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Review by wfmiller13 See Profile

  • Location: Morgantown, Berks, PA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Technicians
Equipment at the DSLAM
Windstream Techs told me to go another route ie cable
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

The Company needs to invest some money to upgrade/modernize their old equipment at the DSLAM. Latency issues abound and speeds drop to near nothing at times.
When a tech comes they just shake their heads and say it is out of their hands.

This is ridiculous!!

member for 8.3 years, 68 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
lodged 8 years ago







Review by totalradio See Profile

  • Location: Crossett, Ashley, AR, USA
  • Cost: $110 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 7 days
Local field techs know their equipment & their network. Great guys.
Tech support/customer service is HORRIBLE ! Won't deliver on what they said they would
*** STAY AWAY FROM WINDSTREAM IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE***
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

02/29/2016

Since my last review, I've lost my internet 6 times before (this is the 7th). Each time I call "customer service", most of the time, I get a "brain dead" person, who seems to have to ask me the same simple questions 4 times (at least it was in today's call). Seems that Laura (doubtful that's a real name since her accent is SOOOOOO damn thick, I almost couldn't communicate with her), can't seem to grasp the concept of when you pay $110/month (I have a static IP with my connection), and when you're told its going to be TWO DAYS to get it fixed, you're going to be a LITTLE upset. But I'm quite sure her attitude, is like the rest of the company....they just don't give a damn.

But I wonder when the DSL connection of Mr. Anthony Thomas goes down (the CEO of the company), I'll bet they'll make sure to drop what they're doing, and that HIS will be fixed within just a few minutes (or maybe a couple of hours). Common folk like me, has to wait TWO DAYS. Even "Laura" said that individual customers are treated differently than business customers, but I'd be willing to bet that I pay MORE for my connection, than some of those business customers, since I have to depend on my internet connection to do business (apparently they don't understand that I AM a business customers), but I still wait two days to even THINK about getting it fixed.

Things were bad under former CEO Jeff Gardner, but Windstream has gotten WORSE under the current CEO (Anthony Thomas). I just can't understand that Windstream replaced the cable feeding my area (I can hit the remote-equipped DSL with a 2-iron from my house), but they have so many problems with my (and other) connections. Last year, I had to go 3 days without DSL because of a "fiber cut", which I knew was a lie, since my daughter, who lives 25 feet from me, kept working and we're on the same feeder cable. And for the record, I'm a retired CenturyTel (now CenturyLink) employee. So, I'm not the every day telephone idiot here.

I do realize the local techs are a good bunch of guys and they try hard, but I also realize they can only go so far when people above them (area supervisor, etc) won't help them do their jobs. I've also noticed, they USED to have people from Windstream on this forum to "help" customers with their problems. After many scathing reviews, I've noticed they've disappeared, since they finally got exposed for their constant lies they kept telling customers. Because I've been told MANY TIMES, that my DSL is fixed and I shouldn't have any more problems...until the next month it goes down.

So, like all the other times before, I'm sure SOMETHING in the remote, has failed (again), and since they don't care to upgrade their CO (or remote) equipment, what they seem to be running, is just fine and won't replace it unless they have to.

IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE IN YOUR AREA, STAY AWAY FROM WINDSTREAM ! Fortunately, I DO have a choice....they'll be on Wednesday, and I KNOW their connection is a lot more stable than Windstream.Once my new connection is up, I'll LITERALLY tell Windstream to "stick it", and a few other things too.

Anthony Thomas, your predecessor sucked. You suck worse !

And you wonder why you can't seem to keep customers. I never had a problem like this with AT&T !

06/25/2015

True to Windstream form, they can't seem to get anything right. On 06/24 around 3:30pm, as I'm preparing a few things to transmit to Dallas, my internet suddenly goes down. A call to Windstream, and it seems to be the same problem, that its been over a dozen times before, something in the CO has failed...again. Time to repair, 6p, 06/24.

As 10pm comes & goes, no internet. Another call to Windstream, and the same run around, now the time to repair is 9am 06/25. As 9am 06/25 comes & goes, another call to Windstream, and this time, they blatantly lie to me. They say it was something in the CO (probably was) AND a fiber cut. As a retired CenturyTel (now CenturyLink) employee, I knew this not to be true. This review is being written on my daughter's DSL... right next door to me. So I know its not a fiber cut, as their "engineers" are claiming. So its quite obvious now that Windstream DOES lie just to get you off the phone, and this is the proof of it. So I have a suggestion...

When you have an outage, keep on Windstream until they give a straight answer. Its doubtful you'll get one, but in my case, I'll be going much further than the "technical support" part of the operation. I'll be contacting the CEO DIRECT, to let him know what's about to happen. He can either ignore it, and cost his company money in the long run, or he can lose a little money quietly. If I know these idiots, they'll ignore it.

DO NOT TAKE WHAT WINDSTREAM TELLS YOU AT FACE VALUE ! This is absolute proof they are the most dishonest company in the world. If you need help contacting their corporate office in Little Rock, just let me know.

