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Review by gadgetpig 
UPDATED: 3.4 years ago
member for 6 years, 153 visits, last login: 25 days ago
 Chicago,Cook,IL
 $49 per month (12 month contract)
 about 14 days
 Ameritech
CLEC party: MCI
 "Local DNS servers in Chicago. Low latency and low pings to most game servers. Solid and Stable DSL Line"
 "ADSL in general is affected by line distance and line quality. Ask ahead of time what sync speed will most likely be"
 "If you do your homework and ask questions, ANET is a solid Local Chicago ISP"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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First my background, I am an "IT Support Specialist" for a large market information company in Rosemont, IL. My home is in the north side of Chicago. I am an avid gamer, and I wanted an ISP that is reliable, had local DNS servers, low latency national backbone, and tech support that actually call back. My previous ISP was Speakeasy/Covad. They were also good, but I was looking for ways to reduce my monthly DSL costs. Once my Speakeasy contract was up, I knew I had to do my homework all over again.
I placed my order with John Pettis, who helped me thru some of my prequal questions. I even asked if I could talk to one of their IT support staff, and one of them called me back the same day. I am about 13,000 feet from the CO, but the quality of my line is "electrically" 18,000 feet, (according to one of the SBC techs here on DSL reports). Now prequal thru SBC, the most they could do for me was 384/128 kbps. Obviously that wasn't gonna cut it. But ANET was willing to provide service for 768/384. As with ANY DSL install, maintain good communication with the ISP in the first few critical days, at least until you can verify an FOC date (firm order of committment from the ILEC). This is because behind the scenes, there are lots of red tape/formal rules between SBC and access to their DSLAM. John caught one attempted DSL cancellation by SBC, because they stated I didn't have SBC as their local phone service. A fax of my SBC phone bill to Anet (John) remedied the situation. John also replied to my email in a timely fashion, and called me back to make sure my questions/issues were taken care of by the right people. How many people in DSL Sales do you know that does this both before, during and after and DSL installation?
Incidentally, as for ANY DSL install, this is the TYPICAL fine print you need to know ahead of time:
"The actual line speed of a given ADSL Circuit will vary based upon various technical factors, such as copper loop quality and distance from the central office. The provisioned speed for a given ADSL Circuit will be based on the actual available line speed, as determined by ANET at the time of service installation/activation."
So I knew I was going to get 768/384 BECAUSE I ASKED. Make sure you do too, for ANY DSL provider.
Gaming wise they are a great ISP. I played counterstrike on servers as low as 27ms! Not bad at all. They use MCI as the national backbone, which is a very solid, low latency, low ping network.
The DSL modem they use is an Efficient Networks Speedstream 5260. I myself use a Netgear RO318 router with SPI.
In terms of stability, I have not noticed the line go down or reset in the time I've had them. Downloading large files (Painkiller demo/Unreal 2004 demo), I had no problems with it failing or disconnecting. Again as with all large downloads, you are best to use some kind of download manager in case a hiccup does occur. The internet itself is very unpredictable, so use the right tools for the job.
I don't use their email servers, so I don't know much about that aspect. But I've learned long ago, if you move around a lot, or plan to switch ISP's in your lifetime, your better off with a Yahoo or Hotmail type of account.
They do include free basic dialup, for those times when you need to login the "old way" Don't expect dialup numbers all over the world/usa, this is a throw in service, not a replacement to Fiberlink or ATT Worldnet.
As for servers, they of course don't want you to host any kind of 24/7 warez/spamming/mp3 server, but if you host occasional game servers, there is no problem with this. I have not used their newsgroups servers, but they do include it.
That's about it, in a nutshell they are the BEST local independent Chicago ISP, they use "local" DNS servers, have a low latency national backbone, and offer static IP for only 10.00 more. ( For basic PPPOE service, it's 39.95 a month, 49.99 with 1 static IP).
That's about it, feel free to IM me if you have any other questions.
cheers,
q3instagib
UPDATE 2/23/04:
=============
Prior to this review, I had emailed if I could possibly sync at 1500/768, Rob from ANET support requested a re-sync try with MCI. Lo and behold, I'm syncing stable so far at 1300!!! This is really incredible!!!,! considering how FAR (over 13,000 feet) I am from the CO. 768 is sure sweet, but 1300 is just AWESOME!!!!
