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Review by faxmachine 
UPDATED: 1.9 years ago
member for 4.3 years, 61 visits, last login: 39 days ago
 Middletown,Orange,NY
 $49 per month (12 month contract)
 about 5 days
 "None I can think of."
 "Connectivity is expensive, slow and spotty. Modem a piece of crap. Support is mostly lame."
 "It's either this or the cable company."
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Most of the problems I've had with this ISP have been caused by the DSL modem/wireless router supplied by Frontier which is an all in one unit manufactured by Siemens. I had this service installed in my Mom's house here in Orange county NY over a year ago and getting the wireless to work properly has been a nightmare, I ended up hardwiring the connection to my Mom's computer so I could eliminate the problems with the wireless side of the modem. I've recently discovered the problem; P-NAT configs. deep in the Administrative//Security menus that in their default state don't let HTTP or any other kind of traffic through on the wireless side. You need to get into this menu and select the type of traffic (HTTP, FTP, etc.) those selections activate the ports responsible for that traffic. The modem seems to be working now that I've realized just what the P-NAT configs. are. Speeds are 675 kb/s down and 189 kb/s up and it's about $50/month so that's no bargain. The most annoying aspect to this whole situation was that no one in tech support could figure out the problem or give me any help beyond rebooting the modem and my computer. There is no instruction book for this modem and it took me a year to stumble on the solution myself (I live in CA an visit NY several times a year). One last thing, now that the wireless is working I'll leave my email rolling on my laptop all day and, I would say, that at least 40% of the time my email client returns an error stating that the email server was unreachable due to a network error. Just like they say in Southpark, your choices are basically between a douche and a turd sandwich (telco or cable co.). You choose.
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Review by Brian_M
UPDATED: 2 years ago
member for 5.4 years, 18 visits, last login: 2 years ago
Tucker,Dekalb,GA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 15 days
 Qwest
"None (after a year of service)"
"LONG wait for everything (slow install, slow connections, slow tech support, slow everything)"
"If there were ANYTHING better, I'd be there already"
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Obviously Frontier Net has a broad range of service across the country. This is Very specific to my experiences on the Navajo reservation in Arizona (Kayenta, AZ to be specific). Having worked in the IT field for more than a decade, used DSL and Cable as well as T1/T3 lines in all forms around several major cities, my standards are artificially high (or so I'm going to have to think to be able to stomach what I have to deal with here). I'm paying within $5 of what it cost to have 3.0Mb down back in Atlanta for what's Supposed to be 1Mb down here. Not that I've gotten over 150kbps down as of yet. And when I first got the modem, I was looking at speeds LESS than a 36.6 dial-up!! It took an uneducated tech about 2 hours of having me reset the damn modem before giving me the excuse that the 'line wasn't up yet' ~ hrm, how'd I have Any connection then? At least he spoke understandable English... that's all the good I can say about Tech thus-far.
Time to Live was a Pathetic 2 weeks. I've never waited 2 weeks to have ANY service turned on. Even in the backwoods of Georgia where my Inlaws live, Altell managed to get service and a modem to us within a business week. Shoot, the first speed test showed several hundred kbps over what the claimed maximums were.
Price-wise, spending $50/month on a neutered DSL service (shoot, I'm not even to DSL-Lite speeds yet, and that service is $35 in most places) absolutely turns my stomach. When the technology Clearly exists to provide normal 1500/256, and the national competition does provide that service (just not to the Indian Reservation), and yet the service is neutered to 1000/128 speaks Loads to me about how GREEDY the company must be. Hold a monopoly over an area and they proceed to price gouge.
As I mentioned above, if there were ANY other choice (satellite doesn't make it into the same value for the dollar range and there's no Cable internet here), I'd be there already. You can bet that I'll never move somewhere that's only serviced by Frontier Net ever again in my life and I'm going to Strongly recommend that anyone reading this and considering service goes in with a handful of salt After checking to make sure there are no other alternatives.
I'll update later on connectivity (% up) and billing. I bet those are screwed up in some way, shape or form too though.
-------------------------Update---------------------------------------
It's been a week now and there has yet to be a single solitary 24 hour period where my service doesn't drop to around 36.6 dialup speeds. This is usually right around noon. Today (8/25/04), service dropped out all-together. Put in a call to tech support, told them that I had already power-cycled and hard-reset the modem, router and computer ~ and that I'd removed the router from the system completely.. dumb, script reading tech had me on the phone for 40 minutes doing what? Power cycling and hard-resetting the components. It was then escalated and a 'repair ticket' issued that would be resolved between 24 and 48 hours... so I asked about prorating my fees for this month and was transfered to customer service who said INSTANTLY that Qwest was having line problems. WTF didn't the TECHS know about this?!!??
