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UPDATE: Sunday March 2, 2003 Enough time wasted waiting for Rapidsys to get their sh*t straight. They made upgrades and asked me to test my lines, my speeds came out lower!! My Netrox router should be here tuesday. Rapidsys simply can not deliver what they advertised to us. The only reason I gave them a chance for the last month was because they are a small local ISP with friendly, honest, and intelligent people working there. Original Review: I first signed up With Rapidsys because they are a smaller outfit and somewhat local to my area. Moving from DTV was a snap, almost no downtime whatsoever. The first thing I noticed as that for that my downstream tests where all over the chart. Going from 30k to 1.5mbps at any given time. I figured they must need a week or so to settle in with all thier new customers in this area coming from DTV. Well, I have been live with Rapidsys for just over a week now. My downstream is not all over the charts anymore, its stuck att 200-500K. my upload has been a steady ~220. My email account was setup incorrectly the first try. A quick phonecall fixed that up. Still emailing with someone there about why I cannot log into the news server. I spoke with RS at great length last night about my bandwidth problem . He got the BS guy on the phone and tested my line... "Everything is fine". Then why speeds like this?? I was told it was everything from people using P2P programs like Kazaa to running a business from thier house, to just plain joe with his fast line downloading too much and hosting too many servers, and this should stop when they are through "load balancing" their customers. Being a heavy bandwidth user myself, I told him that I intend to use my share of the bandwidth I am paying for. I run servers for my personal use, download huge amounts of data, and have at least one RAS connection coming into my LAN at any given time. I asked him if they have plans to put in more circuits in SoFla. He said that he doesn't know but most likly it wouldn't be for 6 months if they did. If they would just tell me... Here is the problem we are having, here is what we plan to do to resolve it, and this is approx how long it will take... I would be so fine with that. That was the exact thing that happened when I signed up with Telocity 3 years ago when they first came into South Florida, after they got through their growing pains I had a perfect line 24/7 with next to no downtime over a three year time span. Here are some current speedtests: 2003-02-08 12:20:56 Speed test (la) 370/220 kbps 2003-02-08 12:17:22 Speed test (wc) 299/213 kbps 2003-02-07 23:43:18 Speed test (www.netrox.net) 106/220 kbps I still want to give them a chance, if it that I need to wait X number of weeks untill they get more banwith, so be it. Not sure if I am willing to pay $60 a moth untill they get it straight, but I have never had an ISP that wouldn't adjust my initial bill if the problem was on thier network. member for 23.6 years, 161 visits, last login: 14.4 years ago updated 21 years ago
Started off OK... good sales/sign up info... good communication.... however once upgrades were made, allowing most to get on finally....started bad... (400 of 1500kbs) and did NOTHING but languish and frequently got worse. (As low as sub par dial-up.) After a week or two of that, and attempt at at least self serving damage control?... NO!!! Instead, support just started ignoringing everyone unless directly called (toll cal) even then there was NO commitment to their end of things. Seems their idea is OCCASIONAL PEAK BURST of 1mbs+ (more like approaching) was suitable service. I seemed to have done better (on RapSys) than most, and still only averaged 4-700kbs. They put on a good show... unfortunately can't even begin to actually deliver. Problems and mistakes happen... but then again they NEVER took any initiative in resolving things, even to say (for whatever reason) we can't do thins... how can we help you move on.... NOTHING, ZIP, NADA!!!! Now I have long been acussed of being a DTV employee defending, (an no I never was) but in 3 years with them... very few problems... which were reasonably and timely corrected most times... and virtually always full speed service (~1240kbs net throughput) Rapid Systems on the other had started off poorly and did nothing but get worse, and totally no customer communication here or directly. A sad 2 months of wasted time and energy (plus 3 weeks of Dial Up waiting) This is a company I would think very long and carfully about doing business with if you are looking for an ISP... In the Bell South region I would say FORGET IT, and even in their local prime area Verizon/Tampa, I would be worried about how or even if they will correct problems that may crop up. If you want a consistent 1/3 or less contracted service this may be the ISP for you.... if not I'd look elsewhere. member for 23.7 years, 6781 visits, last login: 5.8 years ago lodged 21 years ago
