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Review by doublea 
Posted: 9 days ago
member for 1.1 years, 7 visits, last login: 9 days ago
 Petaluma,Sonoma,CA
 $30 per month
 about 4 days
 "good price, reliable connection."
 "horrible speed and ping, over congested servers, only improved after 4 hour long calls, and was swapped to diffrent server."
 "You get good service if you tell them you will cancle if they dont fix something."
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Att dsl from 2001-2008 - my story -
We have had Pacific Bell/SBC/Att - yes 3 name changes in the time we have had it, for 7 years now. They were good for the first 3 years, perfect, but back in 2002 dsl service was not yet oversold and congested. The last 4 years have been more bumpy. But Back to the beginning, our first Speed was 1.2 mbps, 250ish up, $26.99 monthly, going from our a-o-HELL dial up Pacific bell DSL was a dream. I put some good usage on our dsl, we have 2 pcs, and 2 laptops, downloading videos (legal) and other large files was a dream, dsl in 2001 was a speed dream. Suddenly in 2004 our wonderful 1.2 mbps slowed to a whapping 22kbps, slower than dial up, this happened every night, getting progressively worse at 9pm and it eased up after about 11pm, obviously it was from too many users. Over the next week I made more than 5 calls, and had 2 techs out.
Some of the excuses I was given on the phone was the line quality could be bad, your computer is old, there could be moisture on the line at night, dsl speeds fluctuate sir..... oh boy was I fuming mad, none of the service reps could give me a reason why my speeds were slowing down during peak usage that was an honest answer.
1 - Every line quality test the techs did returned perfect (My house is less then one block from the "box" (Sorry geeks I don’t know the technical term.)
2 - My pc was a brand new 2.4ghz HP with 1gb ram (Hey in 2004 that was a decent pc.) could not be the thing slowing down my dsl.
3- Speeds fluctuate? 1.2mbps to 22kbps is a normal fluctuation? Not in my book.
Finally the 2nd tech that came to my house apologized to me many times, I was in fact experiencing slowdowns from a overloaded "redback" server he called it. He had me switched over in less than a half hour.
So I went on another 2 years as happy as could be, its now 2005, but we decided to upgrade to the 3mbps service, those videos and stuffs were beginning to feel less zippy, and the speed test kept saying we were getting the full 1.2 megs we were entitled to.
So we were upgraded to 3mbps (2.6 mbps reality), the first day on that was a dream, until 9pm, I suddenly realized the same problem that faced me 2 years ago had come back to bite me in my behind. speed test at 9 pm returned 8kbps, 8k!, dial up could wizz by that before it had a chance to know it. So the next morning I made a few calls, same old stories, "moisture on the line sir" YEA RIGHT, just send a tech out here I said. surprisingly 2 days later a tech came out, Kind of an old guy, but very kind. He had a hard time getting used to vista, I was his first customer to have a vista computer. He quickly adjusted to vista though, and the tests came back I was on an exhausted redback server AGAIN, same problem 2 years later. the tech support guy waited on hold 45 mins, and then got the problem fixed. 3mbps, perfect service I was happy, this time my nightmare only lasted 3 days, but I spoke to soon, the next morning my internet felt sluggish, speed test returned 1.2 mbps, odd huh, that was my old speed on the 1.5 meg loop, and the speed test didn’t bounce around, it was a smooth 1.2 megs, Surely I called in, yep as I expected I was put back onto 1.5 meg service, but the support on the phone had that fixed in less than 5 mins and I was told to restart my modem (and router.)
And well since then life has been perfect again a strong 2.6 megs all day, But im on oklands service im told, which confuses me because I love over 2 hours away from okland, apparently my local server is always overloaded, I don’t quite understand what happens in the background, but also when I do speed tests it says my ip originates from okland. (I live in the north bay btw.)
My ping is really fast, 9ms to yahoo.com, and videos always download smooth, as files are becoming larger, podcasts, videos, sling box and other devices, Im really sucking down my 2.6 mbps and 406 kbps up bandwidth all day long. (A bandwidth usage monitor on my pc showed I use more than 25 gb of data in a week on my one pc. ) I play online video games quite a bit (PC) and I love my ping, heh other people can be having lag and rubber banding issues, I will never experience that, always smooth as can be.
