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Review by Barnacules 
Posted: 318 days ago
member for 319 days, 7 visits, last login: 54 days ago
 undisclosed location
 Contract price not specified.
 "15Mbit down/2MBit up"
 "Dropped packets like crazy"
 "If you play online games or stream video this service is horrible"
| |
I have been with MDM and now BroadStripe for over 5 years, there service used to be good but has really started going in to the drink after BroadStripe took over. I have a 15MBit connection and it really does download at that speed most of the time (speedtest.net) but the dropped packet rate is almost 10% on average. This means that for every minute or two of video you stream atleast 10 seconds are going with no data transfer. And if you play games this means your friends see your character freak out or freeze up for a few seconds every minute or two. Because of this I cannot really use my internet connection for anything other then downloading stuff before I play it.
I sent mail to BroadStripe requesting assistance and also supplied them with all of the technical data that supports the packet loss problem. I have yet to get a reply back from 3 mails I have sent. I finally included Tom (a broadstripe employee down lower that replied to a comment) and I hope that he gets back to me. At this point I am considering finding another solution like DSL, I would rather have slower download speed and more stable packet transfer since packet loss leads to problems like these (comment if you experience any of these right now).
+ MSN messenger disconnects and reconnects all the time
+ You play Counter Strike and WoW and notice characters freezing for a few seconds every minute or making odd movements and pulling back to place.
+ Streaming video pauses for a few seconds each minute.
+ VPN and Terminal Server connections freeze, lockup and timeout/reconnect continuously
+ Some web pages will not load and you have to press refresh then they load.
These are all symptoms of the same problem with this service. The way to confirm this behavior is to ping your gateway and see how many packets "Time Out". Below is a tutorial on how to do this. You can also use the tools on this site to do a line test and it will also show you the lost/dropped packets.
Ping Test:
1) Obtain your gateway, go to your router and find the DHCP settings and find the Default Gateway
-or-
1) If you don't have a router and you plug right in to the modem type "IPCONFIG /ALL" from the command line and find your default gateway
2) From a command prompt type "PING -T"
3) Watch the ping packets and times and look for "Request timed out"
Each time you see a "Request timed out" that means your packet didn't transfer and you are also suffering from this problem. Please comment if you see this problem so that we can get BroadStripe to take this seriously.
Followup comments:  hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | Not different Broadstripe and MDM are the same company. Nothing changed but the name. Also it went down hill after they fired their outside ISP that they used to use---Voyager.net | |
| wbaker
join:2008-08-09
Woodinville, WA
| Speak to the county about Broadstripe! Their franchise in unincorporated King County is up in 2009. The county has a survey here:
»www.kingcounty.gov/business/oirm···vey.aspx
Might not help you if you are in one of the incorporated towns, but if not, let them know your feelings/issues by using the survey. | |
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Review by TonyBe
Posted: 338 days ago
member for 1.3 years, 10 visits, last login: 206 days ago
Carnation,King,WA
Contract price not specified.
"None"
"Slow internet speeds, inconsistent internet speeds, frequent service interruptions"
"Terrible provider for both data and video service"
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I have MDM (now BroadStripe or "BroadSuck" as we call it) for both video and data service. I have a 6MB downlink with a 384KB downlink. Throughput is average during times when no one else is online. It drops off precipitously during peak usage hours. There are frequent service interruptions for both video and data. If possible avoid using BroadStripe for your data provider.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Millennium Digital Media - Northwest Region |
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Review by bopgun23
UPDATED: 1.5 years ago
member for 3.1 years, 9 visits, last login: 85 days ago
Seattle,King,WA
Contract price not specified.
"Friendly service"
"Speeds at less than 1/3 of advertised"
"Shoddy internet for those who have no other choice."
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This review is for Broadstripe cable internet (previously know as Millennium).
Location: Seattle Central District (MLK/Yesler)
Package: 6mb @ $30/month (6-month promo), $50 or $55 after promo ends
Order Process: Sales rep was pleasant, didn't pressure, offered promos without being asked. However, rep was asked to have the tech NOT install a cable modem, but the modem install was on the service order at day of install.
