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 Review by Mrq5 
Posted: 10.2 years ago
member for 10.2 years, 3446 visits, last login: 1 days ago
 Detroit,Wayne,MI
 Contract price not specified.
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Im located in Detroit, for the most part I am satisfied with Flashcom/Northpoint. The only problem was during the installation process, I think the problem there was that Flashcom made inaccurate go-live dates(maybe to even get more install orders). But being a home user, Flashcom was a no-brainer, no way would I spend more than $70-80 bucks for Internet access. In return for the delays during installation, I recieved a free Modem, free installation, & 1 free month(I have been up for about 3 weeks, and yet have I recieved any charges on my credit-card). My current speed is 200k for $89 bucks per month, Im always at 185k+, with occasional 200k speed. To sum it up, I love the speed I get with DSL and all the other ISP's in my area couldnt touch Flashcoms prices. In regards to Tech support, I havent had many problems there either, not sure if it helps that I work with pc's everyday. All I needed from tech support was my TCP settings and I was all set, without any outages yet(knock on wood). In the event of possible outages, I have cancelled my dial-up account & downloaded free Internet access software, Netzero. I just had to respond, been hearing so many bad things about Flashcom, thought they deserved a break!
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Review by mcmonkey
Posted: 10.2 years ago
member for 10.2 years, 0 visits, last login: 10.2 years ago
Brookline,Norfolk,MA
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Don't go with flashcom.
I could go on about misleading advertising, missed install appointments, extended service outages, fraudulent credit card charges, and HORENDOUS customer service, but that would be a waste of time.
Flashcom is a company of liars. They say they'll call you back. They don't. They say the problem is fixed. It isn't. They say someone will be out to do the install/repair. No one shows up.
Do not buy any service from flashcom. If you need more details, do a search for my email address (housing2000@yahoo.com) in the comp.dcom.xdsl newsgroup.
Or email me directly. If you need to be connected to the internet, then you need to avoid flashcom at all costs.
Sean German
Apartment Access Inc
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Review by
Posted: 10.3 years ago
(review was emailed in)
undisclosed location
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Never had more problems trying to get someone to SELL me something. I ended up ordering from Verio. At almost twice the cost, it'll still be worth it. Flashcom sucks.
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Review by erwin3
Posted: 10.3 years ago
member for 10.3 years, 47 visits, last login: 13 days ago
Philadelphia,Philadelphia,PA
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I ordered the Multisurfer SDSL 192/192 from FLASHCOM for our business. It took them 7 weeks for the order to be completed through COVAD, a little longer than the 6 weeks that they promised. When COVAD came to do the installation, they seemed to have their act together, but FLASHCOM didn't. Apparently FLASHCOM had gotten some of their IP information mixed. Also, be prepared, as a customer, to proactively call for information about your installation date.
After the installation, which again took longer than expected, I must say the throughput speed is excellent.
Technical support, however, is horrible. I have a request that is almost 6 weeks old to have my routing switched from NAT to an IP subnet. I have made NUMEROUS phone calls (with hold times of at about 30 minutes each) and sent several e-mails (as they had suggested) to their senior technical support staff, but never ONCE received a reply or a return phone call. FLASHCOM is SEVERELY understaffed with experienced technical support personell! They have one guy named Ronnie who seems overwhelmed because he does all the upper-level work for the entire company.
The router we received is a FLOWPOINT 2200.
FLASHCOM is cheap, but be prepared to get what you paid for, especially in terms of technical support. Apparently they are offering such a good deal now that they can't keep up with the demand.
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Review by delegator2
Posted: 10.3 years ago
member for 10.3 years, 2 visits, last login: 9.7 years ago
Merrimack,Hillsborough,NH
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NOTE: the first part of my comments is a cut/paste from my newsgroup post in the comp.dcom.xdsl newsgroup. I've added some more information at the end, though, including more data about performance and clarification of the ratings I've given Flashcom.
Part I (newsgroup post):
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I'm a new Flashcom customer in New Hampshire, and I thought it would be worth relating my experience here. I will warn you: this is a GOOD experience with Flashcom.
6/10/1999: I originally signed up for the $59.95/month 128k/384k ADSL service (free install, but I pay for the modem) on June 10, 1999. They quoted a 4-6 week wait before I could get it installed. That was typical of other DSL providers in the area, and nobody could touch Flashcom's price, so I booked my deal.
6/20/1999: I received an email from Covad (the DSL supplier for Flashcom in my area) saying that they were still processing my order, and that they would give me a delivery date shortly.
6/28/1999: I received email from Covad stating that Bell Atlantic would show up on 7/1/1999 to set up my line, and that Covad would arrive on 7/15/1999 to finish up with the DSL service. Interestingly, Bell Atlantic will only commit to an 8-hour window, whereas Covad commits to a 4-hour period (and Covad lets you choose morning or afternoon). Luckily, my telephone box is outside my house, so I didn't have to plan on waiting for Bell Atlantic all day.
