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Review by icbkr 
UPDATED: 164 days ago
member for 4.6 years, 24 visits, last login: 97 days ago
 Allentown,Lehigh,PA
 $50 per month
 about 7 days
 "Local service, friendly staff, decent rates, decent quality."
 "No better option, no alternatives available."
 "I hate having no choice, but if they got me by the short and curlies, at least they're not bad."
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It's a cable modem, and I've had DSL, so I knew this was better. I came from a super duper high speed setup at my last place, so I also knew it was a step down. I've also got a Sprint card, and that was better than DSL, but not as good as this. As long as I can game, it's fine, and PTD/Service Electric was. Barely. They've bumped up the speed once in three years, so now gaming is totally fine and downloads are much better (4M down 700K up). Install was a breeze, since I just have them drop it at the dmark and I take it from there. The connection is relatively stable, with only two outages in three years, and tech support is the best, since I can hop in my car and drive down the street and kick in their doors if something isn't to my liking. Not much in the way of services, at least nothing that stands out, and $50 is a bit high for what I'm getting. So value wise, I'd like faster service or more address options, but it's tolerable. Certainly not the worst I've had, just not the best. Overall, if you can't get one of the high end setups, this is a great 2nd choice.
Followup comments:  hdinh1985
join:2009-04-07
| service electric = garbage it is absolute crap for me. i use it for some pretty serious online gaming and every other day i get long hours of packet loss. one second i'm kicking ass, then i'm teleporting 10 ft away the next... great... just great. and no, after many phone calls, they insist the line is fine even though i'll check through this site which paints a different picture.. im about to downgrade to a slower, but slightly more reliable verizon dsl... | |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ | Re: service electric = garbage It depends on where you are. I am in Northwest NJ (Wantage) and the service is just fine. I have DOCSIS3 service and hardline all the way to my house so I guess that helps. | |
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Review by mickey D
UPDATED: 190 days ago
member for 190 days, 0 visits, last login: 190 days ago
Springtown,Bucks,PA
$50 per month
about 4 days
"Fast, reliable, Mac savvy, support so good I think they're living in a different era"
"None worth mentioning"
"Glad to have it"
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I receive many unsolicited offers for broadband service. Each one has a website or phone number to call to determine if service is available, and each one said the same: Sorry, not available at your address.
Service Electric's website has a page that you can use to determine if service is available at your address. Like the others it said service wasn't available where I lived. When new neighbors moved in next door, they called Service Electric and set up internet service. So I tried the website again: Sorry, no service. Finally, I called them and insisted upon talking to someone who knew what they were doing. They were as perplexed as I and told me service is indeed available, and outlined the packages they offer. The technician arrived on schedule and had everything up and running in moments. He even had little booties he wore to avoid tracking in dirt without me requesting it. They supply a Motorola "Surfboard" SB5101 cable modem, everything else is up to you. He wasn't afraid of my Mac equipment and Airport wireless network.
I've had the service for about six months and it has been reliable with maximum download speeds of 7000 kb/s and upload of about 400 kb/s. It's about $50/ month. They offer cheaper (slower) packages. Like any cable service the download speed slows down during peak periods (6-9 PM) but it's not a dramatic difference. I occasionally stream Netflix movies in the evenings and once in a while it has to pause to buffer video. On one occasion the connection became very slow but normal speed returned in an hour or so. Any total service interruptions seem to happen in the middle of the night and there has been only one brief unexpected interruption on a Sunday. Sometimes cars smash into poles, what can you do.
One oddity about Service Electric is that you have to call them to set up an email address. They said Service Electric doesn't actually set up the address, I believe Penn Tele Data does that and there is no automated way such as a website to determine if the address you want is available. So you have to ask "Is MickeyD available?" "No" "How about Mikey?" "No" "Well, then, could I have "Mike"? "No, sorry..." etc. I thought this was odd, but it's a minor inconvenience and they are very pleasant about it.
Their website is very informative and has the answer to any question you might have including wireless home networks, configuring up your email software, etc. Their Mac OS X information is refreshingly thorough but just a little out of date. They do have webspace available and their website explains how to set it all up. The server space is limited but it's adequate for something just to play around with. I had a problem uploading mine so I called tech support. They fixed it within hours - said it was a permissions problem on their server. The even called me back to follow up and asked if everything was OK! This is unheard of these days.
