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Review by (hidden by request)

  • Location: Greenville, Hunt, TX, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:



Customer service sucks - and that is putting it mildly. I have had their
service for several years and if it rains, the service was down for days.
If it stormed, even more. This year I started having trouble even logging
on and if I did get on, I was kicked off in no time. I called and
complained repeatedly. Finally in August this year I was told that I was
no longer in their service (3 miles outside) and that is why I was having
trouble. I asked why no one could tell me that earlier or even give me a
courtesy call that after several years, I was no longer in their service
area. Of course, they took my payment every two months and never gave a
credit for any of the outages. They are a bunch of jerks and if that is
how they treat their customers, I would never recommend them. Worst
internet ever!

(review was emailed from domain gmail.com)
lodged 11.4 years ago

wirelessdog
join:2008-07-15
Queen Anne, MD

wirelessdog

Member

What type of service?

Is this a wireless service?
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: What type of service?

sounds like it.

Review by WiFiLavon See Profile

  • Location: Lavon, Collin, TX, USA
  • Cost: $45 per month
Not much
almost everything
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

NEWS: The Water company that is allowing TierOne to use their water towers for their equipment is canceling the contract - they have sent out a legal demand that they remove all the equipment by sometime in mid-November of 2012. Unless TierOne gets an injunction, EVERYONE who uses TierOne will stop having service sometime in the next two months.

I live in Lavon, and my service was OK until about Jan/Feb of 2012. Since then, the service works OK during the day, but around gettin' home time for the average Joe, I drop to worse that dial-up speeds, and sometimes I have NO upload speeds, so I cannot visit any web site. I have called tech support numerous times, and they acknowledge that it is long-term problem. They refuse to tell me what's going on, and I am somewhat knowledgeable in the field.

I detest the fact that customer service closes at 8pm, and is pretty much unavailable on the weekends - of course, when things are working, this is fine.

I'd love to find some other alternative in Lavon!

member for 11.5 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 11.5 years ago


Review by w5nl0 See Profile

  • Location: Cumby, Hopkins, TX, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month
  • Install: about 2 days
Nothing GOOD about it!!!!!!
It's all bad. Tore up from the floor up.
STAY AWAY. RIP OFF!!!!!!!!!!! AND YOU CAN END UP WITH A BILL FULL OF OVERAGE CHARGES!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I have been a cool access subscriber since my friend and fellow ham radio operator started the company. He has since sold to Tier One Converged Networks. Start a small business grow it with customer loyalty then sell to a big company for a profit. That's the american dream in business. See the second ever review for cool access 7 years ago, that's me.

I subscribe to the $59.95 2.5mbps package. I hardly ever see those speeds. Most of the time it's less than 1mbps. At the time of this review my download speed is .5 mbps with a ping time of over 600ms. I'm getting 1.5mpbs from the cell phone, but that's not constant. The last time I called they told me "It's the same problem that it was the last time(s) you called" Every time I ask "When will it be fixed?" and I get the same reply "30 to 60 days" That time frame has been the same since JANUARY!!! I am fed up with the rude attitudes I get when I call. Their problem has to be babysat by tech support to keep their business subscribers from jumping ship. Service is descent during business hours and until they go home at 8pm mon-sat. After that and usually within 5 minutes, it goes in the toilet for the night. All day Sunday it's bad. Funny their credit card processing never has a problem. I was credited ONE month service, ONE! This has been going on since November 2010 and all but one month I've paid $59.95 every month. Do the math and I alone should have paid them enough to replace a few AP's or whatever the problem is that they will not reveal. HMMM reading the review below gives one suspicion as to what's up. METERED USAGE????? KISS MY A**!

This is a cut and paste from Tier One's terms of service. "D. Residential customers using more than 100 Gigabytes per 30 day billing will be charged $10 for each 25 Gigabytes in excess of 100 Gigabytes for that billing cycle." SO NETFLIX and other VOD users BEWARE!!!!!!

100 Gigabytes is easily reached, especially with NETFLIX HD and downloading HIGH-RES movies.

Beyond DSL and Cable....you got that right!! Try Beyond Imagination. That better fits as a slogan for Tier One!.

I will most likely be switching to another WISP that's not generally available in Cumby but I can get it because I luckily have a 80' tower in my backyard and Cumby sits on top of a tall hill. I get above the trees and I can see all of Commerce. There they have a WISP which will give me a 6mbps UN-METERED UNLIMITED connection for $20 a month cheaper and single hop service to the fiber. P2P, Netflix, and VOD friendly.

