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Review by cluth 
member for 9.3 years, 401 visits, last login: 50 days ago
updated 3.3 years ago
 Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
 $108 per month "Reliable service" "Expensive for what you get; consumer products ridiculously slow" "Can get OK service without bundling (unlike GCI), but speeds are barely acceptible for all but the most basic home user"
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(The above prices refer to the standard ADSL product.)
My company has had service with GCI with a cable modem as well as ACS using standard ADSL and business-grade "BXB" (Ethernet over PPPoE over G.SHDSL).
The BXB offering is superb: symmetrical connections up to (as I recall) 9mbps with virtually zero downtime (four nines, in my experience, and the bit of time it was down last year was actually a statewide issue with their core backbone, not the last-mile), full status monitoring (they usually know before you do when your Internet is down), 24/7/365 tier II support (you talk directly to the NOC and get guys who speak techie, can tell you what "G.SHDSL" stands for, and know Cisco IOS commands), and optional support (for extra cost) for a routable network, VPN tunnels, and other more advanced features.
However, all of that comes at a price--a price less than a T-carrier connection (for a relatively similar product) but *much* higher than the normal ADSL price. I don't pay the bills for my company, so I don't know the exact amount, but our 3m/3m connection runs around $500 per month.
Ouch.
There have been a couple of other downsides: our account executive can sometimes be a bit slow to respond (sometimes multiple emails have to be sent, or--gasp--you actually have to pick up the phone to get answers!), and sometimes the install or change process can take a bit of time to coordinate (it actually took them over a month to get around to upgrading the speed at one of our other offices--you'd think they'd spring into action to charge us more money!). All in all, though, I'm impressed with their business-class offerings, especially given our demanding needs (our POS software runs over Citrix sessions from an out-of-state server farm, so we are very aware when our ISP has connectivity problems).
I can only provide a brief review of their consumer-level ADSL product, since we only had that for a short time before upgrading to BXB. It's nothing special--just a plain ol' DSL product. I never found it particularly unreliable, though we didn't run it as hard as we do now. The biggest problem with the consumer-level product: it is S L O W. GCI, the local cable company (running DOCSIS 2.0 with up to 12m/1m connections, rumored to be upgraded soon even more) is spot on with their ads calling ACS's product "DS-Snail." The fastest product is 3m/512k, which I find insulting at $89 per month (around $108 after taxes; that price includes home phone service). It's doubly insulting because they advertise having uploads twice as fast as "the cable company" and propagate the lie that "the cable company's internet" is slow because you share your connection with your neighbors. (My GCI cable modem at home *consistently* gets the full 8m down and 512k up any time of day or night, whether I run GCI's own speed test (»speedtest.gci.net), ACS's Anchorage-based test (»speedtest.nwc.acsalaska.net), or ACS's Seattle-based test (»speedtest.sea.acsalaska.net/speedtest-3.0/), so in my experience, ACS's claims are a complete lie: GCI doesn't oversubscribe their last-mile or their out-of-state backbone).
On the upside, while it's hardly "cheap" by the standard of out-of-state DSL providers, it seems like it's not as expensive as GCI due to ACS's less-restrictive bundling practices. If they offer naked DSL, they don't publicize its price on their site, but I would doubt it's much of a savings. But at least you can get their fastest product without a ton of add-ons, unlike GCI, where you can't even *think* about getting anything faster than 4m/1m unless you have phone and cable TV service with them (at a minimum bundle cost of $93.99 plus your Internet speed upgrade cost). Still, that 4m/1m product from GCI is available for $100/mo, plus a $7/mo access fee if you don't have cable TV, which is really not any more expensive than ACS's 3m/512k product (granted, you don't get a home phone line, but really, who uses those any more?).
So, for value, I have to give ACS a big thumbs down, both for the business product (if I were the business owner, I would really not like paying $500/mo for 3m/3m, regardless of the extra services it comes with) and the consumer product (over $100/mo for barely acceptable speeds). Perhaps the rumors that Verizon is looking to buy out ACS will come true and they'll bring some modern technology up here with prices to match (hello, FiOS!). For now, I'd have to suggest that residential users (or SOHOs needing just a normal Internet connection) look to GCI as the better value, and businesses needing reliability look at going with an ACS consumer DSL connection and GCI cable modem connection and installing a multi-homed router that switches between both, providing extra speed and an increased measure of reliability.
All that said, ACS's BXB product, which is what I originally came here to review, has served us well for the last few years. If price isn't an issue, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it for high-demand situations.
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Review by JuneauDave
member for 3.4 years, 2 visits, last login: 3.2 years ago
lodged 3.4 years ago
- Juneau,Juneau,AK
- Contract price not specified.
- "inexpensive compared to competition"
- "very very slow installation"
- "If you don't mind long waits on account changes, then it's a good choice"
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I was told when I inquired about service before Thanksgiving that it would take 5 business days. It's Dec 9 and I am still waiting. They are not above flat out lying about installation times. On business day 6, I was told someone has started working on the order.
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Review by torxxx8
member for 7.2 years, 11 visits, last login: 3.6 years ago
updated 3.6 years ago
- Fairbanks,Fairbanks North Star,AK
- $101 per month
- "3mbps down 512k up DSL.."