Now I want to upgrade to the 6mbps service, but I know better, im sticking with the 3mbps service until I get an apple tv, or the expected Netflix set top box.
All in all I have mixed feelings about Att.
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Review by joeaseo
Posted: 9 days ago
member for 171 days, 3 visits, last login: 9 days ago
Fremont,Alameda,CA
$29 per month
about 30 days
 SBC
"They'll send live technicians to troubleshoot the problem"
"Be prepared to have many dropped calls wile caontacting tech support"
"Much better value for the money"
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I went from 384kbs service when PacBell provided the service (dedicted static IP address for VPN) to 3.0 Mbps service running the gamut from static IP (perormance not worth the cost) to dynamic addresses. I've had the modem misconfigured so that the IP address was not obtained (call to tecnical support sent out a live technician to troubleshoor the problem) to having my line cut during system upgrades (call to tecnical support sent out a live technician to troubleshoor the problem).
I telecommute for a very, very large computer company (three letters that don't spell I-B-M, so line quality and technical support is a must (or else why bother having a VPN connection). My experience with aHome/TCI/Comcast was abysmal for techical support (what is it when you know more about networks than the rep on the other end of the line). My PacBell/SBC/AT&T service may be slower than the data rates that Comcast touts, but at least a knowledgeable person answers the phone when I call for support, and the technicianx will eben give you gthier business cards if you have questions after their visit.
For the money and the service, AT&T can't be beat.
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 Review by coxta
UPDATED: 13 days ago
member for 8 years, 3910 visits, last login: a few hours ago
South Pasadena,Los Angeles,CA
$59 per month
about 30 days
SBC
"Fast, reliable,"
"cookbook install by technician with no other understanding"
"All's well that ends well."
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Status quo no problems in years. I'm pretty satisfied. Pricey for what it is, but it's stable.
Well to update my review, my DSL has remained the same at the same rate and I have 5 static IPs. Pacbell changed to SBC. SBC to SBC/Yahoo, then to AT&T. I've had no problems for the last few years.
As an update, It's been years since I've had problems with my connection. I still have the same 5 IPs and rate. It's not the fastest, but it's steady and I'm satisfied. I've done too many SBC installs for others and in general they are pretty good. Sometimes they drop out and it can be a nightmare with the phone support going offshore. But they always eventually get things worked out.
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 Review by BellBoy
UPDATED: 19 days ago
member for 7.4 years, 2537 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 14 days
AT&T
"When it's on you're on solid"
"Nothing to speak of so far..."
"AT&T is a solid performer for me."
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I ordered the basic DSL package (I AM an employee, to set the record straight).
Honestly, the order process was a hassle because I was told I couldn't get it because I had too much bridge tap or was too far from the CO (or both, the story changed). I was able to do some digging internally (I'm sorry that our customers can't do that) and found that I could get it. After lodging some complaints with the appropriate people I was able to get DSL ordered (keep in mind this was 1.5 years ago and things have improved greatly!). After that, things went very smoothly. I had DSL installed about three weeks later.
Technically I installed it myself, but a tech was present (nobody touches my computer). I connected immediately and haven't had a major problem since. My speed has improved since the initial install from around 400 kbps to over 1.1 Mbps. I've had a couple of outages--mainly email, but never for long enough to get bent out of shape over.
UNSOLICITED DSL EDITORIAL: As a telecommunications worker (and not just as an SBC person) I would stress to any of the uninformed folks reading this, that DSL has been given the stigma of becoming the "LASIK" (because of its widespread acceptance and nonchalant use) of the telecommunications sector. Just as LASIK is a serious surgical procedure with certain requirements, DSL is a technology that has certain requirements for both the customer's phone line and computer. I keep reading posts here that people seem to expect DSL like one would pick up a phone and expect to hear a dialtone. I'm getting off my soapbox, but all I would say is give ALL the DSL providers a bit of a break as I'm sure they're doing the best that they can (well I can say that about my company anyway).