The next call I make to TO tech support will be to come get this radio. You can only rip off your subscribers for so long. The rudeness I get from their tech support is unacceptable.

DO NOT call me after reading this and have me go through another series of speedtests when you have it propped up for the day like you did the last time. DO NOT call me at all.

The reason for the "100%" on the install process is because I installed it myself. No one climbs my towers but me.(Liability)

Updated 19:25 11/20/2011 Another Sunday night. Same 'ol MESS!!!!

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW to see how Tier One shines on a Sunday night. THIS IS WHAT $60/MO GETS YOU WITH THESE GUYS.

Attachments:
Click for full size


member for 12.3 years, 320 visits, last login: 10.4 years ago
updated 12.3 years ago

w5nl_brian
join:2011-09-13
Cumby, TX

w5nl_brian

Member

Update 11/21 TOCN KICKED TO THE CURB!

Tier One officially got kicked to the curb and today and not a moment too soon. I have paid up until Wednesday and that's the install day for the new WISP. Santa comin' early this year and he gonna bring me a REAL internet connection. The greatness that is internet TV will become a full reality in 2 DAYS.
w5nl_brian

w5nl_brian

Member

Re: Update 11/21 TOCN KICKED TO THE CURB!

Click for full size
Last Night of this. See the updated speedtest.

The sun will come out tomorrow!

.16 down at 7pm on a Monday night............

COME ON....MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
w5nl_brian

w5nl_brian

Member

EVEN with interference issues....NICE!!

Click for full size
Click for full size
I am in direct line of 2 of his AP's. Need a better reflector, then speed should be up around 6mbps. I've redacted the IP. Not trying to sell it. Just showing that there is better. This for $40/mo compared to the horror above for $60/mo.

Review by IamWhoIam See Profile

  • Location: Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA
  • Cost: $42 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
I still have my shirt
History of deceptive business pratices, poor service, high packet loss
Don't even consider them!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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We were a customer with Tierone for almost 3 years then they started billing for what they claimed was metered usage without any prior notification, consent for the new charges or proof of usage. Tierone billing office told us "too bad" and further indicated "we can change the terms of service at any time".

Then I discovered they have a history of deceptive business practices and what appears to be criminal activity based on the information I located on the SEC's and Dallas News websites.

See »www.sec.gov/litigation/l ··· 1510.htm

On April 27, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action in United States District Court in Dallas, Texas against TierOne Converged Networks, Inc., CEO Kevin Mark Weaver, and CFO Ronald Celmer. The Commission's complaint alleges that, from July 2006 to April 2009, TierOne raised almost $9.5 million from approximately 200 investors nationwide using incomplete and misleading offering documents. Among other things, the Commission alleges that TierOne's offering documents before June 2008 failed to mention Weaver's FINRA disciplinary history, and did not disclose over $685,000 of loans TierOne made to Weaver and Celmer over the preceding three years. The complaint further alleges that offering materials exaggerated the status of the company's agreements with customers and other third parties and the proprietary nature of TierOne's software.

Without admitting or denying the Commission's allegations, TierOne, Weaver and Celmer settled the Commission's charges by consenting to entry of a final judgment enjoining them from violating Sections 5(a) and (c) and 17(a)(2) and (a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, and against engaging any unregistered persons to offer or sell TierOne securities. The judgment also directs Weaver and Celmer each to pay a $25,000 civil penalty. The defendants also consented to entry of an order appointing a special master to monitor TierOne's disclosures, stock offerings and processes for qualifying accredited investors, for two years.

They also lost a 19 million dollar federal award based on the same activity. See the write up in the Dallas News at »www.dallasnews.com/busin ··· 1808.ece

"A Dallas-based telecommunications company has had a $19 million federal grant rescinded after government officials learned the company's chief executive had been accused of securities fraud.

TierOne Converged Networks Inc. was awarded the grant money - part of the federal stimulus program - on Aug. 18 to spread wireless access among 65 rural cities scattered across 11 Texas counties. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service informed the company this week that it was rescinding the money. "In light of recent information and disclosure by TierOne to RUS, we are rescinding our prior announcement of our intent to offer an award to TierOne," said spokesman Bart Kendrick. TierOne said Friday it has asked the agency to rethink its decision after the company replaced CEO and president Kevin M. Weaver."

