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Review by visitor See Profile

  • Location: Manchester, Hartford, CT, USA
  • Cost: $26 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 10 days
  • Telco party Southern New England Telephone
Price, Services
Reliability, Pre Sale Info
Overall not a bad experience, better then dial-up anyday.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was not impressed with the FUD that the sales staff is told to say when talking with prospective clients. I know how the technology works, I work in the network field. I almost decided to stay with the higher priced cable based on the sales pitch. If the price difference was not so large I would have.

Product ordered was Standard Package DSL for a price with discounts of $26.95/mnt. After the 12 months unless you renew your contract I think it goes up to ~$45/mnt and a mnt-to-mnt contract. DSL package showed up timely, easy to setup and install. PPPoe is on the router as I got the newer 5100B speedstream router. Using a linux firewall with the real routable IP address to provide NAT and split the connect to a few different machines.

One call to Tech support proved painless and quick. As well as the information in the forums here on BBR.

Overall not as fast as cable, but fast enough for me. I do notice that when my IP changes I get dropped for 1-2 minutes, which is rather annoying. I had one outage of cable in a year but many smaller ones with the DSL service. I am not a heavy user as I do not tend to use the service to do much other then check e-mail a few webpages and RT into work. Price was the driving factor in my decision.

member for 22.6 years, 2770 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 1.3 years ago


kmac1
Off in new directions
Premium Member
join:2001-06-07
Port Neches, TX

kmac1

Premium Member

Official Tech Support here at BBR!

One of the things you'll find as a hidden benefit, is that SBC provides Official tech Support here at BBR. You can reach us by looking in one of the SBC regional forums and following the directions on how to get better support when you have any problem with your DSL service.

Thanks!!

Ken

DSLucky
Premium Member
join:2002-04-23
Maud, OK

DSLucky

Premium Member

Re: Official Tech Support here at BBR!

Thank God!

My online experience w/SBC so far has been thru their chat system, (which REALLY needs an overhaul) and the techs there are script reading cut n paste kiddies. At least you can cover the Indian accent on chat! heh.

When I have a problem, I post here, and ADSL Guy, or one of the other fine people here address my issue within a short period of time, and do not attempt to dumb down their answer for the lowest common denominator...For the most part, us folks who have DSL are pretty tech savvy, and hate being talked down to. Don't get that here in the forums. Let's all thank these people for their tireless work at keeping all of us happy, and zipping along the information highway!

John, aka LRVMAN.
lstar102
join:2004-07-20
Fremont, CA

lstar102

Member

No speed increase after upgrade.

I ordered the 1500-3000/386 kbps package as an upgrade to my 1500/256 service. My activation date was 7/9. I have seen no change in speed at all. I was getting around 1280/300 speeds before and that is what I am still getting.


Jesse

Review by dev_null See Profile

  • Location: New England
  • Cost: $30 per month
  • Telco party AT&T
Consistency; ability to customize outgoing email addresses; free
It's still Yahoo for what it's worth
It's not as bad as it seems...
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Have the option of cable and DSL. Tried out cable and the connection was nice (4MB at that time). Unfortunately cable price is, uh, non-competitive here in SE CT (2x DSL now, when I first signed up for DSL, cable was nearly 5x the price - $12.99 vs 60).

Cable co doesn't seem to recognize that it needs a lower tier and competitive pricing to DSL, or at least rationale bundle pricing, in order to get/keep customers, so I get TV from them and phone/HSD from AT&T.

Now if AT&T would dump yahoo and their crappy service, servers and support, and go back to the legacy SNET/SBC business approach, I'd be happy as a pig in *hi*. I still use the legacy SMTP servers because the yahoo SMTP don't work right, but who knows how long that will last...

--UPDATE January 2014--

After a few years of using ATT/Yahoo, I've come to appreciate some of it's good points vs the competition. In general I've had good luck with uptime, so there's that. But more importantly, this service allows me to create a number of "outgoing" email addresses, each with my personal domains, so that I can respond to messages from any of these addresses (4 different domains).

