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Review by jpcjr 
member for 3.3 years, 15 visits, last login: 3.3 years ago
updated 3.3 years ago
 Calera,Shelby,AL
 $45 per month about 2 days "Easy to follow install." "Horrible over-the-phone support, bad modem options, and always try to send a technician out." "Decent if you know what you are doing."
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We had Charter Pipeline, but it would never stay connected and was more expensive than the AT&T Service. We ordered the 1.5 MBPS/768KBPS DSL Direct so we wouldn't have to have the phone service. They sent a self install kit via ups and it told us how to setup, we used a modem I couldn't to work (now working and on its last leg) and ordered the 2Wire wireless home gateway. It was horrible. The service is reliable it just has the speed stay between 1.2mbps-1.4mbps.
Been Using AT&T DSL Direct since 2008.
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 Review by jsm107
member for 11.8 years, 688 visits, last login: 349 days ago
updated 3.4 years ago
- Boca Raton,Palm Beach,FL
- Contract price not specified.
- "Nothing"
- "Everything"
- "Stay Away If other options Are Available"
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It's Been About 2 Years That I Had To Change back to Comcast Due to Signal Problems That Could Not Be corrected Would Not recommend Them If Other options Are Available To You
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 Review by rwhubert
member for 10.8 years, 2825 visits, last login: 255 days ago
updated 3.4 years ago
- Atlanta,Fulton,GA
- $48 per month
- about 3 days
 AT&T- "Fast installation"
- "Wildly varying throughput on speed tests, constant browser freeze-ups"
- "Unknown problems within the AT&T South network"
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Ordered AT&T DSL Xtreme6 over dedicated dry-line. Installation was completed the day the modem and software arrived, about 3 days after placing online order. Downstream sync rate with 2Wire wireless gateway are steady at 8128. However, DSLR speedtests from all servers show a wide range of results at different times of day and night, sometimes doubling or halving within just a few minutes of running the previous test.
Firefox browser sometimes just stops loading pages on some websites. It begins loading the page, then freezes, never finishing the page load. This happens far too frequently. I'm running WinXP Pro/SP3, Firefox 3.5.6. Tried reverting to previous Firefox releases, disabling all add-ons. Tried 3 other browsers, same problem with all of them. Tried upgrading, downgrading, and disabling Java, no change.
Until a few days ago I had Cyberonic 6 mb/sec dry-line DSL using a Briteport gateway and Covad lines. I was having the same trouble, which is why I switched to AT&T. Now my sync rate is much higher and speed tests sometimes show as high as 5100+ on some servers, as opposed to about 4700 to 4800, which is the best download speed I ever got with Cyberonic/Covad. I was told "Go with the phone company, they own the copper, that's the only way you'll get reliable DSL service!" Right.
I don't know what's going on, but many other DSL users, and not just AT&T, have been having the same trouble with freeze-ups and intermittent slowdowns lately, especially in the Southeast. So it ain't just me. At this point I don't know what else to do, so I'll just wait and see if things improve. Maybe this is an internet-wide backbone problem, or maybe it's regional, in which case it will affect all ISP's that use the defective backbones. If that's the case, then all we can do is wait till they fix it.
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 Review by bigcheez
member for 11.9 years, 1895 visits, last login: 334 days ago
updated 3.4 years ago
- Mcdonough,Henry,GA
- $44 per month
- about 5 days
- AT&T
- "Excellent Service, decent speeds"
- "I can't quite get max speed"
- "much better than cable, ready for Uverse though"
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Very reliable, rarely if ever goes out. Love that it no longer requires a phone line
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 Review by GreenJello
member for 12.4 years, 4328 visits, last login: 8 days ago
updated 3.4 years ago
- Maryville,Blount,TN
- $32 per month
- BellSouth
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DSLreports was helpful in my decision to subscribe to DSL service. I
found their website through an article I was reading on DSL and found
the reviews to be most informative. My provider is BellSouth. I had
known they offered DSL, but at the time, it was when you still had to
have the second line to the house. It wasn't splitterless yet. I
happened across a review that said BLS was offering the modem and
activation free. I had a second line I was paying BLS for and a dial-up
account with AOL. Total bill was around $85. I jumped at the
opportunity to cancel AOL, reduce my telecom bill, and increase the
value of service I was getting.