As a side note, shortly after we signed up using a credit card we have had since the mid 1990s but seldom use, our bank called to inform us that items were being charged to our card from all over the place. Maybe it was not related to Tierone, but in light of all the fraud allegations, maybe it was.

member for 12.3 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 12.3 years ago


Review by w5nl_brian See Profile

  • Location: Cumby, Hopkins, TX, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month
None
Everthing
From the SEC to tech support. There is a plague with this company
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

So when again are we going to get this problem fixed? Since January I
have been dealing with (and paying $60/mo) for 1.5mbps AT BEST and thats
rare. I call tech support and get told every time it will be next month,
4 weeks, etc... This is starting to wear me thin. This weekend I wanted
to watch a 90 SECOND YouTube clip...couldn't get it done with this
equipment. Most speed tests are between 200 and 500k!!!! I asked the
lady in billing if she would pay $60/mo for 500k and she said "no" I
then asked her "why do I" she had no answer but keeps on charging my
card every month on the 22nd. Is it REALLY a technical problem or is it
a money problem? Nevertheless, we are the ones suffering. It goes up, it
goes down every 15 to 20 minutes. During the weekend, when there is
nobody to babysit this, we are lucky to even be able to pull up a
website within 20 seconds. Ping times are great, speed sucks. Which
leads me to believe that when I get past these 9 or so hops to the
backbone, there is the problem. Caling Lee in tech support is useless.
Once I got told (not by Lee) that "It is what it is until we get it
fixed, so your calling is not going to help" RUDE!! Well it is the
middle of September, Still can't get it done with this equipment and am
still getting charged every month for this wireless high speed dial-up.
Need I say more? FIX IT or lose not only me but a few more that is
having this problem. Our telco is now in the process of running fiber to
the subscriber al la FIOS. Yes our LITTLE telco co-op is doing this. So
if you want to keep our business, you had better get on the stick.

member for 12.5 years, 7 visits, last login: 12.1 years ago
updated 12.5 years ago


Review by julesism See Profile

  • Location: Lavon, Collin, TX, USA
  • Cost: $70 per month
nothing
it's been awful for years
RUN AWAY!!!! 3G is faster and more reliable.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

My parents moved out to Lavon in 2004. At the time the only ISP around was lavonweb.net which was run by a local I.T. guy. Fast forward 4-5 years. Since this was the only option, it quickly became over saturated with too many users and not enough pipe\bandwidth. TierOne took over, I'd guesstimate about 12-18 months ago. I moved in with my parents at the end of Jan 2010. After notifying support regarding daily slow speeds, high packet loss, pings over 1000ms, and multiple outages within a 3 week period in Feb 2010, my parents were migrated to a different radio/tower. This happened on approx Feb 24 2010. Since then it's been a very enjoyable experience. No outages, no slow speeds, and pings are low and consistent most of the time. TierOne tells us they still have work/upgrades to do. I imagine many users are still using lavonweb.net resources and the lucky ones like us are using Cool Access (another WISP that was bought out by T1) resources. Hopefully Lavon will become fully up to speed with what TierOne offers and can take advantage of the different tiers and packages, including VoiP soon. We have relatives in Prosper who have Tier One and it's great. They need to get things worked out before 4G/LTE comes to town or there may be a mass exodus.

UPDATE 4/23/10

In the past two weeks service has taken a nose dive. packet loss >30% and high\spiked pings. Today our connection dropped twice and it's been horrible since coming back at around 5pm. Called support after 20 mins of downtime and troubleshooting myself and they say they know about the issue and are working on it. It's 915pm and service is still terrible. I imagine everyone has gone home for the weekend. Thank goodness I'll have FIOS in 2-3 weeks. I start a job next Monday and found an apt. I feel bad for you folks in Lavon. I'll be sure and complain anytime I'm visiting mom and dad and notice bad service.

