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Review by zaby1337 
member for 61 days, 3 visits, last login: 31 days ago
updated 59 days ago
 Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
 $130 per month about 1 days "performance, reliability, uptime" "pricing scheme, small download caps, usage meter lags by 3 days" "Alaska's only game in town for the most part, monopolists, but great performance"
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Have used this company for over a decade off and on, mostly on. Have had all sorts of internet plans with them, slow and fast. GCI is Alaska's only game in town basically; their competition is sort of null.
Performance is top notch, you get what you expect, tests well 99.9% of the time during gaming sessions and things like speedtest dot com. The various tools on this site have tested this ISP to be very good, as well as other site's tests.
The most annoying thing about GCI is there pricing scheme/download caps. They have slightly improved their pricing scheme recently, but before then it was really unsatisfactory. Much like choosing between too little and too much as well as paying between a little and a truck load.
My current package is at 22/2 mbps with a 200GB download cap. This is their top package, the rest have very small download caps. They provide a RCA brand digital broadband modem for $7/month lease.
[Edit] I forgot to mention, the usage meter they have online consistently lags behind about 2-3 days. Compared to Comcast's (lived in lower 48 for short time) usage meter which lags about max 3 hours, GCI's meter is pretty pathetic at best so good luck keeping up with how much you download, actually this is one of the most frustrating aspects of their service.
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Review by jikixis
member for 279 days, 0 visits, last login: 279 days ago
lodged 279 days ago
- undisclosed location
- $100 per month
- (month by month)
- about 10 days
- "speed as advertised when it works"
- "intermittent goes out a few times per day, over billing. Low usage cap."
- "don't get it unless you have to."
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I got GCI because only one available. Had to get the Ultimate package even when I don't own TV nor use the phone.
Bandwidth caps are ridiculous. 15GB for $50? 3Mb down/ 512Kb up.
Now I am with ACS, much happier than GCI.
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Review by b0rnpagan
member for 309 days, 2 visits, last login: 230 days ago
lodged 309 days ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- Contract price not specified.
- (99 month contract)
- "Download is livable"
- "Usage Cap, Service sucks, Price, Bundles, Lying Pigs, Reduction of Service and Higher Bills"
- "If only there was another way,,, sucks being a nerd."
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GCI was great, but I question thier usage monitor and argue the point that the head cheese says that Alaskans are not derserving of unlimited internet because they abuse it. .... wow.... on that note stop abusing my wallet. GCI and ACS have been the major isp's in this town and as time goes on the bills get higher while the service and fleecing gets to the point of being rude. They know they have us and that is that. Go to heck GCI!
Comments:
 | | Usage meter The meter is crap. Once, I powered off my modem while out of town. I had to wait a few days for the usage to post, but it showed usage while the modem was powered off. | |
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 Review by McLovin
member for 6.6 years, 1384 visits, last login: 32 days ago
updated 1.6 years ago
- Fairbanks,Fairbanks North Star,AK
- $255 per month
- "Stable, fast connection, fastest in Alaska."
- "The few outages that have occurred have happened right when I needed to use the internet..."
- "The fastest, and most stable internet connection in Alaska."
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Ordered the "Ultimate Package Plus" on 5/2/08, which includes the digital cable package (151 channels), VoIP phone (local and 500 long distance minutes), and 320Kbps/128Kbps internet. for $89.99
Upgraded the cable service to get the preferred service to add an additional 80 channels, plus the HD package and HBO premium HD package. Also added an HD DVR, which is required to add any HD package. Also upgraded internet connectivity to 10Mbps/1Mbps. Total in upgrades is roughly $105.00/mo.
I may scale the bandwidth back to 7Mbps/768Kbps later to save some money, but I have got some catching up to do on the internet!
They had to delay the install because they were out of stock on HD DVRs, and they wanted to wait to roll me on a new cable modem they are going to start using (DOCSIS 3?!? *crosses fingers*). Anyway, the install date is set up for Monday, 5/19/08. Customer service has been great. They offered me one free bill, and $20 off the following two bills for the inconvenience.
I will update on 5/19 after the install to advise of status and installation procedures. Along with pictures, potentially.