For example,when I use gmail apps, if I try to do the same (send from a customized outgoing address), some email program will render the from address as "email@gmail.com on behalf of custom.address@mydomain.com" which is clearly unprofessional (if business related) or confusing (in any event). I haven't been able to find a way around this, short of logging into 10 different gmail app accounts.

The other nice thing about ATT/Yahoo service is that, when I moved and terminated my ATT DSL service, the account converted to a free yahoo account and maintained all of my outgoing addresses. I'm hoping with the sale of ATT to Frontier that this doesn't change, but at least for the last year Yahoo has continued to provide solid, free service. That makes me feel a bit more charitable to ATT/Yahoo.

member for 21.6 years, 3498 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 10.1 years ago


Review by Eighthman See Profile

  • Location: Troy, Lincoln, MO, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Telco party AT&T
Reliable internet service
Top notch ISP
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

No longer with AT&T since I have moved and have another provider. But for the time I was with them I had know problems. I hope this helps.

member for 22.7 years, 3924 visits, last login: 8 days ago
updated 10.1 years ago







Review by cooperaaaron See Profile

  • Location: Rockford, Winnebago, IL, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Telco party AT&T
Nice speeds when up.
Almost 17,00 feet from CO, why don't they take that into consideration, I would have tried cable.
Good service for the price.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Had issues with the loop outside of the home, I was told I am almost 17,000 feet from the CO ! I feel that if you are on a marginal line or a far distance from the CO, you should not be locked in a contract if you don't know beforehand that you are that far away and might have problems. They should let you have some time to decided whether or not you still want the service.

Service cannot hold up 1500 down/384 up so I downgraded to the lowest speed without crc errors, which is 784 down/384up.. At $15.00 or so, I can live with that, rather than the $20-25 or so I was paying....

Moved out of Rockford, moved to the Joliet/Plainfield area, got Comcast on a triple play, speeds are sometimes 15 down and 10 up (depending on the time, etc... )

Update: Still not with ATT as of July 2012.
Update: Still not with ATT as of Feb 2013.

member for 19.9 years, 5716 visits, last login: 1 day ago
updated 11.1 years ago


jadebangle
Premium Member
join:2007-05-22
00000

jadebangle

Premium Member

hello hi yes he she me you hehe loll rofl what sup? ROFL

it good to have mutliplle
more then one internet provider
shake head
then you can compare side by side
15/10?
never heard of such thing
you mean 16/2?
or 22/5?
for info.. 15.00 for 768k/384K
on month to month pricing?
that isnt so bad
good stuff matey

im paying 19.95 for 3.0/512Kbps.

DSL is okay i suppose for surfing the internet and download files that are not too large
it take 1 hour to download 1GB
at 6mbps
1gb take 30 minute
500MB take 15minute
at 3mbsp
500m take 30minute
isnt my math amazing? my math is awesome!

Review by Grumpy4 See Profile

  • Location: NW CT
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Telco party AT&T
Reliability
Calling the providor is hit or miss
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Still with AT&T DSL since first post here. Rock solid reliability, and pricing that has fallen over the years. The Comcast vs. SBC (now AT&T) rivalry has been good for the consumer.

The early days brought some frightening telephone exchanges from SNET, as it seemed the sales reps couldn't get on the same page. Our local forum here reported a wide variety of price offerings. Some got great deals and re-upped for new customer pricing incentives, and others got the high prices. Price tiers seemed to depend upon who answered the phone at SBC and was willing to click the right check box on the order screen? Weird.

Haven't had to call in for a while. Hopefully it's better now.

`````````````````````````````````````

Spring of 2009 -- Still with AT&T DSL. It's still very reliable. No complaints.

