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Review by steely27 See Profile

  • Location: Mason, Warren, OH, USA
  • Cost: $64 per month
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
Extremely reliable (FTTH)
Phone based customer service not the greatest, should just go to the CB store
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I have had Cincinnati Bell for the past couple years, including while living in an apartment where my wife and I also tried Time Warner Cable for a period of time. Cincinnati Bell was alright in the apartment complex, but the speeds could be dicey at times.

When we bought our house and had CB install here, the advantages of having a dedicated FTTH connection were immediately apparent. No matter the time of day, we always see steady speeds about as close to advertised as possible. The reliability has been awesome, and the only time we have had an internet outage was consequently due to electric being out also.

People have different experiences with CB, but I don't think you're going to find many that will complain about it who have FTTH (Fiber To The Home). For apartment complexes that are on a sort of shared connection - you will probably also have similar results with Time Warner. That's just the nature of the technology in combination with apartments and shared connections.

member for 8.3 years, 1710 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 7.1 years ago


Review by bferrell See Profile

  • Location: Mason, Warren, OH, USA
  • Cost: $114 per month
  • Install: about 120 days
  • No Cap
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
Great speed, fair price, good support.
Took a long time to get the fiber installed
Happy customer
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I've had the 1Gig offering for over a year now, so the advertised special pricing has expired for me, but I've stayed with the service because they are the only ones offering these speeds, and I think the price is still fair (and I want this product to be available in my market). Even when TW offers their "mega" service of 3-400 down the upload speeds still won't compare to Bell's, and I use a fair bit. The one time I did have a small technical issue they communicated clearly when the issue would be resolved and gave me a discount for the period I wasn't getting full speed. They met their commitments and I'm back to full speed. You can't ask for more than that from my perspective, so I'm very happy.

member for 8.1 years, 425 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
lodged 7.3 years ago


Review by techguru308 See Profile

  • Location: Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, USA
  • Cost: $140 per month
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
Services are cheaper than Time Warner Cable
Foreign Customer service hard to understand
If you can deal with the language barriers with their foreign customer service you should be good. Nice Value.
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I have TV, Internet, and phone service through Cincinnati Bell. Support is frustrating due to language barrier and script. But services are cheap can not complain.

August 2016 I have been with Time Warner Cable for a couple of months it is more reliable than Cincinnati Bell. Prices have gone up and now costs more than Cincinnati Bell but the reliability and support makes it worth the extra cost.

member for 7.8 years, 1007 visits, last login: 6.1 years ago
updated 7.6 years ago


Review by arrowrand See Profile

  • Location: Newport, Campbell, KY, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Install: about 8 days
  • No Cap
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
I waited 7 years for FTTH, and the speeds have been worth it.
Not bad, but the Entone equipment isn't the best.
If you can get fiber to the home, Fioptics is better than Time Warner in my opinion.
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I have the gigabit speed with TV. The Entone DVR isn't bad, it just isn't great. I left the DirecTV Genie, so this was a definite step backward for me.

Ordering was simple, after Bell finished pulling the fiber one of their people rang my doorbell.

member for 8.1 years, 109 visits, last login: 3.4 years ago
lodged 7.7 years ago







Review by lmjh7065 See Profile

  • Location: Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, USA
  • Cost: $70 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
Alway on, no log-on, faster upload than RoadRunner
Must have basic phone line for ZoomTown ADSL
Better value for the money than RoadRunner
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This is my second time around with ZoomTown. Originally did a self-install with the slowest speed (768/384) in April 2001, then upgraded to the highest speed (1,.5/768). Got RoadRunner in April 2003 and since it was faster I discontinued ZT in May 2003.

Now ZT has increased their speed for everyone to 3000/768, but on downloads it is a little slower for me than RR. RR had also increased their speed to 3000/384 currently, so they are very close speed wise.

If I do not get a Dual WAN Router, I would probably drop RR for ZT since RR may increase their speed, but have also increased their price, where ZT has lowered thier price to below RR and now increased to an overall higher speed than RR. Also, I do not anticipate any 16 hour outages as I had last December with RR.

Am currently in a special promotion/package deal with Cincinnati Bell and only paying an extra $10/month for ZT which will increase after 3 months to approx. $30/month. Both ZT & RR have a dynamic IP unless you pay additional for a Static IP.

The only problem was when I reordered ZT this time the equipment was already in place (Cisco 675 modem & Intel NIC), so I thought all I had to do was wait for them to turn it on. Wrong, I had a bad card at the telco Central Office which they replaced, then I could only get approx. 600/600 speed. After sending out a tech the second time, they told me the new speed had not been installed yet at my CO. Tech Support and sales said I was all ready for the highest speed and did not need a new modem. or additonal software, that I was ready to go. If they don't know when it is turned on who would?

