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Review by debjo99 
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 14 visits, last login: 8.8 years ago
 Bedford,Cuyahoga,OH
 Business customer
 $250 per month (12 month contract)
 "If you can't say anything nice . . ."
 "Total apathy on the part of everyone I talked to at DSL.net"
 "I would rather use a 2400 baud modem than deal with these people"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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DSL.net was the biggest nightmare to work with. I got nothing but empty
promises for over 8 weeks. I was told the line would be installed June 19.
No one ever came. I was then told it would be another 4 days to find out
why .. . .then another promise . . .then another 4 days. The tech came out,
then told me the circuit wasn't complete, so we would have to wait to find
out the problem. To make a long story short, when I didn't have the service
as of July 14, I called the sales manager, who sounded about 16. He
promised me someone would come out the next day. I told him I thought that
was highly unlikely, since the next day was a Saturday. I was tired of the
lies and empty promises of DSL.net. Everytime you call, NO ONE answers -
you only get voice mail. There is such apathy there, it's amazing ANYONE
gets service. I would NEVER do business with this company . . .I'll keep my
dialup first!
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Review by vbslinger
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 18 visits, last login: 5.6 years ago
Fairborn,Greene,OH
Business customer
$199 per month (12 month contract)
"All managers, owners, etc. of this buffoon parade will retire some day."
"The only problem with DSL.Net is their coordination, service, attitude, and technical skills."
"I would rather pluck my eyeballs from my skull with a spatula than do business with this company."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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My company contacted several DSL providers in March 2000 and all except
DSL.Net said it wasn't available. DSL.Net said it would be installed in 4-6
weeks. It turned out it wasn't available and DSL.Net is the only one that
would lie to get in our pockets(we've learned much since).
3 months later we got installed and only received 5 usable IPs vs. the 8
promised with unlimited expansion(now they say its harder than that). They
say we have an SDSL with 416k. We rarely go above 192K. We can't send an
email over 2 megs. We were given 8 emails instead of the promised 10.
Enough griping. I told them we want to switch, sent the form and waited,
and waited. Finally I called them and after several switches and holding I
got a supervisor that said, "We refuse to sign any switch requests, we're
losing too many customers. You can have our service completely uninstalled
and have another provider do their own install, but we won't let you
switch."
I am contemplating asking our lawyer to contact them. The problem is I'll
pay $100+ for that phone call. This is a typical situation where it is
going to be more expensive to be treated fairly than to just eat the money
and get on with life.
Shawn Brock
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Review by brandonlp
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 20 visits, last login: 8.2 years ago
Pittsburgh,Allegheny,PA
Business customer
$249 per month (12 month contract)
"Reliable, fast connection."
"HORRIBLE customer service/tech support."
"As long as you don't have to talk to them, they're great."
| Pre Sales information:
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My name is Brandon, and over the last few months I had been looking for a replacement net connection for my office. We had been using dual-ISDN for 3 years, and I figured that I could get much faster SDSL for the same price we were paying for ISDN (which I did). I looked into Flashcom, Verio, etc... and one of my co-workers told me about dsl.net. So I called them and they offered me 784kbps SDSL for the same $249 a month we had been paying for our ISDN connectivity. So anyway, the info I got on the phone and the faxes I received made me believe that DSL.net was such a great company. I was told that it would take 30-45 days to get it installed... which was OK with me. 20 days after I placed the order, Bell-Atl (our phone provider) came and installed the loop. That same day, we received a Netopia R7100 router from DSL.net. Three days later, TLC (a contractor from DSL.net) came to install the line. The TLC guys were confused because they had expected us to have a CopperRocket Modem, and they had never installed using a Netopia router. Anyway, they got it installed and all was well...or it seemed. I had specifically asked NOT to use NAT when I was talking to both the sales rep and the installation coordinator and it seemed to be no problem. Low-and-behold, this Netopia router connected to our new 784kbps SDSL was using NAT. I called them (because I couldn't use the IP addies they had assigned me a few days earlier) and I was told that it would be easier to just request that they send me a CopperRocket than to try to disable NAT on the DSL.net password protected (of course they don't tell you the password so you can't do anything yourself) Netopia Router. The tech rep. told me that I had to call customer service. I called them and they told me that the tech rep. didn't have any clue what he was talking about and that turning off NAT would be no problem. Anyway... I ended up bouncing from person-to-person on DSL.net's phone system for about 3 hours, listening to their annoying hold message, while they tried to figure out if they were really a DSL provider or not. Finally, I was told that they could AirMail me a CopperRocket and I could return the Netopia router. This was Friday. Come monday morning, no CopperRocket (even though USPS delivers AirMail 365 days a year). I call DSL.net...and find out that they could not ship it because it was too late in the day on friday and their Customer Care center is closed on weekends. So they say it'll go out Monday and i'll have it tuesday. On tuesday morning at about 11am, I finally receive my CopperRocket from DSL.net. I hook it up, assign an IP address to my machine, and it works! Fast internet! Woo hoo! About 4 hours later, I'm sitting in my office, and a co-worker brings over a box from DSL.net. It's CopperRocket #2. They sent me a second one. Poor disorganized company. Anyway, I call them to ask them about our DNS hosting for our domain name (hillhouse.org) and they say that the people who handle that are busy and I can just fax (on company letterhead) a list of what i want pointing to what and they'll get it done. Also on the same day, I asked for RMAs (or Airbills as they call them) for the Netopia R7100 and the extra CopperRocket. That was Tuesday... today is Saturday. Still no RMAs, still no DNS. Ohh well... at least we have DSL.
