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Review by bruxx 
UPDATED: 2.9 years ago
member for 6.7 years, 21 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
 Yakima,Yakima,WA
 $65 per month
 about 5 days
 Qwest
 "Quality, Connectivity, Support"
 "Qwest as carrier, need faster speeds."
 "Excellent DSL provider, highly recommended."
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I have had few successes out trying numerous ISP's in my area. I had been using Charter and was at a point of extreme frustration, high latency, inconsistent speeds, random drops of service with no explanation, virtually no support and staff who out right lied about technology I work with daily. I had tried other DSL providers with disappointing results.
I ran across Blarg (Now Aavanta) and upon contacting them I was pleasantly surprised, I called for information on their services and found I was speaking to a tech who knew what they were talking about, and they were not arrogant or condescending about it! They were helpful and pleasant to talk with, once I signed up the kit with modem arrived within three days, and the carrier had the circuit lit up I was on-line in a matter of minutes.
I've been with Aavanta for almost a year now, the service is excellent. Speeds are stable and with low latency, I have their fastest service available in my area at 7Mbs/896Kbs for $26.95 per month, plus QWEST circuit rates at $38.00 per month.
The only negative points I will make against Aavanta is I hope to see higher speeds offered in my area and perhaps a carrier other than QWEST.
Lastly, during the wind storms in the Puget Sound region on 12/14/06 Aavanta went dark for about 3 and a half days, although I was not directly affected by the storms the lack of Internet service was inconvenient. I understand that Aavanta has implemented an emergency NOC in a different geographic region to avoid that problem in the future.
I highly recommend Aavanta if you can get them in your area.
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Review by bruxx
Posted: 2.9 years ago
member for 6.7 years, 21 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
Yakima,Yakima,WA
$65 per month
about 5 days
Qwest
"Excellent service, Consistant connection, Low latency"
"QWEST as carrier, Need more speed options"
"Good DSL provider, Highly recommend them."
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I've had many experiences with DSL and cable providers and most have left me disappointed and frustrated. When I discovered Blarg (Now Avvanta) it was a nice surprise. When I called asking for information I expected a sales person or phone tree but the phone was answered by a technician who not only answered my all of my questions but was pleasant to talk to and didn't try to baffle me with BS. He helped me through the specials that were being offered by QWEST and Avvanta, and he didn't' try to over sell me on services. I received the modem kit within 4 days, and after an initial problem with QWEST which Avvanta helped me work with them to resolve it, I was up and running after only 5 days.
Since using Avvanta for over a year now, I've had at least 8 down times. Three were due to problems with Avvanta, the rest were on QWEST's end. Most only lasted 5 - 45 minutes, but there several that lasted more than a day or two due to a fire and then faulty equipment all at QWEST's end. Each time this occurred when I contacted Avvanta they quickly identified if the problem was on their end or QWEST's and ether resolved it within a short time or assisted as best they could. The exception to this was during the outage on 12/14/06 when much of the Bellevue area was without power for almost 6 days, Avvanta was dark for 3 1/2 days before resuming service.
Great DSL provider, you will do a lot worse going with someone else.
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Review by kevinhutchin
UPDATED: 3.5 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 28 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
Bellingham,Whatcom,WA
$55 per month
about 14 days
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"Most reliable ISP i've ever had"
"Not much storage space for basic residential e-mail accounts/personal webspace"
"Best value for the price of any broadband provider i've used in the past seven years"
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One year ago i was so fed up with Comcast cable broadband (formerly AT&T Broadband here in Bellingham, WA) we decided to switch to DSL. The package sold to us by Blarg in combination with Qwest is about the same price as what we paid for cable. Comcast was supposed to give 3Mbps but their connection was totally unreliable, disconnecting repeatedly all day long. Blarg is a 1.5Mbps down/ 768kbps up DSL service, and they *always* give us our advertised speed, and they have almost never disconnected. We have only had a few hours of service outage during our entire first year as customers. They are definitely the most reliable of any broadband ISP i've used in the past seven years. I've previously had Verizon in the state of Vermont, Adelphia in the state of Vermont, AT&T in the state of Washington, and Comcast in the state of Washington... none of those compare to the reliability of Blarg (with Qwest). None of them are as inexpensive as our package from Blarg+Qwest.
The monthly pricing is actually $21.95 for Blarg, and about $28 for Qwest service plus $5 for Qwest DSL modem rental, plus taxes. This comes to $55 plus taxes, roughly $60 altogether. This is almost the same as our former rates with Comcast.