---EDIT---

A follow up call to Windstream just a few minutes ago, confirmed AGAIN, they just lied. The next person who talked to me, kept telling me (over & over) that a "fiber cut" has occurred. While EVERYONE in my area is without DSL, there are about 10-12 who still have it, including my daughter who lives just 25 feet away from me. It ain't a fiber cut folks. Be very careful when you deal with the lying scum bags.

09/27/2013

Well, the truck roll is complete and most everything is working again. However, when they changed my speed, they knocked me down to a dynamic IP. I can't work that way, but I was able to get someone in the business office (that was competent) and they are going to change it back to static. Local grunts (field techs) are very good, and know their equipment and their network.

Can't say that about the tier 1 support. They are very incompetent and need MUCH more training on their product and how they deal with the public. I won't bump up their review until Windstream can show me they can handle simple orders.

09/26/2013

Like I've said before, if you need support, God help you. Wanted to upgrade my speed (from 3 to 12). Placed the order on Friday 09/20. The upgrade was going to take place on 09/26. Fine with me.

09/26 comes and at 2:15pm, I lose my sync and the service goes down. Being a retired telephone employee, I know the circuit has got to come down for the re-provisioning of the circuit. A job that should only take no more than 15 minutes. After 2 hours down, the circuit is still down. So I call tech support (ugh).

The lady that answers is completely clueless (where do they get these people ?) So they transfer me to Tier 2 support. OK with me, that's what I wanted in the first place.

Darren answers the phone and sees where the work was completed at 3pm and sees that everything is "normal". Except my DSL is still down. Gotta have a truck roll to fix the damn thing. That's supposed to happen sometime between 1-5 on Friday 09/27. Since I work from home nowdays, most of my work is at night and now I lose money because of their incompetence. A simple upgrade in the soft switch is all they have to do, and Windstream screws that up.

I'll update Friday after the "truck roll". If they don't fix it, I'll tell them to leave it down and I'm done with Windstream. I do have a choice with the cable company for internet. If you have a choice for internet, DON'T GET WINDSTREAM ! They can't even get a simple service order right, just imagine if you need them for support what a hassle you're going to have.

Its become quite obvious to me that Windstream is an incompetent company who can screw up a wet dream !

UPDATE 07/26/2013 - 7:39PM (CT)

As I suspected, my static IP is STILL not working as was told to me earlier that it would be (basically lied to). Called tech support (what a joke), since I cannot find the WS people who hang out here and TS says that it would be 5-7 days before it would be working (their automated system says that my order is completed...lie #2). Victor in retention placed the order on Wednesday (07/24) and he ASSURED me that it would be worked by the 26th. Aaron (a "specialist") reached out to me and told me that I should "reach out to him should I have problems". Well I tried to reach out to Victor & Aaron, both apparently do not want to help me with my "problem".

Whatever you do, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH WINDSTREAM !!! The Windstream trolls (that hang out here on BBR) who are supposed to work for them do not want to help, only to look like they want to help, so they can avoid the bad press they seem to be receiving (and they're about to get more bad press, thanks to my friends in the media in Little Rock). Their only job is to lie to customers and not provide the service they "offer". Do not put ANY trust in ANYONE (from Windstream) on this forum who says they will be willing to help (Aaron, Victor...are you listening? I'm referring to YOU, but I doubt you care since your attitude is just a reflection of what management wants).

UPDATE 07/26/2013 - 1:45PM (CT)

Decided to downgrade Windstream. As far as the connection is concerned, it has been flawless, but that's where it ends. Placed an order for a simple static IP for my business. WS told me that it would be done on Friday (07/26), but as of this writing, that ship has sailed and I still do not have a static IP, as I was told I would have. Further indication by Windstream's automated system says that my static IP order has been completed, but I know that's a lie as my IP is still changing. WS says that it should be enabled by 7:00pm Friday (07/26), which I believe is also a lie. Two WS employees indicated that if I needed further help, just let them know. Been trying to reach out to both of them all afternoon, neither of them can be found (like they fell off the earth)

Since my business is time-critical (sensitive), I thought I could depend on Windstream to provide me with simple services. Since they can't (or won't), I'll call the cable company ASAP. At least they have assured me that they can provide me with simple services without the run around or the lies.



member for 16.5 years, 2807 visits, last login: 6.9 years ago
updated 8 years ago


mjhughes73
@myvzw.com

mjhughes73

Anon

Windstream is the worst phone/DSL provider

I live in the North Georgia mountains and only have one phone and DSL provider available, Windstream. Since they have a monopoly in the area, I am forced to deal with them. I recently moved and needed to move my line to my new location. The service reps stated that it would take 7 days to disconnect my line at the old home and reconnect it at my new home. They disconnected the line from the old home in a few hours and have not connected the line at the new home in the past 5 days. Now I have now phone or connection and cannot work from home or receive any faxes until maybe 2 days from now.
kpatt2006
join:2012-08-14
Greensburg, KY

1 recommendation

kpatt2006

Member

haha..

don't get too far ahead of yourself... only with Windstream for 3 months? Give it some time. They'll make you regret saying anything good about them.
SynMonger
Premium Member
join:2012-07-04
Thornton, AR

1 recommendation

SynMonger

Premium Member

Windstream never comes through

If we had an alternative in this area, we'd take it in a heartbeat. The options are actual dialup, satellite, or windstream's poor excuse for DSL. We've been waiting for two years for a fix and I suspect we'll be waiting a decade more. We were told it would be resolved by July 31st. For real, this time. It isn't. Shocker.