Overall I can't tell any difference in surfing or using Packet8 VoIP over either ZT or RR.

-------------------------------------------------

Reviewed: 06/16/2016

Well after all this time since my last review, I ordered to double my previous speed and the price was only $5 additional (up from a complimentary 1 year rate for the previous 50/10Mbps service). Works great am getting approx. 95Mbps up / 19Mbps down on either wireless or wired connection on Fioptics service. I dropped my TV and land line (both over fiber) and now use Google Voice for 2 lines and FireTV which of course are still over fiber and they both work great.

Have been using Fioptics Internet Service from CBT for over 4 years and even though I am unable to get Time Warner service to compare, I am very happy with their service and believe it or not their Customer Service Reps. I ordered late last evening and when I got up this morning I didn't have to do any modem/router rebooting - I had the new speed.

I'm currently using my own router the TP-Link AD7200 multi-band Wi-Fi router, which so far is also working great.

member for 22.9 years, 2430 visits, last login: 4 years ago
updated 7.7 years ago


Review by viper453 See Profile

  • Location: Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, USA
  • Cost: $200 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 3 days
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
Great speeds @ very low cost
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I have been with zoomtown for over 4 years now. and zoomtown has never has been this good befor. they're now offering 3mbit/952kbits for only $40 a month whitch is not bad at all : ) my actual speeds are steady at 2590/820 24/7. befor i was paying $55 a month for actual speeds of 1320/703 whis wasn't too bad last year but i often wanted atleast 3mbits download or more, but zoomtown finally delivered that : ).

Updated review

I went back to Cincinnati bell a few days ago after the 1 gbits tier become available.
the speeds are great on speed test but when using other programs other than internet browsers like torrents and steam also google drive the speed drop abit.

I get about 150 mbits upload to google drive and about 100 mbits up on dropbox
for torrents i get from 500-750mbits down on high seeded ones 400+ seeds
one steam i get about 400-600 mbits down. I have not tested other applications as of yet

Its funny when i look back at my old speeds of 2.6 mbits some 10 years ago lol.

I also have elite tv package and digital phone.

member for 21 years, 2157 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
updated 8 years ago


Review by jpatt225 See Profile

  • Location: Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 8 days
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
Consistent Speed, Good connection Reliability
Not many
Get it!
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I got Zoomtown (with Fuse as my ISP) last February (2000) and I love it. At first I had an issue with the router disconnecting quickly after no use, but then I discovered it was just a setting in the Cisco 675 (supplied with ZT). The pre-install setup was fine and the people at ZT were very nice in the phone. As for the installation, it took about an hour and there were no setup issues. The speed and connection was only bad once during a week of network upgrades, but since then it has been excellent. I get consistent 80-90 KB/sec downloads at anytime during the day (I have 768/384 speeds) My only gripe is that you have to log in to use the service, but there is third-party software that will do this for you, and you really don't have to log in very often. I have only had to call tech support 3 times, and it is helpful once to you get to one of the higher-level support people. I am very satisfied and highly recommend this service.

member for 22.3 years, 863 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
updated 8.5 years ago


Review by egclassic2 See Profile

  • Location: Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, USA
  • Cost: $137 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
Internet speeds, picture quality
Had to reboot system a couple times already
Getting more for my $$$$ than with TWC
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I currently have the 30/5 internet, Elite programming and whole house DVR for 137.00 / month.

Ordered at Cinti Bell store on a Monday, installed that Friday. Install took about 7-8 Hours, which I knew going in.

Modem / router supplied is a zyxtel, but I use my own Netgear router for my wireless network.

Experience so far is very good, although we have experienced one short outage. At least Cincinnati Bell sent out an email explaining the problem, an estimated uptime, and a second email letting us know everything was back up and running. That's more than what TWC has ever done (nothing) when they had issues.

I have had to reboot my system a couple of times, but it could be because I was changing things around.

So far I have to say I am satisfied with my service. Time will tell.

member for 9 years, 31 visits, last login: 1 year ago
updated 8.9 years ago

MommaNancy
Premium Member
join:2013-08-17
Cincinnati, OH

MommaNancy

Premium Member

Cincinnati Bell Fioptics truth in pricing?