7/1/1999: Bell Atlantic shows up around 1 PM and sets up my line for digital service. They attach a white box to the house with the notation "Covad ISDN" on it.
7/12/1999: A friend notices that Flashcom has a new rate available: $49.95 per month, free installation, free modem! The difference is that it requires a 2-year commitment, but at that price I'm ready to commit. I call Flashcom and ask whether I can switch plans. Because my service hasn't been installed yet, they have no problem with it and change my plan.
7/15/1999: I get a call at my work number from Covad around 9 AM, letting me know that they'll be at my house in about an hour. At 10 AM, the Covad technician shows up, hooks up my line, and tests it. Oh, BTW, Flashcom ordered me 384k/384k SDSL instead of 128k/384k ADSL. I can live with that. Throughput that afternoon is hovering around 300kbps.
7/15/1999: My first problem. I have the service, but I can't do anything with it. I have no account information, IP address, network settings, etc. I call the Boston customer service office, and reach a live person on my third try (I didn't bother holding -- I always get through quickly without holding when I call Boston). After some confusion (the rep didn't realize I had my service installed, since my order date was listed as 7/12 because I switched plans, and
there's a 4-6 week delay in getting service) I was told to call technical support. I did, but ended up leaving a message because I was going away for a long weekend.
7/18/1999: Returning form vacation, I had no responses from tech support. Bummer.
7/19/1999: Called tech support at 9 AM eastern time (when they open). Reached somebody within 5 minutes. Got all my DNS, gateway, IP address and other information. Thanks. Hung up, entered the information, rebooted, no luck. Damn -- should have kept him on the line. Called back, waited about 15 minutes to reach somebody this time. Told him what was happening, and he said he'd call me back "within 45 minutes" to walk me through fixing the problem. Two hours later,
having heard nothing, I called tech support again. Reached Hubert after about 15 minutes on hold. He had me remove my dial-up adapter from network settings, and reboot. Still nothing. Hubert opened a trouble ticket for me and told me he'd try to get it resolved within this day. About 20 minutes later, Hubert called back saying that I should be all set -- that they had to "clear the sub" (which I take to mean kicking the subnet router in the head). Sure enough, it worked.
Throughput is around 220 kbps, which I figure ain't bad for 12:30 PM eastern time.
To sum it up:
Good points:
- installs happened on schedule, as promised, with ample reminders and confirmations
- Boston office is always easy to reach, and people there are helpful
- I'm now officially an LPB in Q3Test and Tribes
Bad points:
- California tech support is hard to reach after around 10 AM eastern time
- Knowledge level of Boston customer service reps varies widely, and they have turnover problems. The person who took my order on June 10 was gone on July 12.
- Lack of coordination with Covad in getting me account information and network setup. I shouldn't have had to call tech support for this information; it should have been provided when my DSL line was installed.
So, I'm happy thus far. I realize that I don't have a long service history, but so far, so good.
Roy
Part II (performance information & addenda):
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My throughput (as measured by the speedtest site and the MSN computercentral site) was around 220 Kbps during the day, and rose to 280-320 Kbps at night. I consider that quite good for a 384k SDSL connection.
My ping times in Quake3 & Tribes are excellent. With my 56k connection I used to consider anything under 250 ms to be playable. Now I get many servers with pings in the 30-50 ms range, and dozens below 100 ms. I don't even bother with servers that show over 100 ms ping now.
Explaining my ratings:
Pre Sales information: (4) Very good info on the web site, but the Flashcom reps are quite variable in the quality of information they have on hand.
Install Co-ordination: (4) Great job coordinating Bell Atlantic & Covad, and great results from both. Internal coordination within Flashcom was lacking. It's curious, because you'd think that coordinating the subcontractors would be harder.
Connection reliability: (5) Very short time period (a few days), but no problems thus far under relatively heavy usage (I downloaded the new Q3Test, Win98 SP1, an IE update, and I've played many hours of online games. Quantitatively, my speedtest results showed ZERO packet loss in all of the tests (I ran everything up to 10 MB).
Tech Support: (3) Very helpful attitude, but variable competence and difficult to contact due to customer load. I expect this to improve as Flashcom ramps up staffing, but if they don't then this will be a problem.
Mail,DNS,News etc: (5) No problems at all. Excellent performance from mail & news. The News server is unfiltered, and has a good retention policy (seems like it keeps at least one full week, maybe more, or articles).
Value for money: (5) $49.95 per month, no installation fee, free modem (router). You can't beat that with a stick. Even if cable modems become available here, I won't be interested.
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Review by
Posted: 10.4 years ago
(review was emailed in)
undisclosed location
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Their service is the worst, I never had so much problems getting connected.
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