UPDATE: I moved from Dallas to Los Angeles, CA. in February of 2003. I ordered a disconnect from my old residence on 2/20 and they were able to provide a due date of 2/28 after I was able to have my new line installed on 2/14. I might have been able to get the DSL up sooner, but since I was arranging all of this long distance I chose to play it safe so I could be there when it was turned up.
I ordered the 1.5/256 package (SBC employee rate) and due to my distance from the CO, the only alternative was using a RT--which I was more than happy to do. SBC informed me that I was ok'd up to 6 Mbps! I requested CSI and my kit arrived on the 24th. Because of a snafu at work, I didn't get the kit until the 26th.
I brought the kit home, installed it, and I already had sync! Did a speed test and had 1.2/248 without any tweaking. The only hassle was getting email set up. In TX, I hadn't converted to SBC/Yahoo! DSL yet, so getting the mail to work took a little time. I chose to kill my old email account in favor of a new SBC/Y! account--I was more than happy to leave all of the spam I had accumulated behind! I got tech support on the phone, little or no hold time. They set my account up and validated it for me. They also showed me how the online registration normally works since they had already done it for me. I was told about the privacy issues and how I could make sure everything was turned off--which I REALLY appreciated.
It's been almost a month since I've had the service and I have had no problems at all with it. I was told that I should be able to get 1.5 down and I haven't been able to get that--only to about 1.3. I'd certainly like to squeeze out all I can get, but 1.3/249 is pretty darn respectable. I'll call tech support to see if they can help me. SBC, for all of the knocks it takes in the media, puts out a good product. Granted this is an employee talking, but most people that know me here know that I tell it like it is regarding my company. 
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 Review by redsonrising
UPDATED: 28 days ago
member for 7.6 years, 1654 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Sacramento,Sacramento,CA
$34 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
SBC
"83-86% of max consistently, *Never* lose Sync"
"None Lately"
"No problems for a long while (especially when dealing with domestic tech support that has a clue)"
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We've had DSL for almost 9 years now. Were originialy 19000' from the CO (which pissed the tech off because they aren't supposed to approve orders that far away), but we had clean lines so we had 768/128. We got 5 static IP's and paid 59.95 for the plan. I guess it was for 12 months, but the price never changed.
In October/November 2002 we got moved onto the local RT and are now at 1536/160 w/ 5 static IP's again. Only complaint was that I had to call to get the IP's from Pacbell this time around.
First connection we were running at between 80-85% of max speed. We lost sync exactly one time and that was a service interruption and had nothing to do with line quality. Now on the RT we're running on average 85-86% of max speed (Thanks SBC for the tweak to get the downstream up to this level!!!). No sync or service loss at all. We're in the La Riveria/Watt Avenue section of Sacramento...RT is about 2 blocks away RBACK5.
Still paying 59.95 plus the 6.95 (?) monthly modem fee. We have an Alcatel Speedtouch Home. No hardware troubles to report.
UPDATE: 6/10/04: First problem with my line, EVER. Made 6 calls to 3 countries and multiple departments to get my problem solved. If the "outsourced" Tech I first talked to knew what he was doing, my problem would have already been solved. I got 4 different stories from 4 different techs. The last one was 2nd tier support...here in the States...and he knew what he was doing. The first 3 were "OUTSOURCED" Techs who were polite, and ran through their troubleshooting screens just fine...unfortunately they didn't know how to read the order screens properly and thus could not solve my problem. At least the last one I talked to in the Philipines had the smarts to escalate the call to 2nd Tier support. Cost cutting at the price of destroying your tech support is fine and dandy assuming your product works. Its those times that there are problems that can come back to bite you. I guess we'll see how my opinion changes when my order to get *new* DSL service gets processed....in 5 business days. *SIGH*
03/12/05 - Service has had no problems since it came up after dealing with the international techs last june. Back to happy. Upload up to the 384 that was promised.well, 85% of that).
10/17/05 - One minor outage that lasted a whole 2 minutes, phones went out too so not sure what was going on. Other than that reliable connection, no outages, no slow downs. Still have 1.5/384 and 5 statics (not sticky statics).