The cable companies were theoretically faster (3Mbps instead of 1.5Mbps) but in reality, they sucked. The speed is useless if the connection keeps dying every few minutes in the middle of a download or the middle of an online game. With our Blarg service, i have never been disconnected in the middle of any activity, and i only know of two times during the entire past year when they had some technical issues which resulted in service outage of an hour or two. That's something like 99.99% reliability, which is why i am happy to be a loyal customer.
I'm afraid that regulatory changes are soon going to allow the companies like Qwest to start squeezing smaller ISP's such as Blarg and put them out of business. This will be terrible, because i don't really want to be exclusively a Qwest customer, i want to remain a Blarg customer. It will really suck if the companies like Qwest or Verizon manage to monopolize the broadband over phone lines in this region. The FCC is really harming competition by allowing these deregulatory moves to go forward, because we will be left with nothing but Qwest and Verizon, and all the smaller ISP businesses will be unable to afford the monopolistic/oligopolistic access.
Addendum May 20th 2006: After being their happy customer for over a year, i am informed that Blarg has changed their name to Avvanta. We had a major outage today when Global Crossing had a fiber cut between Seattle and Portland, affecting Qwest and MCI customers (our Avvanta service is via Qwest).
I have no major complaint about Avvanta because this was Global Crossing's problem, and this is only the second outage i've experienced in the fifteen months since i subscribed. The previous incident was also a weekend event, when there was a major distributed denial-of-service attack against Blarg servers, causing a couple hours of outage and some hours until total restoration. These are the only two times i have ever lost connectivity during my heavy daily usage of Blarg/Avvanta. This is wonderful compared to my previous crappy experience with Comcast Cable (formerly AT&T Broadband), which had aggravations literally daily and sometimes repeatedly during the course of a few hours. What a world of difference.
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 Review by dg3274
UPDATED: 5.7 years ago
member for 10.1 years, 2392 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Lynnwood,Snohomish,WA
$20 per month
Verizon (ex GTE)
"Fast, reliable connection with 0% packet loss, good ping times and unmetered transfer."
"Extreme amount of spam through Blarg, but their filters keep most of it away"
"Choose Blarg if you want a no-hassle, professional ISP."
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Blarg Online Services turned out to be my DSL refugee camp. I switched to them from another ISP who was giving me well below average service and refused to answer any emails regarding my disappointment.
When I called up Blarg they were ready to pull me out of the ditch and give me the kind of DSL service we all deserve. That's just what they did. I have the Bronze Plus package (768K/128k) from GTE and switching to Blarg was as easy as pie. They gave me a new circuit ID and DLCI and setup my email account instantly for use on their web mail site, www.blargmail.com. I then called GTE and gave them the new ID and DLCI. 2 business days later, my existing service was cut and I then called Blarg back and they turned up my new circuit within 5 minutes. The tech support guy seemed very knowledgeable and was right on the ball getting things up and working.
I've been using Blarg for almost a week now and the improvement from my previous ISP is incredible. I went from 10-12% packet loss on my line to 0%! Online gaming went from frustrating to fun. My speeds are now steady and strong with no bouncing around and I am definitely getting what I am paying for.
The only bad point I have is the $25 setup fee to get a static IP but it is well worth it in the end. I also had to pay a $35 fee to GTE for the ISP switch but that is no fault of Blarg's. They are also sticklers on user name and password restrictions but it is all in the name of security I guess. Blarg also only gives you one email address with the Bronze Plus package and it is $3 a month for each additional address. Wait... I take that back! I just called them and they said that was changed a few days ago. You now get 2 email addresses!
This ISP is definitely looking to make life better and as of right now I highly recommend them if you want a QUALITY ISP.
~David W. Gray
8/26/00
Blarg was down for about 24 hours from 8/24 to 8/25. I'm not positive whether it was them or GTE but for now I'll have to drop them one star for Connection Reliability. That's an unsatisfactory down-time for an always-on service.
8/27/00
Appears it was GTE. Other Blarg users were on at that time so I give Blarg back their one star!
10/03/00
Blarg just dropped their price from $24.95 to $20 a month. Now if they could just loose the $25 setup fee for a static IP!