Yeah, just walk away from Frontiernet.net ~ it's NOT worth the frustration, high cost for quality of service (I've yet to get over 800kbps down). I'm throughly pissed off at this company.... I'm positive that the only reason they're even still in business is because they run a monopoly.
~~~~~~~~~~Edit~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And after a year with this service, line speed Still sucks (sometimes it's fine, then it'll drop for no reason). Customer service is NON-EXISTENT, cost is Still way above average and I still hate it. Best I can get for the price though (Directway would be my only other option outside of dialup.. can't even get a T1 line here).
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edit 11/20/07 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I finally moved from the area, and even getting the cancellation was a PITA. It took us 6 MONTHS to finally get a letter stating that the account was closed. Meanwhile, they kept piling on the charges for 5 months after we have proof they received a written cancellation notice. Having been through that headache, I can only say that I'd not deal with them again, no matter the cost. I do honestly believe I'd rather be without internet than use Frontiernet.net.
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Review by jazpaisley
Posted: 2 years ago
member for 2.2 years, 3 visits, last login: 2 years ago
Alturas,Modoc,CA
$40 per month (24 month contract)
about 7 days
"Most the time internet is there"
"Internet down times can be 1-15 min <8x a day"
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The most anoying thing about so-call high speed internet, its not always dependable.
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Review by osultan
Posted: 2 years ago
member for 4.6 years, 42 visits, last login: 118 days ago
Elk Grove,Sacramento,CA
$50 per month
about 5 days
"Good speed, Almost bullet proof reliability"
"Happy with my service"
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I have had 8Mb ADSL for a couple of years now. I have been very please with the service--throughput is usually in the 5-7Mb range and I rarely have to reset my ADSL modem (i.e. every couple of months).
In the scheme of things, this is significantly better than my experiences with Comcast.
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Review by Brownie43543
UPDATED: 2 years ago
member for 2.2 years, 49 visits, last login: 153 days ago
Montpelier,Williams,OH
$50 per month
"It's never gone down. Bandwidth is fairly consistant."
"They are the only option here, other than Sat, and they know that. $$$"
"Far better than the alternative, Even at $50!"
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I had to do my own installation. The installer activated the line to the network adapter outside - - then handed me the DSL modem and a length of wire. Told me it would be another $85 to come inside. This was on a new install of phone and DSL. Customer service never returned my calls with regard to service and billing questions. There DSL service is OK, but customer service and installation practices have been a joke to me.
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Review by FightingBlue
Posted: 2 years ago
member for 3.6 years, 150 visits, last login: 63 days ago
Warsaw,Wyoming,NY
$54 per month
"Reliable and high quality."
"Hard to get installed if you're on the edge of range"
"A solid service."
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Being that I'm twice the rated distance from the CO, I never really expected to get DSL service, but I called in periodically to ask, hoping that maybe someday they'd stick a remote terminal about here.
One day, I ran into a CSR who was very good at his job, and who thought after doing some digging that I should be able to get service. That lit a fire under me,and while some months went by as I couldn't get anyone to do anything about it, this spring I got a very competant tech out to hook me up.
I only get a roughly 800 Kbit connection, but I'm quite happy with it. I realize a lot of people want 3 and 6 meg upgrades, but I find this much bandwidth to be quite sufficient for my purposes, and it's quite reliable. Other than one problem with the DNS servers, I've only lost the connection at a few times like bad storms, and even then only for minutes at a time. Speeds have been reliable, and ping times good. I really have no complaints. Elsewhere you might be able to get more bandwidth cheaper, but around here I'm getting a connection I never thought possible.
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 Review by JaM4150
UPDATED: 2 years ago
member for 4.1 years, 1046 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Middletown,Orange,NY
Contract price not specified.
"Good connection"
"No faster service tiers"
"Aviod If You Can Frontier Has no incentive to upgrade"
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Aviod If You Can Frontier Has no incentive to upgrade its networks even with competition from Time Warner.
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Review by horon
Posted: 2.2 years ago
member for 2.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
Shingletown,Shasta,CA
$50 per month (12 month contract)
"Very rarely down, reliable if slow connection."
"Slow, average ping is 250-260 ms."
"The only DSL ISP in my area, has no incentive to upgrade equipment"
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Repair service is very good, line is very rarely down, reliable if slow connection, OK for shopping or reading. But, slow max residential line is 1 meg, average ping is 250-260 ms, often higher, impossible to play online games , very slow upload speeds, average 125 kbp, affects Skype and VOIP connections.
The only DSL ISP and phone service provider in my area (Shingletown, CA), refuses to lease lines to other ISPs and thus has no incentive to upgrade equipment or service.
Very expensive for what you get.
