how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
Review by Iceylinux 
UPDATED: 95 days ago
member for 5.3 years, 55 visits, last login: 18 days ago
 Wilkes Barre,Luzerne,PA
 $29 per month
 about 5 days
 "Fastest Bandwidth in Wilkes-Barre, PA ... For now."
 "Hangs, Ping spikes (Brand new cable from the box to the modem btw)"
 "Moving to upstate NY and FIOS IS THERE!!!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
i figured id rewrite my review from years ago, i didnt keep prolog long since dsl was faster and cheaper. now SECTV is 10/1 so im kinda stuck, it hangs really bad ill do one speed test it will say 300kbps down and 952kbps up, ill redo the same test instantly ill get 9542/952 just stupid company without any real plans, SECTV will go out of business when wilkes barre gets Fios in 2089  no actually wilkes-barre will have fios around 2010-2011. Nothing has changed about prolog in the past 5 years, same retarted bandwidth caps, same retarted problems, just faster speeds. i cant wait to see what Verizon does to prolog and SECTV Op Online in NJ gives people 30mb/5mb up or something like that RCN in SEPA gives 20/4 i believe what is SECTV/Prolog going to do? Chapter 11? HA
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by krenim191
UPDATED: 139 days ago
member for 7.7 years, 2786 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
Wellsboro,Tioga,PA
$56 per month (month by month)
about 5 days
"Fast, Consistant Speeds, Low Pings"
"None so far"
"Not bad for living in the middle of nowhere"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
Well lets start off with the back story. I got a promotion at work that required me to work from the corporate headquarters... an 84 mile round trip from where I was living. With the cost of gas and the 10 hours a week of my life it was taking away I decided to relocate.
If you've ever visited the north central part of Pennsylvania - you'll no doubt agree with me that it is beautiful... but populated it isn't! Welcome to Mayberry - er, Wellsboro, PA that is. Population ~4000, also the county seat of Tioga County (just to give you an idea of how populated the rest of the county is). Colonial gas lamps line the center of the main streets, well manicured lawns everywhere you look, Main Street is full of little shops and restaurants. That's all fine and well - but what is the broadband going to be like here!?!?!
To my surprise - it's pretty damn good. Much faster service than I was getting with my Verizon DSL service 42 miles to the south.
I ordered the service in February 2008 - it's now May and I think that has given me enough time to fully test the services.
My cable company is Blue Ridge Communications, the ISP that runs the show is PenTeleData. I remember back in the early days of the internet, PTD was quite a powerful local ISP, with some services that were to be envied.
PTD seems to have a pretty solid backbone, with multiple peerings in NY, NJ & MD. Ping times across the board are very low. I subscribe to the 10/800 tier (G10 they call it) and consistently hit my cap. We had a couple of bad ice storms since I've moved here, and all the while I was happily downloading at top speed along with everyone else in the area since nobody could go anywhere.
When the service was first installed, they furnished me with a Webstar modem - it was very flaky and often needed rebooted- within a few days I purchased a Motorola 5120 and haven't had a single problem since.
I have heard of a few people having their service suspended or terminated because of high usage... I'm a heavy user and have yet to receive a letter or phone call. They do provide a tool that tells you how much data you have consumed in a given month and it seems fairly accurate when compared with the monitoring software I use on my PC.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with my new service. That can quickly change though if the service drops below unacceptable levels. I'll be sure to update my review.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by brienb
Posted: 162 days ago
member for 4 years, 87 visits, last login: 85 days ago
Milford,Pike,PA
$51 per month
"Decent speed, reliable"
"Can't use bandwidth."
"Would only recommend for light/casual users."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have the highest priced package available (actually through Blue Ridge Communications), G15. Had used it lightly for several months and the first time I actually used a little bit of bandwidth (to download music, WHICH THEY ADVERTISE) I got a letter from PTD saying I needed to upgrade the service (there is nothing higher), switch to a commercial account, or they'd cancel the service outright. I never had such a problem with Optimum Online, which I can only wish were available here. Rather disappointed. Now I only use it to game and surf the web mostly, as it seems that's basically all you can do without them complaining.