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Review by chicagocpa2
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.3 years ago
Grayslake,Lake,IL
Business customer
$199 per month (12 month contract)
"up and running in 32 days, responsive to router problem"
"needed a second router ( received it the next day)"
"I recommend DSL.net"
| Pre Sales information:
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After I read the previous posted messages, I guess I'm a rarity. I was up and running in 32 days. There was a problem with the original router, but they shipped one out the next day. Their tech support walked me through the setting up of the router. I've had no problems since.
The sales person I had was professional. The two dealings with their tech support was long but they got me going, the next day. Based on my dealings, I've recommended a couple of people.
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Review by JustLock
UPDATED: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.4 years, 17 visits, last login: 7.6 years ago
Altamonte Springs,Seminole,FL
Contract price not specified.
"Bad sales tactics!"
"DSL.NET, We will get your business, if you like it or not! Review this customer service letter from DSL.NET"
| Pre Sales information:
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Following this introduction I have posted the customer service e-mail that is DSL.Net's official response to a customer service issue. Yes, I have taken peoples names out, to protect the innocent, but the content is just as I received it from DSL.NET. It was strange that they sent me the e-mail as a zip file, believe me I checked it for viruses.
This whole situation came about because the sales rep "Mark" at DSL.NET discovered that we signed up for DSL service with multiple vendors and were simply going to go with who ever could hook us up the quickest. The early bird gets the worm....
Both GTE and Bluestar saw NO PROBLEMS with me placing multiple orders.. and neither did DSL.NET... that is until "Mark" was involved.
DSL.NET has a 30 day money back guarantee in writing. It blew my mind that this jerk sales person stated "we have a partially signed contract and it is binding", he was really angry and mean about the whole thing. Don't you have to provide a service to get paid? Mark has gone as far as getting testimonials who were "witnesses" to his phone conversation with me to state that he was not abrasive. Mark has even requested that this post be removed from DSLREPORTS.COM.
If they have a 30 day money back guarantee, then what sense was it to push for the past due install in the first place? I believe that the sales person I was forced to deal with (Mark) was only concerned about one thing his COMMISSION!
The sad thing is that if they would have just set the service up and not been such bullheaded jerks in the first place, then I would be a happy DSL.NET customer. GTE was able to complete the installations within 7 days.. DSL.NET was forecasting 60 days for installation.... Why are they selling something they cant provide in a timely manor?
The one and only real reason why I canceled with them is because of their sales staff, no installations had occurred until after this correspondence came about.
Believe me, I was not trying to use DSLREPORTS.COM as a get even tactic... I was simply wanting to let people know that the DSL.NET sales team are ugly to deal with. In the post, Mark even says that the sales person we were dealing with may have lied to get the sale.
If you look at other reviews of DSL.NET you will see that I am not alone.
This whole ordeal is water under the bridge to me, but others deserve to be warned.
DSL.Net's Response..........
Dear Customer:
First let me extend my apologies for any misunderstanding that my firm stance about the validity of your contract being binding may have generated. I am sorry to say that regardless of any accusation that you desire to level it does not change the facts.
The facts are as follows:
Our former sales agent, may have misrepresented our company by making verbal promises to you which he had no authority to offer. The alleged promises were not in writing and we do not consider them as binding.
We have a signed contracts from you for two locations with no provision written in for canceling due to a delivery period other than what is industry standard.