UPDATE June 2011

My parents finally kicked TierOne to the curb. After showing my parents multiple times that my rooted Android phone acting as a WIFI hotspot was faster (and cheaper) than TierOne, my father added a HTC Thunderbolt which I happily took. I passed down my HTC Incredible to him. Everyone is happy

member for 22.3 years, 5170 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
updated 12.6 years ago


Review by ITGeekMonkey See Profile

  • Location: Lavon, Collin, TX, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
A connection, sometimes.
Disconnect between Office and Outside Techs
Too much drama & deception.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

On 07/17/09 I ordered the Platinum Plan 5.0/1.5 Mbps for $49.95 a month which was exactly what I received from Verizon FIOS at my previous home. Install took hours, even though I already had a mast for the radio left behind from the previous owner. Once up and running I did receive the promised speeds but began to have intermittent drops offs in speed down to a dial up level. The inside techs said they needed to do some tweaking on their end but the problem persisted. Tech support then checked & tweaked their broadcast radio but still, the problem persisted. After about one week of this it was determined that other signals in my area were interfering with my radio. I asked what they were going to do about it and I was basically told that they've done all they can and that I could either live with it or they would allow me to back out of the contract. I didn't take that very well and I "kindly" suggested they do some additional brain storming. A day later they called back and suggested that they might have a solution that was suggested by one of their installers/outside techs. The solution was an older style radio with a dish to help isolate the signal from other possible interference.

It worked and I was happy, until...

On 9/9/09 the same tech came back (unannounced) and stated that they were looking into whether to move me over to Cool Access, one of Tier Ones recent acquisitions. The tech claimed their would be no difference in speeds and that it was a pencil pushing procedural move. The tech even called the home office and I heard his end of the conversation where he asked them if my speeds would change. They said nope.

Well, on Friday, 5/14/10 I noticed a huge drop off in my speeds, 1.5/0.5 Mbps. It was late, so I left a message on their voice mail and continued to check the speeds. Monday arrived with no change and I called them because they had failed to return my call.

According to the tech, on 9/9/09 I signed a new contract to be on Cool Access with those speeds AND at the same price I was paying to be on the Tier One Network!. They sent me a hard copy of what I signed and NO WHERE on the new contract were the speeds advertised, implied, suggested or I would not have signed.

What's really strange is the fact that they waited months before throttling me back. I was also told by the inside techs that there was nothing they could or would do to try to get me back to the speeds that I originally had.

I brought this to the attention of the President and CEO of Tier One, Kevin Weaver in an email and a follow up phone call. Mr. Weaver contacted his techs and one day later a solution amazingly appeared.

The solution appeared in the form of another radio, just like the very first, and was pointed at a rarely used Cool Access radio that would allow me 3.0/1.5 Mbps for $39.95. Fortunately, the outside tech was honest, knew his stuff and had initially tried to shoot a signal from a Tier One radio over a mile away but I would have needed a 25 foot tower in order to raise it above a tree line 1/4 of a mile away.

Since that day I've had great pings 25ms to the radio and fairly stable ups and downs. Unfortunately I find myself waiting for the next shoe to drop where I have to do battle with this company in order to hold them to their contract or word.

Honestly, I was so ticked off that I considered Hughes Net or even dial-up just to stop giving this undeserved company my money.

The real frustrating thought is that that I'm just 1/8 of a mile away from Verizon FIOS but the city of Lavon has yet to contract with Verizon for FIOS service delivery.

####UPDATE: 7/23/10

Well, the other shoe has dropped and I'm fighting poor service again! Currently receiving 1.5/0.80 Mbps on a plan that is "UP TO" 3.0/1.5 Mbps. The "UP TO" is the out Tier One has begun to use for the low speeds. Was told by a tech that they are waiting on the FCC to approve a multiple broadcast set-up for the radio I'm receiving their signal from.

For three weeks I've been dealing with this S*** and NEVER was this mentioned during any of the phone conversations. I was only told it was an equipment issue on their end and that they were working on it. That tells me that they are actually WORKING, NOT sitting back waiting on the FCC to approve a new signal distribution plan!!! IF THAT'S EVEN TRUE!! For two weeks I've been sending TO line quality and speed test results, which they said would be appreciated and may help them determine what the issue is with regards to the slow speeds and the poor quality of my VOIP. Meanwhile I'm sitting back hoping that I'm helping them help me, but no one was reading the emails.

I swear I would SELL or RENT this home to get away from this BS with TO if it were not for my Mother, whom has stage 4 cancer and will go under the knife for a third time to repair a hip.

Tier One is a nightmare!

####UPDATE 9/30/10

Around 9/10/10 I began noticing intermittent drops in my service, no WAN IP for a minute or two then I was back up. I called TO and reported the issue after several of these outages, they started to run a line monitor and asked that I call back when any future outages occurred. As I began to call in with my outage reports, and they began to compare them with the traffic on the access point, it was clear to every person I spoke with that they had a hardware problem on their end. At that time I was told they would be replacing the AP but couldn't give me a specific time as to when. I was asked to continue to call in with my outage reports, which I did.