```````````````````````````````````````

Spring of 2011. Dropping our AT&T land line and DSL. Going to try Comcast cable internet and rely upon our cell phones. Me - Pageplus cellular with it's hard to believe 2 am wake up texts to tell me my credit card doesn't work, followed by a 2:15 am text wake up call to tell me it did work on auto replenish. I'm off to Boost when the current pageplus expires. Pageplus attitude - what's wrong with a 2 am wake up text? My wife - already a Boost customer.

A little OT - dropped Boost like a hot 'tater less than a month after starting. The Boost coverage is dismal around here. Only Sprint towers, without the usual and customary Verizon towers service normal Sprint service offers. Back to page Plus and happy with them. A phone call to the right person shut off the 2 am page Plus re-up texts. Too bad that took 3 or 4 Page Plus reps to figure out for me. The first 3 thought the wee hour texts were unstoppable.

member for 22.6 years, 5865 visits, last login: 5.1 years ago
updated 11.3 years ago


toddbs98
join:2000-07-08
North Little Rock, AR

toddbs98

Member

Cable is the same.

Most cable companys require you to get at least there basic package or they charge you a fee. Either way the price is about the same as DSL.

Grumpy4
Premium Member
join:2001-07-28
NW CT

Grumpy4

Premium Member

Re: Cable is the same.



Nope -- Not the same price at all

Comcast is $18 a month cheaper for twice the speed here. That's $216 a year less for twice the speed to switch over to Comcast.

Why stay with SBC? They're behind the 8 ball.

cincode5
@sbcglobal.net

cincode5

Anon

AT&T DSL Line Issue

I've got a 3M rated DSL line with AT&T which is constantly going dead. I've had on-site service calls 4 times this month alone and they cant seem to figure out why the Wireless modem goes off-line (red flashing light). They've replaced the device, switched ports, monkeyed around in the riser across the street, and still no success. I'm beginning to wonder if the possible suspect could be my home alarm system (Hue & Cry). Has anybody out there experienced this sort of issues with H&C? It seems funny that these problems seemed to come to lite when H&C bought out my previous alarm company (Action Alarm). Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
baxter0
join:2008-06-22
North Little Rock, AR

baxter0

Member

Re: AT&T DSL Line Issue

Anything and everything on the line your dsl is on,except for the modem, must have a DSL filter on it. Many Alarm Systems are installed without dsl filter and the electronics from the alarm will disturb the data trying to run on the line and will definitely cause intermittent DSL connectivity. Call your alarm company installer and see if they installed the filter on your alarm. My company installed a dsl filter long before i got DSL and there was no problem. Also make sure the filters you are using are plugged into the wall jack itself and the devise or phone is plugged into the female jack of the filter. I have seen some filters that were plugged into the phones and the phone wire was run from the wall jack and plugged into the
filter that was plugged into the phone. This is backward and will not work. I hope I have not made this confusing.
One more important thing. If at all possible, plug the modem directly to a wall jack with no filter, even if it is a filter that a modem is supposed to plug into. This has fixed more DSL issues than I can remember.

Review by ddeisz See Profile

  • Location: Batavia, Kane, IL, USA
  • Cost: $34 per month
  • Install: about 4 days
  • Telco party AT&T
cheap
DNS stinks - billing is easily messed up - Caps SUCK!
bye bye
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

----------- UPDATE 2012-11-27----------------
Will be cancelling my AT&T DSL tomorrow after switching to DSL Extreme.
---------------------------------------------------------
Over three years into DSL at my current location and I have no real complaints. Billing is easily confused with any changes to the account. Also, DNS stinks, so I set up my own DNS server and everything works fine. Now on Expert or whatever they call 6M/768k these days.
----------- ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW----------------.
One week ago today we moved to a new house, with a new phone number. When we ordered POTS, the SBC rep told us that we could not order DSL until the phone service was connected. I was a little concerned that I would not be able to get DSL from SBC but then found out one of our neighbors in the new subdivision had SBC DSL.

After the POTS was installed on Wednesday, May 19, I immediately called SBC to order DSL. The initial rep asked if we were sure the number we gave them was an SBC number. After a couple transfers, we spoke to a very helpful guy that said he would get the order through and to give him until Friday.

