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Review by destroyer88 
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 4.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.3 years ago
 Matawan,Monmouth,NJ
 Business customer
 $65 per month (12 month contract)
 about 23 days
 Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
 "Good pre-sale/installation status and quick responses on questions via phone or email"
 "Connection, Services, and Tech support"
 "DO NOT use them if need to host server(s)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Order service (Dedicated Line 1.5/384) on 06/09/05, the circuit was ready and activated on 06/30/05. Unfortunately, this was where my nightmare begun. This DSL account supposedly a replacement for an existing Verizon DSL account of my client office. I ended up spent almost 2 weeks of time in helping Lightning Bolt troubleshooting the port-forwarding functions on the Broadxent router 8120. The end result, Lightning Bolt (LB) wouldn’t further look into the issues and no additional help could be offered. I ended up cancelled the account. Currently, I’m still waiting for cancellation confirmation from LB.
Here is my story, trying to make the story short. After the service was up and running on 06/30. Next day, I stopped by my client’s place and tried to configure the router so it would do port-forwarding for HTTP, SMTP, and PPTP (internal LAN was hosting SBS 2003). Well, this was really a straight forwarding thing to configure, not very complicated. Well, I was dead wrong. After I finished the configuration and then switched over to the new DSL line, then I remote access to an external PC (resided on a different ISP segment) and tried to telnet (using static IP or DNS) to SMTP port and access the webpage on the internal SBS 2003. NO GOOD, both methods (IP and DNS access) didn’t response and timed out. After spent almost half-day trying figured out what was the problem and confirming the info was correct on the router. I called LB for tech support. I mentioned the port forwarding issue with Brent, he right away gave me the typical answer “they don’t support advance network setup”. Initially I suspected the router may be defected, and asked Brent to find a way to confirm the router was not defected. Well, guess what, they didn’t have a way. He later suggested calling the manufacture Broadxent for help, they didn’t help much. At this moment, I puzzled deeply on what was wrong, was the router, the line, the IP address, ISP itself, or some hidden issue that the ISP didn’t know. Obviously, the line should be fine, because I could access the Internet.
I decided to take to router back home and tested it out (I was also using Covad PPPOE account by another provider, Cyberonic). At home, I reconfigured the router for my own environment; I also had a server running and hosting both email and websites. I used exactly the same method to conducted tests for port-forwarding on SMTP, HTTP, and PPTP. Bingo, it worked immediately with the same router which gave me problem at my client place. So the router looked like was OK. I went back to my client’s place, reconfigured the router for the environment. Bang, NO GOOD, it didn’t work again. I I called LB again for help. The only thing Brent suggested was the 8 IPs upgrade, assuming problem would go away. I rejected (simply rip off). I ended up asked him to create a complete new account with a new IP address, authentication username and password. Brent was kind enough to help me out on this. After few days, the new account was ready, before I headed back to my client’s place; I configured my own router at home to use the new info. Once again, the new IP address and new authentications and port-forwarding worked flawlessly in my place. So now, I confirmed the IP address was fine. I headed back to my client place and BANG, once again, port-forwarding didn’t work no matter what I tried. According to all my discoveries, the only reasonable explanation was must be the ISP problem. Why? Because at my client place, through out all this time, the existing Verizon DSL was up and running. Port-forwarding was also enabled and worked flawlessly on the Verizon account using a different router (LinkSys). I called LB, one final time, point out the problem. Brent didn’t show concerns about my findings. I ended up cancelled the account last week. This port-forwarding problem was never resolved. For those of you who like to host server on the Internal LAN segment, this will give you big problem, try to keep away from Lightning Bolt.
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Review by caryesch
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 4.4 years, 33 visits, last login: 3.4 years ago
Vancouver,Clark,WA
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 22 days
New Edge Networks
CLEC party: New Edge Networks
"Delivered my circuit on time"
"None"
"I would recommend"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I have been pleased with my SDSL from Lightning Bolt. The pricing was competitive and my service was installed without a hitch. This is my second DSL line from Lightning Bolt and I will use them again with my next new location.