Install Process: I wasn't home to personally oversee process, so tech installed a new cable modem (despite seeing MY cable modem sitting right there). Had to call back support to switch MAC address, then return new modem personally.
Internet Quality: Iffy at best. Speedtest.net results for local servers can reach up to 5mb, but average out at 1.5mb, and are often as low as 800kb.
The primary problem, however, is service stutters. Not total service drops, mind you, but the REGULAR experience of having any loading pages suddenly hang for up to 15 seconds. Often, I have to reload the pages to get anything to happen.
So, the indication is that the quality CAN be good... it just whips up and down constantly, thusly classifying it as BAD.
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 Review by hiwatt25
Posted: 1.7 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 469 visits, last login: 114 days ago
Snohomish,Snohomish,WA
Contract price not specified.
"The modem they gave me is attractive"
"Spotty service at best"
"Run from this company if you've got a choice"
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Just moved to Seattle from Connecticut and found Broadstripe was my only choice in my new home. Lucky me.
My internet service will just slow to a trickle at random times and for no reason. This happens with my router or plugged directly into their modem. Their website sucks and no one ever seems very interested in helping me out. Judging by the other reviews, my equipment is not the problem. Their lack of capacity is what sucks.
Speed tests tell me that I'm not getting the broadband that I pay for even when it is up an running. I'd like to jump ship to comcast but they are not available in the area. I'll be speaking to the city council about that.
My wife tele-commutes and counts on a reliable connection to get her work done. I'm an avid gamer and count on a reliable connection to shoot Nazis. Bottom line, if I'm paying for service I'd better be getting it. Stay as far from this company as you can.
Followup comments: tsmartinson
join:2008-02-10
Chesterfield, MO
| Broadstripe My name is Tom Martinson, and I am the VP of IT/ISP services for Broadstripe. I would like to offer my assistance in resolving the Internet connection issues you have been experiencing. I am also interested in hearing any suggestions, as to how we could improve our website. Please feel free to email at the address listed below.
Tom Martinson
VP of IT/ISP Services
Broadstripe
tsmartinson@broadstripe.com | |
| | 
Yikes
@cablespeed.com
| Re: Broadstripe I just got Broadstripe a month ago in Carson, WA. I'm having the same problems. Spotty during peak hours around 150-200 kbs. I have never gotten the 6 mbs I am paying for. On off peak times it is 1.5 mbs, which is what I could get with DSL consistently. | |
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Review by MDMisnowBS
Posted: 2 years ago
member for 2 years, 3 visits, last login: 357 days ago
Redmond,King,WA
Contract price not specified.
"EXCELLENT Field People. A couple REALLY know alot!"
"phone Cust Serv sucks. no back up battery power supplies. Some techs are very new and not trained."
"You get what you pay for, most of the time."
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For what it is worth, my cable works. Sometimes it goes out, but I live in Ames Lake where the power and phone also go out, I live out in the woods, and am lucky to get anything. Since the installation of what one tech called an AGC unit, an automatic gain control, which helps for the sever weather changes, I HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS. It would appear that since the namem change to BroadStripe, the acronym being B.S., it has definately gotten better. I am hoping that this is a change for the better. I do live in the Northwest and we are very prone to the ups and downs of the weather and would like to say that BroadStripe, B.S., is for the msot part, stable and reliable. I had to work with the techs for 3 days once, and they were very persistant, knew what they were doing and got me up and going. NO downtime since. I am hoping that this small cable company can get it's act together like it seems to have been doing since becoming B.S. cable and we can have a very long relationship. I would say for any of you out there that are having on going issues to tell the customer service person you are talking to, to transfer you to the local technical office and speak with someone local that knows what is going on.