UPDATE 3/12/04:
=============
ANET DSL line has been very, very STABLE. I have not had the occasional loss of sync like I had with Covad/Speakeasy ( considering my distance to the CO ). My pings in general are 10ms-20ms lower with ANET than with Speakeasy/Covad, on a broad range of my favorite quake 3/counterstrike game servers. Reliable, transparent, that's how it should be.
UPDATE 3/18/05:
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After 1 year the line has been rock steady and stable, and most important, has low latency, consistent throughput, no upload/download caps, no matter what time of the day or week. I've since had to throttle back my line to 768/384 as I'm just too far from the CO to hold the sync consistently. (electrically I'm 18,000ft from the CO). Very happy to have ANET as my provider. As a person working in the IT field, I find ANET/MCI to be one of the better local DSL providers in Chicago. Anet is both very affordable and very reliable.
Thanks!!
UPDATE 10/28/05
==============
Hi Folks, well after purchasing a most excellent "Corning DSL NID POTS Splitter SPS-SA0-SR1" from jlramirez, I've been able to change DSL profiles back to 1500/768. Yay! The install was very easy; a clever design that fits inside a typical Chicago NID. I ran the new DSL pair thru an existing line, relocated my modem close to the 66block, and ran fresh ethernet to my router. Again playing on a few Counterstrike:Source servers, I've played as low as 14ms..Ya baby! woot! Ok, nuff said, I'm going back to playing online.
*FINAL UPDATE* 6/10/06
==================
Just wanted to update this review. As you know, MCI cutoff reselling DSL to smaller ISP's, so ANET switched to Covad as the new DSL partner. They now have a new tier of 1500/128k for 39.95 a month (pppoe) using Broadxent Briteport DSL half-bridge.
The 128k upload, as of this time, CANNOT be changed. It also uses "interleave mode" which will add 10-20ms extra latency. However this did NOT affect my gaming performance, (aside from showing up as a higher ping time in the server browser). As for reliability, it was just as reliable as the MCI line, with no downtime reported. I have since moved on to »www.tifnet.net/, another smaller isp (review coming soon stay tuned)
Finally, I just want to thank the many people at ANET for over 2yrs of RELIABLE 100% uptime service, and I hope someday the 1500/768 profile comes back.
Thanks and best wishes ANET team!
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 Review by dirtdigger98
Posted: 5.8 years ago
member for 6.8 years, 106 visits, last login: 139 days ago
Lansing,Cook,IL
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
"Pre-sales help , Tech help .......Quick responses to questions ."
"None"
"Highly Recommend"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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It is nice to find an isp that actually has people you can understand . The pre-sale info was great . Techs are English speaking Americans . Very helpful . If the tech can't help for some reason they put a "ticket through " to a higher tech level . They actually call you back in a timely manner . How many of you can say that about your isp's ? Had to make a few calls to get every thing running right , but it was a pretty painless experience . Their speeds are ok and the price was right . $19.95 for the first three months , $39.95 after that . The order was placed and service received with in seven days ( as promised ). Equipment included , no set-up fees ( 12 month contract ) and six e-mail accounts. Can't ask for more !
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Review by mgulino
Posted: 6.3 years ago
member for 6.3 years, 6 visits, last login: 5.4 years ago
Oak Lawn,Cook,IL
$63 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: WorldCom
"Great pre-sales, very quick setup, decent connection speed..."
"None so far..."
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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I switched from a 3 year old Concentric/XO ADSL account to Anet on a friend's recommendation. The entire switch over was painless. I've double my speed, from 768/384 to 1.3 mbps/660 kbps for almost $30/month less than what I was paying XO, including a static IP.
I didn't get the full 1.5/750 advertised but I'm happy none the less. Thanks Anet.