There was no other notation in your fax that this was a necessary contingency for us to beat the delivery of two other competitors, therefore it can not be considered after the fact, especially considering the fact that you admitted to me that you also placed orders with one or two other vendors (Bluestar and MCI?) We have no way of verifying when you placed those orders to be completely fair about it.
If you feel that those misrepresentations were binding they would have needed to be backed-up in a separate writing or written into the contract. Simply by omitting or holding back parts of our contract does not make the misrepresentations binding nor does it make the other contract parts you submitted to us any less binding.
Finally, as least two witnesses in my office to the full conversation between you and I and they will attest that at no time did I show any disrespect, have any outbursts of rage, use any obscene language. Anybody that knows me including the former sales person you were dealing with (who called me a wimp in his last phone message), knows that I am fair, mild mannered and never ever use obscene language, especially in a business relationship or professional environment. This is because I represent not only my company but more importantly my Lord and my reputation. It appears that you have chosen to drag all of this through the mud in order to get out of a contract.
Lets turn this negative situation into a positive. Believe me I feel badly that the sales person you were dealing with has left the company, but much of it was his own choosing. I more than anyone wanted to see him succeed and I truly wish him the best wherever he goes. I will even offer to give him the commission on this sale and set him up as referral partner on any future opportunities.
If there are other requirements you would like to us consider other than beating two competitors who have to go through the same delivery issues as we do, we will be happy to consider it. Again, I apologise for the poor level of communication thusfar and am willing to go the extra mile to fix it. Lets talk and not argue anymore. Otherwise no one wins except the lawyers.
Sincerely,
Mark P. Henderson
Channel Manager
DSL.net, Inc.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 9.4 years ago
(review was emailed from domain lightstream.net)
Mentor,Lake,OH
Business customer
$330 per month (12 month contract)
"Contacted me based on generic dsl information request site"
"Only seem to be worried about getting people to sign up, not about providing customer service."
"For nearly 2 months didn't accomplish anythibut repeatedly screw up my account info."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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Tech Support:
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Below is a copy of a cancellation letter to DSL.net that summarizes my
experience with their service (lack of).
This letter is official notice of cancellation of any Access/Service Agreement for any of our locations that have been previously discussed. This termination of any relationship between Falkenroth, Inc.and DSL.net was a straightforward decision on our part, with the following justification.
My initial discussion with DSL.net was with Lawrence Cohen on May 11th. During the course of that conversation I explained to Mr. Cohen that based on my research our location in Perry, OH does not have dsl accessibility. In addition, I related that I had talked with the local phone company and they informed me that they could not provide the service. Mr. Cohen told me that the local phone company's inability to provide the service does not affect DSL.net's ability to provide service and asked that I give him the address and phone of the location. While we were on the phone he checked on service for this location and informed me that DSL.net could provide the service. Based on this, he also checked on our Memphis, TN location and informed me that DSL.net could also provide dsl service there. With his assurance, I agreed to sign up for service with DSL.net. I also explained the critical nature of these connections. Our company has two main facilities that share 1 server to access an ERP software system. The ERP software is scheduled to move to a new server at the Perry, OH location. Our corporate headquarters are now in Mentor, OH and was scheduled to move to the Perry location at the beginning of July. The most critical issue of this relocation is the internet connection providing our Memphis location access to the ERP software.
Over the course of the next month and a half, I made repeated phone calls to Mr. Cohen and Nicole Craw (assigned to handle the coordination of installations) to learn that no progress was being made. During the first 2 3 weeks, I was informed by Nicole Craw that she had not yet received my file. When she did receive it, it was incomplete. On top of these delays, at least 3 times, I had to correct them as to the address for the Perry, OH installation.
Finally, on June 22, Steve Biela called me and informed me that, for the Memphis location, the phone company had been scheduled to install the circuit for the dsl connection and that it should 3 4 weeks before it would be functional. The very next day, Steve left me a voice mail to inform me that they could not provide us dsl service for the Memphis location. I then called and spoke with Nicole Francis, a sale department manager, about all these problems and the fact that DSL.net has caused us to lose our schedule for our relocation. She did work out an arrangement with Covad to provide dsl at the Memphis location. In my discussion with Nicole Francis on June 23, I asked her to determine if DSL.net could actually provide dsl service for our Perry location and get back to me. It is now June 30 and I have not heard from her.
DSL.net is walking away from this unscathed, aside from losing a customer. In my opinion the management at DSL.net promotes this type of dealing with prospective customers: say whatever it takes to get a prospect hooked, then find out if it can be delivered. We, on the other hand, are the ones suffering. Our only recourse, aside from cutting ties with DSL.net, it to place this information on DSLReport.com and other dsl reference points on the web as a testimonial to the business practices of DSL.net.