11/06/02
I would just like to take the opportunity to say how pleased I am with Blarg as my ISP. I've been using their service now for over 2 years and they have been an outstanding service provider to date. The quality of service and support they offer are second to none! The only problem I see with Blarg at this time is their pricing structure. I would very much like to upgrade my service to a faster package but due to the way Blarg prices their services they have made that FAR from a reality. As time goes on and technology improves, the need for faster Internet access becomes a concern for a lot of us. When we look to our ISP and see that they have nothing left to offer (at a fair and reasonable price), it tends to make us loose hope and fear that there is nothing we can do. It’s certainly enough to make us start to look elsewhere for our broadband needs.
Blarg prides themselves on the level of service and support they offer and I don’t blame them one bit! But as time goes on I don’t think that is going to be enough to survive in the game of broadband. They most certainly need to keep that level where it is (I don’t think it gets much better!). However, I think that Blarg needs to become aware and realize that eventually quality is not going to cut if you can’t, in a competitive and consumer friendly nature, offer the quantity to go with it.
I can tell you one thing…. If Blarg’s quality of service and support were any less than it is today, I would’ve undoubtedly switched to another ISP by now.
02/23/04
Well, I up and left Blarg about 2 weeks ago. I decided to go with Speakeasy and their 3.0/768 package. A friend of mine has had Speakeasy for about 8 months and the quality of his service impressed me enough to make the switch. I was a little skeptical at first; going with a national ISP, but the change was well worth it in my opinion. I felt like I was trapped, with nowhere to go with Blarg. Their service offerings just could not compete with those at Speakeasy. To get any faster packages (than my 768/128) at Blarg would mean paying almost as much as I am now with Speakeasy, but only getting about half of the service and features I have now. Blarg has also been increasingly flooded with spam email lately and their filters (set on their maximum setting) were still letting more through then I felt like dealing with. Other than just wanting more than I was getting I have no other reasons for leaving Blarg. They are a fantastic ISP with excellent staff and near perfect quality of service. But like I said in a previous paragraph the year before last, "...Blarg needs to become aware and realize that eventually quality is not going to cut if you can't, in a competitive and consumer friendly nature, offer the quantity to go with it." However, I noticed that right after I made the switch that Blarg did some major reorganizing with their packages and pricing. Things look much more reasonable than they used to. I didn't notice this till after I had switched but I still have no regrets about switching because even the new pricing can't compete with what Speakeasy has to offer. So Blarg, I bid you farewell and thank you once again for the great service you provided me.
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Review by rhrob
Posted: 5.8 years ago
member for 5.8 years, 2 visits, last login: 5.7 years ago
Bellevue,King,WA
$48 per month (24 month contract)
Qwest
"Rock-solid ISP, No outages, Good/configurable spam filtering"
"None"
"Excellent, works well w/ QWEST"
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I've been a DSL customer for 2 years, and a Blarg customer for most of that. I have 640K (up) and 272K (down) speeds on a Cisco 678 modem, w/ 5 e-mail boxes and dynamic IP. QWEST now charges $28/mo, w/ Blarg DSL Standard for $20. I VPN to my employer w/out problems.
Blarg has even helped me through QWEST processes as well. Blarg proactively sent out notification about the new 1500K/894K Service from QWEST today. QWEST took my order, but failed to tell me that I would need to switch from CAP to DMT on my Cisco. Blarg told me about that and also recommended I download (not install) the update now so when my service is switched, I won't get stuck without the software I need to upgrade to DMT.
Blarg has a configurable spam filter as well. I can put my kids on e-mail without having to worry about countless inappropriate messages.
Blarg runs a tight shop and they know what they're doing. Very reliable service.
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Review by sbakker
Posted: 5.9 years ago
member for 6.9 years, 35 visits, last login: 344 days ago
Bremerton,Kitsap,WA
$58 per month
about 7 days
Qwest
"Tech support, value"
"None so far"
"For the $30 I pay to Blarg I get great service, and a 8 IP subnet."
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Blarg tech support is always willing to be conferenced in on a tech support call to the telco to assist in getting service back faster. I have only lost connectivity twice and both times it was a bad card in teh DSLAM and both times Blarg had to explain that fact tot he telco tech support people.
I get Up to 640K up and up to 256K down the ability to run servers thanks to my 8 statis IP's and unmetered transfer. There are also a lot of other features such as DNS for 2 zones that I am currently not using.
I used to work part time for an ISP and I can honestly say Blarg is awesome!