UPDATE 5/20/2008
Install went OK. They were still missing the DVR, however they did get into the store that day, the tech just didn't have one with him as they had gotten in about an hour before the truck roll.
The only real thing I have against anything that went wrong, was that the installer was 2 hours late. Thus delaying the account creation until the next business day, sticking me at the lowest possible cable modem provision at 128Kbps/64Kbps. Needless to say I just went to bed early and didn't even bother.
Now that I have my nice HD DVR and the cable modem at 10Mbps/1Mbps. Speedtests show accurately...
Download #1
------------------------------------------------------------
File size transferred : 14.65 MB (15360000 bytes)
Total time taken : 12.27 seconds (12265 milliseconds)
Throughput : 1252.0 KB/sec [Kilobyte-per-second]
= 1.25 MB/sec [Megabyte-per-second]
= 10016.0 Kbps [Kilobit-per-second]
= 10.02 Mbps [Megabit-per-second]
Upload #1
------------------------------------------------------------
File size transferred : 14.65 MB (15360000 bytes)
Total time taken : 128.14 seconds (128141 milliseconds)
Throughput : 119.0 KB/sec [Kilobyte-per-second]
= 0.12 MB/sec [Megabyte-per-second]
= 952.0 Kbps [Kilobit-per-second]
= 0.95 Mbps [Megabit-per-second]
The plan is nice. Cable TV picture is actually outstanding. I also ordered the HD package and the display is phenomonal. 1080i over CATV is great, and will be worth its weight in gold once football season starts!
UPDATE 11/16/08:
So service is great. Internet has been quite solid (had some instability, found out it was the routers fault), couple of outages, but none lasting more than an hour or two. Only complaint I have is that they are adding more HD channels, which is good. The bad part is that they nearly doubled the price of the HD package without telling me... Bill comes in the mail that's $20 more than usual... They raised the price of the HD package from $15/mo. to $25/mo. But they STILL don't have the local channels in HD, which SUCKS... GCI told me however that it faults to the local stations not being capable of HD, which I have a hard time believing... Customer service did a stunning job, crediting me for my frustration. But I still elected to keep the HD package...
As far as internet connection goes, its great for the New Xbox Experience. 10Mbps streaming HD Netflix rocks, video loads in ~20 seconds, plays without hiccups, as long as your roommate doesn't start trying to download stuff against you... Upload appears to be slacking, going at about 820Kbps consistantly. Several modem and router reboots does not improve anything...
UPDATE 7/7/2010
Been a while since I've updated this. Not too long ago, they bumped the packages up, so I'm now getting 12Mbps/1Mbps (notice how they didn't bump the upload??!?) and stayed at the same price. I get every bit of that 12Mbps and even more, usually get 12.5Mbps Or 1.54MBps downstream sustained. I've seen some pretty high speed bursts, but those don't last long and are quite rare. Also a change from the last review is they finally did add at least 2 (sometimes 3) of the local channels in HD. Total of like 65 HD channels now that I get (less than whats there because I only get showtime and HBO, not Cinemax or Starz).
However, the downside is, not long after the new packages went in to effect, GCI launched their new "Fair Use Policy" (»portal.gci.net/usage/fair_use.html) in an effort to apparently thwart heavy downloaders. Now, I don't download a lot of stuff, and last month I hit 130GB. That's Netflix streaming, gaming on multiple platforms, two roommates plus myself (doing the same, mind you) and we are exceeding this newly established policy. That said, we haven't gotten any notices yet, so I'm assuming if we keep our heads down, we should be in good shape. The sad part is, that the lower packages have much lower fair use limitations, going as low as 40GB. Sad part is, they are measuring a GB as 1,000MB, which is not the case. 1GB=1024MB. Granted, there isn't that much of the difference, but as the customer, I'm getting shortchanged by 2400MB over the month based on their poor calculations. I have yet to personally see these get enforced, but they have ground to stand on now nonetheless.
I wouldn't put it past GCI to start enforcing these limits here pretty soon. I think these caps are pretty crazy low, especially considering the bandwidth given. 250GB for the 12Mbps package is adequate, thats what TekSavvy is doing in Canada, why can't others fall behind that logic?
