how-to block ads
|
next review in page
Review by paulewog 
member for 1.6 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.6 years ago
updated 1.6 years ago
 Morgan Hill,Santa Clara,CA
 $49 per month- (12 month contract)
 about 7 days "Local business, friendly people, low latency." "A little on the expensive side for faster speeds." "Superior alternative to satellite if you are able to get it."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
We really only had two options for broadband where we live: satellite or wireless. I investigated several other wireless companies, but all of them said they either did not service our area or their service was spotty in our area. South Valley Internet came out and did a site test and we had line of sight of the access point we needed. I really did not want satellite due to the high latency; our wireless has a latency of 20-80ms, which was a lot better than satellite.
We are starting out with the lowest speed package, 384k/256k, at $49.99 (plus $200 setup). The setup fee was hefty, but they did everything except purchase/lay the conduit that we needed since we put our access point/receiver about 50 feet away from the house. They ran the wire through the conduit, and did all of the wall/face-plate stuff for us.
The order and install process was smooth, though they appeared to be rather busy. The billing/ordering process is still done on paper, but that's okay for a small-town business, as long as the people are friendly, which they were.
We did have an outage - both primary and backup network bridges failed, according to tech support - shortly after we had the service installed, but that was out of their control. It was fixed promptly.
The only "bad" part about the entire process that I can think of would be the wait time between the site survey and the actual installation; however, we were not in a huge hurry, either. The installation and actual wireless service, aside from the price, has been the best experience so far.
I mentioned the price multiple times - my comparison is to DSL. 384k down for $49.99 is pretty expensive in comparison to what I am accustomed to; however, in looking around, it seems to be pretty average in comparison to other wireless internet providers. The advantages over satellite are worth it, too.
Comments:
 | next review in page (previous review)
Review by wor2k
member for 5.2 years, 2 visits, last login: 4.9 years ago
lodged 5.2 years ago
- Los Gatos,Santa Cruz,CA
- $60 per month
- "Amazingly reliable, 1 on 1 tech support with a great guy."
- "... ?"
- "If you live in their area that is serviceable I have no reason no to suggest this as your ISP."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Been with garlic since i got transfered from DSL Designs and its been fabulous. I've had one problem which was more my issue than theirs and the tech support (who i was talking to after hours on his cell phone) walked me through my router issues which is unheard of for larger companies. I have the 1.5/384 service and it works like a charm, im calling tomorrow to upgrade to the bad boy 7/768! Thanks for the great work garlic!
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by CSaenz
member for 10.1 years, 228 visits, last login: 300 days ago
updated 10.1 years ago
- Gilroy,Santa Clara,CA
- $48 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 120 days
 Covad- CLEC party: Verizon
- "Local, decent tech support"
- "Reliability, slow speed."
- "Keep's your money local anyway"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I've had DSL with SVI for 2 years
They're friendly (despite last weeks "system status" message that ended with "live with it.") and have OK reliability.
My speeds (AnalogX "netstat live") are between 15-40 KBytes/sec Down averaging 30 KB/sec.
I ordered 768/128 free modem/install, they said it would take a month to install because DSL was just installed in the area. After 2 months with no hookup I called them to find out the order was lost by the phone company. Four months after the order I'm online. Next bill still at dial-up price, after the third bill I call to let them know, and to thank me they back charged me for the difference. No problem, I used the service they deserve to be paid. Started at $47.99 after my one year my contract ended they increased the rate to 48.99, one dollar more wasn't worth switching.
Update: My billing date was effective the 15th so when I canceled it was effective then (about 1 1/2 weeks notice), they cut me off at 9:54pm on the 14th friday ( I was in the middle of something too). Funny how quick they are to cut you off but not much of a hurry to hook you up once they have your money.
Update: 20 Dec '01, SVI billed me again on the 18th even though I canceled on the 15th. I wonder if they thought I wouldn't catch it?
Update: 6 Jan '02, I contacted SVI on the 20th to request they credit my card the money they stole. Well it's now the the 6th and still they haven't returned the money.
When you go to cancel this service don't trust their good faith. If possible don't sign up for automatic payment.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
 Review by AndrewX4
member for 12.1 years, 100 visits, last login: 9.8 years ago
updated 10.6 years ago
- Gilroy,Santa Clara,CA
- $50 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 25 days
- Verizon (ex GTE)
- CLEC party: Verizon (ex GTE)
- "Quick Installation, Reliable Connection"
- "No call-head before install... Entry level package is *shared* DSL"
- "DSL kicks ass"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I've had DSL with SVInet for over 6 months now. I have a static IP, Fujitu/Orkit DSL Bridge. Speeds are great and I only have the basic package which is 768/128. The modem has only gone down once and after a modem power-cycle DSL was restored. DNS IPs changed once (I was using some old DNS IP's from years ago) but tech support gave me the correct ones right away. Overall the DSL has been awesome. I love it!
Update - speed is lagging as more users are on (DSL is shared) ping times also not ideal for any type of serious gaming... fastest d/l's 70K/sec (microsoft, netscape)
---------update---July 5 2001---------
system laggin today...ISP tech support (garlic.com) says verizon is working on the equipment in the central office...
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by rdzek
member for 11.7 years, 71 visits, last login: 7 years ago
lodged 10.9 years ago
- Morgan Hill,Santa Clara,CA
- $50 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 22 days
- Verizon (ex GTE)
- CLEC party: Verizon (ex GTE)
- "Easy setup, installed on time. Cheaper than Covad."
- "Not as reliable as Covad DSL"
- "Great residential service from a local ISP (Yes they still exist.)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I ordered the DSL residential "Bronze" service of 768/128. I get one static IP. Verizon gets $32.50 a month and the ISP gets $17.50. SVI's web site needs some work. The pricing sheets and web site info are lacking. But when you get them on the phone everybody knew what they were talking about. 2 calls and a fax later the order was placed. I followed up with Verizon a week later for an install date. They gave me one. I followed up in one more week and they said they would actually be early with the install. My self-install kit arrived in the mail on time and I hooked it up the same evening. I think it was only 2 days later when I came home from work and the modem lights were lit up. I placed a call to the SVI's tech support and they gave me my IP and set me up over the phone. I was up and running in about 10 minutes. The modem is a Fujitsu Speedport. Since the install I get wierd reliability. It will run for days, and then be unreliable for several hours and then work fine again. Verizon has been to the house and checked the modem and lines and cannot find anything wrong. SVI's equipment sees my lines just fine too. It is not that big a deal. I just unplug the modem and plug it back in and everything is fine again.
Comments:
|
|