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Review by rskenderian
Posted: 9.5 years ago
member for 9.5 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.5 years ago
Hartford,Hartford,CT
Business customer
$413 per month (24 month contract)
"They offer DSL"
"Everything else"
"Avoid like a used-car salesman named 'Lefty'."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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Tech Support:
Services:
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s y n a p t i q
This is THE most incompetent organization ever imagined. My 1Meg line
ran at 110-177k. The '$500 rebate at Staples"....keep waiting. Their tech
support, get this, didn't even know how to use Internet Explorer, or, for
that matter, understand the internet (came about when they wanted to do a
speed test) they kept telling me to go on the internet and click on a button
on the upper left, a button I didn't have on my Yahoo home page...as it
turned out, they were on the MSN speed test site and didn't even know
it!!!...which I had to figure out for them. Talk about incompetence.
How long did installation take? So many months I really can't
remember...at least 3 months, perhaps 4. The technician, when he finally
arrived said to me...& get this, their own employee..."you'll be fine as
long as you don't have to talk to them", and then went on and on saying how
incompetent the organization was. I was instilled with faith.
I contacted the '#8' guy in the organization, and told him of all the
various horror stories and canceled my service with them. Four months later
I am still receiving bills for a 1Meg/sec line. A couple months after
canceling my service, they sent me an upgraded modem. A couple weeks ago I
received a phone call from them asking how my service was.
I called them telling them to take their modems, but I still have (2)
Copper Rocket SDSL modems sitting here (anyone want to buy a modem, cheap?)
I live 20 minutes from their central office.
PS...the good reviews posted here about DSL.net are by them...I told
them about DSLreports and that I was going to give them a very bad
review....next thing you know, there's these mysterious good reports about
them....hmmmmm.
PPS To business folks out there: the four months of 'next
Wednesday' cost me my start-up business. Lucky for me, I have other sources
of income.
Richard Skenderian
Hartford, CT
rskenderian@synaptiq.com
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Review by patellison
Posted: 9.5 years ago
member for 9.5 years, 6 visits, last login: 8.2 years ago
Lake Worth,Palm Beach,FL
Business customer
$179 per month (12 month contract)
"Fast Connection"
"This is tech support? OH. PLEASE.. Can I put you on hold?"
"if you can wait 6months for another DSL provider .. do so."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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Commercial dedicated 144k iDSL line. $179.00/mo 250.00 install (staples gift certificates-where are they)
I'm stuck as I'm 22,000 ft from CO
Presale staff was good.. sure we do this... that too... even
set up domain name. and even host the you in our name server,
USEnet, email, 10 meg web site if you want.
All for $179.00 and first month free..
---
Sales Reality-
* First month NOT free...
* Bill from network solutions for registration of domain.
Was told this was included.
* USEnet is $59.00/mo extra.
* eMail is a additional package
Tech Reality-
* Modem Fedex to me was a SDSL one not iDSL
* Registered my domain with wrong email address so I could
not change anything.
* No we don't host your domain. you need a name server.
I said screw it and installed one. After I did so
they called back and said that they would make an
exception.
* Registered the WRONG IP address in their name server.
* Not one tech support rep can help you unless they place you
on hold not less than 15 mins. Same with cust support.
Are they asking the only person there that knows?
* During my first outage it took them 4 hours to create a
"trouble ticket" (did how ever get 1 free month over this)
Remember this is a commercial account as a front door to an
internet company.
Bottom line... I get nothing but a connection, Usenet (An exception just for me?) and 3 entries in their name server for $179.00/mo. Oh yes let's not forget tech support?
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 9.6 years ago
(review was emailed from domain cfsystems.com)
Englewood Cliffs,Bergen,NJ
Business customer
$199 per month (12 month contract)
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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My ISP is DSL.net, headquarters in Conneticut. My DSL
connection is from Bell Atlantic. I am up and running since 18th January
2000 without 1 incident of service interuption. I choose to pay extra and
go through DSL.net rather than go to Bell Atlantic direct because my office
is networked and I heard Bell Atlantic does not offer any tech support. We
pay DSL.net $199 per month plus $500 setup fee. I am suppose to receive
from DSL.net a $500 gift certificate for Staples Office Supply Store. I
called DSL.net 1 month ago to complain and they still have not sent us our
gift certificate. If I went direct to Bell Atlantic without DSL.net as a
middleman, Bell Atlantic charges $50 per month plus I would have to buy or
rent a modem router. I have a 1 year contract with DSL.net then Iwill search for a cheaper plan.