11/18/05 - Upgraded to 3mb/384-512kb 11/5. Took a whopping 8m15s. Was on month to month, but went onto the new (effective 11/1/05) rates and better speed because of the price. U/L speeds went up early, D/L I had to post in SBC direct to get my profile rewritten to take advantage of the higher D/L. After tweaks I'm getting around 2480-2500 down and 428/430 up (on an RT). Maintained my static IPs and did not have to change over to the PPPoE sticky statics with the speed upgrade.
2/22/06 - Still no problems with service. Speeds constant.
5/14/06 - Still going strong. Speeds around 2490 - 2500 and 425-430. Considering the next highest tier, only $10 more. Will update if we go to that level.
6/19/06 - Had some issues at the end of May with a server update so service was down for a while. Turns out at the same time my network cable between my modem and network went down, so it was down for a while but I didn't know why. Worked with US based tech support and they did an excellent job checking out the items on their side, helped me rule all that out and look at internal issues. I doubt the overseas tech support would have helped given they said (about 12 hours after it went down) that it would be up *soon and would be working perfectly for you*. Well, it was *ALREADY* up, they had no clue about that. Oh well.
5/9/07 - Called in Saturday 5/5 to upgrade service to Elite w/o the statics. Order taker was a bit on the slow side, but he knew to ask someone for help when he needed it, so props to him. Said it would be live 5/9 and this morning (5/9) it was indeed live. Without any tweaking I'm getting about 84.5% of rated D/L and U/L. Tweaking should bring that up a bit. They messed up and forgot to order the modem, but I got that and hooked it in the other night, everything runs fine. Its a Speedstream 4100b, fyi (keeping the STH as a backup).
12/4/07 - Nudged to update by the system *lol*. No problems at all. DSL always up, always up to rated speeds. Changed my tech support rating because the install and conversion from static to dynamic went w/o a hitch.
6/21/08 - No changes to report. Still at Elite level, speeds running where they are supposed to be. No outages. No slow downs.
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 Review by TOTC
UPDATED: 30 days ago
member for 7.1 years, 2496 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Van Nuys,Los Angeles,CA
$28 per month
about 4 days
SBC
"Amazing prices, Amazing speeds, Amazing service"
"Tier 1 is a NO NO, Tier 2 is where its at"
"Speed availability or reliableness depends on location"
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6-19-08
Nothing new to report. Price, speed, etc. is unchanged. No problems, since forever. Check back in 2yrs+. Maybe I'll have something new.
5-06-06
As of yesterday I've been enjoying my Elite tier Upgrade (6016/786) for 27.99 for 12 months. It wasn't as smooth as I would of expected, but a call to Tier 2 support got me up and running. Im running @ 5026/660 right now.. Service is still top notch and nothing to complain as of now. I'll check back later if anything changes.
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2 years later I got into the Pro Deal 3008/512 for 36.99 a month and im lovin' it... Great service I've gotten 2 free modems from SBC and im happy with the service..
That's about it.
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It's been a while now for me and DSL. DSL truly rocks, plus Pacbell now SBC makes it better with there great service. I have had a nice ride with them, a few minor bumps, but really good. I hope it continues that way, and for SBC to keep up the good work..
4/28/03
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Well is been kind of a long time since I got DSL maybe a year or so, my 12 month contract has been over, changes in my DSL are as follow:
about 3 months ago I was Bumped from 1536/128 to 1536/384 
thats about it, other than that DSL rox0rz here in Van Nuys
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I have Basic DSL with PacBell for about 2 weeks now. I was able to connect about 3 days earlier than my due date and tested speed at 1100 down very impressive knowing i had dial up. My experience with pacbell has been a good one. Since i had my own modem and was about 3000ft away from CO i was able to get syched up and fast. I believe most if not all complaints come from people who are very far from CO, since ive seen posts from people on Pronto who are very happy. The only con was the disorganization from PacBell, i singup for month-to-month and the person who i singed me up put me on 12 month conract and send me a modem. Made few calls and all is fix. Other than that it has been good for me.