I don't have much to complain about, I have not yet gotten any complaints against me to stop doing what I'm doing, and GCI isn't charging anyone if they go over, just a stern talking-to is in order apparently.I'll just say I haven't gotten a call yet, and if I do, they may not like what I have to say, especially since I'm not paying any less money for less service. $1 per GB? Hard drive storage is cheaper than that... I can buy a 500GB hard drive for less than $100 each month and fill it somewhere else. Kind of lame when you think about it...
Comments:
| | Huh? How do you figure you're getting short 2400MB per month? A gig is only 1024MB. You're short 24MB. | |
| McLovinChicka chicka yeahPremium
join:2005-06-12
Fairbanks, AK
1 edit | Simple math 100 gigs a month by their definition of 1000MB=1GB. 24MB short per gig x100gigs/month = 2400MB/month short of actual conversion values. Just math.
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Tube surfin' at 12Mbps/1Mbps | |
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Review by AngryCustmer
member for 1.8 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
updated 1.8 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- Contract price not specified.
- "Fast"
- "Sandvine Equipment throttling specific internet protocols and services"
- "Terrible Customer Service"
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Review by cluth
member for 8.1 years, 396 visits, last login: 65 days ago
updated 2.1 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- $50 per month
- about 1 days
- "Extremely reliable service, FAR better download speeds than ACS, pseudo-static dynamic IP addresses"
- "Slow upload speeds, high price"
- "Much better than the competition in Alaska"
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I also have the Ultimate Package. I've added some upgrades to the basic package. I've detailed what I'm getting and what I'm paying for below:
$79.99: Ultimate Package
>LiteSpeed cable internet service (64k/32k)--upgraded below
>Digital cable TV (115 channels)
>Analog phone service with 13 features (caller ID, call waiting, etc.) and 150 minutes of out-of-state long distance--upgraded below (to be upgraded to PacketCable-based digital phone service when available)
$49.99: 5mbps/256kbps cable internet service upgrade (includes unlimited data transfer and unlimited dynamic IP addresses)
$10.00: Additional 350 minutes of out-of-state long distance (total of 500 minutes)
$4.99: 1GB email storage
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Total monthly price: $144.97, plus taxes--around $160 per month
While it sounds fairly expensive to folks from the Lower 48, it's not bad for the quality and breadth of services I'm receiving. An additional deal is available if you use GCI's GSM cellular service.
I also got 10,000 bonus miles for upgrading to the Ultimate Package. Previously, I had been a GCI subscriber to an older package--it's nice that they offered the bonus miles to both old and new customers.
A couple of comments on the services:
*I have dynamic IPs, but in practice (due to GCI's three-day DHCP lease) these change on average about once per year--long enough for me to register a domain and host my own mail server on my connection. Static IPs are available for $10 per month (a bit steep) but come with business accounts.
*The upload speed has been a bone of contention among a lot of GCI subscribers. 256kbps is slow compared to the 1mbps uploads offered on similar (and cheaper) services down south. Truthfully, though, it's not the end of the world--for now, when I have a large file to send to upload or I want to use Amazon's S3 service to back up my hard drive, I take my laptop over to the university and use their OC3.
*I consistently receive the rated download speed from GCI's local network. When I run the speed test at »speedtest.gci.net at the largest setting (97.66 MB), I get a consistent 650+ KB/sec in Mac OS X's Activity Viewer and a final rating of 5.0+mbps from the speed test tool. GCI does good at making sure the last mile isn't congested. However, downloads and especially speed tests from the Lower 48 can be a bit slow (I haven't gotten more than about 100-150 KB/sec on the standard DSLR speed tests from Megapath or LinkLine or the like)--which is strange, considering GCI's fat pipes to Seattle (I think they're running dual OC-192s, but I'm not sure). Maybe it's the latency of going through 1500 miles of fiber. Downloading multiple files at once or using a program that splits downloads into multiple connections at once usually results in me getting the full 5mbps rating.
A few other tidbits:
*The Ultimate Package plus $99 gets you 10mbps/384kbps with priority technical support and a static IP address.