From
Gayle
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 Review by Babearlon5
Posted: 9.7 years ago
member for 10 years, 161 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Lakewood,Ocean,NJ
$319 per month (12 month contract)
 about 90 days
 Verizon
CLEC party: DSL.Net
"Solid connection once installed"
"Install coordination snafus"
"good business DSL service"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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In a nutshell - very good business DSL service.
Currently:
- SDSL 784k/784k
- $319.00 /month (1 year commitment)
- Copper Rocket SDSL adapter, provided by ISP
- Static IPs - 32 IP routed subnet
- speed verified up to max
Now on to the long saga...
I found DSL.net here on DSLREPORTS.COM, in October 1999. At the time, they were the only LEC/ISP showing availability here in Lakewood NJ. As it turns out, that was a bit premature. When I spoke to their sales folk, I was told that Bell Atlantic was not opening up my central office until early November, and that the earliest I could probably get DSL would be in mid December 1999. So I placed my order on October 26, for SDSL 384k/384k with 32 fixed IPs, in expectation of that availabilty. This was based upon the estimated distance of 12,000 feet or so.
Communication from their sales staff was sporadic at the time, for better or worse the original sales person is no longer there.
Bell Atlantic finally put in the physical DSL line for me on December 27, 1999. At that point I contacted DSL.net to find out when they would be out here, but could not get a date from them due to what they described as technical problems with the DSL line failing testing.
I was finally notified that the line would be installed on Tuesday, January 25, 2000. As I telecommute, it's not that big a deal to be home the whole day. Well, nobody showed on the install date. So, I called the installation department and they told (different person there) me that they showed Thursday, January 27 as the install date. Once again, nobody showed.
Since the Copper Rocket equipment had already arrived, and all that needed to be physically done was running telephone wire (ok, so I used CAT-5) about 30 feet - I did it myself. (But I've done all my home telephone wiring for years anyhow.) Called their network operations center, and got it turned on that evening.
It turns out that the installer was scheduled for Thursday, cancelled but failed to notify anyone till the next morning. Now there is a $500 installation fee, normally offset by a $500 coupon at Staples. The waved the whole fee, which is fairly reasonable.
Network operations did a speed check and found I could get either 384/384 or 784/784. However the price listed per month (including equipment rental) for 784/784 was $399 a month. Ouch.
Their sales manager renegotiated the contract with me on February 18. I was offered my current 384/384 for $199, or 784/784 for $319. (Who can resist a higher speed? Not me.) So, I'm now at 784/784 for a decent price. (Side note, it did take about 5 phone calls for them to realize that they had not actually upped the speed.)
So, installation was a hassle. But it got done. (Currently DSL.net is the ONLY ISP in my central office. Covad has still not opened it up yet.)
As to service... I've only had 1 outage. During the February DDoS attacks on Amazon and other sites, there was a one hour outage. This occured at 23:30 one night. When I called in, their network operations staff had just started coming in to address the issue. (They do not staff the NOC onsite 24x7 yet, but the do have local guys who will come in when contacted for the graveyard shift.) They/I got nailed by the DDoS due to backbone proximity to the target site.
While on the topic, their Network Operations manager - Dean Ayer - and his staff are a great pleasure to work with. I was impressed. David Cox in sales, fixed up my contract problems, and offered me the better prices. (Well they're competitive.)
As to my review ratings...
1. Pre-Sales info was a bit premature.
2. They did flub the installation, hopefully they've got that fixed now for other folk.
3. The connection is SOLID. This is a phenominal improvement over my old 128k ISDN. 1 hour outage out of the roughly 1222 hours I've had my line (50 days and counting) far exceeds my prior ISP.
4. Technical Support ... the technical side (network operations) is solid, the help desk folks still need better coordination.
5. Mail DNS News ... The only downside is News. Their news server is intended for filtered business use only, and the price of that is NOT included, it is a seperate service.
6. Value for the money ... I started pricing business DSL for another corporate office location (metro Boston), where there is a long list of providers. For either of the current rates quoted me ($199 for 384 and $319 for 784), they effectively become quite cost effective. While other ISPs price in lower, once you factor in charges for additional IPs - many include only 1, and charge $5 per IP per month - this is a very good deal. In addition, there is no charge for hosting your first domain.
So ... it's a mixed review. Would I choose them again if I moved? (Turns out I am moving, but that is a different saga..) - Yes I will.
Hayim
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DSLnet Inc