July 10th - Called BLS to order Fastaccess. Was on hold for maybe 5-10
minutes. Rep answered and was helpful, but not real knowledgeable about
the service other than quoting specs about the service that were on the
website promoting it. Most specifically I wanted to know what type of
ADSL modem I would be receiving. She couldn't answer but gave me the
number to ADSL group to ask. The whole process of placing the order
took about 30 minutes. I was told to expect the modem in about 14 days.
July 11th - Called ADSL group, didn't have to wait long to talk to
someone, called in the morning around 9-10 am and found out they were
sending the Speedstream 4060 USB modem. I don't have USB, so I ordered
the 3060 PCI model.
July 18th - Called to check on status of order. The rep informed me
they had checked my line and the modem was released for shipment.
Should arrive by next week. I wasn't anticipating any problems with my
line as I know I am within 5000 to 7000 ft of the central office and I
already had the correct NID box on the outside of the house.
July 26th - I arrive home to find 2 BLS Fastaccess packages waiting for
me. I thought that was quite alot of material and when I opened up the
boxes I discovered why. BLS had never canceled the shipment of the USB
modem. I had gotten one of each modem. I read the informative booklet
carefully. Most of the reviews complained of problems with
installation. I was surprised that no problems were encountered.
Within 2 hours I was up and running. I connected at 1.472K. I
immediately went to the speed test on DSL reports and got a speed of
890/180. I tweaked windows, ran another test and got 1235/225. I was
pleased.
I waited this long to post my review because I wanted to check
reliability of the service and also to receive my bill. Reliability is
good. In the months time, I have never not been able to connect. there
have been occasions when I couldn't get the 1.472K connection. One
occurrence was attributed to the fact my daughter had removed one of the
filters off the lines. It cut the connection speed in half. I didn't
realize she had done this and called tech support at 9 pm. Rep answered
in about 20 minutes. He gave me some ideas to look at like emptying my
cache, asking if there were any cordless phones nearby or if I had an
alarm system. I got the impression he was reading from a script. And I
knew he was getting at the fact the line had noise on it from somewhere
to reduce my speed. He was reluctant to open a ticket because I was
connecting at 672K. I questioned when would it be acceptable to open a
ticket if I felt my connection speed was subperforming. His reply was
if it dropped down to the 200 K range. I was satisfied with that as I'll
explain later in this review.
My billing arrived with everything charged as it should be. The date my
service was turned on and dates that my second phone line were
disconnected were correct. The most difficult part as of yet is getting
the USB modem returned. I did my part and called to inform them, the rep
said a slip would be sent out allowing me to ship it back. This was
about 10 days ago and no slip. As long as I don't get billed for it,
makes no difference to me when they get their modem back.
Improvements that could be made to the setup for the service are
procedures on setting up your e-mail. The advantage the big ISPs have
is that e-mail is part of their software program. It's just a one step
process. With Fastaccess, there are more steps that need to be taken,
addresses must be known and inputted properly. And if you are paying
attention during your installation, those addresses are given to you.
In closing, I would like to say that for money, the value far surpasses
what I was paying before. When you consider most of us probably pay
$21.95 for unlimited access to internet with a 56K connection, even if
you get speeds 3 times as great, if the providers charged 3 times the
$21.95 cost that would be $66. And here I get 20 times the
connection,feasibly, I could be paying 20 times $21.95 or $440. But
instead I pay $45, I get enhanced service on my phone, and a superior
connection to the internet. I've got my telecom bill by $10. Also, if
you order the service and are not happy with it, cancel it. I see lots
of reviews that complain of months of dissatisfaction. Would you keep
going to a restaraunt that had lousy food and service? I don't think
so, but I guess there are those that just can't be happy unless they are
complaining.