DSL is not available yet. Verizon is completing installation of DSL in my neighborhood. I'm not planning to get it but it's good to have some competition.
I considered Hughesnet / Direcway and WildBlue satellite, but satellite speed isn't impressive (I've used it) and I don't want any part of their FAP. Seems like you get half the speed for twice the price. After reading the horror stories here I subsequently rejected those alternatives. I also considered Airisen but those horror stories were even worse. The reviews on Broadband Reports has saved me a lot of aggravation and money staying away from those outfits.
Service Electric has exceeded my expectations. I actually don't mind writing them a check every month.
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 Review by borredo
UPDATED: 218 days ago
member for 5.6 years, 2510 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Emmaus,Lehigh,PA
$40 per month (month by month)
about 7 days
"Speeds as advertised with no down time."
"None as yet"
"dependable & reasonable"
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After over 10 years with verizon DSL with virtually no problems this CABLE provider seems just fine. I downsized to an apartment and I didn't want a landline so I opted for cable. A bundled deal. TV & Internet. I use magicjack as my primary phone and cell phone for backup. Everything working flawlessly. No fios in the Allentown area as yet and RCN also provides service here. So I'm month to month with no commitment. If I get a better deal I could go for it. I would like fios but that may be a couple years away.
Followup comments: bilbusb
join:2003-04-10
Tucker, GA | . just dont go over 50gb a month, or they will call you.
Im not sure if they disconnect or bill you. | |
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Review by Acidbaby
UPDATED: 245 days ago
member for 5.4 years, 1776 visits, last login: 8 days ago
Shamokin,Northumberland,PA
Contract price not specified.
"Fast and cheap"
"Caps on their"
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Directv was killing me with TV service and they would not service me and replace my broken receiver that I bought from a retailer so I dumped em after 10 years and went back to SECV for tv, phone and net at $125 combined for 10Mb net, digital phone, and HD Cable with HD DVR.
The speeds are rock solid most of the time, no downtime, no thinking at all. Latency to all my game servers from NYC to Chicago is fine. Customer service is terrible through SECV, I called PTD about getting my email account setup so I can use the newsgroups and they had no idea I even had an account because SECV never transferred the info to PTD and this was 6 months after the install.
I am very pleased with one exception and that is Service Electric and their whining over bandwidth usage. I have laready been threatened to have my account cancelled for downloading too much on their fictional unlimited bandwidth plan. If you dont want to give unlimited downloads then cap it already.
Anyway, technically this service is through PTD and SECV is just a reseller but my bad experiences come from SECV's end.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 272 days ago
(review was emailed from domain ptd.net)
Whitehall,Lehigh,PA
$32 per month (12 month contract)
"Excellent service provider"
"The first few weeks were less than ideal"
"Been using for three years with extremely few problems and very good service."
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Just tested my down/upload speeds using two separate tools from your
site. Both were simple to use, providing virtually identical results
though one was to a site 55 miles away and the other to a site 2400
miles away.
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 Review by sshedlock
Posted: 299 days ago
member for 7.8 years, 2348 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Macungie,Lehigh,PA
$50 per month
about 3 days
"Rock solid and excellent customer support"
"Speeds could be faster"
"Excellent"
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I have the 7000/800 2 way Internet Service from SECTV. The service is rock solid and hardly ever goes out, and I rarely have contention issues at night. The only bad thing about them is I would like to have faster speeds, but I am willing to accept slower speeds for a solid connection. The support is local and knows their stuff, and are honest about outages in the area.
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 Review by waffleburger
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 1.2 years, 121 visits, last login: 196 days ago
Blairstown,Warren,NJ
$42 per month
about 6 days
"Awesome service and price for 10mbps!"
"tech support can be a little stupid if you get on with the wrong people."
"An amazing service in the warren county, NJ area."
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The only 2 Broadband providers in north warren county are SE broadband, and embarq. both offer 10M services and both are equally reliable and low latency.
However, i do i get about 200 kbps higher uploads with SEB than i do with embarq.
Low pings, speeds CONSTANTLY around 9000-10000, 900 up.
awesome, awesome service for the price... higher speeds soon please? 
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Service Electric Broadband
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