dslreports logo

Review by piggygirl See Profile

  • Location: Spring Valley, Rockland, NY, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
Adding IO saves $5 on OOL
none so far
stable service so far
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

****update 01/01/2010

on 12/31/2009 cablevision dropped hgtv/foodnetwork due to contract disputes.
customers had NO PRIOR notification from cablevision.
I found out from reading the forum.

Some customers on 12/31/2009 had a message on the bottom of their screens explaining the possible drop of the 2 programs,

I didn't get that message at all.

way to go, cablevision.

****************
I recently added IO digital service

The IO interactive screens a bit slow

Can't customize the on screen channel guide, I would like to do this.

member for 17.2 years, 207 visits, last login: 8 years ago
updated 14.2 years ago


Review by CrazyPete See Profile

  • Location: Seaside Park, Ocean, NJ, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month
Great when it works
Horrible when it doesn't.
They were the best and are quickly circling the drain.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

There was a time when OOL was the best of the best, and you simply couldn't get any better. That has all changed. I am on my second service call -- been lied to once and wasted lots of time. They have offered me a couple days of service as my "compensation" -- what a joke.

$49.95 a month should buy premium internet considering that you can get DSL for $12.99 and dialup for $4.95 or less.

It is a very sad day when I have to write a negative review about what was, at once, the best of the best.

I have Verizon, or I would have quit them a lot sooner... I'm curious to see how Fios is when they come to town, I may hate Verizon, but I'll try Fios at the drop of a hat.

member for 18.9 years, 97 visits, last login: 14 years ago
lodged 14.2 years ago


Review by hanz2lk9 See Profile

  • Location: River Edge, Bergen, NJ, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
It's good when it's up and running.
Consisten Slow Speeds, Tech support is useless
I'm fed up. Switching to Verizon. Been an optimum customer for 10+ years
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

These past couple months have been a nightmare. I'm not getting the speeds that I used to get. Tired of the same feedback from customer support. "The router is the problem, my modem doesn't have issues"

FED UP!

member for 18.1 years, 23 visits, last login: 13.8 years ago
lodged 14.2 years ago







Review by anthonyfromb See Profile

  • Location: Bronx, Bronx, NY, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
price is reasonable (if it worked as advertised)
SLOW/unreliable!
DO NOT get this unless it is your ONLY option
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've had this for a number of years now. (in my neighborhood) it used to be good but now it is a disaster and they don't seem to want to improve or fix it either. The calls to the tech department are a waste of time, they don't seem to listen or care, they just say everything is fine all the time. Speeds (advertised as 15/2) with or without the router (WRT54G) are the same, no difference.

stay away from this ISP

member for 14.2 years, 31 visits, last login: 12.6 years ago
lodged 14.2 years ago


Review by Kc2000 See Profile

  • Location: Rockaway, Morris, NJ, USA
  • Cost: $129 per month (12 month contract)
Reliable connectivity
Unreliable speed
Get it if Verizon does not offer FiOS in your area
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

OOL technicians have taken at least 3+ years to fix our signal leak problem. After each "repair", the connection and speed would be as advertised for anywhere from 2weeks to 1 month and the speed would drop dramatically, anywhere from 10mbps down to less than 300kbps. After successfully repairing into 2 weeks ago, the speed has dropped once again. I 100% do not recommend this ISP if others are available.

member for 17.7 years, 19 visits, last login: 13.4 years ago
lodged 14.3 years ago


Review by brooklynali See Profile

  • Location: Brooklyn, Kings, NY, USA
  • Cost: $45 per month
  • Install: about 17 days
In 12 months, the modem has only gone down once, for about two days.
Connection Speed nowhere near advertised (and I pay extra for the BOOST), in fact, it's not even as fast as their base modem. .
Most reliable service I've had in New York for connectivity, but also the slowest, with most expensive and poorly coordinated sr
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Very good connectivity, (in the year that I've had service, I've only had modem downtime for about 2 days, and it just happened this past weekend). But the speed is a joke. Not only have I never even come near their advertised speed of 30mbps for their BOOST service, which I of course pay extra for, but I rarely, if ever even get their advertised speed for their base modem. Their customer service, like all the other cable providers in NYC (and I've now used them all, RCN and Time Warner being the other two), is atrocious (and actually, RCN's was pretty solid). Their service line is fully automated, with very long wait times for a human, who doesn't seem very well trained in IT, if trained at all. I'm very much looking forward to FIOS arriving, if it ever will.

member for 16.8 years, 43 visits, last login: 12.3 years ago
lodged 14.4 years ago


Review by The Last See Profile

  • Location: Brooklyn, Kings, NY, USA
  • Cost: $65 per month (month by month)
When it works. Extremely fast. Low latentcy. Rated down/up on the dot.
It hardly ever works. Tech Support/Line techs do not work together to resolve issues.
Disjunction between Tech Support/Field Techs. Hard to get coordinated response.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:


9/30/09-- Tech did not show up last night. No call to explain why. I called them, they apologized and set up an appointment for Saturday 11-2. This is getting silly. Connection was still running well last night. 3 days of clear connection is the longest period I have had in 9 weeks. Hope it stays this way.