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Review by darrengam
Posted: 6.9 years ago
member for 6.9 years, 8 visits, last login: 6.8 years ago
Chicago,Cook,IL
$59 per month (12 month contract)
about 15 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: WorldCom
"Service was up and running quickly with very little hassle"
"Pricing is a little high compared to Ameritech, but my upload is better"
"Highly recommended!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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I called ANET the first week of December to inquire about their DSL service. I talk to Lauren, and she was very helpful and knowledgable. Their pricing was a little higher than Ameritech and Covad, but I would prefer not to give business to Ameritech or other larger companies. I ordered service later that day, and within a week they contacted me with the activation date. I received the modem kit after about a week, and hooked it up right away. A few days later, I noticed the lights on the modem start to blink, however I could not get any service. I called ANET, and spoke to Gene, and they helped me with the phone line filters, and I was up and running. The whole process took about 2 weeks from order to activation, and so far the service is running great. Bandwidth tests show I am pretty much getting 1.5 downloads and 768K uploads. Latency is great, as I play many online games, and I have great pings. I hooked up my PS2, and its great! My only gripes is that there is 1 IP address, and extra IPs are extra $$$.
I ordered 1.5 upload/768 download at $59.99 per month, with a free modem. The IP addres is dynamic. Overall, my experience was very good.
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Review by blazes0
Posted: 8.8 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 1 visits, last login: 8.8 years ago
Naperville,Dupage,IL
$50 per month (12 month contract)
about 30 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: NorthPoint
"it works, it's fast"
"service was inexplicably bad for a while"
"If you don't think about your service, it must be good"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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ANET was the only ISP I could find serving DSL in my area when I got server (feb 2000). Price is reasonable, they claim $50 for 468 kb service. Installation was in less than a month, and that was at a busy time. They have a 5 GB limit, which always makes me nervous but which I don't seem to hit.
They actually run my line at 700+ kb, which is nice.
I had problems for a while (months) - my data rates were around 100-200kb. Their tech support was no help. Then it all started working. Now it always works and it's always fast. What more could you ask from an ISP? Of course, my line is Northpoint, which is now chapter 11...
I don't work for ANET, I just get my service from them.
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Review by swerdnik
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 36 visits, last login: 3.5 years ago
Dundee,Kane,IL
$69 per month (12 month contract)
"Routing, gaming performance, reliability"
"The whole isp/northpoint/ameritech thing"
"Good service"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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I really feel bad for the ISP's that have to deal with both CV/NP/RH
plus the telco. I think ANET really does try to please their customers,
and they take the brunt of the frustration that should be directed at
Ameritech or Northpoint. Anyway, here's my review of ANET.
I also have Ameritech Speedpath adsl, which isn't a bad service most of
the time, but there have been several things wrong with it- which
prompted me to look to switch to ANET as soon as Northpoint or Covad
serviced my CO. Ameritech SpeedPath is actually ok now, and the users
figured out how to hack that lame ATM25 Speedstream card into Win2k.
But at the time I ordered it, I was getting 700 pings everywhere because
UUNET hadn't supplied enough bandwidth for all their customers. Still,
128k upload is weak for gaming.
So anyway, I ordered ANET after talking to a friend who was quite
pleased with their service, and he was happy about his pings in online
games. Since I play for one of the top quake3 teams in the world, a
good, low pinging, smooth connect is essential to me- with throughput
not quite so important. I also elected ANET because they use
Northpoint, which in the Chicago area often installs 784/784 sdsl, but
you only get charged for 784/392 adsl. And sdsl is the ultimate gaming
connect short of a T1.
I called ANET and placed my order. Didn't hear much back for a few
weeks, but exactly 4 weeks and 1 day after I ordered it, my dsl modem
came, and NP called the same day to ask when I could have it installed.
I said "how about today", since I was working from home that day. To my
surprise, they accepted and the NP guy showed up around 4 PM. My
install was simple because I had 2 ISDN lines that were no longer used-
perfect to run the DSL to my box. The guy was older, and not too
technical, but acceptable, and quite nice and professional. While he
was here, ANET called and warned that he would have trouble and to
conference him in- which they did and got it working after about 20
minutes and he left.
I immediately started running tracerts and pings and was delighted,
until I noticed something: my ping spiked to over 500 ms every 60-61
seconds. This ALWAYS happened, and of course, it rendered this connect
useless for gaming. I called my dsl install support guy, and he said
their admins said that the router ran tasks once a minute and that this
was acceptable. I, of course, bitched and told them to allow me to talk
to their network admin. In a little over a week, they did fix the issue
and the connect has been great since. Smooth and solid with good
download speeds and GREAT pings. They use pnap and its routing is just
fantastic. I ping less than 50 to almost every single quake3 server
east of the mississippi river. For gaming, I highy recommend it.