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Review by jackyl2005
Posted: 4.4 years ago
member for 6 years, 37 visits, last login: 218 days ago
Hudsonville,Ottawa,MI
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
"Nothing"
"Everything"
"Think twice before you sign or else you will have a nightmare on youre hands"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Ordered 6.0/768 package which they told me i was able to recieve which was the begininng on my horror story.I noted that i was only held to the contract for the package 6.0/768 and if i couldnt get that i didnt agree to the contract or service agreement which they did accept and start the install process.Once they have the circuit installed tech came out and finished install and upon completion ran a speed test of 2.2/500 which is a joke.I informed the tech he could jhust take the equipment with him seeing how i had no intrest in 2.2/500 for a 89.00 a month.Well he didnt take the modem so i called brent to cancel and
he told me the only way to do that is email the support department which to me is poor customer service but anyway i went ahead and eamiled them and i got a email back notifiying me the service was cancelled.I emailed them again for a adress to ship the router back which i didnt recieve a email back and now they say after 14 days they want mne to pay 200.00 for a modem thats worth about 50.00.Well brent could have told me all this info when i first talked to him but he didnt so i called him back in which he was absoulate rude and told me that there is noway they would take the modem back.Then he proceed to state that im lucky i wasnt charged with criminal theft for me having there property but wait i thought it was mine brent?Well anyway they have givin me the run around and expect me to pay for the modem.They keep stating the terms of service which states no refund or exchange but thats hard to do when the tech doesnt take it and you dont get a email back stating where to send it.There showing there true colors and advise you to stay away cause if theres anyway the can hook you with charges they will.You have been warned
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Review by caseville
UPDATED: 4.4 years ago
member for 5.7 years, 37 visits, last login: 3.4 years ago
Rochester,Oakland,MI
$89 per month (12 month contract)
about 4 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: Covad
"Excellent speed, service, and personal touch"
"None"
"Great value for your dollar, incredible customer servive!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
We had SBC for DSL service and wanted a change, I contacted LB DSL, and asked about the packages, price, and process to change our ADSL service.
I went with the 3.0/384 package. Once I sent them my order. I was very pleased to have almost a daily update on the process to change my DSL service from SBC to Lightning Bolt. I was told that the service would change on March 11. And during the day the SBC service would go down, and then Lightning Bolt's service would be active. Sure enough. I woke up, the SBC service was dead. I spent 2 minutes plugging in Lightning Bolt's equipment, and bang, I was online.(They told me I could use my existing SBC DSL modem, but I wanted a newer modem) Total amount of downtime, minutes during the switch (from SBC to LB DSL), that was IT!!
I am very happy with the speed of install, and the speed of the service. I will be sending many more people Lightning Bolt's way.
AAAAA+++++
Update 8/28/04
We have since bumped up to the 6.0/768 package with 1 static IP for $89.95/month. Service has been rock solid, with zero outages. Typical speeds are in the upper 4000's (4500-4900) on the download side, and in the upper 600's (650-700) on the upload side.
We have 7 computers, and a PS2 installed,along with a 2 VoIP lines, all work with no issues.
I will still highly recommend Lightning Bolt to everyone. I just wish they serviced the area of our 2nd house, as that would be helpful. But oh well, one location is better then none.
Update 2/16/05
It has almost been 1 year, and still going strong, this is just great!
I recently changed to the 8 IP package (5 usable) which works great, and allows me to run a few servers. I have had zero downtime in the last year, which is more then I can say about most other ISP's. customer service is fast and very friendly!
Update 7/7/05
Things are still working great, my servers have been running non stop, and are up 100% of the time. I just read a recent review from someone else who couldn't get servers to work with the provided DSL Router. I haven't had any issues with mine, it routes, and handles the 5 usable IP's without a problem.