Followup comments:  
dodgetech2
join:2002-01-01
Gouldsboro, PA | usage? What was your bandwidth use for that month?
I use an average of 100Gb down and 15 Gb up and never have received a letter in the 3 years I have been using the service.
I'm also using the G-15 tier. | |
| dyczko
join:2000-11-07
Milford, PA | got a similar letter I got a similar letter a few days ago. Dozens of calls to both BlueRidge and PenTellData have gotten little response.
See my post/thread for more details | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by jazzlady
UPDATED: 179 days ago
member for 3.1 years, 27 visits, last login: 35 days ago
Bartonsville,Monroe,PA
Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
about 2 days
"G15 is pretty good..."
"monthly download caps"
"It's gotten a lot better"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
UPDATE: 4-11-2008
I just found out from a friend, who found out the hard way- about the actual but "unofficial" bandwidth caps for cable modem users:
Websurfer (1.5Mbit) 15G down 10G up
G5 50G down 25G up
G10 65G down 35G up
G15 80G down 45G up
This just defies belief.
A person can do 15 gigs a month on dial-up.
Some of these levels are downright unreasonable.
People are gaming, watching streaming video, listening to streaming audio, using Skype, downloading, and doing all kinds of other bandwidth intensive stuff online. Isn't this the reason one gets broadband in the first place?
To pay for a fast connection, and be crippled with draconian caps like this is ridiculous.
I have G15, and it's great. My speed is as fast as it should be, but I've only gone over 80 GB's once, and by a small amount, so they didn't hassle me. But now that I know- I'll have to watch every megabyte.
I just figured I would let people know, because if you're thinking about signing up with Prolog you ought to know what your getting into.
*************************************************************************
UPDATE:
I had G7 for a couple of years, and just upgraded to G15.
I didn't plan on upgrading... but my old Surfboard modem wasn't cutting it any more when they upgraded everyone from G7 to G10.
BRC tech came out, hooked up a Webstar modem, speed shot right up.
I decided to keep the modem. The deal was this:
Upgrade to G15, get a free modem, and the first 6 months of the service for $29.95 a month.
I was paying $42 a month for the slower speed. It was an offer I couldn't refuse.
Then I ran into speed issues.
Through trial and error, discovered that my router was causing a bottleneck.
My router, which is a D-Link that is several years old- has a WAN port that is 10 Mbps- NOT 10/100.
15 into 10 doesn't go....
I took the router out of the loop, and tried this with a fast ethernet 10/100 switch- bam! Full speed.
No, I don't always get full speed- but I usually hover between 12-15 Mbps. And I can and do regularly hit 15+ Mbps.
If you are using a router and having speed issues, check your specs for the WAN port.
I am awaiting a new router, and using the switch in the meantime.
There are still download caps, but I can't complain about the service. It was a good deal, and existing customers were eligible for a change.
I've hit 60 gigs without any warnings from Prolog, so I can live with that. I don't abuse it like some people.
I think they are starting to feel the heat from Verizon with FIOS.
Well, FIOS isn't here yet, and in the meantime I'm pretty happy with what I'm getting from Prolog at this point in time.
I figured since I've always been fast enough to criticize them, I should have a good word to say when they do something right.
**********************************************************************************
I've been with this company for years. I've seen them go from a poor provider to a provider I thought was top notch.
They offer 3 levels of service: G3- 3 mbps, G7- 7 mbps, and G10- 10 mbps.
The service has been pretty good. It's very reliable, and the network rarely goes down.
They give you 10GB's a month premium news service, but the NNTP download speed is capped at 2.5 mbps no matter what speed tier you have.
Some broadband customers are now complaining that they are getting letters from Prolog telling them they are downloading too much. Some are getting these letters after downloading only 20 GB's a month. According to Prolog it violates their AUP. However, nowhere in that AUP is there a limit stated. Customers are being told verbally by customer service that the limit is 12 GB's a month. Every byte of data that flows into your computer counts- surfing, email, streaming media... etc.