latest their accounting dept. is obviously lacking in basic math skills 25% of $57.18 is $14.30 not $11 The lies started here »A Good Deal They continue on they're website:"You'll be riding the biggest ATM pipe in town! Rapid Systems aggregates all our DSL customers on OC3 pipes. This means only Rapid Systems can deliver maximum speed and performance." What town?Not yours thats for sure! Not mine either. Every other provider in my town is 3 TIMES as fast. Since 2 months ago they said they would fix it. Another lie! They tried to blame Bellsouth.WHAT? Another lie? Of course! Everyone who switched got the speeds they expected and they are still on the same Bellsouth lines. So,if you are contemplating using Rapidsys, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! If you have been one of the unfortunate to have signed with them,GET OUT NOW! And I recommend filing a CC Dispute for ALL CHARGES! They are guilty of FRAUD. They never delivered the services purchased! As far as I'm concerned they should be delisted here,but then how would anyone know? If you need more information,its here. »Rapid Systems, Inc. UPDATE 2/7/03 This service is unacceptable. 2003-02-07 17:32:26 Speed test (mia.speakeasy.net) 307/220 kbps They just can't provide what they advertised(not even close) I call that breach of contract. No response to requests for credit. Time to call the bank. More,same day 1/28/03 They had BS rebuild my circuit. Speeds are in the 1-1.2 range Maybe they are getting a handle on it. latest 1/28/03 Got switched again today 2003-01-28 12:33:05 Speed test (ec) 628/219 kbps 2003-01-28 12:31:48 Speed test (atl.speakeasy.net) 914/220 kbps 2003-01-28 12:30:06 Speed test (mia.speakeasy.net) 809/219 kbps speeds have doubled but still only 66% of DTV's Progress? 1/26/03 News Fash, Been connected 3 weeks and they still can't get it right. 2003-01-26 20:16:15 Speed test (atl.speakeasy.net) 186/211 kbps 2003-01-26 16:23:47 Speed test (mia.speakeasy.net) 192/220 kbps 2003-01-26 09:16:07 Speed test (mia.speakeasy.net) 230/219 kbps 2003-01-25 22:11:31 Speed test (mia.speakeasy.net) 120/220 kbps 2003-01-24 10:42:59 Speed test (ec) 361/218 kbps 2003-01-23 20:47:15 Speed test (mia.speakeasy.net) 54/218 kbps 2003-01-23 20:06:18 Speed test (ec) 117/219 kbps 2003-01-23 16:09:59 Speed test (ec) 244/220 kbps BETTER KEEP LOOKING! member for 24.4 years, 3293 visits, last login: 62 days ago updated 21 years ago
I have had this service at two locations now. When I moved, I was reluctant to cancel service. I could not get any DSL or cable at my new location. So, I left the old line up and dialed up to my old place (thus usage on the line never went over 28.8k)... Finally, I gave up the DSL and two extra phone lines. Finally, Bell figures out it would be a good idea to offer DSL in a huge, growing area of Broward County. (Imagine that) So, I call RapidSys back, and was eager to go. As soon as Bell was able to get the line provisioned, I was ready to go. The first day, there must have been a configuration glitch as I was able to transmit, but not receive packets. A quick call in fixed that immediately. The team there is very friendly and helpful. They are also quite flexable as well. I use the DSL service as mere connectivity - I care not for mail, webspace, or things like that. They even did not mind that I already had my own modem (thanks to BellSouth, which I could not stand using). Later on, there were a few issues with latency and some downtime, but that happened with every single ISP I have ever been with - including the ones Ive worked at, so it is to be expected. However, at this point, all the issues are resolved, and for the time being are stable. I still stand by my reccommendation for this service. The only things that bother me at all are 1) all outbound port 80 traffic (web surfing) goes through a local proxy. This may help to anonymize web surfing, and help when everyone is hitting one webpage at once, but I prefer a "clean" connection. 2) their newsserver does not keep binaries well. But thats no big deal, since I dont really use it anyway - I only even checked it out like twice... Now, at my new location, and after not using the DSL for many months, I am up at my new location. Since day one, I have had HORRIBLE latency issues. To the point where I could not type text over an SSH link. Also, my line has completely failed a number of times, once for 6 solid days. After calling on that 6th day, they told me I would be back online in 10 minutes, and I was. Why they could not "flip that magic switch" almost a week before, I do not know. Save youself from the hassles! If you are in a Verizon territory, I do highly recommend this ISP, but the problems happening with BellSouth are just too much to handle, and it really is not their fault. Leave it to Bell to squash the little people. member for 21.1 years, 52 visits, last login: 20.6 years ago updated 21.1 years ago