*It's hard to put an accurate price for just the Internet service, as GCI is so heavy into bundling that they only offer my service plan to people who subscribe to the Ultimate Package. The $49.99 is an upgrade to the basic free cable modem service, so the true monthly cost of *just* the Internet portion is more like $74.98 ($24.99 for LiteSpeed and $49.99 for the speed upgrade), although I'm sure GCI would charge more if it weren't bundled with the other items. In fact, if you're just looking for cable Internet and want to skip TV and phone service, you can spend $99 for 4mbps/384kbps (the highest stand-alone service offered)--so packaging things together really gets you an, er, good deal (well, comparatively). Regardless, I chose to put $49.99 in the Monthly Cost field above, as most people getting Internet in Alaska are going to go with a bundle, whether it's from ACS or GCI.
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Update 10/30/07
I took an out-of-town job in the summer of 2006 and then spent the winter traveling, so while I was away, I downgraded my Internet connection to the free one included with my Ultimate Package (320k/128k--just fast enough to keep my email server usable). When I returned, I opted to upgrade to the 3m/256k plan for $10 cheaper than the 5m/256k plan. $10 per month isn't much, but I've found that 3mbps is more than fine for most of my usage (though I wouldn't go much slower).
However, there have been some rumors around DSLR that GCI is going to be upgrading their systems/offering a new tier with 15mpbs down and 3mbps up. (Perhaps their old analog cable platform is gone and those frequencies are available now or something.) There has been no official word from GCI on this, nor has there been any pricing information, but if it's available for the same price as their current top-of-the-line plan (10m/384k for the Ultimate Package plus $99), I'll be the first in line to upgrade (mostly for the upload; until more high-quality media offerings, such as good, HD streaming media or HD movie rentals/purchases, are widely available online, I doubt I'll find the extra download to be useful, though it would be fun). If it's much more than than an extra $99 on top of the Ultimate Package, I don't think I could justify the upgrade. We'll see what GCI comes out with.
I've now had the digital phone service (mentioned in the comment attached to this review) for almost exactly one year, and quality has been to POTS standards or better. I think it might have gone down for a short time once, but it was back up and running in hours (or less--I can't remember), and it's worked when the cable modem platform has gone down (though my cable modem service has only gone down two or three times in the year, at least that I've been aware of).
Oh, and I just noticed that at the beginning of October, I got 500 Alaska Airlines miles as an anniversary bonus from GCI. Can't complain about that!
Still happy with GCI and still [probably too] happy to fork over a large chunk of change every month...ah, the digital lifestyle...
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Update 11/21/07
I just got home and tried to use the phone and found that there was no dialtone. I played with a couple of the other extensions in the house before I finally looked at the EMTA and saw that half of the lights were unlit and one of the lights that doesn't normally blink was blinking. I opened up my laptop to look for the support number from the website (to call from my cell, since I obviously couldn't dial 611 from the landline). I pulled up the number and just as I was about to call it, I thought I'd test the landline again. Sure enough, I got a dialtone.
Supposedly, the digital phone service is continuously monitored by the GCI NOC, which enables them to begin repairs immediately rather than waiting for the customer to call and complain. Worked in my case: I don't know how long it had been down before I found out, but it was fixed within 10 minutes of me discovering it. Certainly better than the two days my old copper landline was down before ACS finally got around to coming out to fix it!
I do find it interesting that the cable modem platform remained up while the voice platform was down, so I'm guessing it wasn't something physical with the cable itself (e.g. a backhoe ripping it out of the ground, etc.). I will admit that my faith in its 100% reliability is a tad bit shaken, but I'm not too concerned, since I have my cell as a backup (and Cellular One recently improved the cell signal in my area, so my cell is [mostly] usable at home, now).
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Update 12/21/2009
GCI's been good to me, if still sucking down too much of my paycheck ($199.46 each month, give or take a few pennies).
I'm not entirely sure of the exact timeline, but a few of things have happened since I last updated this review. The upload speeds were increased, a couple of the speed tiers were moved around, and the download speeds were increased.
First, the best news: the upload speeds. GCI upped the upstream on the lower-middle two tiers (3mbps and 5mbps) from 256kbps to 512kbps. The top-tier product (10mbps for $99/mo), received an upgrade to full 1mbps upstream capacity. It's still not what many of you guys down south have, but it's no longer abysmal.