9/29/09-- Connection has been stellar for two days now, and I have spoken to both a Tech support supervisor and a Field services Supervisor. Assured they would monitor my line and neighboring connections to see if they can track down the source of the intermittant problem. Also have an appointment with a standard tech tonight. Though I have enjoyed the two days of Flawless internet, I almost wouldn't mind if the issues I had earlier in the week and over the past weeks would show its ugly head tonight. Maybe the saga is finally over.

9/27/09-- Last night I was told somone from Field Services would call me this morning. NO CALL. I called back at 12pm, and I was told someone from field services would call me before 5 pm Today.

8pm: Got a call from both a Tech Support Supervisor and Field Supervisor. They are going to monitor the line, and other lines in the immediate area to narrow dow the issue. Its evident that the two teams don't coordinate well together. Connection was EXACTLY 30/5 last night. Negligible Packet loss.

9/26/09-- 8pm-- Just got called by dispatch at the end of my 5-8 time window: They have no techs available and offered me a reschedule to tomorrow 8-11 or 5-8. Unfortunately I have a JOB between 9-6pm. I canceled plans to be here tonight, and this is how Cablevision treats its customers. I was promised that a Field Supervisor would call me in the morning detailing what actions have been taken

9/26/09--Optimum Online boost customer since 2006.

Never once had an issue. Sure there were downtimes here and there but that is to be expected.

Since September 2nd 2009, (the same day they set up Optimum Online Wifi coincidently in the neighborhood) everything went to hell.

20-90% packet loss often during primetime though randomly occuring. Usually happens from 5-midnight everyday, but today for example it has been happening pretty much the entire day.

I Have called Customer support and they can see it on thier side when they run the signal tests. They always say the signal is strong regardless of how much packet loss I am getting. What irks me the most is that they have sent 8 of the Know nothing contract techs out to my place who cannot diagnose the issue because 6/8 times the issue isn't happening during the techs work hours (8-5 pm) and the 2 times it did happen they didnt' know enough to diagnose the issue and had to refer it to "Dispatch".

What is most disturbing is that dispatch doesn't work with Customer support. You cannto call CS and get a dispatch/line supervisor to comment on the issue and let you know what has been done.

My final straw was after weeks of this issue, and nearly 100 calls, I finally got someone to promise to have my node monitored. calling back the following week?

IT WAS NEVER DONE.

They are sending another likely uninformed and lacking technical skills contract employee to look at my connection today. I have little hope of a resolution. My next step is to downgrade to the lower level of service in the hope that this alleviates the problem.

VERIZON FIOS CANNOT COME HERE SOON ENOUGH.

member for 14.4 years, 5 visits, last login: 14.4 years ago
updated 14.4 years ago


Review by MIKAS See Profile

  • Location: Brooklyn, Kings, NY, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 2 days
Cheap
Terrible Speed
Stay away from this ISP
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

[10/20/09] Update.

After so many promises by tech support to fix the speed issue, nothing has changed, even got worse. Will definitely switch to FIOS next month.

Well, kind of late for my first impression of their service, since I'm an ‘old’ customer with OOL for almost 5 years. When I’ve sign up for the OOL, I was promised 15mb/2mb, for $25.95 a month for a year, which I’ve received, and was very happy about it. The speed was always constant. After a year the price went up to $49.99 and I was paying that ever since. You can also "boost" your speed up to 35mb/5mb for $10.00 more. Overall the best internet company I’ve ever dealt with. Comparing to FiOS, this company offers best speed for the fair price, when you getting your bill, it's one page and it's $49.99. On the other hand - $54.99 + plus fees and taxes, it's like 10 pages statement to understand which, you'll need a degree in finance, on the last page you'll find your total around $79.00 (for the same speed of 15 down / 5 up "FIOS Fast Plan").