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Review by beewoolie
Posted: 6 years ago
member for 2.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
Seattle,King,WA
$60 per month
Qwest
CLEC party: Qwest
"Stellar uptime and reliability"
"Qwest encumberance"
"Excellent provider, wish they could us another local loop provider"
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Several years ago, I switched ISPs from Qwest (gag) to Blarg!. At the time, it was clear that Qwest couldn't handle basic network operations such as DNS zone management. In a nutshell, Qwest created a web site to manage DNS that was broken and unsuable except for the most pedestrian configurations. Blarg!, on the other hand, has professional staff who got it immediately. The only downtime I've seen in years was due to one of the Microsoft worms saturating Blarg!'s network. They took their network offline for a few hours while they reprogrammed the routers (I think).
The only complaint I have is that the Qwest local loop limits throughput. I'm running 640/256 right now. I'd like faster upload speeds for work. I can get them from Blarg!/Qwest, but the prices are *way* too high. The Qwest fee alone for 640/640 is higher than a competing provider's total cost for 1.5/768.
The bottom line is that Blarg! is so reliable that I'm loathe to switch ISPs to get more bandwidth if there is a chance that service won't be as good.
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Review by jhmartin
Posted: 6.4 years ago
member for 9 years, 28 visits, last login: 4 years ago
Bellevue,King,WA
$70 per month (12 month contract)
Verizon
"Great service, very good TOS for running servers"
"None"
"A great ISP"
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I ordered the 768/128 SOHO package (ISP $30/mon), which gets me the ability to run my own webserver/mailserver/anything else, unmetered rates, 5 ip's and a PTR-delegation (very rare for consumer ISP's). The staff were knowledgeable and completely accepting that I'd be running a linux NAT box and connecting multiple computers to the setup. When I went to get my DSL moved to a new apartment they just said 'let us know when the line is in and we'll move it' no hassle at all. Their service has been rock-solid. I've recommended them to all my friends.
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 Review by ZWill3
Posted: 6.6 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 1482 visits, last login: 2.1 years ago
Kirkland,King,WA
$62 per month
about 2 days
Verizon (ex GTE)
CLEC party: Verizon (ex GTE)
"99.999999999% uptime, excellent customer service!"
"Can't think of one!"
"Choose this ISP--you won't regret it!"
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I signed up for GTEOnline (now Verizon) DSL in 2000. After several headaches with my physical line and several visits by the GTE repairman (and about three different modems), it started working correctly. I still wasn't happy with the GTEOnline ISP, especially after Verizon took over. I contemplated going with Telocity (which I wrote a bad review on this website in 2000 due to my horrible experience of just trying to sign up for service). Luckily they aren't in business anymore.
Shortly after all of that, I heard of Blarg! and their "Verizon SoHo" package that offers a block of 5 static IP's, excellent uptime, etc., etc. for just $30/month (plus the $32.50 line charge I'm paying Verizon) for 768/128 ADSL (straight Ethernet--no PPPoE). What a deal! I looked for similar deals but couldn't find any, so I called Blarg! and signed up. It took them just a day to switch me over (took Verizon 6 months to quit billing me the ISP charges though--although I did finally get a credit for that). Marc at Blarg! explained the entire process and was very helpful. When I can called or emailed (which has not been very often), I get an answer immediately. It's the personalized service I love as well as the uptime. The longest downtime I have had in 2 years is about a half hour as Blarg! was upgrading their equipment.
In short, Blarg! rocks! Since they allow you to run servers with the SoHo plans, I now have two domains hooked in with my own mail/web/DNS running them. I still haven't used all 5 of my IP addresses! If you live in the Seattle area, sign up with Blarg! and you will be nothing but happy. I know I am!
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Review by mylriahd
Posted: 6.9 years ago
member for 6.9 years, 0 visits, last login: 6.9 years ago
Sammamish,King,WA
$30 per month
about 3 days
Qwest
"EXCELLENT support, I had a response in 5 minutes -- on a SUNDAY."
"Setup fee's stink, regardless of ISP. :)"
"Never been down, speeds are what I expect, great support"
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I've been using Blarg for around a year, and in that year I've never experienced any downtime (my modem flaking the only exception.) I have a cisco 678 using NAT, and all the problems associated with that. After discussing the problem briefly with their support (on a Sunday!), they helped me decide to just get static IP's with a SOHO account. My first thought was that this was a "gotcha", but the price increase is nominal for the liberties is opens up, such as a block of static IP's and the ability to run a server. (I was pay $20 before, now I'm paying $30.)
I can't judge speed well, since I'm not signed up for anything spectacular from Qwest, but the speed is exactly what I would expect for what I'm paying and what I'm signed up for. (640/256)
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Avvanta Communications Corp