Current speed on our supposedly 3Mb/768k DSL:

totalradio
join:2007-09-15
El Dorado, AR

totalradio

Member

Re: Windstream never comes through

Knowing the area of Thornton like I do (I grew up on a small farm just north of town), my guess is that the entire town is either CO fed from Fordyce, or a RT in Thornton itself. To see that Thornton even HAS DSL is impressive. Probably the DSLAM is overloaded or your buried cable is quite old, or both. Windstream has obviously lied to you too, but I'll send you an IM with an email address and you can see how that works out.
kpatt2006
join:2012-08-14
Greensburg, KY

1 recommendation

kpatt2006 to SynMonger

Member

to SynMonger
The oversold "latency outage" in my area started November 2010. I couldn't begin to count how many promises Windstream has made saying when the equipment is going to be upgraded and fixed. It kept getting pushed back, of course. The latest news that a rep finally told me was basically, never. At least not for the foreseeable future. So they continue to mail people offers of DSL bundles, knowing they're not even providing their current customers what they are paying for. The BBB nor FCC would do anything about it, except write a written letter to the head Windstream offices then relay me the response of Windstream saying sorry for your inconvenience. Suppose to be on 3.0 MBPS.. This speedtest is actually a little higher than usual hahha..

Atekido
join:2002-08-25
York, NE

Atekido to SynMonger

Member

to SynMonger
speed test Atlanta georgia. most of WS connection in Arkansas routing goes to Atlanta before it goes anywhere else it actually goes to Atlanta and then Dallas and then Little rock from routing tables i have looked at.

wartree
@mycingular.net

wartree to SynMonger

Anon

to SynMonger
I'm in the same boat in Vilonia. I've called every month the past 5 months we've lived there because I have yet to see 3mb. This last month the tech told me upgrades were coming by July 30th. Nothing has changed. I called yesterday and the tech told me the date was still in there and it said 99% complete. Yeah, right.... I know there are two T3's that feed the whole town and everyone is sharing a part of those 3mb lines. They have massively oversold their bandwidth. The tech said there were 77 people sharing the line I'm on. That's ridiculous!

I transferred to billing and told them I wasn't paying my full bill when I'm only receiving less than a 1/3 of the bandwidth I was promised. The lady told me when you sign up for their service you agree to pay for "up to 3mb", with "up to" being the keyword. She did give me a $50 credit but next month it will be right back to the full amount. If we didn't use so much Netflix and streaming content instead of paying for satellite TV I would switch to satellite internet.

NonyoBiz
@windstream.net

NonyoBiz

Anon

My review of windstream

Talk about horrible internet
have you heard of windstream wanna bet
They'll take yo whole check and leave you on dial up
customers riled up
complaints pile up
From the floor to a mile up
because of negligence, incompetence, it makes no sense
that every time I do a speed test, at best, I get less
than yesterday
Why don't I get the speed I pay... fao (for)
aint that against the law?
aint it called fraud when you cheat me out what I bought?
I'm applaud at your fist and second clause
in yo TOS. I expect nothing less than the very very best
But what I get?
No respect!
Internet no connect!
Indian customer service in effect
Speed test said in jest as routers reset

And every time I call, all you do is stall
I want half off if you got-the-gaul
Screw all yall!
Eat this law suit, like soup, I hope you sip it through a straw!
cripple this company like a lion with his claws
around a gazelle
Not to yell but yo company fails!
How you make a sell? You should be like Dell!
Out of business
Every single witness
on your message boards gives a negative review
And b**** so do I. I'm through!
Enix
join:2011-05-16
Sanford, NC

Enix

Member

Re: My review of windstream

*Claps*
I love it.
tmwalsh
join:2006-06-23
Canton, GA

tmwalsh

Member

signed up for 12Mbps ... getting less than one

See:
»www.speedtest.net/my-res ··· 96471748

I was getting ~2Mbps regularly until last week, when my modem died and the rate then fell even more to 1+ as the tests indicate.
"Latency. Documented. Cannot do a thing..." - Windstream tech chat
Somehow magic latency is killing throughput? Not.
tom
iowaboy
Premium Member
join:2004-02-28
Fairfield, IA

iowaboy

Premium Member

Re: signed up for 12Mbps ... getting less than one

I signed up as I also only had one choice, Windstream. 4 ISPs in this town and only Windstream serves my area, about 1.4 mile from where the other 3 stop. Finally had Sat installed so at least I could have internet but can't use it for work, wife and I both work from home since we are disabled. I did have half internet that would work and was stable till got noise on both phone lines. After they tried fixing the noise and the speed dropped even lower. Now I am getting the modem drop at least 12 times a day. So much for working and they wanted me to switch to a business account, Yea Right. If they can't provide a decent residential line how are they going to provide a business line that is more expensive.
tmwalsh
join:2006-06-23
Canton, GA