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7 months later or about... DSL is the best, PacBell is keeping my connection strong solid, the only problem was the XP(Happy to of gotte rid of the EnterNET software and switch to RASPPPoE) migration back some months, my 4060 was not compatible and had to order a 5260 which arrive in 4 days.. other than that PacBell is good for me.. only 2457 ft. away from CO. and still getting sync at 1.3Mbps/110kbps always... I do recommend the service if you have a similar situation as mine....
Followup comments:  attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA | yo so you renewed at 27.99 but shouldnt you update your monthly payment to reflect that as well?
37.00 is kinda old isn't it? | |
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 Review by myosh
UPDATED: 37 days ago
member for 7.2 years, 1534 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Cupertino,Santa Clara,CA
$30 per month
about 4 days
SBC
"Easy Installation, Very Good Download Speeds, Inexpensive compared to Comcast HSI"
"No more promo pricing"
"Switching from Cable to DSL was easier than I thought!"
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I have been a cable internet subscriber since the late 90's when TCI was my local cable company and @Home was the service provider. Well, after a number of transitions (TCI@Home to AT&T@Home to ATTBI to Comcast HSI) and a number of price increases, I wanted to switch to DSL but it wasn't available where I lived.
In March of 2005, I got a flyer in the mail saying that DSL is now available in my area. I checked for availability using my phone number on the SBC website and it said I qualified for the Pro Package (3000/512) and the current promotion was $29.95 for a 12 month contract. Still leary about whether I would get the full 3 Mbit/s, I held off until I discovered the SBC Direct forum here on DSLReports.com. I put in a pre-qual request and within a day or two, a tech posted that I should be right at the 3 Mbit/s cap. With that resolved, the decision to order SBC DSL became a really easy one because by switching to DSL, I could save $13/month for the same speed I was getting from Comcast (3000/384, $43/mo).
In May of 2005, I placed my order through the SBC website for the free equipment and the free self-install kit. Within a week, I received a package from SBC containing my modem (SpeedStream 5100) and the self-install kit (filters, cables, software, etc). On the date my service was activated, I installed the modem and the software and I was up and running in no time.
The very first thing I did was run a speed test from DSLReports.com and I was surprised to see my connection test at 1200 Kbit/s which was less than half of what I was expecting. I asked the tech that helped me with the pre-qual why I was getting such a slow download speed. A little later that afternoon, I get a response from the tech stating that, for some odd reason, the modem was sent the wrong config file (Express package, 1500/128). He told me that he sent my modem the proper config file for the Pro package and that I should run another speed test which I did. To my relief, it tested at 2500/400. The last thing I did was to put a Linksys Wireless router/firewall between the DSL modem and my home network.
It gave me great pleasure to tell Comcast to cancel my cable modem service because their prices were too high. I still have their cable TV service.
January 2006 Update:
For the first time, I'm experiencing some download troubles. I ran a speed test and my download speed is around 200 Kbit/s. I'm waiting to see if this a temporary glitch or something more serious.
May 2006 Update:
With my initial contract up soon, I was able to get a new one-year contract from ATT/SBC. The new contract is for 1 year and my new monthly rate will be $24.99/month, a $5 savings!!! The whole process took about 30 minutes on the phone with customer service.
May 2007 Update:
With my second 1-year contract up soon, I was able to get a new 1-year contract from ATT/SBC at the same rate I was paying over the past year, $24.99/month. For committing for another year, I also get 1 month free. All of this was done online so it took less than 5 minutes to renew.
June 2008 Update:
My third 1-year contract expired in May and now I am month-to-month at $30/month. I have not tried to contact AT&T to see what they offer for another 1-year contract. Service has been pretty good with no major problems or outages.
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 Review by houkouonchi
UPDATED: 66 days ago
member for 5.9 years, 1855 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Corona,Riverside,CA
$28 per month
about 7 days
SBC
"For the most part solid speed and no real outages so far."
"It uses PPPoE"
"Its not bad."