-Mike
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 Review by jmdomini
Posted: 9.5 years ago
member for 9.5 years, 3613 visits, last login: a few hours ago
La Grange Park,Cook,IL
$50 per month (12 month contract)
"Reasonable Price, Excellent Speed, No PPPoE!"
"Painful Install Process"
"Keep after Northpoint and Ameritech or you will never see your DSL."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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All in all I would have to say my experience with getting DSL was hell.I
was nearly two months until I was online due to numerous foul ups along
the way.
Placed my order early April. Was told it would be 4-6 weeks for the installation
to be completed. Four weeks went by and I hadn't heard a thing. So I
called to check my status and found out Ameritech had been out to install
the line, but I was't home so they couldn't get access. Of course Ameritech
never tried to contact me to schedule a time, not to mention they didn't
even leave a note to say they tried to come out. Anet put a call into
Ameritech, and they came out the same day and installed the line. Another
week went by and nothing back from Northpoint on completing the inside
wiring. Several calls from Anet to Northpoint ensued, Northpoint failed
to ever call back. At this point I was disgusted and called Northpoint
directly, turns out the technician from Ameritech never updated the ticket
to show outside wiring was complete. Several days of calls to Northpoint,
Ameritech and Anet and the ticket was finally updated. Finally we could
schedule an inside Wiring date with Northpoint.
This was not the end of my problems though. We set up an appointment
for a Wednesday morning between 8-12A. Took the day off so they could
come out. 12:00 passes and still no installer. Call Northpoint and they
tell me that my appointment was rescheduled for Thursday. Raised hell
and they tracked down an installer who came out late that afternoon.
Installer was incompetent. I have no free pairs running from the network
box. This was just beyond the installers understanding. He was ready
to give up when I explained to him he would need to run a new pair. Went
ahead and did this with much groaning. Install was very sloppy, left
the network jack hanging from the ceiling by the wire. Didn't even test
connection or hook up the DSL router. No configuration information was
left. Fortunatley I am a computer technician and was able to complete
the install myself.
Now everything is complete and things are working great. Speed is exactly
as advertised.
Despite all the problems I can't fault Anet. They did their best to help.
It is Ameritech and Northpoint who are incompetent. Nothing to be done
about the Ameritech part, I think they just enjoy making it dificult
for those who choose to get their DSL from another source. As for Northpoint,
Anet admits they are having a lot of problems with them and are currently
testing the waters at Covad.
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Review by jack.fruh
Posted: 9.6 years ago
(review was emailed from domain solcorp.com)
Lisle,Dupage,IL
$50 per month (12 month contract)
"fast install, fixed IP, Standard ethernet (no PPoE), High Speed"
"Lack of documentation"
"Great Value for the money if you can live without documentation!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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I ordered IDSL service from ANET 3-23-00. It took less than two weeks for Ameritech to install the line, The same day the line was installed northpoint shipped the IDSL modem via overnight. The day after I received the modem, someone called to schedule the Northpoint part of the install - They came out the next day - on a Saturday. The whole process took 2 weeks and two days.
The speed has been fine. I get very consistent performance. Downloads are
almost always about 18K per second (Which is what
you'd expect from IDSL)
There was not alot of handholding from ANet (although Northpoint
sends out a nice letter telling you what to expect). No User Manual, no
sheet of paper with the all the settings, nothing (although the IP, subnet mask and Def. Gateway came in the box with the IDSL modem. I got the DNS server IP address from thier website along with the news and mailserver info.
This is a great service for someone who's already comfortable with
the internet and computers. I would order it for my own mother, but I'd be
sure to help her out the first day and make sure that everything is setup
and that she had sufficient protection hackers doing netbios port scans
etc...
I would recommend the service to:
1) Anyone who knows what they are doing when it comes to the
internet and basic networking.
2) Anyone who likes the price/performance of the service they offer
( It was the best deal for IDSL I found anywhere and I have a static IP!)
Another plus worth mentioning is that they don't charge your credit card for installation or for billing. They send good old fashioned bills through the mail- Which I prefer.
They are also Local (Naperville IL)
- Jack Fruh
jack.fruh@solcorp.com
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ANET Internet Solutions
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