The letters warn users that their accounts can be terminated and tries to force them to upgrade to commercial accounts. Commercial accounts are half the speed, for a lot more money.
I'm a 20GB+ user, and I haven't gotten a letter yet, but I will post here when I do. It's only a matter of time.
So, how many G's can you handle? What does it matter if you are restricted to 12 gigs downstream a month.
Followup comments: juke52
join:2004-12-22
Kunkletown, PA
| Yes First of all, the download caps vary from package to package, the lower websurfer and G5 packages have 10-12gb limits, whereas the G15 last time I checked was 80 down/45 up, which was the old G10 limit, and yes it is annoying to have to call them up every so often to check what the new limit is because they have changed it quietly quite often during my time here.
Simply posting it on their site would lessen their phone bill dramatically, I'm sure, then again they're pretty well-off up there in the corporate office (which is who you need to talk to about this, not the brainwashed tech support, they simply follow the cue sheet).
That stuff about the newsgroups sucks too, but without any other provider in the area, what can you do? They run the show, unless you bitch to the right people, the corporate office whose email is on the brctv/ptd site I believe. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by copeless
UPDATED: 228 days ago
member for 6.9 years, 8 visits, last login: 228 days ago
Bath,Northampton,PA
$39 per month
about 1 days
"Great Download Speeds, affordable pricing."
"Only 1 upload speed"
"Overall Recomended"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
Installation simple. 2 Dynamic IP's so 2 computers or 2 routers. Service has yet to go down in 1 year of service. The only problem I have run into is the limited upload speed and when using VPN for work there is a lot of lag. There is no option to upgrade unless you upgrade to a commercial account. Paying for 7 download, tested today only getting about 2. I am going to do a direct connection tomorrow to eliminate that as the problem.
Verizon DSL available however only offers PPOE which can be a pain to setup and troubleshoot with a router.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by n3zyd
Posted: 236 days ago
member for 3.1 years, 35 visits, last login: 58 days ago
Shamokin,Northumberland,PA
$92 per month
about 20 days
"native english speakers (tech support) love those canucks ; )"
"long wait from order to instal date 20 days!! (service electric) shamokin"
"for my area WAY better than dsl"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
5 meg down .5 up zero problems, had to deal with tech support once when I bought my own cable modem, person on the phone spoke better english than I do
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by bunky013
Posted: 251 days ago
member for 251 days, 1 visits, last login: 176 days ago
Allentown,Lehigh,PA
$92 per month
"Only provider available in my area"
"Very slow connection, Tech support through SECTV is horrible"
"Stay away from ProLog, especially if hosted by Service Electric Cable TV"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
I live in an area served by "the first cable TV system on earth", Service Electric Cable TV, which, after 50 years, is also one of the worst. Unfortunately, ProLog is the only internet service available through SEC-TV. I get an astounding 384 Kbit down, and 104 Kbit up. That's after paying for the "high speed" package for 3 years now, which promises at least 1.5 Mbit downstream.
The problem may very well be with the wiring in my neighborhood, but after repeated attempts to have someone look at the poor performance, my neighbors and I have given up. Tech support is no help at all; they consistently insist that there are "no problems reported" and their solution every time is to send a technician out to your house (and at your cost, BTW, and usually three days later). You would think that after multiple people on the same street complain about a problem, they would get the picture and check the equipment in the area.
Bottom Line: If terrible service and poor tech support are what you're after, this is the ISP for you.
Followup comments: vapochilled
Premium
join:2004-11-23
Macungie, PA
 ·ProLog
| SETV I feel your pain, I'm in Macungie and recorded the speed test below at 11pm. Seven years ago, I was living and working in Saudi Arabia,jeddah, A desert city, occupied by people who can barely read and write, I was getting a steady and stable 3meg service.