Second, I re-upgraded to the 5mbps plan for $10 per month (during my last review, I mentioned I had downgraded from the 5mbps/256kbps plan to the 3mbps/256kbps plan). However, this is now 6mbps! GCI reorganized their speed tiers, and the 3mbps and 5mbps plans jumped to 4mbps and 6mbps, respectively.
And then finally, GCI recently (within the last six months or so) revamped their top three speed tiers. One day, I went to download something and noticed I was downloading at a full 1MBps (mega[i]byte[/i] per second). Sure enough, GCI had--for free!--upgraded my Internet connection to 8mbps/512kbps. My friend who had the 10mbps/1mbps plan (their top tier) found himself now getting 12mbps/1mbps. (It appears the 7mbps/768kbps tier got bumped to 10mbps/768kbps.)
And GCI still hasn't oversold the last mile. Doing speedtests from the local GCI-run speedtest server, I consistently get my rated speed. I just did the 9.77MB download speedtest from »speedtest.gci.com, and I got 7.97mbps. It looks like they're doing fine on their backbone, too--I just did the short run test (20MB) to Seattle from »speedtest.sea.acsalaska.net/speedtest-3.0 (their primary competitor) and got 7007kbps/472kbps (I actually saw a full 1.0MBps in Activity Monitor for the majority of the download; it dropped briefly at the end, lowering the average). Perhaps my previous slow results from out-of-state speedtest servers were due to some peering/routing problems they've fixed (they haven't actually laid any more cable)--I just tried the Link/Line speedtest in LAX and got 7336kbps/472kbps.
All in all, I'm quite happy with my Internet connection!
On the phone side, my digital PacketCable phone service has been virtually 100% reliable. Since my last update two years ago, I think it may have failed to provide me with a dialtone once, and it gave me one as soon as I hung up the phone and picked it back up again. The line quality has been stellar--while I wish we could get wideband telephony going in the U.S., the clarity and call quality on my home line is as good as the current 8KHz POTS service is ever going to get. There is never any jitter, delay, echo, dropped calls, stutter, line interference, hiss, or anything, and the audio is very clear.
When calling into GCI several months ago to ask a question about billing, the CSR suggested I change to their new unlimited out-of-state long-distance package. Best of all, it was either the same cost as or a few dollars cheaper than (I can't remember) the 1,000-out-of-state-minute package I had previously had! I grilled the CSR to make sure there were no potential catches or downsides, and there weren't. I guess my only complaint is that they didn't automatically switch me! (Granted, I never use more than 1,000 minutes of out-of-state long-distance, since I actually rarely even call from my home phone, but it's nice to have that option. I could save $10 per month and get something like 200 or 400 minutes, but it's worth $10 to never have to worry about overage fees. (In-state long distance is, IIRC, 14 cents per minute--it's that way with all packages except that I believe there's a special one designed for people who primarily call in-state. I very rarely do, and if I need to, I just use my cell.)
One note: a friend of mine had an issue with GCI's billing department--they messed up his Auto-Pay feature when he moved his service to his new house. The first he heard of it it was three months after the move when they called him threatening to cut off his service and send him to a collections agency. He was flabberghasted! He quickly called them back and made a payment to bring his account current and re-set his Auto-Pay to work properly, but the attitude he received from them was, to say the least, less than cordial. (GCI claims they mailed him notices of his delinquency prior to calling him, but really, who bothers to read snail mail these days?) Fortunately, he got the situation resolved by contacting an email address that used to circulate around the old (now-closed) GCI technical assistance forums, which apparently goes straight to the senior executives, but the attitude he received even there was one of "Well, you're still wrong, and we're not admitting any fault, but just because you asked, here's a token amount of compensation." So, apparently my positive experience with GCI's customer support isn't quite universal. Still, I'd have to rate them highly as I've never personally had any problems with either their customer support (billing inquiries) or technical support (in the rare instance I do need to call, I get someone who's pretty competent and gets the problem solved quickly).
So, in all, I'm very pleased with GCI's services and customer service. It's not the greatest value, but the alternative is to go with the local DSL company, which maxes out at 3mbps, or AT&T Alascom's WiMax service, whose highest tier is 2mbps (though it is 2mbps symmetrical, I believe). If those guys could up their speed tiers to compete, maybe they'd have a fighting chance for my business. If you can live with slower Internet, you can probably save money with The Other Guys (as GCI refers to them in their commercials), but for true geeks like me and my circle of friends, GCI is really the only option--and their prices reflect that.