tmwalsh

Member

Re: signed up for 12Mbps ... getting less than one

Windstream finally did a truck roll, and the tech verified quality back to the local serving office equipment. He then verified the buried line from the overhead to my 'demarc' box on the side of the house.
They can check line quality and power, essentially plugging in a tester that sends DSL stuff back and forth.
I would suggest that if you have phone line noise, pursue that as it is 'covered' by the fact that Windstream gets Federal {yours and mine, not really theirs} dollars to serve rural areas. So, they respond more to noise on the lines than DSL, it seems.
In most cases, you get noise, IMO, from corroded connections, ant-infested boxes, or punctured underground lines that have gotten waterlogged. The copper lines them self do NOT degrade with age to my knowledge. Their interconnection may, more readily.
Sorry about your service condition. Mine has been a lot better, with only a few occasions where it has dropped service.
The modem has been up for 665 hours, about 27 days. SNR 13.5-14 atten 36.5 with very few errors.
The log shows that the DSL was last bounced around midnight 9/26, but I don't think I was using it at the time. I think there has been one or two other interruptions, but I have not kept track of them.
tom
iowaboy
Premium Member
join:2004-02-28
Fairfield, IA

iowaboy

Premium Member

Re: signed up for 12Mbps ... getting less than one

the field techs were able to verify that the noise and dsl was great to within 1500m feet of me. At 1500 feet away the pedestal has clear phone and 3Mbps download speeds. 500 feet to the next pedestal the phone had noise on the line and dsl dropped to 1023 kbps. the next pedestal 500 feet away had noise on the phone and 1023 kbps dsl download. then is mine. phone has noise and 1023 kbps dsl download. They decided that the line was bad between the pedestal 1500 feet away and the one 500 feet from it. Now it is up to the area manager to find the money (what I was told by the field techs) to replace the busied line. That was over 3 months ago. Modem is rebooting on its own avg. 12 times a day and the phone is same as unusable on local calls cause you never know when the conversation will be drowned out with the noise. Calling in does not do any good as there is still an open ticket and I am told it will not do any good to send anyone out since we still have this open ticket.
tmwalsh
join:2006-06-23
Canton, GA

tmwalsh

Member

Re: signed up for 12Mbps ... getting less than one

Go buy yourself 510 feet of twisted pair. Call the tech and have her/him connect the two pedestals using your wire....
They have water intrusion and should rip out the buried cable.
I make the assumption that it is buried because of the use of pedestals.
Other than that, they CAN find the spot where the problem is by using a device that see/hears tones they put on the wires. The signal will be modified {being nice} where the problem exists. In a lot of cases they can dig up buried cable, and splice it to work almost as good as un-spliced. They can do the same with overhead.
I don't know how many wires are in the cable, but another alternative, if there are spares, is to switch your traffic to an unused pair. Again, I don't know specifics.
Either option should not be significant in their budget, and if neither is applicable, then I guess, I'd be on the phone to my local PUC lodging a complaint that telco service is bad, and you could not even use the phone to call an emergency team.
Local officials don't seem to have clout, but state PUC {public utilities commission} seem to. They are the folks who authorize rate changes, and what products are allowed to be sold by the telco.
tom
totalradio
join:2007-09-15
El Dorado, AR

totalradio

Member

Re: signed up for 12Mbps ... getting less than one

The biggest problem with Windstream is they can't afford to make too many changes (replace cable, install new DSLAMS, etc.). They are deep into debt by taking over smaller operations. The infrastructure was shoddy when they bought the smaller companies and they can't afford to upgrade them unless they absolutely have to.

As far as telephone service, your state PSC (or PUC in some states) will be able to do something. Telephone service is still a regulated product in most states, unlike DSL, which is un-regulated. However, if you feel that Windstream is misrepresenting its product (which they probably are), then a call to the Federal Trade Commission would be in order. The FTC regulates advertising (in any form), so I'm quite sure if the FTC gets enough complaints, they will tell Windstream to stop deceptive advertising.
iowaboy
Premium Member
join:2004-02-28
Fairfield, IA

iowaboy

Premium Member

Re: signed up for 12Mbps ... getting less than one

The area manager stated he wasn't going to replace a line for one customer. In fact it is 3 but they still will not fix it. I offered to pay for overhead line between the pedestals but no dice. Techs will not do anything. The last trip out they were supposed to replace my modem do to the 12+ reboots it was doing each day. No they said that would not fix the problem. In frustration I dug out the original modem and hooked it up. Now the modem stays connected for a few days before it reboots. When it does go down it goes through e cycles of up and back down before it stays but it is a lot better than what I was getting. Still have bad speeds but at least it i9s working better no thanks to the techs this time.