21st centuray lehigh valley and I get this shit!
Last Result:
Download Speed: 389 kbps (48.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 392 kbps (49 KB/sec transfer rate) | |
| oilman614
join:2001-01-07
Whitehall, PA
| SECTV I commented on your situation yesterday..but of course because of Service Electric it never went thru. I was curious where about you are. I am in Whitehall in Helfrich Springs Apts. and they gave me the same runaround. They are trying to make it my problem. They want to send a tech out here Monday again. I keep telling them it's not just me. other tenants are complaining too. What can be done about this?
Its only been in the last 6 months. I lived here going on 3 years.
I asked to speak to a manager twice..no callback.
I wish RCN had cables in the building I would switch in a heartbeat | |
| | Mizfit
join:2002-06-05
Whitehall, PA
 ·Verizon Online DSL
·ProLog
edit:
February 5th, @08:21PM
| Re: SECTV I'm right up the road from oilman, your not alone, as are any of you guys. I've been moaning to SECTV since Sept of 06. Seen two good months of service in a year and a half. Now = crap. Got Verizon DSL for gaming, much more stable service if you can get it. Use SECTV for browsing 2kb batch files only. I feel your pain. Welcome to the monopoly. I just don't think SECTV is in a position to keep up with the internet age. They need to be taken over. Days are numbered in my opinion, or at least I hope. | |
| Thermo1223
join:2001-12-20
Allentown, PA
edit:
March 6th, @03:33PM
| Well... I guess I am not alone in my feelings about SECTV as well.
I get an astounding 128-170kbps up and if I'm lucky around 3 megs down but it constantly fluctuates.
I cancelled my TV service long ago and went Directv who is better but not 100%. Our cable used to get snowy and go in & out on a whim.
I used to also live at Helfrich Springs and figured it must have been the old building but when we moved to west end of Allentown it didn't really get any better plus being charged money for installation again as well.
I complained & complained and finally just gave up and said here take all your TV crap back. Prolog really is a treat as well, I had to call 3 times to get them to believe that we had internet through them when we first moved in at Helfrich. SECTV never told them I guess.
Randomly now at our new apt. we have outages and that means now VoIP as well. Informed them that every time this happens I lose my phone and they said maybe I should switch to a cooper line then.
I am very close to switching to DSL since I can't get FIOS yet, that might also mean I would need to cancel my Vonage as well so it is still up in the air.
Ughh...  | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Heous
UPDATED: 258 days ago
member for 314 days, 6 visits, last login: 243 days ago
Bethlehem,Northampton,PA
$40 per month (12 month contract)
about 1 days
"Decent speeds when it's working, low latency"
"The modem stops working intermittently, sometimes for hours at a time, abysmal tech support"
"Stick with Verizon DSL if you can get it in your area"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I live in Bethlehem, PA, at the center of the Lehigh Valley region in Eastern Pennsylvania. For some reason this area has been devoid of decent broadband for far too long, and I've had to deal with a slow one-way cable modem and a reliable, but somewhat underwhelming DSL connection before this. So I was overjoyed when I saw on my cable billing statement from Service Electric that two-way cable internet was now available in my area. I ordered it as soon as I found out, picked up the modem and installed it myself, all of which went fine. It performed well for the first week or so, with speeds of 7mbits up and 400k down during non-peak hours, which was promised for my plan, and it still manages to get 5mbits down during peak usage times. On-line gaming was great, I didn't get nearly as much lag as I used to on DSL. But then one day it stopped working, and it wasn't until hours later that it started back up. I called tech support for help, but when I got through (they only answer the phone Monday through Friday from 9AM-5PM) I kept getting some message about "high call volume" and was told to call back later. The problem continued, with the internet cutting out frequently for anywhere from minutes to hours at a time, and every time I called it was the same thing. Finally one day when I called I decided to choose the option for cable TV support instead of cable internet service just to get an answer, but all I got was their answering service. They said they'd call me back, but this has yet to happen. If I can't get through to their customer service soon I'm probably just going to go back to DSL. The connection's unreliable, and I have online courses and thus need a dependable connection to the internet. Thankfully it hasn't cut out yet during one of these classes, but I'm dreading the day it does. If you live in the Lehigh Valley region and only have the choice between 2-way ProLog cable and Verizon DSL, choose the DSL. It's a bit slower, but at least you don't have to worry about the connection cutting out all the time.