But for now, I'm more or less happily plunking down $200 per month and not complaining (too much, at least!).
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Review by kalanic00
member for 5.5 years, 476 visits, last login: 5 days ago
updated 2.3 years ago
- Eagle River,Anchorage,AK
- $29 per month
- "Easy Self-install, instant provisioning, in-store face-to-face ordering"
- "Long hold times for tech/cust support, monthly caps with no bundle, over-priced in relation to comparable markets elsewhere."
- "Better value over local telco."
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Being a telecom guy, I'm biased about using cable. But the value, compared to the other services available in the area, is better. The face-to-face ordering in the GCI store is wonderful and something companies down in the "lower-48" can learn from. There were no upfront costs, and equipment was given without a deposit.
Once I got home, I was up and running in minutes.
There seems to be times where I have to click the re-fresh button, or re-submit a form to kick the internet back on...almost like it freezes for a moment.
Over-all, a wonderful and seamless set-up, but not quite used to 2m/548k for $29.99 (soon to be $49.99) - seems like price gouging, being that there is no competition up here at all.
***Update
I forgot to mention ISPs in Alaska have monthly allowance caps on usage! How far behind the rest of the U.S. is this state?
I turned in my modem, and cancelled the service because I was charged for overage - I surpassed my 10Gig monthly cap. I was charged $0.005 per Meg.
I tested the meter they provide on GCI.net by physically unplugging the modem from power from 7pm 9/13 to 7pm 9/15. However, once they ever so slow meter caught up about a week later, it indicated 500+ Meg of usage for 9/14. How can this be?
I called customer support once I got my bill to dispute the accuracy of the method they use to track usage, and I got the same thing from everyone, "Your wireless router opens your connection, and if it isn't secure, someone else could be using it." Or, "Even though you unplugged the modem, your router is still on, and that explains the additional usage." Did they not hear what I was saying to them? Again, the modulator/demodulator (modem) was unplugged from power!! I was so surprised by the lack of comprehension from everyone I spoke to, I just closed the account.
After over an hour on hold, I was given a "courtesy" credit, but they insisted the additional usage was valid. What idiots!
Bottom line, if you don't get a bundle, be very very weary on extra usage charges. Chances are the usage is inaccurate.
Comments:
| | Better than MTA in Valley I got enough MTA BS and switced to GCI couple years ago. Very happy to get 12Mbps (really tested) download speed and no limits. If they could go down about $20/ month I would be 100% happy with service. I pay now Internet portion of package $99 per month. Also GCI doesn't have latency issues like MTA had, at least here in Wasilla where I live. | |
| | | | Re: Better than MTA in Valley said by anon :
I got enough MTA BS and switced to GCI couple years ago. Very happy to get 12Mbps (really tested) download speed and no limits. If they could go down about $20/ month I would be 100% happy with service. I pay now Internet portion of package $99 per month. Also GCI doesn't have latency issues like MTA had, at least here in Wasilla where I live.
Latency issues? Are you kidding, or ignorant? The latency across GCI's network is about as low as the laws of physics allow. Did you forget you are in Alaska? the latency between Wasilla and Seattle VIA GCI is superb.
You need to read up on the speed of light and the laws of propagation. there is nothing that can be done to improve latency from Alaska. NOTHING. Unless you know how to break the laws of physics and make light travel faster than the speed of light. Do you? | |
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bmialonePremium
join:2009-08-15
Anchorage, AK
3 edits | "Its Alaska" excuse for high pricing" I've been told "Its Alaska" as an excuse for the high pricing of everything, and lousy service for just about everything. One would think Alaskans were not living in the 21st century, given even backwater places in third world countries are getting better internet speeds and service, as well as a myriad other services the rest of the country manages to get better for less money. Alaskans are paying more for less - not more for the same, but more for less, for Everything. Low standards.
We had GCI but were really unhappy with how slow our supposed high speeds were, and disgusted by the price gouging, including extra charging for unlimited. In two other states, we were never charged like that. Plus GCI charges more for cable television, and provides fewer included without an extra charge cable boxes than did our past cable companies.