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 Review by Boomerang86
UPDATED: 2.2 years ago
member for 7.1 years, 3079 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
Walden,Orange,NY
$35 per month
about 11 days
"Friendly sales staff, easy install with DHCP (PPPoA)"
"expensive for DL speeds offered, now charging modem rental fee"
"cable is STILL a better value here; true competition would change that"
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BUMMER... I'm a current Optimum Online customer, about to move out of their service area! NO other residential ISP offers their download speeds, not even close!! I had to choose between this DSL service and cable (Road Runner, Earthlink or AOL BB). Since RR is $60. a month without a cable package I checked into Frontier and decided to give them a go. Bundled local phone service with their DSL Max is $65. a month; not bad! FrontierNet advertises download speeds up to 3 MBPS with this service, but it only happens in Rochester for now. Since I was paying $35. for Verizon DSL 768/128, this seemed like it was worth a try. I ordered phone and DSL service at the same time on December 17; Frontier shipped the Efficient Networks model 5200 modem and microfilters on the 18th, they arrived on the 23rd. My service won't be live until the 29th, so i'll post an update as soon as there's news.
UPDATE 12/30: The dial tone came on early morning of the 29th as promised. Got my PC hooked up in the afternoon, but the modem didn't sync. Called support, they say they're still working on it and should be ready by 7pm. That time came and it was still dead; called again, they say the ticket's still open and it should be on later tonight or tommorow. Next morning it still wasn't up. Tried to connect via my dial-up ISP and that's when I found the problem... NO DIAL TONE!! What a dummy I am; should have checked that yesterday. Rolled the PC to a working phone jack, plugged the modem in and it synced in less than a minute. DHCP was a VERY pleasant surprise; no DUN to deal with! Speeds after tweaking were 865/108, within Frontiernet's 80% threshhold; pings solidly in the 30's (not as good as OOL, but since I don't game it's good enough for now). I'll update again in a few days with reliability news.
UPDATE 12/31: The good news keeps coming! I cleaned up the connection to the telco jack in the room where I was having the problem; DSL and dial tone are perfect now. Speeds are as good as yesterday; I am also impressed with the 25MB total e-mail AND 25MB web storage space! Connection has been solid too; line quality is surprisingly VERY GOOD. Overall throughput is better than I expected.
UPDATE 1/08/04: The connection has been rock solid! Last speed test was 870/108, best so far and that's @ 5:45 p.m. on a Thursday, so throughput does not disappoint! Don't use e-mail or news enough to pass judgement on those yet, but so far I am most impressed. WTG FrontierNet!!
UPDATE 1/31/04: The service is still great with no downtime and consistent throughput, but you may noticed that I've lowered the value rating by two notches, and HERE'S WHY... I did some number crunching after receiving my latest phone bill from Frontier and I discovered something I didn't like at all. Don't get me wrong: $35. a month for 870KB down is not bad. HERE'S THE RUB: I pay for Frontier DSL Max bundled with local phone service. A whole lot of taxes, surcharges and fees are based on your telephone charges. When you bundle, the DSL is considered part of your phone service (not a seperate data service) and is taxed accordingly; you wind up paying an additional $10-11 a month! That means I am actually paying $46 a month for DSL. Since Earthlink Cable is $42. a month for up to THREE TIMES the download speed and DOUBLE the upload (not to mention a current promo for $30. a month for first 6 months and free install), I am ordering that today and will likely cancel this DSL service. Stay tuned!
update 2/25/04: Earthlink cable has been up and running here without a hiccup for six days, and yesterday Frontiernet reluctantly closed my DSL account. The modem still syncs, but since I can't check mail at their server I'd say it's gone. They are sending a prepaid shipping label to return the modem. It was a good ride and I'd recommend them to anyone in this area IF ONLY they'd lower their rates at least 20% or so, then the value would be there.
update 9/10/07: Frontier sent me an offer in snail mail (I went back to POTS 11 months ago) to re-up with their DSL product. They are now offering up to 3 mbps down for $24.99 a month for one year, $34.99 a month the second year with a modem rental fee of $3.99 a month and a two year contract with a $200 ETF. Sorry guys, your speeds are better now BUT there's NO WAY I'm going to lock into a contract now, when I am quite content with Road Runner Lite 768/128 @ $29.95 a month, no modem rental charge, NO CONTRACT. You telcos STILL DON'T GET IT. Nice offer, but still not good enough here.
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Review by inetlady
UPDATED: 2.2 years ago
member for 2.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 202 days ago
Wurtsboro,Sullivan,NY
$33 per month (12 month contract)
about 4 days
"Reliable, great bundles phone, Dish and HSI (includes a wireless and multi enet port router too)"
"none so far"
"Can't beat these package prices. Great reliable service and installation was ontime."
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Reliable, great bundles phone, Dish and HSI (includes a wireless and multi enet port router too)
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FrontierNet Internet Access
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promised "up to" 3meg but speed test reveal only 875k at best. only provider in our area, no incentive to upgrade to provide faster service although they have the ability to do so. 
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I pay 50 $ a month in Needles Ca. Seems like alot but there is no other provider so they can charge whatever they want.