Please come back & let us know when you receive you 1st bill if it is as quoted. I have not yet to receive a bill after 3 months that has been as quoted by the salesman. Of course I understand that taxes, user fees for this ....for that...for everything except the kitchen sink is extra but still I am being charged for their router (promised would be free & is written on the worksheet by the salesman) ....I was told & my salesman worksheet quoted FREE DVR service (at least for the 1st year) and of course I am being charged. Also, after all the problems with installation (appx 5-6 actual installers before service was installed correctly) still not one correct bill. After all these issues I truly thought the least of my problems would be our invoice from them...Ha! After 4-5 calls to them, Even went through Service disconnection after the salesman promised to take care of the first 2 months bills & why I assumed he would I don't now, but I once again, believed him. But no, he did not & our service was with out notice, disconnected & I had to email the head of customer service, our home phone service is still out after 48 hours, unable to call 911 & my wife is disabled ... I can only hope your service, your bill & your guaranteed future attempt to discuss either your bill or your service, (or lack there of as it goes in & out so often you definitely will be calling-if not to have them reboot the system ....you will call to ask why your internet - YOUR SO CALLED HIGH SPEED?? THEY GOT ME ON THAT TOO ! - READ THE FINE LINES- IT STATES: "SPEEDS UP TO": ??) Anyway...I hope your attempt to discuss your issues go better than mine. MY APOLOGY....But this is by far the absolute worse service of any provider of any kind I've dealt with in my 60 years of having phone, cable, banking, utilities, any type of service what so ever....And trust me, with their customer service team that is located somewhere half way across the globe, they make up any lie just to get you off the phone, play by play as they go.... & attempts to fool you by using made up American names, sadly you will experience this injustice for yourself my friend. Only wish I had been able to post prior to your making the decision, maybe you would have choose a more reputable company like Direct T.V. who at least stands by every word they quote, even if the price increases somewhat at the end of the first 12 months...it is so worth the little extra for all the peace of mind & actual extra programming they offer. One of the worst decisions ever made by our family was switching to Cin Bill Fioptics just to save a few bucks. Look at what it cost us.... Our Sanity!...And what's that worth to any of you???

Review by KordKutter See Profile

  • Location: Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, USA
  • Cost: $107 per month
  • Install: about 10 days
  • Telco party Cincinnati Bell
The speed
Confused pricing
I love it
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Finally had the chance to try a viable alternative to TWC in the form of FTTH Fioptics. Once I had ordered had to wait 10 days for installation which seems to have been better than some areas where I have heard of 3-4 week lead times.

The installation took longer than I expected. There seemed to be some issue at a remote location as the installation was gone for a while having it resolved.

Eventually the fiber was installed to the house, a Calix ONT was attached to the wall and an Ethernet cable was run to the supplied ZyXel router.

The moment of truth....... I didn't see Gigabt speeds but did immediately see tests at 500/250. Since then I have replaced the ZyXel router and regularly see 750/250.

I think Cincinnati Bell gets a lot of complaints about their old DSL infrastructure but this new fiber system is far and away removed from that. I love it.

member for 9.1 years, 21 visits, last login: 7.4 years ago
updated 9 years ago


jgkolt
Premium Member
join:2004-02-21
Avon, OH

jgkolt

Premium Member

speeds

What speeds are you supposed to be getting?
KordKutter
join:2015-01-27

KordKutter

Member

Re: speeds

The service is nominally 1G down 250M up. I have not yet tried disabling antivirus to see if that lets it deliver more.

Review by NeoRage See Profile

  • Location: Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
The Fioptic speeds are amazing
the router installed for with the tv service is pure shit.
Speeds are good, CS is ok, Tech can be helpfull, equipment is horrible.
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If you get just the Fiber Internet, replace the router with your own. If you get TV service and/or phone you want to replace it with your own router as well but shopping/buying is a little more difficult. Haven't fully found a router that supports the tv like the ZTE pos they give you. Overall they are a lot better then Time Warner, just may need to reboot the router every now and then.

If anyone knows a good replacement for the ZTE router, please let me know. I need TV to work on it.

member for 17.8 years, 41 visits, last login: 4.6 years ago
lodged 9.1 years ago

PW3ND
join:2014-12-06
Cincinnati, OH

PW3ND

Member

Router replacement for do-it-yourself support.

Ubiquiti Edgerouter Lite. Works 100% of the time. It's all Ethernet, no MOCA.

You will need to BYO wireless and MOCA, but worth it.
NeoRage
join:2006-06-11
Cincinnati, OH

NeoRage

Member

Re: Router replacement for do-it-yourself support.

I ended up buying the Asus RT-AC66U and loving it. Decided to remove the coaxal running to my room with an ethernet cable so I didn't have to worry about MOCA anymore. Speeds and TV quality are above par. Like you said, once you buy your own equipment Fioptics is well worth it.