When we bought a home and moved, we went to Clearwire as our ISP, but its speeds are even worse.
It took GCI over a month just to get a working dial tone for our landline telephone line! In addition to their other techs, one very unprofessional tech was here twice (his buddies showed up just to hang around my house while he worked, twice!). The company is ridiculous about installing only so many phone and cable lines per appointment and refusing to install cable outlets on interior walls (Never ran into either of those things in other states!). Then the company pressured us, harassed us with phone calls, and even lied about why we Had to switch to their digital phone service (we didn't).
Can't stand GCI but may go back to them for internet in the end because Clearwire is slower than our old dial-up 15 years ago. | |
| | | | Re: "Its Alaska" excuse for high pricing" I work for a Communication company in the "lower 48" and we only install 4 active outlets per initial installation. That means you have 4 locations within your home that are currently wired activated. Anything more requires an additional appointment. Also, we do not wire internal walls. We don't have the equipment or time to fish walls. | |
| | | | said by bmialone:I've been told "Its Alaska" as an excuse for the high pricing of everything, and lousy service for just about everything. One would think Alaskans were not living in the 21st century, given even backwater places in third world countries are getting better internet speeds and service, as well as a myriad other services the rest of the country manages to get better for less money. Alaskans are paying more for less - not more for the same, but more for less, for Everything. Low standards. We had GCI but were really unhappy with how slow our supposed high speeds were, and disgusted by the price gouging, including extra charging for unlimited. In two other states, we were never charged like that. Plus GCI charges more for cable television, and provides fewer included without an extra charge cable boxes than did our past cable companies. When we bought a home and moved, we went to Clearwire as our ISP, but its speeds are even worse. It took GCI over a month just to get a working dial tone for our landline telephone line! In addition to their other techs, one very unprofessional tech was here twice (his buddies showed up just to hang around my house while he worked, twice!). The company is ridiculous about installing only so many phone and cable lines per appointment and refusing to install cable outlets on interior walls (Never ran into either of those things in other states!). Then the company pressured us, harassed us with phone calls, and even lied about why we Had to switch to their digital phone service (we didn't). Can't stand GCI but may go back to them for internet in the end because Clearwire is slower than our old dial-up 15 years ago. Alaska is an excuse for higher prices. Only a child could think otherwise. You truly show your ignorance here. You obviously know nothing about telecommunications. I've only been in Alaska for 3 years and I am totally impressed at what GCI has done with so little. This isn't the lower 48, I don't know how GCI can provide what they can without charging more for it. They have they own undersea fiber optic cables that carry everything down to Seattle and then they have to pay other people to take if from there. That is a hell of a different business model than say Comcast service in San jose. People like you make me sick. | |
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Review by andyd
member for 2.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
lodged 2.3 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- $114 per month
- "only effective coverage of Anchorage"
- "over charge, hidden fees, POOR customer service"
- "the grab you by the balls and squeeze if you try to make a fuss"
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I've had GCI off and on since I was about 16 and my parents first got internet. I'm now 22 and I have not seen a noticeable change in the manner in which they treat their customers, the service the provide, or the amount of BS they spew.
For about a year and a half I was using MTA's DSL service at my apartment on Spenard and I had unlimited internet access at about 1Mbp/s, which was not good but it only cost 83$ a month and splitting that 3 ways worked out nicely. Unfortunately when I moved to the west side of town MTA could no longer provide the same service and I had to switch to GCI.
When I originally switched I read the online site that boasted "69.99 a month for unlimited internet" but that actually meant 69.99+99.99 for the Cable tv, phone line, and other unnecessary features. I ended up going for the only "internet only" package available that came with a bandwidth cap at 20gb's. I work with large raw image files that I must transfer a lot of data. Luckily they had a deal going on for the 4Mbp/s 30gb cap. I setup an installation date for 8/05. They had to reschedule after showing up and not finding the cable. It was a new apartment and I ended up finding it under the couch coming out of the carpet, not out of the wall. I found the cable WHILE THE TECH WAS IN THE HOUSE, but he still canceled the order. Finally they came back on 08/15 and installed.
internet worked fine and bill came for 09/12. On the bill they attached SO MANY EXTRA CHARGES. 10$ access fee for 08/05-08/20 + 19.99 PRORATE for 08/15-08/20 + 69.99 internet charge + 15$ access fee for 08/21-09/12.