LB DSL is by far the best ISP I have ever used, and they are based locally, so that is even better!
They even sent me a free travel mug last month as a thank you for being thier customer, How many companies say "thanks" with a free gift 
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Review by Vanessa7
Posted: 4.4 years ago
member for 4.4 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.4 years ago
Richardson,Dallas,TX
Business customer
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 9 days
CLEC party: Covad
"Very fast Installation"
"None so far"
"Graet installation, great communication, A++++"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I am a big time e-bay seller, and I'm online a good portion of the day. I was tired of my older slower Cable, so I choose to go with LB DSL, based on the ratings here. I can honestly say, I can see why the ratings are so high. This is a Great ISP, who really cares about thier users.
The installation took just under 2 week for a dry ADSL line (No need for a phone line) The customer service has been great, and the Installation Guy who came by was great as well.
I do wish it could be a little cheaper, but you do get what you pay for.
Vanessa
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Review by ClintJCL
Posted: 4.4 years ago
member for 8.2 years, 42 visits, last login: 265 days ago
Alexandria,Fairfax,VA
$75 per month
about 15 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"High speed, good price."
"worst router ever, rude support, no incoming connections could be made, LEGAL/CREDIT RATING HASSLES"
"worst ISP ever. PPPOE is not real internet."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Well, the pre-sales, pricing, and install went very smoothly.
1.5M down, 768k up, and a "static" IP (which is really over PPPOE -- NOT REAL).
Then we got our DSL modem. It was supposedly "free" but now I am being asked to pay $200 for this "free" modem because I "broke" it by changing it to bridging mode. Utterly ridiculous.
The Briteport unit flat out DID NOT PERFORM. I could click on 10 links at once (i.e. image surfing), and only 1 or 2 of the links would ever be returned. Often times, the Briteport web-admin page was returned, which the manual says it does when it cannot retrieve the page. Via Google, I could find many references by other people who had problems with the exact same unit, other people who were not satisfied.
Furthermore, port forwarding was absolutely not working. I have since been told by some networking experts that PPPOE internet can have connectibility problems. This would explain why when I had PPPOE-DSL in the past with EarthLink that I also had connectibility problems. (In the end, I recovered all funds from Earthlink, to the point of actually making a profit.)
Tech support said two things. First, that my poor response and not getting my http clicks delivered to me was because I was utilizing my connection too much -- their attitude is EVERYTHING IS THE USER'S fault. But I stopped all traffic and tested it out, and it was still the case. THE UNIT DID NOT PERFORM ADEQUATELY.
The second thing they said was that my incoming-connectibility problem is an issue of my own configuration. Well, I *HAD* a D-LINK router that forwarded all my ports perfectly, when connected to a bridge. But the Briteport did not seem to forward anything to the D-LINK.
TECH SUPPORT, OF COURSE, WOULD NOT ADVISE. They support one and only one configuration, the one it comes in. If it doesn't work for you, THEN TOO BAD!
YOU TAKE WHAT THEY GIVE YOU, EVEN IF IT'S BAD, AND YOU ARE EXPECTED TO KEEP ON PAYING FOR NON-WORKING SERVICE! YOU ARE A PERSONA NON GRATA, AND THEY WILL DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP YOU.
In fact, because I dared commit the sin of changing my router reconfiguration, NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO CHARGE ME $200 FOR "BREAKING" THE ROUTER, WHEN ACTUALLY I MADE IT WORK BETTER (but still not good enough). Talk about a clueless misinterpretation of both reality and technology.
Anyway, things were not working. Web was not surfable. Clicking on a link gave NO GUARANTEE WHATSOEVER that the Briteport unit would actually return the page you clicked on. I've been into networking for over 10 years and I'd never seen a piece of networking hardware fail so utterly and completely, and had never seen an ISP have such a rude, arragant, self-righteous, pompous, oppressive attitude ever.