On Friday, he called back to verify the order information. The following Tuesday, May 25, I received the new modem (5100b) and filters, and today, May 27, the DSL was activated. 5 days early and 2,511 down/296 up on the 3MB package without any tweaking on a static IP.

Special thanks to John on phone support for walking me through the merge of my previous DSL turned dial-up turned DSL again account.

member for 21.8 years, 4892 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
updated 11.3 years ago


Review by AlphaOne See Profile

  • Location: Rancho Cordova, Sacramento, CA, USA
  • Cost: $34 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 8 days
  • Telco party AT&T
Good and reliable connection ... when done right. BBR/DSLR SBC techs did a wonderful job.
Unreliable voice support (overseas that is)
Marvelous experience, after splitter installation
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

(Feb 29, 2004)
Week 1:
Checked if line is qualified for DSL.
Ordered DSL online with "self-install" kit, specifically the Expert Plus package (1.5-6.0mbps/608kbps) with dynamic IP for $44.99/month plus FUSF for 12 months.
Being cognizant to the fact that the alarm system is somewhat connected to the phoneline, called the alarm company and asked if it's ok to have DSL. They said it's ok as long as it's connected to a filter. Sounds ok to me.

Week 2:
Modem arrived early, including micro filters for telephone devices.
Checked if modem will sync .... not!

Week 3:
D-day. DSL line is now active. Time to install filters.
Modem can only sync up to around 1mbps downstream, but upstream is great with at least 500+kbps. Registered and created account anyway.
Immediately called support. Got informed to call again the next day, as the "broadband tool" is down.
Another call to tech support turns moot, they said everything looks ok. Got transferred to a Tier 2 tech. He checked everything and can't understand why I'm getting a slow downstream speed. He then arranged for somebody to call me after "testing" my line. Never got that call.
I made another call to follow up the so-called test. Damn voice support (overseas rep. ???), she can't explain clearly what's going on. Obviously she's relying on what she's reading without fully understanding what it meant.
Eventually, I got somebody booked me for a technician visit.
Sent an IM toToasterk2 over here at BBR/DSLR to seek some help. Toaster2k is great and was able to answer all my queries. Hats off for being so patient answering my questions. He told me that I'm just 2500 away from an RT, my profiles are correct at the router, and configurations at the redback are all correct. He also verified all my questions regarding my options for the upcoming technician visit.
I mentioned to him that we have an "alarm system", and he speculated that it might be the only thing that's keeping me from getting the max sync rate. Hhhhhmmm, nobody from voice support mentioned that it's a possible problem.
I went ahead and researched DSL on phonelines with alarm. I found out that it requires a different and a special type of filter. Went ahead and ordered it so it'll be ready when the technician comes.
Found out that there's another option ... the use of splitter (to separate voice and data) right at the NID. Toaster2k again confirmed this, and even recommended this route.

End of Week 3.
Appointment for technician visit, scheduled for saturday (8-12pm). Usually on weekends, I don't get up until noon ... I jumped out of bed before 8am in anticipation of the tech. After an hour, I thought it would be wise to call the 1-800 "dispatch" number to verify my appointment. And Lo and Behold!!! Got informed that my trouble ticket got cancelled !!!! wooohooo. Since the appointment was made on tuesday, they won't hold a trouble ticket that long to last the saturday appointment. I got mad .... really mad. I almost turned green, fortunately I wasn't transformed into a hulk.
The rep. (Myrna) was so nice, and she immediately created a trouble ticket for a 1-5pm appointment on that day.
The technician eventually arrived late ... after 6pm. So much for a nice saturday, I just stayed home. Hmp.
The tech tested the quality of our line from the wall jack, and found out that I'm getting a low signal. And again, I volunteered the information that we do have an alarm system. And he immediately said that it could be the problem. So we discussed our options, and we decided to go with a splitter, and run the data/dsl line thru the house wiring's line 2 bypassing the alarm/voice which is in line 1.
It worked great! We don't have to run a dedicated wire to the modem's location, which is ugly. And this is so flexible as I can move the modem to any room.
The tech. didn't initially get what I wanted, but eventually understood when we went to the NID. I'm happy, as I got what I need. Tech. did a good job.
Now my modem is sync. at almost 6mbps down and 608kbps up. But speedtest results are just 4+mbps/500+kbps. I'm sure I can tweak this.
If this speed goes on ... I can ditch my Comcast HSI with 3.3mbps/256kbps.