I called GCI to find out why they were charging me so much for the 4.5 days that I had the internet before the new cycle and waited 20 minutes before talking to someone despite the fact that I had called 2 minutes after opening. The girl said "well that's just how we setup billing" when I asked her to explain she hung up on me.
WTF?!
Angered I called back, and of course was put on hold for another 20 minutes, before getting the same girl, I asked to speak to a manager and I waited 25 more minutes before getting the "lead" who agreed to remove the overage charges I had accrued. I didn't realize I had accrued them, but apparently the 30gb bandwidth cap extended from 08/05-09/12 even though that was technically 2 billing cycles. I know what you're thinking "don't use so much bandwidth" but I don't see why I should be charged for 2 billing cycles but only recieve the service of one.
Regardless the "lead" said she would take off the charges.
this was 09/10, I ended up having to pay the full 115$ and the overage charge, but they said I would be reimbursed next cycle. It is 09/18 and I have not recieved the new billing cycle, and I'm apparently STILL accruing internet bandwidth usage for the last 2 cycles.
I HATE THIS SERVICE
but because we live in alaska everything EVERYTHING about GCI's service has to be jacked up.
I think if you own all the cable lines coming in and out of the state you should have a little control over pricing. Not to mention everyone I know uses GCI, which only feeds their greedy coffers even more and makes them think people love their service even more.
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE service, if Alaska ever gets another cable company that can match their speed and availability and offer a modicum of better customer service GCI will have a rush of users leaving them.
But the likelihood of that is slim to none
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Review by zenbyte
member for 5.8 years, 2 visits, last login: 2.8 years ago
lodged 2.8 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- $100 per month
- about 5 days
- "High speeds, few outages, great customer service."
- "The highest speeds are only available if bundled with local phone AND cable tv. Service calls take a couple of days."
- "If you want high peed its your only choice. It's not bad"
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GCI delivers consistent high speeds for streaming. Netflix streams at 4-6 mb/s. Downloads appear to be capping at 700 kb/second. Speed test reads accurately.
Unfortunately GCI is the only option for truly high speeds in Alaska. The only way to get the highest speeds from GCI is if you bundle with local phone and cable television. It's a monopoly that seems to work...for them! Customer service is average due to long service call times. They are always quick to sell you something though. Overall, not a disspointing experience, but not outstanding either. 4/5 Stars!
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Review by cobalt01
member for 6.9 years, 155 visits, last login: 49 days ago
updated 3.2 years ago
- Tucson,Pima,AZ
- $19 per month
- (month by month)
- about 2 days
- "Knowledgable friendly staff."
- "None"
- "I am extremely pleased"
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I am in no way affiliated with Gain Communications other than a happy customer.
Just and update, 11/29/08;
Gain Communications has been taken over by Dakota. I still am extremely pleased with all aspects of the service.
I have been back in Tucson for 8 years after having lived here before in the 80's. Gain is the third ISP that I have had in that time and now for about a 5 year period. My son referred me to them after hearing me complain about the other ISP's that I had used. I have been pleased with their service and plan to continue with them for services. Rarely have I needed to call for technical support. When I have, my questions or problems have been resolved in a timely manner. They have not off-shored their support services and yet have remained very competitive in the market place. My internet speed has always been very acceptable and the reliability very high. I have used the telephone as well as their web site to report a problem or ask a question and the response time is great. Unlike other services I have had in the past, several times they have called back at a later date to make sure that everything was performing as it should. I highly recommend them to anyone that has need of a highly reliable ISP.
Services provided and equipment used
Broadband/DSL at 1.5mb
Qwest line provider
Actiontec R1524SU Modem/Router
Ethernet and Wireles
Extremely pleased customer,
John in Tucson
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McLovinChicka chicka yeahPremium
join:2005-06-12
Fairbanks, AK | I don't think you have the right ISP. GCI.net is a cable company in Alaska. Might need to do some diggin' there John and get that review replaced.
Hope this helps...
www.gci.com
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Tube surfin' at 10Mbps/1Mbps | |
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