They actually told me they were annoyed at my wife and that she called too much, and that in our first day as a customer we used more tech time than the average customer does in a year. MAYBE WE'RE NOT THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER. MAYBE WE'RE SUPERIOR AND USE THE INTERNET MORE. MAYBE OUR NEEDS ARE GREATER. IF YOU CAN'T SUPPORT THEM, DON'T ADVERTISE "24/7 SUPPORT" ON YOUR WEBSITE. Maybe ISPs who cater to the lowest common denominator shouldn't pretend like their equipment is suitable for power users WHEN IT ISN'T. SpeakEasy is hopefully going to be much better.
I have successfully used 768k down / 768k up DSL now for 6 yrs with a DSL bridge. A dsl bridge works great. The briteport as a router does not work. The briteport supports a bridgemode. Tech support initially advised me that a bridge-mode exists. Since a bridge worked for me in the past, and since they had me locked in on several hundred dollars of charges, I figured it was better to try bridge mode, then to give up. I WAS TRYING TO STAY A CUSTOMER, TO AVOID USING THE MONEYBACK GUARANTEE, BECAUSE I *WANTED* THINGS TO WORK. Maybe if they had properly advised me, that whole situation never would have ocurred, but they gave me no choice.
I never would have known about the mode if I hadn't been told about it. They said they "can't support it". They never said "You will be charged $200 if you use it". They never said "the unit will be considered broken and sent back to the manufacturer if you dare to invoke your right to configure it how you want". HARDWARE WITHOUT THE FREEDOM TO USE IT AS YOU PLEASE IS USELES.
Bridge mode actually fixed the http performance problems. I could now open as many links as I want on as many computers at once as I want, and all links would go through. NOW THAT THE MODEM IS IN BRIDGE MODE, IT ACTUALLY WORKS AS FAR AS INCOMING DATA GOES!! IT CERTAINLY IS NOT IN A BROKEN STATE JUST BECAUSE IT IS IN BRIDGE MODE.
BUT WAIT -- I would have been happy now... . But...
1) EVEN IN BRIDGING MODE, all of my TCP/IP connections (I usually have 100+ at any given time) were being COMPLETELY CUT OFF every 3 minutes for the PPPOE authentication. PPPOE SUCKS. I don't want my connections being severed every 3 minutes. I shouldn't have to authenticate to my ISP that I am who I am, when it is a physical circuit going to my house!
Connections being severed makes it very hard to complete file transfers. My daily throughput at 1.5M was sometimes less than my daily throughput with 768k at my previous ISPs.
2) Oh -- and I was still unconnectible. I was trying to distribute some files out and could only get 2-3K/s, because of the particular individual circumstances, which were that I could only send data to connectible people. Other people couldn't connect to me to pull my data, I could only connect to other people to push my data. In this situation, that meant a 90-95% speed reduction on specific individual uploads I was working on.
I run a web server. I run or have run many different types of servers, including some most people haven't heard of (Kaillera, for head-to-hand LAN-emulated MAME over TCP/IP, for example), and some most people have heard of (email, web, database, ftp, irc). NOTHING WAS CONNECTIBLE.
I again asked tech support for help, and they gave none.
They advised I could purchase an 8 IP block for $10/mo. I felt that was a ripoff but was willing to try.
When I got the block, I found out 8 IP block means only 5 usable IPs. Yeah, I know top-level networking very well having been using computers to communicate since the 300bps modem days. But I don't know low-level networking enough and feel this is tantamount to false advertising. But I digress.
I tried the static IPs, assigning my 5 computers 5 static IPs. Since the Briteport unit was in bridging mode, my *static* IPs should be connectible, through a bridge, right? You'd think so, right?
WRONG. DEAD WRONG. Having static IPs did not help. Even when using no router, using only the Briteport in bridging mode, with static IPs, MY COMPUTERS STILL WERE NOT CONNECTIBLE.