Overall, I'm happy with my DSL. I'll update this review as time goes by ... we'll see if I'll get a steady connection.

*** Update (May 14, 2005) ***
What else can I say ... I' m still happy. For 44.95+FUSF a month, it can't be beat by anyone. My DSL still synchs at 6016/608 , I'm so glad I was able to jump on this plan. I probably won't know this if I haven't read it from the SBC forum here at BBR.
Very reliable, I seldom got any problem. Being close to an RT probably is a plus.

*** Update (Jan. 9, 2007) ***
Since May 2006, my monthly is down to 27.99, for the 6016/768 package.

*** Update (Aug. 14, 2007) ***
After the 1 yr term was over, the rate went up to 34.99. Even though at&t no longer require a 1 yr term, I went for another year, to get the latest Speedstream 4100b modem, free after the rebate.
I'm still a happy camper, DSL is still reliable, and a lot cheaper than Comcast HSI. For 6016 kbps up / 768 kbps down, it can't be beat.
Now I'm just waiting for U-verse to come, I hope it will be available soon. We'll see.

*** Update (July 2009) ***
Cancelled account. Elite is too slow, and Uverse still not available.
Signed up to Comcast HSI, with a promo 19.95/month for 1 year!

*** Update (2012) ***
I no longer subscribe to AT&T. Uverse or whatever is still not available. Alas, even 6mbps is no longer an option, just 3mbps. AT&T dropped the ball by not going fiber all the way.
I'm not in CHSI promo anymore, and Xfinity is charging an arm and a leg ... I'm still staying though.

member for 20 years, 2837 visits, last login: 241 days ago
updated 11.3 years ago

CCCMTech
Premium Member
join:2002-05-17
Baxter, KY

CCCMTech

Premium Member

Sorry to hear about the long story of problems

Next time you have problems just give one of us, the official techs a try. Myself, toaster2k, ADSL Guy and beach boy are all more than capable of helping you out.
deltau1
join:2000-10-03
Lake Forest, CA

deltau1

Member

Expert Plus Package

I also signed up for the SBC Expert Plus package. The transition went without a hitch. I am 8000 feet from the RT and have been consistently running at 5081/522. I have not experienced any outages or other difficulties since my upgrade. I think it was the best deal available for $44.99. Am a happy camper.

My tweaks are as follows:

RWIN: 151,008
Scaling: yes
time stamping: no
Selective acks: yes
Path MTU
Discovery: yes
Dialup MTU: 1452
Black hole
Detection: no
Dup Acks: 6
TTL: 121
NIC MTU: 1492
bikti
join:2010-10-26
Glendora, CA

bikti

Member

2004-2009 ?

Am i missing something ? is my web page not showing currant comments ?

I see year 2004-2009 comments and nothing else .. ?

Review by Rocky67 See Profile

  • Location: Orange, Orange, CA, USA
  • Cost: $70 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
  • Telco party SBC
speed, reliability
tier 1 tech support, Yahoo mail
my experience with SBC has been better than many are reporting
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was one of the first to sign up with PacBell for dial-up, back in the day, and have been with them ever since. Migrated from dial-up to DSL in 98 or 99 and recently took advantage of a promotional offer to upgrade to the PRO service.

In general, everything has gone smoothly all these years. Installs and upgrades done on time and without any drama, no major billing problems, etc. Speeds have been as advertised and connection reliability has been excellent except for one incident.

