid for 1 year ($468).
However, once Verizon got their thing done, everything was a piece of cake. Within a few days of the circuit being installed, I was contacted by Northpoint. Then my equipment arrived (the SDSL modem and a D-Link residential gateway/firewall pre-configured by IBS). A few days later the Northpoint tech came out (on time) and hooked up the line and installed a jack in about an hour. From there, I pluged the gateway into my hub and it was done. Because the gateway came pre-configured I was on the Web within 5 minutes after the tech left. The service has been up since Monday and the test here from the East Coast server show speeds around 720kbps both ways. This is all for $39/month.
From the time I ordered to the time everything was up and running was about 7 weeks. It would have been 5-6 if Verizon didn't miss their 1st appointment. While it is true that some of the e-mail responses back from IBS appear to be "canned", they were responsive and they got me the answers I needed. I am not a "computer guy" and from a pre-sales and installation perspective, IBS networks was great. They walked me through every step of the way and the solution was truely "plug and play". The only real drawback was Verizon in my case, and even that only held things up a week or so.
I would recommend IBS to anyone who wants great performace for an unreal price.
UPDATE:
I was a big supporter of this ISP as you can see above, in spite of all the negative reviews that were on here.
That was all before the Northpoint shutdown. I don't have to explain what happened there, but what IBS did was file for Chapter 11 right before it. I don't know what kind of financial situation this company was in, but I will say the timing raises a few eyebrows.
The problem is with all of us who pre-paid for a 12-month term. I only got 5 months of service and what happens to my remaining months? Do I get a refund? Hell no. I file a claim with the courts and pray I see something in return. Is that chapter 11 filing just a coincedence???? I doubt it. IBS saw the writting on the wall and figured it would allow them to screw all of us who pre-paid.
To add insult to injury, I got a letter from these cheats a few weeks ago that instructed me to sign a waiver for all current and future claims against them. For this they would allow me to keep this useless SDSL modem. If I don't return it they say they will charge me $399 for it. These things go for about $10 on e-Bay!!!!
I'll just return it (hand delivered so I can get a receipt) and use it in my claim with the courts. Oh well.
Luckily Comcast@home is now available in my area. I ordered it and was up in 2 days!!!! (2 days not 2 months). I will post a review once I get a few weeks of use in.
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Review by Bobby100
member for 11.6 years, 2976 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 11 years ago
- 20120
- $40 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 90 days
- Verizon
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "3+ weeks of service, only 1 day of outage"
- "only 208k, was hoping for 416k"
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The installation took longer than I expected due to Verizon strike, and splicing of additional pair to my house for the DSL line. On the actual day of install, service was working within 2 hrs of techs showing up (on time, I might add). I had 1 config error due to installer, but I found the problem within 15 min. 3 days later, the service stopped, although the modem (?) was still in sync. Called tech support, and was told it's a NorthPoint backbone trouble. Next day, still no service. Called tech support again, and after a few minutes, I was back online again. No problems since.
A friend who lives in MD ordered service within 2-3 days of when I ordered service, and he is still waiting. I think he cancelled the order recently.
I was hoping for 416k, but ended up with 208k. So far, the speed seems to be fine. After a 3-4 month test period, I may try to get speed bumped up if the line will support it. I was told 416 was a possiblity, but I'm not sure the installers even tried the higher line rate.
Equip is a Copper Mtn CopperRocket SDSL 201. GOIBSDSL is static IP.
$40 a month seems like a good deal, so far..
____________UPDATE___________UPDATE_______________
well, everyone knows the end of this story....I would not recomend this ISP to anyone....their response to residential customer loss of NorthPoint service
has been a complete waste of time.....
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