MY SERVERS WERE USELESS. AND THIS WAS A "BUSINESS" LINE. What a joke. If I was actually a business, they would be looking at a lawsuit for a month's worth of operating costs because no one would have been able to connect to me!
TECH SUPPORT AGAIN OFFERED ZERO HELP WHATSOEVER.
I invoked my 21-day moneyback guarantee and stopped the $450 check I had sent to them for their fees so far. The moneyback guarnatee states that I can do this. I have a copy of it. However, it requires that you cut the line.
THAT IS TANTAMOUNT TO BLACKMAIL. I can't get my money back if I do an ISP switch, I can only get my money back if I cut the circuit and deny myself internet for weeks on end. THIS SEEMS TO ME THAT IT SHOULD BE OR IS ILLEGAL. I am being bribed into trying to keep my service, or punished with no internet for daring to invoke my money back. A TRUE BUSINESS WOULD GIVE MONEY BACK EVEN ON AN ISP-SWITCH.
A week or two later, I get an invoice stating that I owe $200 for the modem because I broke it. A total lie. It is not broken, I was using it to download data up until the minute my circuit was turned off.
I called up tech support and informed them that unless I keep the modem, there's no way I'd pay for it, and that it was not broken. I absolutely wont pay for nothing. They said it went back to the manufacturer. Without proof, how do I know they did not just give it to someone else and pull the same scam on them?
I'm fairly convinced that the unit had some defect anyway, because I don't see how a company could sell a router that DOESN'T ROUTE and can't even handle 10 simulteaneous http requests successfully! But this way, they can get me to pay $200 for an already-defective modem by claiming that I broke it. News Flash: It was broken already by being a crappy router, and I did nothing to make it any worse.
So... Now I expect this to go to collections. But I have an 800+ credit rating, over $100,000 of credit, and over $200,000 of equity. Loan officers tell me I have the highest credit rating they've seen in their life. I've refused fraudulent payments in the past and still had absolutley no problem refinancing or securing loans after such refusals were reported to my creditors. They simply hold no value when compared to a lifetime of perfect credit. I've never even carried a balance.
These scam-and-scare tactics simply wont work for me.
If you are a power user, are a user running servers, or someone not intelligent enough to know what to do with ZERO TECH SUPPORT, I would strongly advise you to commit suicide before attempting to deal with these people.
UPDATE: Upon activiation of my SpeakEasy circuit on 7/13/2005, my wife hooked all our computers up to her router. WITHOUT CHANGING ANY SETTINGS, our computers not only were connectible, but could use a full 150K/s without problem. As I had suspected, the problem was not my configuration at all.
The scientific method involves having 2 test sets, one a control, one a variable. This isn't quite scientific, but the control was my house, and the variable was the ISP. When the only different thing between two tests is the ISP, you can damn well be sure that is where the problem lied.
Earthlink didn't believe me either, and they were PPPOE, and my problems with them were instantly over when I switched over. PPPOE IS RIFE WITH PROBLEMS! ISPs who run PPPOE are full of hubris. I can't delineate what the problems specifically are because I don't have that level of precision in my understanding. However, I am damn well sure that my understanding is accurate, which is far more important than being precise. I was dead right. I don't need to know the details to know I was.
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Review by gsgleason
Posted: 4.4 years ago
member for 5.2 years, 21 visits, last login: 71 days ago
Littleton,Arapahoe,CO
$99 per month (12 month contract)
Qwest
CLEC party: Covad
"low latency"
"i get half the speed I pay for - terrible customer service/tech support"
"decent performance - terrible customer service"
| Pre Sales information:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I decided to try Lightning bolt DSL because of the tremendous latency I had with my speakeasy circuit (due to no Denver POP)
I placed my new order for a dedicated (not line shared) 6.0/768 SOHO with one static IP with lightning bolt DSL Tuesday June 7th.