What's good about OOL, in my experience, is that I never had a problem with my service, never got disconnected nor I have had any problems with my speed, until recently - for the past few month (from Jun.09), I was having problems with my speed, it drops right after 6 or 7 PM, and it drops dramatically down to 1.5 mb/1.8 mb, I've contacted tech support, the guy was trying to read something of his screen about disconnecting my printer and rebooting my modem, then after couple of hours of explaining that speed is fine during the day and it’s only drops after 6 PM, he asked me "what would I want him to do", to resolve this issue, so my point is that OOL shouldn't outsource tech support to a bunch of clones oversees who had no clue or basic degree to even qualify for a tech support. For that I'll give them 3 out of 5. However after scheduling a service call and meeting with one of the special technicians, I found him very knowledgeable, without arguing to disconnect my printer or insisting on changing my modem (Motorola that have a life time warranty) he scheduled to monitor my line, and have someone sitting on the local node from 5 to 9 pm for 7 days, to check what causing speed to drop. Well it's 2 more days to go, and my speed is improving already, so I hope it will be back to usual soon enough, I will really hate to switch to Fios. Thanks for reading. Hope this review will help you decide your Internet provider.

member for 20.9 years, 276 visits, last login: 1.6 years ago
updated 14.4 years ago

Rojo31
join:2009-04-14
New York, NY

Rojo31

Member

huh?

"have someone sitting on the local node from 5 to 9 pm for 7 days"

What does that mean in real words? Thanks.
only4luca
join:2001-10-25
Brooklyn, NY

only4luca

Member

Re: huh?

Done exactly the same thing. Actually getting FIOS today. This ISP is going nowhere but down.
VZ doesnt need to get into a price war with CV. CV sends customers to VZ on its own, with its crappy service and AWFUL service technicians. The only time those "repair guys" seem decent is when you try to tip them. Otherwise they have the worst attitude i've seen in a long time.

Luca

Review by sc0ri0n See Profile

  • Location: Nutley, Essex, NJ, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month
Great speed (10MBps) during day-time.
It crawls during weekends and nights. Terrible helpdesk. No visibility to the state of network.
Avoid it if you can
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've been using Optimum Online for the last two years and had no complaints until recently. There is clear degradation of service at nights and weekends now and helpdesk does not even acknowledge that issue is systematic and current network bandwith is not able to handle the load.

I'm getting 10Mbps during day time usually except weekends. Night time it's pretty slow most of the nights and download speed changes anywhere from 1Mbps to 3Mbps (120ms+ lag). Upload speed seems to be stable though.


member for 21.9 years, 20 visits, last login: 14.4 years ago
lodged 14.4 years ago

joserhome
join:2002-06-08
Bronx, NY

joserhome

Member

Optimum Online going downhill

I agree with the Optimum Online service getting worse. I've been on it for several years. I used to get 10-11Mbps down and 1.9 Mbps up. Now I am getting roughly 1Mbps down and 1.6 Mbps up. This is not better than DSL from the phone companies offering DSL which Optimum keeps talking about.

Here are my results from running the speedtest on BroadBandReports.


I was thinking of upgrading to Boost. From what I've heard on the forums, doesn't seem worth the money if they can't keep the bandwidth close to what they are advertising.
sc0ri0n
join:2002-05-01
Nutley, NJ

sc0ri0n

Member

Re: Optimum Online going downhill

I was resisting to it but FIOS will soon be available in the gated community I am living in and I am ditching these guys as soon as that happens!

It does not look like they will do anything about it unless they start losing customers.

Review by neooddity See Profile

  • Location: Asbury Park, Monmouth, NJ, USA
  • Cost: $95 per month
Very knowledge-able installer, good internet speed
Ridiculously expensive in non-competition areas , picture artifacts make some HD content/channels unwatchable
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

"Double play" - internet + TV installed 11/12/08

Family Cable w/ iO (promo ends 11/12/09 .. wait a sec.. this is going to get even more expensive?!) $39.90
+1 SD stb +1 CableCARD $8.75
+fees
$49.41

15/2 internet (w/ 5$ bundle discount.. gee thanks!)
$44.95

DSL wasn't an option as the fastest speed available is 1.5mbps down..
The internet has gone down a few times since I was installed but never for longer than an hour or two.

Install process was amazing (the installer, a contractor, knew his stuff) - it took about 30 minutes. He was a little late but I got a call from dispatch towards the end of the arrival window alerting me to this..

First week I tuned to Planet Earth on Discovery (TLC?) HD and could not watch it - it had a scene of a running river that was so pixelated/choppy that I wouldn't have been able to tell it was a river if the sound was off.

FiOS wru?!.. I can see the FDH 2 blocks away! Hurry plox!

member for 15.5 years, 316 visits, last login: 7.9 years ago
updated 14.5 years ago