As I'm calling back in these reports, the techs are telling me they have done some tweaking of the AP, including changing the distance settings, rebooting and uploading new firmware. From these conversations I gathered that they were trying to provide me with a stable connection until they could replace the AP but it appears I was wrong.

A little note about one long time technician. I called in with my reports and asked this tech about a time period for replacing the AP. He didn't know that I was told a replacement AP was to be put up as he told me he had no idea what I was talking about. I explained everything again and he said, "Well, you know, there are times when we just might not be able to provide service to certain customers." I'm assuming he meant technically provide service. I thought to myself, you sorry so and so, if that were the case, you shouldn't have contracted to provide the service in the first place. Your company knew the parameters required to provide service to this area. I'm only 1-1/2 miles away from the AP on the Lavon water tower and I'm surrounded by hundreds of acres of open farm land.

I asked this tech to transfer me to someone else that had been working on my issue. This individual told me that the AP would be replaced as soon as they took care of another AP that was totally dead. I told him I understood and would continue to make do. Days later I was told that my problem AP would be replaced on Saturday, 9/25/10. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day and I understood why they couldn't do anything, but again I was told they would get around to it during the upcoming week.

It's now 9/30/10 and no one at TO has any idea as to when this issue is going to be fixed, if they were ever going to fix it at all in the manner I was told they would. It appears to me that they were hoping the button clicking on their end would keep them from actually spending the money to replace the AP. During this past week the outages have come in clusters of 10-15 per hour, some of them lasting for more than 2 minutes. This has caused me to unplug my voip line and only use my cell phone. It has also caused me to lose revenue from my ecommerce sites because I cannot administrate them properly and I'm now having my wife handle any banking activities from her work place. Now I'm being told nothing definitive about when this problem AP will be replaced.

As this problem began to manifest itself, I sincerely got the sense that the representatives at TO had somehow changed their attitude, relative to the past experiences I've had with them. They were much more polite, seemed to care about my issue and actually seemed to have a game plan in place to fix the problem.

In the final analysis however, it seems that my chain has been pulled again, only in a kinder and gentler method this time.

I'll replace the word lie with deception because I feel as though I have been deceived into believing that TO was going to fix this issue in the manner I was told they were going to. Never in my life have I dealt with such a frustrating service issue. The problem with my service this time has been well documented, on my end and theirs, and the solution is as clear as day, replace a piece of failing Tier One hardware but, for any number of reasons they have simply refused to do so.

The overall feeling I have today is that I'm not a good enough customer, that I bother them with these service issues and that they wish I would just deal with it and never call again.

###### UPDATE 10/1/2010

Received a call from TO aka Cool Access to inform me that they had replaced the AP atop the Lavon water tower. I have had been up for over 7 hours and will continue to monitor the connection and update this review as needed.

member for 22.4 years, 679 visits, last login: 204 days ago
updated 13.4 years ago


Review by hawkeye_p See Profile

  • Location: Lavon, Collin, TX, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 10 days
Free installation
Common to see 5-15% packet loss, unknowledgable & unreliable tech support
Stay away from this provider unless it is your only option
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

The only other option in my area is satellite & a cell phone card. Since I've heard bad things about both, I decided to give the local WISP a try. I'm paying for the most expensive package (60/month) which is advertised as better than DSL or cable at 2.5up/2.5down. It is very unreliable, speeds about half the time in the 500k range, and packet loss higher than it should be. Installation was free and fairly painless, Their access point equipment brand name I was told is confidential information. Tech support seems unsure of how to troubleshoot beyond the basic issues. Engineering support has been pretty much non-existent. So what am I supposed to do with a 500k connection @ $60/month for a 1 year contract... Frustrating, and I would not recommend Tierone or any of their subsidiaries to anyone I know.

member for 14.4 years, 16 visits, last login: 13.7 years ago
updated 14.3 years ago


julesism
join:2001-12-12
North Little Rock, AR
Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway
Ubiquiti Unifi UAP-AC-LITE

julesism

Member

indeed

I agree. My parents live in Lavon and Tier One is a joke. Too many folks since that's the only choice and not enough pipe. I'm moving back at the end of the month so I'll submit a proper review after I spend some time on it. Hopefully Verizon will upgrade Lavon someday...
julesism

julesism

Member

Re: indeed

i finally posted a review:
»Review of TierOneNetworks by julesism