The following Friday, 3 days later, my existing speakeasy circuit stopped working. My modem was still showing trained, but speakeasy support was not seeing my equipment. We suspected that my existing circuit had been disconnected as a result of my new order with Lightning Bolt Technologies.
I called Lightning Bolt and spoke to Brent who always seems to answer their phone. Since my internet was down, I didn't have access to my email and didn't have myLBDSL order number. He outright refused to help me, period.
Even though I had talked to him within the last few days several times, he said he couldn't help me at all without an order number. He refused to even try to look it up or search for it or do anything useful at all.
So, I drove to a friend's house to check my email and get my order number. I called Brent back, and explained the situation. I told him that my speakeasy circuit went down following the order with LB, and since my modem is still synching to *something* out there, but it's not speakeasy, it's likely that someone has switched my existing pair from my existing circuit to the new circuit.
He said that nothing had been done on their end at all. He said that Qwest wasn't scheduled to be out there for several more days, and that speakeasy must be having a problem. He said that I'd have to talk to speakeasy about that circuit.
I assured him that I had already done that, and it seems apparant that my circuit was moved ahead of time. I asked that he call covad and or qwest to double check, and he outright refused. I asked if he could give me a phone number so I could call them, and he again refused. I asked him if he could give me my ip address settings to I could try them out to see if it would work. He said that it hadn't been provisioned yet. Frustrated, I hung up.
Still believing that they had wrongly switched my existing pair to the new circuit, I wanted to see if I was able to connect to LBDSLs network. I emailed support asking for circuit details - here's the conversation:
Me:
>> Okay. I have already run new CAT5 from my data rack to the DMARC,
>> and that's what my existing circuit is currently using, so no inside
>> work will be necessary.
>>
>> Is this a covad line?
>>
>> Is the new circuit using RFC1483 Bridging with VPI 0 and VCI 35?
---------------------------
Them:
Gregory,
>
> To address your questions:
>
> Is this a covad line?
> This is a Covad circuit, yes. Covad will be doing the Professional
> Installation.
>
> Is the new circuit using RFC1483 Bridging with VPI 0 and VCI 35?
>
> No, Yes (This circuit is NOT a bridged circuit, however yes, the
> VPI/VCI settings are correct.)
>
> Bob
> LB DSL Support
----------------------------------------
Me, after finding the technical details on covad's website for my new circuit:
> According to my technical data from the covad order status website,
> this
> *is* a bridged circuit using PPPoE.
-------------------------------------------------------
Them:
And that is incorrect due to a system glitch on Coavd's end. It is NOT a bridged circuit.
Bob
LB DSL Support
----------------------
He didn't respond when I asked him why, then, I was able to use an RFC1483 bridged DSL modem, and, using my PPPoE credentials I found on covads order status website, I am able to connect and acquire the correct ip address and now have internet access.
So there I was using the internet with a bridged modem on a non-bridged circuit using PPPoE when I'm supposed to have a static IP all on a circuit that hadn't even been provisioned yet. Isn't that weird?
I waited until the middle of next week when the Qwest technician came out to get the new pair going. Oddly enough, the LB circuit went down while she was working at the crossbox. She got the new pair all finished and tested, and then I told her my story and that I suspected that my original pair had been moved ahead of schedule. She said that she would go check the cross box for any problems.
After coming back a few minutes later, sure enough, she said, someone had been in the box recently and had moved my existing pair to the new circuit. She had disconnected that existing pair and connected it to the new pair earlier, which is why the LBDSL went down earlier that morning. She connected my old pair back up to where it should go, and sure enough, I was then connected back to speakeasy on my old circuit, and my new circuit was up and running as well.
Unfortunately, during her testing, something she did fried my cisco 678 I'd been using on my original pair.
Anyway, that's it. The new circuit has decent latency, but I'm only getting about 50 to 60 percent of the 6.0 mbps I'm paying for.