DSLGA
@cox.net

DSLGA

Anon

Windstream GA

We had the same issues for YEARS (still do) with Windstream. I was even told if I wanted to get use out of my 3mbps to use it at 3am. Seriously!?! Then I had local technicians out to check the service and they reported I was streaming TV/Video Gaming/ etc (which we had Dish and did not STREAM shows and as for gaming .. seriously on 3mbps???). When I complained is when my son was doing his online k12 and it would freeze up or I would not be able to stay connected to work on vpn for all the DROPS. Horrible horrible horrible service and horrible customer service. We pay 65.00 for 2mbps. Ridiculous!

Review by thutchings6 See Profile

  • Location: Whitney, Hill, TX, USA
  • Cost: $82 per month
  • Install: about 2 days
  • Telco party @link
Always on very little down time
Bufferbloat rating F
I will be switching to wireless/cable if they ever get higher speeds offered at my locale.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I started with 1.5 MB download and .512 MB upload..I had my dsl bundled with a phone package..It served the purpose at the time..I upgraded to 3.0 MB download and .384 upload as they would not offer the .512 upload anymore..I also did away with phone service and went to their greenstreak which is just dsl no phone plan..I liked that I still kept the same home phone number and could still receive calls at no cost..I bought a magic jack for outgoing calls and it has worked out well for me..I noticed here within the last few months that my upload speed has increased to .670 upload..I assume they upgraded everyone in my area to .768 upload who has the 3MB download..The only reason I upgraded to 3MB download was that I got netflix service and started streaming movies on my xbox..With the 3 MB download I can stream movies in HD..Sometimes my connection will slow a little and the movie will not stream in HD but 3MB download service is as fast as Windstream offers in my area right now..I have speedstream 4200 router running into LInksys WRT160N ver.2 wireless router..I started with Linksys WRT 54G and then went to a Belkin Model F5D7230-4 wireless G but both seemed to freeze and need to be rebooted to often, especially the Belkin..My WRT 160N is MUCH more stable and dependable..

When I first got windstream DSL it was when they first offered it in my area..Great at first but after about a year and a half they had over sold the available band width and service was very slow at peak times of the day..IE: after school let out until about 10 PM at night..They finally ran fiber cable to my DSLAM and it made a world of difference..That is also when they started offering the 3MB download..

Over all I've been happy with Windstream since they got through the growing pains..

Not happy any more!! Started experiencing the same problem as before but this time MUCH worse..Got no help from calling customer support..I will not deal with this crap for another year and a half as last time because now I have a choice!!

Still waiting for WS to do something..Have wireless service available but will cost $350 or more to get it in my house as I will need a pole or tower to be able to receive the signal..That also would include a 2 year contract..

I would not be so upset with WS if they would just admit the problem they have created by over selling.. It started when they started offering 12Mb service..They should move all customers back to 3Mb or less AND NOT SELL NEW SERVICE until they can upgrade their equipment to provide the service they sell..That is the most irritating part of all is that they continue to sell service that they know they can NOT provide!!

What if other utility companies, water electric etc., ran their business this way? Oh we will have your lights back working full time maybe sometime next year if your lucky..But in the mean time keep paying your bill as you have no other choice of providers!

Well I was on the verge of spending over $300 to get Nextlink Wireless when WS got my connection back to normal.. I think it was helped along by techs on WS forum.. I now get 15ms pings and full 6mb down almost all day.. The speeds will fall some and pings rise some at peak but mostly when we have many connections here in the house running at the same time.. Would love to have more speed but can not justify spending the extra money to get more speed.. They offer 12mb here but I'm to far from the dslam to get it.. I noticed some cable guys working in the area and wonder if that might have pushed WS to do something.. There used to be cable close to my area years ago but they went out of business because of not enough customers but the cable is still there..

Some time has passed now and I now have moved from my 10mb/768kb service to bonded service at 20mb/1.5mb.. My 10mb service worked great but I needed more upload..Just got the 20mb service about 3 weeks ago.. So far I do not like it.. Speeds start to vary wildly after about 5pm.. This never happened with my 10 mb service.. Also I lost a $20 discount i had for years because I had a second line of service.. In order to get the bonded dsl I had to cancel second line so they could use it for my bonding dsl therefore losing my discount.. I did this as there were not any pins left at my dslam to bond with my main phone line..They will not use an active line, even though I was not using it other than for discount on bill, to bond..

member for 17.3 years, 245 visits, last login: 112 days ago
updated 8.1 years ago

totalradio
join:2007-09-15
El Dorado, AR

totalradio

Member

Don't hold your breath...

Windstream has similar plans in our area. Problem is that download speeds for me aren't important, but upload is. Their upload speeds don't change from one plan to another, so I have the 3m service. 12m doesn't help me a damn it.

Another problem with Windstream is they like to pay lip service to its customers. They'll lie as long as they can get away with it, especially when someone has no choice for internet, other than Windstream. They really can't afford to "upgrade" areas, as their balance sheet is in the toilet, so if they've promised you "upgrades", take it with a grain of salt.

They used to have their trolls on here to "help customers", but I've yet to find one person they "helped". Since people are on to their lies, you don't see them on here anymore. So, my guess is that you're stuck with them until you can some meaningful competition.
rickash
join:2014-06-06

rickash

Member

Re: Don't hold your breath...