Starting about a week before xmas 2004, I began to have major slowdowns from 10 PM to 10 AM. This was a sync-no-surf condition that ended up lasting thru Jan 2005 and trying to find a solution to the problem is what got me to become a member at BBR.

Long story short, SBC never admitted there was a problem and it was never resolved despite the excellent help I got from the techs in the SBC Direct forum. Eventually the problem disappeared and I haven't had any more issues, but the experience has left me with permanent bad feelings about SBC. My days of bragging to my friends who have cable about the stability of my service are over.

Oh yeah, about that Yahoo thing - IT SUCKS. I was furious when SBC dumped that on me, but I've learned to ignore it and hope it goes away.

To sum it up, I guess I'd probably recommend SBC to others in my area given the horror stories I've heard about Time Warner cable around here.

Update 12-06:

Haven't changed my opinion of what is now att yahoo. I've moved up to a faster speed tier which went smoothly, the snyc-no-surf problem re-occurred once for a few days, but haven't had much to complain about this year except Yahoo constantly, and I mean constantly, futzing around with the mail system. Oh yeah, the Att Yahoo home page loads slooow. Could be worse.

Update 9-07:

Nothing has changed much since my last review. Connection has been working flawlessly. No problems of any kind with my account. At present, I'm a happy camper.

Update 9-07

Well, I spoke too soon.

Today my connection was down for three hours. Completely down. No sync at all. This is the first time this has ever happened with this account, but I'm still angry about it. Additionally, Yahoo is in the middle of one of their incessant bouts of meddling with the mail system, so logging into my mail has been problematic all week. At present, I'm not a happy camper.

Update 8-08

No problems of any kind during the last year. The price for the service is higher now that at&t no longer offers promotional rates in exchange for signing a contract, but that's about extent of any changes.

I'm fairly happy with my dsl right now.

Update 5-11

About two years ago I transitioned over to at&t Uverse VDSL service from at&t PPPOE DSL. The transition went flawlessly and only took the tech who came out a few minutes to make the changes. There have been no problems with the service or billing over the last two years.

Likes: faster speeds than are available with at&t DSL, VOIP, excellent television.

Dislikes: the new usage caps, but at least they are higher for Uverse users.

In summary, I'm happy with Uverse, just not as happy as I was a month ago before they instituted the usage caps.

Update 7-12

Nothing new to report about my Uverse service. I've had no problems with service or billing since my last review.



member for 19.1 years, 4151 visits, last login: 6 years ago
updated 11.7 years ago


Review by FriscoTX See Profile

  • Location: Frisco, Collin, TX, USA
  • Cost: $40 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
  • Telco party AT&T
Price for high speed.
Does take at least 1/2 a day to have tech install.
Uverse provides much faster service than DSL
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Have had the service for 3.5 years and it is still a great value. Speed test show I am getting about 8830 Kb/s down and 1359 Kb/s up on service UP.

member for 21.4 years, 10097 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 11.8 years ago







Review by luckyme See Profile

  • Location: Canoga Park, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Cost: $19 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 6 days
Line provision tech waited at apt for me
Sales signed me up for 6.0 svc nefariously
Not taking the bait for an upgrade to uverse
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I subscribed to att via the chat service and two days later my line was active. The tech was helpful and told me the distance to the CO was such that there would be no prob to get 6.0. With about two hours of effort my broadmax/linksys setup was provisioned on the network. It was then I noticed that 6.0 service was not available for me without a 2wire professional install. The price point of $240 for tech support to change the service made my decision to stay at the 3.0 easy. Thanks to all the uverse forum posts, they were informative. I'm going to call at&t today and ask why I'm being charged $19.95 a month for the 6.0 line. Wish me luck.

UPDATE: It has been 4 months and I've had two power cycle my modem twice, the speed has held at 3.0 up and 1.0 down. I'm not changing a thing.

member for 24 years, 1325 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
updated 11.8 years ago