The customer service from LB DSL is atrocious. Brent misinformed me and refused to help, and so did Bob with their tech support when it came to the technical details of the circuit.
I work for a worldwide leader in telecommunications, and I work on huge converged voice over ip (voip) networks for a living, and I know my shit. I don't understand they they insist on having covad deliver the new DSL modem and install it in my house rather than just shipping it to me so I can get it done.
I've had to take 2 days off work because of this order - one to straighten things out with the qwest tech, and one to meet covad so they can come in and do nothing I can't do myself (which is actually happening later today, june 23)
to sum up:
terrible customer service, refuses to help out.
tech support gives misinformation.
takes 2 and a half weeks from order to service finalization date.
I'm thinking about cancelling the whole deal, and going with isomedia instead. They at least acted like they cared about my business when I spoke to them...
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Review by FleursduMal
Posted: 4.5 years ago
member for 5.4 years, 16 visits, last login: 4.5 years ago
Longmont,Boulder,CO
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 28 days
Qwest
CLEC party: Covad
"Very fast, low latency, and decent pricing!"
"Well...PPPoE"
"Awesome service at a reasonable price."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
|
When Speakeasy removed their POP in Denver and latency, amongst other things, spiked I had a feeling it was the beginning of the end for me as a long-time customer. The reliability of my connection further deteriorated and I decided it was time to investigate the current state of ISPs for a replacement. There was just no way I could justify continuing to pay their premium price.
However, it was tall order to fill as I needed more than your vanilla broadband connection in order to run my domain and associated servers. Additionally latency was a concern since I do game competitively. After much research here on broadbandreports I decided to check out Lightning Bolt. Several in my area had already made the exact same switch for similar reasons and the reports were good.
All of my pre-sales questions, and I had many, were answered the same business day. Everything from how the ISP switch would transpire, dry line options, margins and throughput, to inbound requests was answered quickly and competently. Considering I'd be saving $20 a month for the same service (6.0/768), have 5 IPs rather than 2, and might reduce my latency a bit I decided to pull the trigger.
28 days later Covad scheduled the switch and LBDSL sent me an email with all of the connection info. Without much problem I had my network reconfigured and up.
The connection has been live now for almost a month and it's been outstanding. I had been regularly doing speed tests at testmy.net long before the switch. So far LBDSL has been consistently giving me 5050-5100 Kbps down and 650-690 Kbps up. Considering my terrible margins this is very good. The averages are almost exactly 60 Kbps higher for each than what I was getting with SE.
An even better improvement is that I now get much lower latency gaming. With SE the *minimum* ping I could get in CS:S or UT2K4 was 30ms after the POP disappeared and the packets were routed through L.A. Not only that but latency dramatically increased for all but a handful of servers and I had to accept playing with 90-120ms pings. I went through many hours of frustrating conversations with SE's tech support trying to find a way to correct it without success. Pings to the east coast were far worse and made playing there virtually impossible. Since most of my clanmates live there it had also brought match play for me to a standstill. A buddy of mine in Arizona on an AOL connection and another 20 miles away on Comcast could play fine on NY and FL servers where my $120/month SE connection would absolutely choke.
It's unbelievable how much of an improvement a simple ISP switch has made. I now have single digit latency to servers in Colorado and don't even need to consider those where my latency is more than 50ms. Pings to the east coast servers my clanmates play on are only marginally higher.
I recall some people having issues with having to pay through PayPal. Personally I like just setting up automatic payments and forgetting about billing.
Overall I'm extremely satisfied with the service and only regret I didin't make the switch sooner. The price and performance are definitely there. Though I haven't had to use support I expect it will be top notch if I do. LBDSL seems more than ready to cater to both the network admin/gaming types as well as the casual web-o-phile. Could be time for a new national favorite!