Followup comments:
duvallcustomer
@cablespeed.com | Broadstripe For 3 months now bandwidth has been 50% of average, of what they say we should get. VOIP, TV, VPN all poor and this is going into month 3 with crap service from MDM/Broadstripe | |
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AngryInDuvall
@cablespeed.com
| Re: Broadstripe Yes it is now going on 4 months for me. I am getting about 1/10th of the bandwidth I am paying for from broadstripe. Typically around 600 kb/s or less when I'm paying for 6 mb/s. They have sent people to my house, even pulled me a new line. Nothing has helped. The problem is obviously at their end. Total incompetence - except in the billing department. They are always able to take my money. | |
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BDB1324
@cablespeed.com
| Cable and Internet Suck Broadstripe is awful My family has had nothing but problems with broadstripe the internet is unbelievably slow the cable box we have doesn't support HD and half the time you can't change the channel. The internet works for about 5 minutes and then pings out or disconnects. I have been told that was my routers fault. So I replaced the router to find no improvement. The next time I was told that my computer had spyware problems. With the tech in my home I reinstalled XP and plugged the modem in directly to have the internet fail and he could not fix it. He told me it was my internet card in my laptop. I ended up sending it in to look like a fool when it got sent back with no problems. I am pretty computer savvy and knew that none of these were the problem but since I can get any other service out her in the county of bellingham I can sure raise some hell with their service problems and be another one of those annoying customers because the last three years of service has been nothing short of a huge disappointment. At times my connection is slower than dial-up if I even get one. | |
| | Klosterheim
join:2007-11-10
Carnation, WA
 ·BroadStripe
| Re: Cable and Internet Suck Broadstripe is awful I never in a million years thought I would become a supporter of Comcast. When I moved to the Northwest, one of my happier moments was realizing that I would no longer be giving money to Comcast.
Then I met Broadstripe.
Broadstripe is HORRIBLE. H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. Extremely, extremely bad.
I am paying for their highest internet package and I just ran a test. Guess what I got: 575 Kbps. This is their HIGH END PACKAGE. I couldn't believe it, so I tested it again. This is what I got the second time:
379 Kbps
It's true, this is a little lower than normal. Looking at a test I ran a couple months ago, I had a test speed of 2069 Kbps and 1271 Kbps. That's not exactly making me feel happy about paying for their premium speed package.
This is the highest they go folks, at least according to my tests.
And did I mention that this is their high end package.
And did I also mention that they don't do On Demand? You know, that service that Comcast has had for ages?
Broadstripe doesn't have it. I am surprised they have music, frankly. Frankly, I am still surprised they have any business at all. Broadstripe is Exhibit A for how mediocrity is alive and well in American business. I wonder whose palms they grease to keep this terrible racket going?
Based on my experience, this is a terrible company and I am already typing out letters to my franchise authority and my local politicians. Rumor has it that a nearby city council is getting inundated with similar complaints. I myself am wondering how this isn't just out and out fraud.
Stay away. If you are looking to move somewhere, see if that area only gets Broadstripe. If so, you are better off moving somewhere else. Even if it means becoming a customer of Comcast. It's that bad. | |
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jasonbrasil
@qwest.net
| Broadstripe (Millenium) Cable TV review after 5 yrs with Comcast, i moved to this apartment building in downtown Seattle which only uses Broadstripe (formerly Millenium) as cable TV and broadband provider. i have had excellent experience with Comcast. i found Comcast offers rich HDTV service, broadband at low cost. for about $80/month, i received broadband - 1mg Up, 10mg down PLUS Cable TV and 20 HD channels. Broadstripe is more costly (about 30% more expensive) AND offers lower service and programming. an example, for $80/month, i have no broadband (my apartment manager told me not to use Broadstripe's brandband as they were found to be inadequate) and Broadstripe's cable TV only has 12 HD channels with mostly lower quality programming like Weather Channel, PBS and the major Network affiliates. unlike Comcast, Broadstripe does not offer HD Channels; Universal HD Movie channel, TNT-HD, A&E-HD, National Geographic HD, History HD, ESPN2HD. i as consumer, found that i am paying more to Broadstripe and getting less (relative to Comcast).
i spoke to a few tenants in my apartment and found that their broadband experiences with Broadstripe has been generally poor, fortunate that i did not sign up with Broadstripe's broadband service.
i am teaming up with the property manager to petition the Seattle Cable Commission to allow Comcast or other cable provider to come in to our building to offer competition. Broadstripe, irrespective of its higher cost actually offers lower quality service. | |
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Review by henryv
UPDATED: 2.5 years ago
member for 3.3 years, 5 visits, last login: 2.5 years ago
Bellingham,Whatcom,WA
Contract price not specified.