- "Connection problems, speed problems"
- "Depends on what you want. I shoulda went with 10 mbps cable"
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Dont bother with these guys. Their customer service are idiots, there outside repairment are meth heads. they talk so damn fast you can understand them. They are part tossers.. oh your internet is messed up here use this new modem it'll fix everything. I got 3 bad modems in a row from these clowns in one week... Just bout a new 100 dollar linksys router because tehy said it was bad,
My speeds are about half of what they advertise. I'm so disgusted with them, but the cable up here isnt anybetter. They slap you with 30 gigs a month bandwidth and then 2 dollars a gig for every gig after the 30.
Alaska internet is screwed any way you go about it. Thanks ISP's.. bring some lube next time so it dont hurt as bad
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Review by NiteRider_AK
member for 3.9 years, 1 visits, last login: 3.9 years ago
lodged 3.9 years ago
- Fairbanks,Fairbanks North Star,AK
- $89 per month
 about 2 days- "Consistently fast download speeds"
- "average upload speeds"
- "I would recommend this service to anyone"
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I was originally on GCI cable but the download speeds would fluctuate widely based on time of day. ACS is much more consistent. Download speeds aren't great, but DSL is more focused on download anyway. Great service.
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Review by (hidden by request)
(review was emailed from domain alumni.caltech.edu)
lodged 4 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- $69 per month
- (12 month contract)
- "Reliably delivers speed promised"
- "Certain sites and types of data are slower than normal (e.g. YouTube)"
- "Very acceptable"
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ACS Alaska Communications DSL review.
I have the 1 mbs/320kbs service. Overall, very good response. Full
speed consistently when downloading linux updates and other large file downloads. Very spotty performance when going to popular sites like YouTube.
Skype video works well.
ACS is the only service in Alaska that allows unlimited downloads without some
high surcharge or special bundled package.
Price of $69 per month is typical for Alaska. Bundle discount is $30.25
reducing cost to $38.75 per month.
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Review by AK49Stony
member for 4.2 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.2 years ago
updated 4.2 years ago
- Nikiski,Kenai Peninsula,AK
- $110 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 21 days
- "NO DOWNLOAD LIMITS, YOUR OWN DEDICATED LINE"
- "Low Bandwidth for High Price. Can't just sign up for internet."
- "If you don't mind paying big for small then this is the choice for you"
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-1ST BILLING-
ACS Bundle Services - $49
Additional Monthly Services - $21.15
One Time Charges - $20.00
ACS Internet Services - $19.86
Taxes and Other User Fees - $17.67
GRAND TOTAL - $127.68
I have a STATIC IP address so there is an additonal $10/month charge.
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Review by (hidden by request)
(review was emailed from domain acsalaska.net)
lodged 4.2 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- $40 per month
- (12 month contract)
- "ACS is a great company, excellent wireless, great local phone."
- "The DSL internet service sucks. Dial-up is just slightly slower."
- "I'm shopping for another ISP."
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Gettin' pretty slow. Almost time to go. (Listening, ACS?)
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Review by alaskauairy
member for 4.3 years, 5 visits, last login: 3.5 years ago
updated 4.3 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- $80 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 900 days
- "If you know how to check your home wire I think it might be good fast internet"
- "Support does not tell you to hook your modem direct to the outside line (take your home wire out of the connection then run ...."
- "Support is abused quite abit so sorry, and some people could fix there own."
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I think some acs consumers should plug their modem direct to the outside phone jack with a short phone wire then plug router direct, then try The connection and see if that does not get you the speed you need, (when taking you home wire out of the connection I think I would not use any line filters or surge protectors as in my case the surge protector in the line was a large problem with my poor connect , possibly the whole problem. So all those people that would like their full speed without waiting for support should try this.
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Review by beemer1274
member for 7.7 years, 1 visits, last login: 4.6 years ago
lodged 4.6 years ago
- Homer,Kenai Peninsula,AK
- $65 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 14 days
- "Haven't had any problems once everything was set up."
- "1MB/S is the fastest speed I can get in my town."
- "It's faster than the cable internet in town, but I wish it was faster."
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I had a choice between ACS and GCI for internet. I had GCI in Valdez, AK and it was decent. I had a lot of disconnects while using my PS3 online. With ACS I haven't had any problems at all with disconnects and they are both 1MB connections.
I have a 1MB connections and the price is 65.00.
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Review by Leroykl
member for 5.2 years, 20 visits, last login: 2.4 years ago
updated 5 years ago
- Anchorage,Anchorage,AK
- Contract price not specified.
- (12 month contract)
- "local and helpful"
- "dsl over old phone lines with lots of repairs due to tree falls"
- "adequate"
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I once had industrial strength IBM.NET dial up. That was amazing quality of service. I started with ATU who was bought by ACS. I am comparing ACS with my past IBM service. There is a difference. ACS has matured and is fine. I did not want GCI cable and that was the only broadband option I have.
DSL is sensitive to line noise. To begin with my home interior lines are too noisy for DSL. I wired the modem directly from the pole and then put the house on the out line from the modem with one filter for the voice lines. That works well but I can not change rooms without going wireless or creating a similar jack in the new location.
I am in Alaska. Our phone lines run down our rear lot lines with lots of trees. The trees drop limps due to snow loads and snap the lines. Linemen repair the lines during the winter in an emergency mode. The lines get noisy and out of balance. My pair were 900 feet different in length. My phone line was once so noisy that my USR Robotics Courier modem would not work. I am also within 300' of the 3 mile limit from the switch so my signal is weak. I started long ago with a 256K service. I have upgraded several times. I now pay for 640K and get actual of ~520K.
The order process at the start was inadequate but I assume it has improved. Install required a lot of onsite support due to the poor line quality issues. I have a NORTEL NTEX35 modem. The help line folks are pleasant.
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