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All i have to say is when i hooked it up after a quick install, a week, thats not in buiseness days, it was up and running at first i was happy because i got 512k upload, download was only 1200, but because i had actively been looking around in the pac bell forum before hand i knew it could probably be fixed easily so i gave an IM to toaster2k an awesome guy who works for pac bell and he fixed my problem in about 10 minutes, the only problems i had was getting PPPoE to work in linux it worked great on the laptop getting 4700s/512-518 speeds, as soon as i got it on my normal computer running linux now im getting 4990/512-518 not only that but it rocks so much because thats not just to local speed tests....
www.dslextreme.com = 4992/516
lax.speakeasy.net = 4974/507
sfo.speakeasy.net = 4973/508
hou.speakeasy.net = 4751/500
bos.speakeasy.net = 4874/510
nyc.speakeasy.net = 4909/506
i mean comeon to get 4900+ kilobits to east coast, getting my max speed, you know your getting good service im also getting good speeds to other countries, like 200+ KB a second to japan 380+ KB a second to germany single stream connections, so far its awesome!
update: 11/16/03:
well ive had the service for a while now and its only gone down one time for a couple hours but it was an area wide problem i now know im 4000 feet from an RT 29,700 feet from my CO and my sustained download/upload is just under 5300 kilobits down and 540 kilobits up, ive done more uploading now so i know my limits, i still have to say the service has been great also a couple places i got weird routing to in southern california have good routing now so i get >15ms to almost anywhere in southern california that isnt on a residential line with a high last hop ping.
update:2/11/03
Had the service for quite a while now but finally deciding to switch to dslextremes 6000/608 for their static ip, $60 a month and much better newsgroups, but my service was good!
Update 05/14/08:
I recently became an ATT customer again by getting their dryloop service (6meg) mainly used as backup and for extra bandwidth when I need it (part of the mix on my load balanced linux box).
So far haven't had any issues but it not being PPPoE would have been nice.
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 Review by kdepasquale
UPDATED: 72 days ago
member for 4.3 years, 512 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Livermore,Alameda,CA
$37 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
AT&T
"Great price, Decent speed, so far great uptime!"
"None"
"Good value."
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Have had no downtime so far, speed is very close to advertised. (I get about 1200/260 when 1500/384 is advertised)
Update: Upgraded to the 3.0 megabit plan about a year ago, this year, upgraded to the 6.0 elite plan.
Only had a few hours of downtime in all this time - but it was at night, and everything was resolved by morning.
Update 05/08/2008: Still pleased with the service from AT&T (Formerly SBC). Just waiting on their U-Verse service to be available in my neighborhood so that I can upgrade to their newer service and completely dump Comcast. Still definitely the best speed for the price in my area as well.
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Review by jweek
UPDATED: 77 days ago
member for 8.9 years, 1866 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Reno,Washoe,NV
$75 per month
about 15 days
Nevada Bell
"static ip's"
"pppoe / ATM speed loss"
"spendy install, low upload speeds"
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Things have smoothed since I wrote the last review (below, 2005). I don't remember the fix, but the connection has been stable for the last several months. I would really like the option for a faster package, but SBC only offers 6000/768 for another $25 per month. I need better upload speed with static IP's. Even today as I see the infamous vrad cabinets being setup around town SBC will only be offering 1mb upload speed. I'd happily change carriers for better performance, but none offer reasonably priced packages with static IPs. The 3346N is still chugging along, but I am getting nervous about its long-term reliability.
Had 6000/608 - but I needed some static IP's so I was forced to the pro 3000/512 plan. SBC upgraded the existing line from dynamic to static. Still uses pppoe and has about 18% loss for ATM overhead. Was also forced to pay $200 tech install fee. The tech came out, plugged in the netopia 3346-N002 router and asked me to enter my existing userid and password. He left me the box and owners manual. Took about 20 mins of the tech's time. This router could have been shipped and I could have easily set it up myself. I have had several outages related to redback problems. One lasted 36 hours, and several others last 2-3 hours each. Calling the support number connects me to outsourced tech support in India. The support folks in india have no clue about my circuit - they are puzzled when I tell them about the machines I have connected (multiple linux and windows servers). SBC Direct forum has competent help, but they are usually slow to respond - typically 2-3 days - and when they look for the problem things are working fine. I've asked to be moved to a different redback and was told to "ride it out". I'll probably cancel at the end of my contract and go elsewhere.
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Pacific Bell - SBC
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