Windstream has been the same here in NE KY for 10 years but I have no real complaints. I am getting 8.2M down and 803K up on the last test this evening. Direct TV had some servers down and the chat tech admitted it. But back up now and just fine. And I am watching/playing on a Kindle Fire....
rickash

rickash

Member

Windstream in NE KY

Outperforming what I pay for by a bit. I had 803K up about an hour ago, 8.2MB down is pretty constant. Can't get 12Meg svc as I am 7,221' from the LO...

Review by bstroud93 See Profile

  • Location: Sheridan, Grant, AR, USA
  • Cost: $85 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Excellent Service
Great Service! Over a year strong!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Excellent Speeds! Actually get more than I pay for!

member for 11.6 years, 326 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
updated 8.2 years ago







Review by iowaboy See Profile

  • Location: Fairfield, Jefferson, IA, USA
  • Cost: $40 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
Speeds marginally ok
constant disconnects and field techs can not figure out why. Speed now 840 kbps on 3Mbps line
stay on top of them. Local field techs are great and care but hands tied
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Ordered 3 Mbps package and have 1.5 Mbps reliable speeds. But in end line will only handle 1.5 Mbps. Called for tech support 3 times till I got a internet tech who cared enough to not just transfer me away to someone who really could not handle my issue. Once I got someone who took the ball I was fixed within minutes.

Field techs are great and would not give up till i had a clean line and went out of their way to make sure I was satisfied with my service.

1/10/2-16: Stay away from this company. Phones are marginal and internet the worse. Will not fix lines that are bad even if they know exactly where issue is. Only have stayed with this company because I need a landline phone and the DSL comes with it. Otherwise I would drop them in a heart beat. I do have cable internet which is so much better but at the moment is down till someone resets the connection at the plant or I would not be able to check emails or read the news. But hate to say this but even satellite is better than Windstream. They love tio sell you the moon but they can't deliver what they promise.

09/12/2013: Well here we are after a few months of service and use the downstream has now dropped to best 1023 kbps and upstream of 380 kbps. Complained about noisy phone when on calls and since they attempted to repair this the speed dropped from 1506 kbps. Am paying for 3 Mbps down for DSL and so far they have refused to allow a discount for the reduced speeds. Field techs did rewire my line from the central office using never used lines and found that a pedestal about 1800 feet from me had 3 meg down. The next pedestal had 1023 kbps and mine has 1023 kbps. From what I can find out they may be not going to fix the line. Still have bad phone service with noise even when talking to my mother who also lives in same town.

I vote to stay away if you have another choice. Even satellite would be better than this.

10/10/2012. Finally done with this company. As soon as cable gets installed I am bailing. Internet connect speeds are lower and lower after each time tech comes to fix a problem they claim nothing is wrong and can't verify issue even though it is in black and while modem logs. Stay away. Even Satellite is better than this company.

member for 20 years, 2270 visits, last login: 3.3 years ago
updated 8.2 years ago

totalradio
join:2007-09-15
El Dorado, AR

totalradio

Member

Windstream Problems

I feel your pain. We in South Arkansas have great field techs. They know their equipment and they know their network. I'm lucky to live about 2000 feet from the CO and we get the speed we pay for, even at peak times.

That said, if you ever have to call tier 1 tech support, they are about as dumb as a box of rocks. They have no tech knowledge, they don't know their product and just flat out refuse to help. My last problem that I had was with my static IP, so I bit the bullet and called tech support. I got lucky and the tier 1 tech support person actually transferred me to tier 2 support. The guy in tier 2 was extremely sharp and recognized my problem. About 5 minutes of work and he told me to reboot my modem. BOOM ! Static IP problem corrected. Smooth sailing since then.

The problem in most areas is that when Windstream bought the smaller telcos, the infrastructure was horrible, and whether or not they knew it, they've never corrected them. In a lot of areas, the cables are bad at best. Couple that with the DSLAMS having inadequate circuits feeding them. When the DSLAMS get full, the speeds to customers are very bad. Combine them with bad cable and the problems are worse. Windstream can't really replace the bad cable in those areas, as its expensive to do so. They can't upgrade the circuits to the DSLAMS because its expensive to do so. Windstream's balance sheet is just as bad as their DSL in most areas, so they can't afford to upgrade the equipment. Once in a great while, an area gets lucky and gets an upgrade and all is well. In our area, Georgia-Pacific is a big customer for Windstream and I think they put a little pressure on Windstream to provide good service and the area benefits from it.

In fairness, Windstream is only one of many telcos that have those problems. I've heard many problems with Fairpoint, Frontier, CenturyLink, and of course Windstream. I've heard few problems with Verizon FiOS, and their huge fiber build outs. And Verizon FiOS has incredible speeds, speeds that I can only dream of, but that's comparing apples & oranges.

Glad you got away from Windstream.
jnoneiliv1
join:2013-10-19
United State

jnoneiliv1

Member

Re: Windstream Problems

I also feel your pain. We don't have cable or FIOS support in our area and older POTS lines to use for DSL and T1. It's not an easy problem to solve, try to be patient. I often get very frustrated, but it really doesn't help and the technicians are often just as frustrated.

