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Review by rgfritz 
Posted: 8.6 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 25 visits, last login: 3 years ago
 Gaithersburg,Montgomery,MD
 Contract price not specified.
 Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
 "Good sales support and personal service"
 "More expensive than some"
 "The extra cost would likely buy better service and reliability."
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I have been trying to get DSL for over a year. I was getting set up with Phoenix when Megapath bought them and dumped residential customers. I contacted AT&T, but their sales people knew nothing about what they were selling and couldn't answer a simple question unless it was included in their FAQ's--and then all they could do is read it to you. After signing contracts with several other ISPs, I was simply told I couldn't get DSL without any further explanation available. I contacted PatriotNet and was amazed at the knowledge of the sales people. In one case, I had a technical question the sales person couldn't answer and she immediately connected me to a techie who was quickly able to answer it. The bad news and good news of this experience is that I could not get DSL because my circuit length runs over 18,000 feet (in spite of the fact thata various online estimators shows that I was between 12 and 15 thousand feet.) . But this was the first time in working with half a dozen ISPs, that anyone was willing to talk to me and tell me what the problem was. They even offered to take an order on my second line to see if it came up any different (unlikely, but desperate DSL shoppers to desperate things). At $59 per month for ADSL (608/128), Patriot Net was more expensive than the high volume guys like Telocity. The installation/equipment was going to run over $400 until I pointed out that Telocity and others are throwing that in free. They said Covad had recently stopped providing the rebates which used to take care of most of the equipment costs. However, when I asked, they did offer me a discount on the equipment. My opinion, based upon my experience with them to that point and the other reviews I have read, is that their service and reliability would have been worth the extra money.
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Review by tanwyll
Posted: 9.1 years ago
member for 9.1 years, 8 visits, last login: 5.7 years ago
Fairfax,Fairfax City,VA
 Business customer
$299 per month (12 month contract)
 about 30 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"reliability, tech-support, Linux-friendly, lots of features"
"news server connection bandwidth limited to 144 kbps"
"Excellent service and value"
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My company has been using PatriotNet for the past 4 years (DSL for the last 2). Can't say enough good things about them.
We get 384 kbps @ $299 month, and the connection speeds operate as advertised. We get 30 static IP's, and USENET, but USENET access is bandwidth limited to 144 kbps :-(. They will provide you with web hosting and email, but since we got DSL, we now do that in-house, so I can't comment on the quality of those services. However, I would imagine it's equally as good based on previous experience with them doing our email and web hosting in the past (pre-DSL). We opted for the Efficient Networks DSL bridge/modem options rather than a Flowpoint router (saved us a few hundred bucks), and utilize an in-office Linux gateway/router/server for the comapny's internal network. This setup has worked flawlessly(knock on wood!)
Their tech-support is top-notch: somebody ALWAYS answers the phone, and if they can't answer right there on the phone, they'll continue to look at the problem and get back to you ASAP. No hang up the phone and hope you go away.
They're Linux-based: great reliability and they've really helped us integrate our Linux based email/web servers into their Internet access. In 4 years of using them (pre-DSL and current DSL service), we've experienced nothing but rock-solid connectivity. The worst business-hour connectivity problems we ever had are 5-10 minute outages that occur 2-3 times a year, usually due to their backbone provider connectivity problems.
The occasional billing question/issue are answered promptly and politely.
The install was a typical Covad/Bell Atlantic flail, but PatriotNet's tech support helped do the end run around them and worked out the routing issues on their end without getting Covad and BA too involved. Probably saved me a month of haggling with Covad and BA. What we expected to take 2 months only took 1.
Based on our experience, great reliability and excellent quality of service. Thanks Ann and Chris for a job well done.
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Review by c5karl
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 60 visits, last login: 1 year ago
Fairfax,Fairfax City,VA
Business customer
$625 per month (36 month contract)
about 120 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"Can always reach someone by phone"
"Small is beautiful"
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We're located two blocks from PatriotNet. They offer all the expected advantages of small & local. If you need something or have a question, you can always reach someone by phone who, by and large, is knowledgeable and helpful. We haven't yet had a question they couldn't answer, and we always get a live person on the phone after only two or three rings (no automated attendant or hold queue).
We've had their 1.1Mbps/1.1 Mbps DSL service for over a year, serving a network of about 15 machines. For a third to a quarter of the price, you'd never know it was not a T-1.
They resell AboveNet's backbone, which is fast and connects most anywhere without too many hops. AboveNet goes dark more than one would hope -- on at least two occasions recently for more than an hour -- but when there are outages, PatriotNet is at least reachable by phone.
The install was predictably slow, due to the standard Covad/Bell Atlantic delays. But since then it has been smooth sailing.
They included a FlowPoint router, which does everything we need, including Network Address Translation and packet filtering. PatriotNet is a little stingy with IP addresses for the price.
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Review by sasala
Posted: 10 years ago
member for 10.3 years, 3 visits, last login: 8.9 years ago
Alexandria,Fairfax,VA
Contract price not specified.
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"1 hop from an above.net router"
"Small ISP with limited weekend helpdesk hours"
"99.99% uptime over 18+ months"
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Alexandria, VA
After many months of trying, I ended
up with IDSL 144. The process of
ordering and getting everything
installed went horribly. I fault
Bell Atlantic, but there could of been
better communication between BA, Covad,
and PatriotNet.
Generally I get near the full line
rate all the time. Moreover, the
residential DSL gateway is only 1 hop
from an Above.net router.
The DNS servers seem flaky to me and
they charge for hosting a domain name.
I think that is a rip off. However,
you get a static IP address for free.
The responsiveness of their tech
support could use some work. However,
once you get a hold of someone, they
generally do an excellent job.
I'd like to give a big thanks to
Ann, Chris, and Mike for all their
hard work!
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PatriotNet