UPDATE
----------------------------------------
I finally managed to get through to tech support. They saw that there was a problem and sent out a tech. It turns out the problem was with how the TV cables in my house were split, and thus the modem wasn't receiving enough bandwidth to stop from timing out. I bumped up a few of the ratings. Now that it's reliable I can say it's better than DSL in this area. My node must not be as crowded as other's nodes are, since even during peak usage in my area I'm capable of getting DSL speeds up and down. But the tech support still stinks. It took far too long for them to even take my calls, which shows how much they care about their customers. If there were a comparable alternative such as FiOS in this area I'd switch to that in an instant.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Fancy_Bob_07
UPDATED: 265 days ago
member for 2.7 years, 24 visits, last login: 6 days ago
Danville,Montour,PA
$42 per month
"I never have to reset my modem. Never lose connection."
"As nodes fill up, they're slow to upgrade/fix"
"For whats available in this area, best value and reliability"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I originally signed up for the 3Mb Platinum package. I've had this service for almost 4 years now. Since first getting service, I've been upgraded to 5Mb, then just recently to 7Mb. My download speeds are excellent.
My only complaint is when there is issues with nodes/routers with congestion and such, they are slow to fix it. But sometimes I imagine it could also be my cable company too.
For more than doubling my speeds, I've only been billed $3 more a month. I purchased a surfboard 5100 when I first signed up. Instead of renting one. I paid $50, if I would have rented, I would have paid around $430.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by xlimitx
UPDATED: 274 days ago
member for 6.7 years, 1447 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Wilkes Barre,Luzerne,PA
$39 per month
about 9 days
"Good reliable bandwidth and excellent latency."
"None yet."
"Faster than any DSL product in the Wilkes-Barre area. About the same cost as Verizon DSL too."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
I ordered my service from BRC/PTD and they came out and installed a Zyxel 941 modem. The installer, who was knowledgable, installed the filter and a new line(shielded cable, along with new cables to all my rooms) to my computer room. About 30 seconds after I hooked up the modem I was online. This modem flies, the 800k/800k cap is great after having 640/160 aDSL for so long. I did a speed test on here and got 776k/774k so I am pleased. No outages yet, no major speed degradation during off peak or peak times. Of course you get a normal slowdown in peak times due to more usage by other users. Cant have everything with shared bandwidth. I havent used tech support yet so I havent really got a rating for that yet. Mail and Usenet are ok.
Former Review on ProLog back when I was in Jim Thorpe
-------------------------------------
New Review on ProLog since living in Wilkes-Barre, PA
As a former employee of Service Electric I felt that it wasn't right that I gave a review of the service since I worked there. However, since I've been a non-employee of the company for close to 4 months now, I feel that I'm able to since I see the service as just a service now.
So, I have the 10/512 package from Service Electric & ProLog in the Ashley section of Wilkes-Barre. It's honestly the best service I've had since beginning to use broadband back in the late 90's. My speeds are consistently between 8.5 and 9.5Mbps on the speedtests both offered here on BB and other speedtest sites. I game quite a lot(BF2) and my connection is stable and consistent all the time. I don't use their mail server so I don't have an opinion on that, but my broadband itself is awesome. In the last 4 months I've not had one service outage that I know of.
My Cable TV is really good too. I have the Hi-Def package and get something like 17 HD channels.
I'd give the combo of SE and PTD 2 thumbs up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
Review for the last year. The service in Wilkes-Barre has been awesome. Still just as reliable as when I first had it installed and I'm getting about 9.5/900 at peak.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ProLog |
|
|
·