Ordered: Bellsouth ASDL Fast Access
Modem type: Internal Speedstream 3060 PCI
Wire Distance from CO: 5000-7000 ft
Operating System: Windows 98SE
UPDATE- I've had Fast Access for almost a year now and have had no outages that inconvenienced me. I'm very happy with my service. I only hope if I have to move, I can get the same level of quality I am getting now.
UPDATE Nov. 21, 2009 - I am no longer a Bellsouth customer. After many years of reliable service, I've had to cancel my service for a more competitive value. I would still recommend FastAccess service to anyone in the area. But I will say it is not the most competitive.
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 Review by dbslayer
member for 3.7 years, 448 visits, last login: 41 days ago
updated 3.5 years ago
- Covington,Saint Tammany,LA
- $42 per month
- BellSouth
- "Reliable connection, Great 2nd level support"
- "Combo Billing Dept Misleads, Poor Package Choice"
- "I suspect the package bad points are because of AT&T's takeover."
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Update Nov 20th, 2009:
I am no longer a customer of AT&T (formerly Bellsouth). See my review of my new ISP at: »Review of Charter by dbslayer
Original Review Follows:
I have been a loyal Bellsouth / AT&T customer for Home Phone since 1989 and DSL since 2000.
- This is true even though I could have had faster download speeds with Cable for at least the last 5 or 6 years.
But, where is U-Verse at !? I read about it all the time ... if I could get another Higher speed internet, I probably would do it now. Tried with Charter, but no luck and a VERY bad experience with Charter ... long story but I think I know now why they went thru bankruptcy earlier this year.
Anyway, DSL is very reliable connection ... always there even during power outages.
- DSL line stays up and available and my connection worked using a home battery backup for the computer.
- I think cable internet is not available during a power outage.
I had a REALLY bad experience with "combo billing" ... TWICE in the last 9 years.
- I have no problem with combo of home phone and DSL Internet.
- But combo with wireless or "aircard - internet anywhere" was a VERY bad experience in BOTH cases.
I HAD a not so good experience of inconsistent speeds (this year for a month or 2) but when I did finally get around to calling ATT tech support, they fixed this ... over the phone and it is great speeds and consistent again. ATT tech did something to my "profile" and now my speeds have been consistently good all day and night. I only wish I had called them sooner .
I also wish ATT could provide a faster internet speed (NOW) that is close to the "feeble" competition (Charter cable).
I have always had the fastest speed available and it appears the only way to get faster than 6meg is to go to U-Verse which is not available where I live.
I have AT&T for wireless and it bothers me a lot to have AT&T "the monopoly" coming back ... buying out Bellsouth and Cingular.
- It bugs me that AT&T (the ONLY wireless provider where I can get the iPhone) is the ONLY ISP globally to NOT offer the multi-media messaging for the latest iPhone. The news I read is this is because their network can't handle it but they expect to have fixed by end of August (which has come and gone now - no fix).
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Review by joshm87
member for 4.2 years, 8 visits, last login: 3.7 years ago
updated 3.5 years ago
- Eunice,Saint Landry,LA
- $47 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 212 days
- BellSouth
- "c.s. was quite useful, stable sync"
- "none really, upload speed could be higher"
- "great download speed, but un syncs during light rain"
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I'm quite satisfied with my service. I actually started on 3.0mbps then upped to 6.0. They also gave me a new 2wire modem/gateway. It's been working wonders.
The problem i had was that I only saw about a 100kbs increase. That didn't seem right to me. So i did some reasearch and found out that my lines might be a messed up. I call tech support friday and they told me they'd send someone out the following monday. Well to my suprise he came the next day. I was wondering why my modem wasn't syncing and i went into the statistics sceen and saw i was finally getting 6131 down/ 508 up. Before that it was at 4800 down/ 480 up. So anyway he came in and told me it was him that was fixing the wires and that's why it kept unsyncing. He said the wires were spiderwebbed and caused the decrease in performance. So now everything is up and running 100%.