"Few"
"Horrible speed, connections, customer service! Bad company."
"This company is the worst company I have ever dealt with."
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When I signed up for this company, they offered 256k service for $30. They offered a bump up to 1.5M for 3 months for only $10. After 3 months, I decided to return to the $30 service. They said that service didn't exist, and charged me $50 now for the 1.5M service.
Fine. Whatever.
My service never actually was 1.5M. 1.3 at best, usually around 800k...
Disconnections were common, often lasting a couple days.
This May, however, the service began to cut out ever 5 minutes. It disconnect for a minute or two, ever five to ten minutes. I began calling around May 11th. It is not August 4th. They have sent out a tech 6 times now. Not once has the tech actually done anything. The tech would leave, telling me that he saw the problem. When I called to see what they planned to do, they would say that they didn't know of any problems. I've probably called them 15-20 times. Every time they either send a tech out, or say they'll call me back. They haven't once actually called me back. 6 times they've promised. NOT ONCE have they called me back.
To date they have blamed:
1. Spyware
2. My modem (replaced/changed 4 times)
3. Their modem (replaced 3 times)
4. Radio interference
5. My internal lines
Every single one of these have been eliminated. In late May. They even acknowledge that its their problem. However, every time I call back, to ask them what they are doing, they say that they have no awareness of any problem.
Other people in my neighborhood also have been having the same problems. Even the tech tells me the problem include the whole area.
Finally, I was able to diagnose the problem, pinging from my computer, as well as others. They have a break between their first connection to their bandwidth provider (Fibrecloud). Fibrecloud knows that MDM has a problem, and they can't do anything to fix the problem MDM has.
MDM is nothing short of a con. They ignore complaints from the BBB, and are still being investigated.
DO NOT buy MDM.
---------------------------------------------
The day I wrote this I called MDM again, and I was finally able to get a higher up person in customer service. He assured me that they would fix the problem. However, while this note has been posted I have gotten comments from other MDM customers in other Washington areas who are having the exact same problem.
More than likely this problem isn't a cabling or modems. It is most likely a problem of MDM putting two many people on each router, in order to save money. We'll see if they are actually willing to fork over the money to produce new servers, or if they'll cop out of it...
------------------------------------------------------------
It is a year later, and this company has actually gotten WORSE! When I called this time, I found out that they had moved all their local help to Michigan, and I was confronted with one of the rudest tech people I have ever met. He implied that I was lying about my problem, and then told me that my XP, Vista, and Linux machines were all have disconnects because of a virus. I explained to him that I didn't think that was really possible, seeing as how the XP and Vista are both clean installs.
The disconnects have gotten longer, and on top of that, it was disconnected for 2 days.
I now have gobs of ping data showing EXACTLY where the packet loss occurs. They refuse to even acknowledge this.
At this point, I'm looking at paying $150/mo for satelite rather than the $55 for this crap.
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Review by Fenner
Posted: 2.7 years ago
member for 4.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 2.7 years ago
Glen Burnie,Anne Arundel,MD
Contract price not specified.
"Good Installation"
"Slow, Long Downtimes, Terrible Upload, Many ports blocked"
"Instead of spending money on MDM commercials maybe they should improve their service"
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I have had MDM cable internet and TV for the past 3 years. Their service is not only unreliable but slow compared to other ISP offerings (Just take a look at the speed tests for cablespeed.com)
The installation was smooth. however they never talked to me about E-mail accounts and other little things that came with the service. The equipment they gave me worked fine for about 1 year then the SB4100 modem died, i was given a refurbished modem as a replacement.
This month i am switching to FIOS to escape MDM. If you have any other options then MDM i suggest current customers to switch..
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Review by aran002
UPDATED: 2.7 years ago
member for 5.7 years, 18 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
Depoe Bay,Lincoln,OR
Contract price not specified.
"..."
"Cable slows down frequently, disconnects, slow ping times, slow download times, abysmal/ nonexistant costumer support."
"Cable monopoly of a small county, no other choice for ISPs!!"