Review by Fishehh See Profile

  • Location: Filley, Gage, NE, USA
  • Cost: $79 per month
They are available where I live.
Everything else.
Pee water is better than no water.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

This is with a 16 year old "internet & phone for life" deal with 3mb down internet.

Never had download speeds exceed 10% of what I was paying for.
Customer service was horrible - would call at 6 after work and be forwarded around till 7 when they closed. People were pleasant but didn't know what they were doing.
Connection is consistent. ~50kb/s average.
Ping is nearly always > 600ms. Never under 250ms. Ever.
After taxes and fees most recent monthly bill was **~$79.**
After about a month of tri-weekly phone calls to complain, download speed went from ~20kb/s to ~200kb/s, ping remained >1000ms(generally games would stop calculating ping after 1000ms) though I think it improved slightly.
Every time a service tech was sent out, it would be unannounced and during my day at work. Happened 2 or 3 times, and got some hypocritically annoyed sounding voice messages about it.
After an additional month of bi-weekly harassment, I was told that they had "6 lanes of traffic on a 4 lane highway." and that it would be another 6-9 months before they could even THINK about servicing my area. This is reference to the fact that they are on a copper cable on most of their service area, and the switch to fiber-optic has been a painfully slow process for them.

Didn't really have a problem installing around 16 years ago or so.

TL;DR
High price for pee water at best.

member for 8.2 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 8.2 years ago


Review by mikeisrelic See Profile

  • Location: Fort White, Columbia, FL, USA
  • Cost: $64 per month
  • Install: about 8 days
Nothing
Neverending
Don't
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was sold a 3.5 package. I receive 14% of that. The tech that performed the install was swift. The brand and model is substandard to be honest a Fast 170n i believe. The overall company service was rude. The people who answer the phone are incompetent, unhelpful, and completely lacking in any type of customer service training. There have been no good experiences since having wind stream. The internet often goes out or runs so slow that even google wont load. My pings reach 1800 so often it is the norm. The reps on the phone will not compensate the bill against the horrible service they do not provide, and yet they still determine pricing based on whats in the area that they have a monopoly. They are by far the worst internet service provider I have ever encountered. Comcast may have bad customer service but at least the internet works good at least it did when I had them. My only hope is some foul laced karma can one day ruin everything they hold dear.

member for 8.2 years, 11 visits, last login: 7.1 years ago
lodged 8.2 years ago


Review by gff1979 See Profile

  • Location: Wesley, Madison, AR, USA
  • Cost: $80 per month
  • Install: about 2 days
Tech support is decent. Generally get a tech out in a day or so.
Poor speeds, very erratic speed and pings almost as bad as satellite. Fiber ends 6 miles away...
Not worth $80 a month
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

This is my second go with Windtream as I switched to Excede then back to Windstream last summer as Excede had no technicians in my area to fulfill my repair ticket in the time I needed for work purposes, the expected wait was in excess of a week so I had to dump the satellite provider for local DSL.

Windstream let me keep my old modem, as I purchased it, so I didn't have much trouble with reconnecting and it was up within a couple of days, 4 days quicker than if I had waited for Excede to get a tech to me (and I was sitting on a $1500 project near completion at the time). It help me out of a bind, kinda, but teleconferencing and uploading was a bit of a pain regardless. Technical support is just ok but the knowledge and helpfulness of the Field Techs, in my experience, are what shine the most. They are very honest and hard working. They actually seem to care about the infrastructure of the network where as the phone operators don't have any clue as it really isn't their job. They mostly just tell you, "Try turning it off then on again."

My personal experience with the service is very bad. It's a rural copper based and consistently oversold so my speeds have dropped in reliability and speed over the last months of using it. It is even worse than when I had them 3 years ago. I understand that the copper lines are holding the area back. I also understand that the fiber has been 6 miles away for sometime now. I'm testing around 800kbps near midnight (sometimes) but peak hours are generally between 100-300 kbps. At times (mostly in November) I have a couple of days a week where it's worse than dialup, at around 10kbps and tech support doesn't really explain the cause. The techs will tell you what you probably already know if you are savvy, that it's oversold. Or too much bandwidth is being spread too thinly to cover everyone in the area successfully. They usually just say the equipment can't handle it when you call the support line, pestering for some kinda clue as to why the service isn't working. The other really nasty part is that they say they actually have no support for this rural setup and they aren't obligated to fix the problems even if I'm not getting service. I wasn't informed of that when ordering either time but had the broadband department explain that one for me... though I have heard other people complaining about this situation, I didn't believe them.