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Review by lstein
Posted: 4.7 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 118 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
Glen Cove,Nassau,NY
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 24 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"Smooth installation/works as advertised"
"I miss the extra upload headroom that cable provided"
"Looking good"
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Connection reliability:
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I'd been using Cablevision/Optonline for roughly two years and was satisfied with the service, but I was unhappy with the terms of service, which forbade me from running a web server or incoming mail spool. I'd also been capped a couple of times for exceeding the unknown limitations on upload bandwidth. Despite my previous unhappy experiences with DSL (phone company cutting my line without warning, congestion problems) I decided to give LB DSL a try based on good reviews here.
I ordered the dry-ADSL 6000/768 package on March 4, and four days later was assigned a TELCO line install date for March 16. The TELCO installation went without a hitch, and five days later (March 21) I was assigned a Covad install date of March 25, which I rescheduled to March 28 because of a conflict. I used the weekend to run a new telephone line to the desired router location -- Covad won't do that for you. The Covad installer arrived first thing in the morning, and I was online about an hour after that. The progress of the installation process can be viewed on a Covad status page, whose URL was sent to me the same day I placed the order with LBDSL.
The service uses a Netopia 3347W wireless ADSL modem/router, runs PPPoE, and has a single static IP. Installation cost me $350, but half of it will supposedly be rebated. There's a link from the LBDSL web site to a Covad page where you can enter the rebate information.
The wireless router only supports 802.11b speeds and I already have an 802.11g network installed in the house. So I put the router into bridge mode and plugged it into my existing wireless system. Although LBDSL does not support bridge mode, I had no difficulty in figuring out how to do this, as all the information I needed, such as PPPoE username/password, could be found on the "technical details" section of the Covad status page.
I needed to call LBDSL support twice - once to confirm that I needed to run my own internal line, and once to ask about the news server access. Both calls were answered immediately by Brent, who provided courteous and useful responses.
I'm seeing download speeds in the low 4 Mbs range and uploads of 550-600 kbps. I am quite happy with the download experience, which matches or exceeds my previous Optonline rates, but I do notice the difference in upload bandwidth, which exceeded 800 kbps for cable. This is most notable when I'm uploading a large file to work - ping and download rates slow noticeably. The service has been completely reliable so far, but it's only been running about 24 hours.
I was paying about $45/mo for Cablevision/Optonline? Was it worth doubling the price to escape Optonline's oppressive terms of service? I'll post a followup in a month or so.
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Review by vynlman
Posted: 4.7 years ago
member for 4.7 years, 143 visits, last login: 1.6 years ago
Washington,Macomb,MI
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 16 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: Covad
"Great price, great service, great support!"
"None as of yet."
"Top notch ISP"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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I ordered the dry line 3.0/768 business package with 8 IPs via fax after downloading contract. Within minutes I received confirmation of the order and the date the ILEC would be performing their part of the install, nine days after placing the order. ILEC did come a day earlier than scheduled to perform their work and that same day CLEC was scheduled for two days later, which I had to reschedule due to a schedule conflict, but to be able to be live in only ten days is awesome.
After CLEC performed their work, the speeds of the line were less than perfect. I called their support number at 11:00PM and they placed the line in safe mode, 2016/768. Just after 7:30AM the next morning I received an email from LB stating that the line was still having trouble so I was bumped down to the 1.5/768 package to stabalize the line. LB suggested that I test the connection at the NID because being 12500 feet from the CO alone was not the problem. I was hesitant at first because I had disconnected all of the inside wiring and home ran a dedicated CAT-5e line for the DSL modem, but to my suprise it was stable at the NID. I had a bad connection in the RJ-14 connector I had crimped on the end of the CAT-5e cable.
I called LB back and they bumped the line back up to 3.0/768 and everything is working perfectly. My CRC error count is very minimal and I get a pretty steady 2400/600 (after overhead) on the line.
Every email I had sent LB was answered within 5-8 minutes, every call but one was answered right away and the one time I did have to leave a message the call was returned about seven minutes later.
I would definitely recomend LB.
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Lightning Bolt DSL