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I have used millennium digital media "BASIC" package for a few months now, and it's been a pain since I first installed it. I was a little taken by the fact that their 'basic package' was around $30 dollars a month, and it is bottlenecked off at 128kb/s, Thats not even considered broadband in my opinion. When I first received my modem it took me about a week to get online, the costumer support was unhelpful, it was absolutely aggravating and only got more confusing the more I tried dealing with them. It finally started working seemingly on it's own. (the tech support people did tell me it was a problem on their end)
Cable speed drops and disconnects happen so often that it makes me wonder exactly what it is that they are doing on their end, they do not no an adequate job of updating their costumers on their service problems. I am constantly told that information is simply not available for my problem, and my cable was constantly cutting off every 10 - 20 minutes. My ping times in games were also very high at all times, latency in games was reaching above 700 - 800ms and it was impossible to enjoy any sort of online gaming with this service.
Update: After using Comcast for 2 years now, it boggles my mind how a company like Millennium can stay in business, I knew numerous people on the coast who are fed up with these people to this day, and it seems that they simply don't care about their customers.
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Review by jasch
Posted: 2.8 years ago
member for 2.8 years, 0 visits, last login: 2.8 years ago
Lakebay,Pierce,WA
Contract price not specified.
"Decent staff; no e-mail problems"
"(see below)"
"Look for alternative service providers"
| |
I have been using Millennium Digital Media for twenty-two months. Their technical support staff, particularly their former field tech in my area, was good. I also had no significant complaints about their e-mail service. However, after 14 years of residential Internet access and having used several major ISPs I would comparatively rank MDM at or near the bottom in nearly every ISP category...
They charge(d) $50 per month for an advertised 1.5 × 0.256 Mbps bandwidth, which I rarely achieved a downstream bandwidth exceeding 1.1 Mbps and too often it was much less. Transcontinental Internet access (http or ftp) is particularly frustrating. I experienced a greater than average difficulty accessing Websites that are known to be good. They or their network provider suffers from a significant persistent and unresolved packet loss problem at the network provider's gateway (I've verified the MDM network problem from two separate customer locations.)
Another niggling issue is that MDM's technical support service hours are very limited: telephone tech support hours are Mon-Fri 7:30a-7:00p, Sat 9:00a-5:00p, and Sun closed.
Recently, without prior notification, (and in contradiction to their stated policy,) MDM shut down much of their local cable service for 120 hours (!) for servicing; this was also in the same billing cycle where most customers lost cable service due to windstorm related power outages. Prior to this latest incident their up-time reliability wasn't too bad.
In my opinion, based on several years of Internet experience, these problems are indicative of a poorly managed and maintained system infrastructure, a high level of disregard for their customers, and a lack of commitment to reasonable customer service.
Until there are substantial changes at Millennium Digital Media I recommend to any prospective customers in areas served by MDM who are interested in broadband Internet service that they consider using an ISP other than Millennium Digital Media.
Attachments: pathping_tuc···s001.txt 2,177 bytes
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Review by djfreaq
Posted: 3.1 years ago
member for 4.3 years, 4 visits, last login: 2.5 years ago
Lakebay,Pierce,WA
Contract price not specified.
"Well it's "broadband""
"Bad service, slow."
"Comcast is better"
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Pretty simple.
Not only does it suck that Seattle is owned by this horrible company. But it is also my only option out here in the sticks; Lakebay, WA.
Comcast offers 8mpbs for the same price they offer their max of "3.0mbps"
It's horrible. If you can just move to where the cable is better, it's worth it. If I had my way I would move, JUST for better internet service.
I'm using CenturyTel DSL, and granted it's okay... 1.5mbps. But its depressing it's my only economical option for speedy internet out here.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Millennium Digital Media - Northwest Region |
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Snohomish, WA
Commercials
I would agree, if you have any choice other than MDM use it. I've called and provided technical info on outage and performance issues just to be ignored and later they resolved what I had said was wrong. The feds screwed up, they should have dereg'ed the cable business and left the local phone service alone. MDM is a small time shop, with out the kindness of the small town (the person on the phone is nice but can not fix anything or help) company. The service is as expensive or more than any other cable / DSL service (and IP phone) that I've had anywhere.