Update 2-13-03 After 1 1/2 months of strugling with horrible performance and being continually misled by Rapid Systems about planned improvements, I gave up and moved to DSLi. After a few days of downtime because Rapid would not allow me to arrange a hotswap, I'm up and first speed test is 1247/198 at Dsli on the same line. Avoid Rapid Systems at all costs! End of Update I have waited a month to write this review because I was so impressed with the way they quickly hooked me up. I wanted to give them a chance because I would prefer a local (Fla) ISP with real people to talk to. BUT the wait is over! The problems started soon after I signed up. First the company advertised their 1.5/256 service for $49.99 but their invoice was for over $57.00 because they are one of the only ISP's that charge federal, state and local communication tax on their services, 14% in my case. Although it was not disclosed on their site at the time they do reference it now. I could live with that if they delivered what they advertised but they clearly can not! Over the past month they have blamed the influx of DTV customers for their inability to deliver reliable speeds. Then they claim DTV customers use too much bandwidth. They also blamed Bellsouth for their problems and delys. They promissed the problems would be corrected around 1/17 when new bandwidth was to be added. Ten days later and new bandwidth added download speeds have not improved measurably and still range from less than 100Kbps to 800Kbps. And they fluctuate wildly. Their support engineers are very friendly and can be reached by TOLL call (no 800) or email, but they just don't seem to have the facilities to provide what they advertise. I am not an engineer and do not know what it takes to provide reliable DSL service, the problem is Rapid Systems doesn't seem to know either. I really wanted this to work out but it looks like I'm faced with finding another ISP a month after being stranded by DTV. member for 21.2 years, 917 visits, last login: 15.7 years ago updated 21.1 years ago
Update 2/9/03: Average is 150Kbps or lower around the clock now. Update 2/8/03: Seems to average 150Kbs most evenings. That's only 10% of the sync rate. ***************** Original: I rated the pre-sale information low because they hype the service up on the Web site to be fast and that they use OC3 connectivity. When in fact the bandwidth for BellSouth customers is stretched too thin. Tech support and customer service are great but they can't do anything about the bandwidth issue. New equipment was installed that had little impact on the problems. Download speed widely varies during a single download. Speeds average 300-500K but can spike down to 150K, or lower, and cause buffering problems with streaming multimedia. Sometimes bandwidth can spike up to 1100 range. Upload speeds are great. Latency averages 70-110ms to most sites. On the same line with DTV I consistently had 1300/200 any hour of the day. So the characteristics of my line, system tweaks, and household wiring are all fine. Perhaps they can provide better service to Verizon customers and business accounts. However, other ISPs are offering better download bandwidth to residential users in South Florida. member for 23.6 years, 4894 visits, last login: 3.1 years ago lodged 21.1 years ago
Dec 2002 Had directvinternet. could get 1.4meg download speed with them. great service, no problems. DtvI goes out-of-business. I sign up with rapidsys. Great turn-around, easy setup. Manged to get DSL modem during most busy time of year, week before Xmas! Rapidsys uses the Gnet Dsl modem in bridge mode. only negative is that no DHCP on the PC connecting side. must put in the static IP info manually. 1st 30days horrible download speeds, in the sub 800kbs side and slower. Jan 2003: Rapidsys acknowledges this and puts in new circuits and switches me over 3 times to get better download speeds. My static IP only changes 1 time, not bad. I was elated, finally was getting 1.4meg download speeds. Tested using ftp from hosted website and downloading 100meg file from microsoft.com. Dsl service would just disconnect for no reason. Rapidsys is quick to blame any Dlink or Linksys router as the problem. Nope, not the issue. Tech always want me to remove my Dlink to troubleshoot disconnect issue. It is never the Dlink gateway. This same gateway has worked for almost 3 years attached to a Telocity DSL modem and a DirecTv Internet modem. Talked to several of their techs. Techs claim a problem on the Bell Side and will check into it. I never get a follow up on my disconnect problems. Feb 2003: Now my download speeds are again in the sub 500's. Nothing has changed on my side. But no disconnect problems anymore. could it be the "ping" I do every 15mins to 4 points on their network to see if my service is down that is keeping me from disconnecting? I am sick and tired of waiting on these guys to get their bandwidth issues fixed. Have better things to do than help them trouble shoot their network. DirecTVInternet used the same copper and probably the same CO for connection, why can't rapidsys get the same speeds? I won't be hanging around to find out. member for 23.9 years, 1726 visits, last login: 10.2 years ago lodged 21.1 years ago
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