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 Review by Michael1
member for 10.3 years, 586 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
updated 3.5 years ago
- Clover,York,SC
- $40 per month
- about 5 days
- AT&T
- "So far so good"
- "NA"
- "For the money better than my local Calble provider"
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Had cable internet for years from a local provider and started having issues more and more often over the past 6 months. So went to ATT DSL.
Setup was a breeze, just insert disk and off you go. My connectivity todate has been rock solid. Speeds have been as advertised. No complaints what so ever. (ATT Uverse is in the next neighborhood over. 200 yrds away) was hoping for FIOS in my neighborhood but they arent planning an upgrade :-(
All in all very happy with the ATT DSL 6.0 package.
10/23/09
Still happy .. consistantly over the 6.0 speed and the upload is typically in the 300-450k range. Always have service never down ... couldnt be happier
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 Review by trouard
member for 12.7 years, 384 visits, last login: 34 days ago
updated 3.5 years ago
- Baton Rouge,East Baton Rouge,LA
- $32 per month
- AT&T
- "Always there when problems arise with a human on the other end!"
- "Sometimes runs a little slow, but not too often."
- "I don't think I will be leaving them anytime soon!!"
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My DSL has been fine from the beginning and I am still with them now and I have been with them for around 12 years. They have never had to come out and fix a line on the house or in it. The speed of d/loading is right at 2.9 Mbps = 345Kps and I am happy as can be with their over the phone technical service. They will help you with any problem, theirs or some other software, especially Microsoft. You also talk to a human you can understand, not to some person in India that you couldn't understand even if he/she wrote it in a chat session. Been there, done that with Symantec and I don't have a piece of Symantec on my computer anymore at all. They supplied me with a Westell ADSL modem, offered to set it up for me for no charge even though I handled the setup myself and I have it behind a LinkSys WRT54G router with Sunbelt's Vipre Antivirus and Spyware and compared to the local cable I see no comparison. I prefer the dsl because of speed, price and service. I tried cable and gave it back quick. Overall I have been truly very satisfied with AT&T and I think it's going to get even better. The price is not too bad either. I just wish I could get at least 6 Mbps.
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 Review by Mem
member for 11.3 years, 4937 visits, last login: 2 days ago
updated 3.5 years ago
- Memphis,Shelby,TN
- $38 per month
- (12 month contract)
- BellSouth
- "now rock solid access with great speed for the $$"
- "install problems (5 yrs ago) that only solved here at DSLR"
- "Excellent service, dependability and consistency of connection at speed"
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When I first signed up, I received all hardware in a couple of weeks and was told all was working. Turns out provisioning the line was an absolute mess as the help desk people generally didn't have a clue as to the questions I was asking and at the time a truck roll was frowned upon. It's a long story but some folks here helped straighten it out and after 60 days of working on it, none too soon. The original PCI card drivers also needed upgrading and since that time I have switched to the Cayman 3220H. This eliminates the need for drivers on the computer (excellent when upgrading OS) and has definitely proved itself over time.
Reports from friends and others on-line show that this type of problem for install has been worked out over the 2 year period since it occurred to me. Also, the employees that participate here on their own time is a great help to all. It is obvious that the knowledge level of DSL has increased during this time.
Since that time, BSFA has been excellent in the service, speed and reliability areas. Mail ha,s worked well for me with the multiple accounts and aliases and newsgroups have not been problematic. DNS servers have been reliable in this area. Authentication connection has been quick and easy every time. Dynamic IP's with PPPoA have been fine for the work I do since I am able to hold the IP for extended periods of time using the 'always on' connection when needed.
If you have the choice between BSFA or CLEC DSL and cable, I'd recommend BSFA all the time.
Additional review update 2/11/07: DSL at the 3 Mbps range for my service and doing well. Price is reduced from previous amount and the service meets my needs for now.
10/29/2007
I am now using the DSL Extreme (3Mbps down/384 Kbps up) for almost 6 months - reliable, maintains throughput, DNS servers need improvement (use OpenDNS most of the time). Still satisfied with the service.
10/22/09
Same service for 2 years and has been reliable and maintained speed. Have evaluated cable but AT&T (bought out BellSouth) is still the better option in my area - I'm sticking with it.
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