This sort of business practice seems wrong as I'm paying as much as their 3mbps fiber customers. I suppose I can go back to where I came from. I'm sure I'm not making anyone enough profit to matter and I can't seem to make enough noise or a case even if this is the core of the work I do. Given it's my job on the line, it isn't a matter of it being too expensive (it is) but just not being much of a service at all. It's like paying for a ride to work that never picks you up on time and only shows up a few days out of the week.

member for 8.9 years, 34 visits, last login: 7 years ago
lodged 8.2 years ago


Review by Black_Mage See Profile

  • Location: USA
  • Cost: $57 per month
  • Install: about 15 days
Decent price
I dealt with a lot of outages and didn't always getting advertised speed
Go with Windstream if it's your only choice
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Update Nov 1 2014

I signed up with Windstream because they were offering a discount to the residents of the apartment complex I moved into at the time. I started with their 12 Mbps option and eventually upgraded to 24 Mbps. I no longer have service with Windstream because I got tired of outages. In the 2 years of service, I had a total outage time of a little over a month. Totally unacceptable for someone who uses their Internet connection as much as me. I was willing to tolerate not always getting the advertised speed. Getting no service was a deal breaker. The only reason I give tech support 4 stars is because of the great support I received from this forum.

member for 11.5 years, 3146 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 8.3 years ago

SnakeDoctor
join:2013-07-22
King, NC

SnakeDoctor

Member

You were Lucky

I have good service in the past. In the last two years my service quality is sorry. I called the Attorney Generals office in N.C. to file a formal complaint. I suggest you do the same if you can not get your problems resolved. Calling the Utilities Commission here in NC will not get things resolved. Call the AG.

Black_Mage
iMage
Premium Member
join:2012-09-12
USA

Black_Mage

Premium Member

Re: You were Lucky

Since Internet service is still considered a luxury, I don't know what the AG will be able to do.

Review by rlee33 See Profile

  • Location: Trinity, Trinity, TX, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month
Not even close.
Pretty much all the time.
56k may be worth looking into if it's your only option (not being sarcastic)
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Started having trouble in early September 2012, it's now January 4th 2013. Connectivity and latency issues have still not been resolved, even after contacting BBB and FCC 3 months ago. I would advise anyone considering Windstream to find any other option, seriously, it can't get any worse. However, I am pretty sure their business model is to go into rural areas where they are the only show in town, set up cheap and then ignore people when they start to complain due to overselling.

I put in 7 calls between September and October, every time I was told that someone from their Tech unit would call me back to find a solution. I have still not received a call back from anyone at Windstream. The only help I found was from someone on this site, who after several weeks told me that they were going to change out a card at our d slam on the 31st of December. Obviously that did not happen because I still have crappy speeds. Feel free to check out the speedtest reports I've kept since it all started (I'm currently paying for 12 meg down by the way):

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 96&ria=0

UPDATE: It's almost the end of 2015, still having trouble out of Windstream. If you have a choice, avoid at all costs. These guys do not value customer service at all. The past two weeks I have been lied to multiple times, customer service center said they have dispatched a technician on two separate occasions, I have yet to meet a technician at my house. The first technician simply closed the ticket stating that he resolved the issue, yet customer service could see on their terminal that he never visited our property. Even after speaking with a manager I couldn't get anyone to come out and fix my connection dropping issue. Absolutely absurd. I just got off the phone with customer service and he said he could see that I have called over 40 times in the past few years. All of these calls were prompted by repeated disconnections, slow speeds are the least of my worries.

member for 11.4 years, 48 visits, last login: 6.7 years ago
updated 8.3 years ago

snuffyss
join:2007-09-23
Hedley, TX

snuffyss

Member

Same story here

Click for full size
Same story here and about the same time line. My problems started in late August. A google search gives the same story from Texas to Georgia...they are getting by with overcharging for services they don't deliver. I called & sent written reports for over a month. As soon as they figured I had been in the telecom business for decades and they couldn't con me the problem became a higher level problem...someone would get back to me within 48 hours. I never heard from anyone. The problem is simple. Windstream oversold and overloaded their system grossly for what they have. They want the extra money without any investment. With the regulators looking the other way they get by with it. Makes you wonder what is done with our tax dollars. I pay for 6.0 mbps here. It's almost midnight & my download speed is 0.17 mbps. The local DSL loop is the same as always. Good signal to noise ratio & loop speed. The same as it has been when I had a solid 6.0 mbps. Attached is a screenshot of my latest speed test.
rlee33
join:2012-10-30
Trinity, TX

rlee33

Member

Re: Same story here

Can you tell me if this is true, maybe you have done some research on this already. I've never sued anyone in my life, but the way I have been treated by Windstream makes me want to. However, I found on the internet the other day some article that says the contract we signed prohibits us from filing a lawsuit against the company as long as we are customers. What then? Do we have to drop Windstream before we can sue them? Would suing them make any difference?
snuffyss
join:2007-09-23
Hedley, TX

snuffyss

Member

Re: Same story here

I'm not sure that will hold water. As for a contract I never signed one. I was already with another company several years ago that the current bunch acquired. Lots of places have that disclaimer to scare the customers. You need to check with a lawyer & show your contract to him. A number of posts indicate a desire to file a class action suit that I have seen.
snuffyss

snuffyss to rlee33

Member

to rlee33
Click for full size
New all time low download speed 9:45 pm cst. 1/5/2013