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Review by erazo 
UPDATED: 6.6 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 78 visits, last login: 40 days ago
 San Diego,San Diego,CA
 $40 per month (12 month contract)
 about 38 days
 SBC
CLEC party: SBC
 "Outstanding support, low cost for static IP, respectable downlink speeds"
 "Airborne Express for delivery of gateway; No longer available"
 "Defunct"
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This is my third DSL service in as many years. The first folded in a dispute with Covad, and the second, Speakeasy, was good but pricey. I'm a satisfied DirecTV satellite customer, and decided to accept their offer for DSL at $20 less per month than Speakeasy charged.
The only problem I encountered in the switch was with SBC PacBell, my local TELCO. It took them a full week to disconnect the line from Covad after cancellation, and another three weeks to complete the new DSL connection and test connectivity. The whole process, since it involved a switch and not new service, should have taken no more than a week.
Another problem, also unrelated to DirecTV, was delivery of the gateway. It was shipped from San Jose to San Diego via Airborne Express Two-Day service. The package took two days to get to Fresno from San Jose (a 4-hour drive), another three days to San Diego from Fresno (another 4-hour drive), and four additional days to get to my neighborhood. (The driver dropped the package on the porch of my neighbor two doors down even though the package was properly addressed.)
Setup was a snap, even though I use Linux and performed it manually. (Win and Mac users can use the CD provided). Since you connect via a gateway instead of a DSL modem, you must configure the gateway from your PC. I simply called DirecTV tech support (no lengthy phone waits) and they gave me the configuration parameters I needed. The gateway contains its own web page at a private subnet IP address which allows you to check your connection status and speed and perform diagnostics. Tha package even comes with a setup CD, two network cables (Ethernet and USB), and FOUR phone line filters, saving you a trip to the electronics store (and about $50) for these necessary accessories.
The DirecTV Broadband website is extremely well organized and informative that provides new subscribers with all the information they need to choose their service, prepare for installation, and perform the self-install. I use my own firewall on my Linux box, but if I were connecting from a PC, I would consider DirecTV's Connect&Protect service, which also includes spam filtering and safeguards.
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Review by AKspike
Posted: 6.6 years ago
member for 6.6 years, 0 visits, last login: 6.6 years ago
Temecula,Riverside,CA
Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
about 14 days
"Their aren't any."
"They lied, it's slow, and I might as well have dial up and not a huge dish!"
"The dish itself is HUGE & unsightly and it is NOT worth the money."
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First, I only ordered this because my husband and I do a great deal of work from home and need "fast" internet access. The ONLY thing available in our area at this time is satellite broadband. We have been promised cable broadband by our local cable company (Adelphia - another problematic company), but nothing yet. Also, the local phone company still doesn't have DSL. We were stuck...
I purchased the "no deposit for equipment" package at $99/month for 12 months. Othewise I would have had to pay $350-400 for equipment, then $59/month for 12 months. When the installers arrived (after repeated phone calls for an appointment), they bought out a huge dish - much larger than they saidin their sales pitch. I was told it was "not much bigger than a standard TV dish" when in fact it is about 4 times the size and 10 times the weight. I was also informed that their might be extra charges for a "non-standard" installation, mileage, and the like, but the sales person couldn't detail the amounts until the installer saw the location. What a joke. In any case, the installers got everything set up outside, but left before my computer had been completely set up (which they are not supposed to do) because they were running late for another appointment! I was told to call technical support if I "had any trouble". I thought they were joking - they weren't. The phone number the idiot installer gave me was an "installer only" number, so I could not access it. Hours later after calls to the installer's company and their parent company, then calls to Direcway, I finally got through to Direcway people who then had to transfer me to technical support for another 20 minute hold. When it was finally resolved, I was able to set up my e-mail (another hour long process on the phone with the technical support guy!!) and it's been about the same ever since. Just TRY to get ahold of someone at their 800 phone number. You're in for a looooong wait.
In any case, the latency is horrendous, e-mail and Internet browers are incredibly slow, I get mail bounced back to me sent to perfecly good e-mail addresses, people sending mail get theirs bounced back, and I have never in my life gotten so much spam. I can hardly keep up with it. I can hardly believe that the internet sale of Viagra and Viagra-like products is so profitable on the internet, but that appears to be the extent of the e-mails. It has been a very bad experience from all aspects of this purchase and I regret it completely.
Overall, it was a very BAD deal that the company clearly misrepresented. I never would have purchased it had I know the enormous drawbacks and the problems I would have had. I may as well have dial up. At least it's cheaper for the hassle!
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Review by Kryptik
UPDATED: 6.6 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 179 visits, last login: 85 days ago
Rohnert Park,Sonoma,CA
$39 per month
about 69 days
SBC
"Their nice on the phone ?"
"They dont call you back when they say they are"
"Its running"
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They are out of business now
GO WITH SBC/PAC BELL ..............THEY ROCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Check out their forum for support its killer
»AT&T West
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 Review by DSLDoogie
UPDATED: 6.6 years ago
member for 8.1 years, 607 visits, last login: 1 year ago
Zionsville,Boone,IN
$49 per month
about 90 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: Ameritech
"Was great while I had service (waiting to be migrated to Ameritech)"
"Tech support wait times and the handling of my migration to Ameritech"
"Local TELCO DSL service is a better option unless you really need the static IP (or have issues with the local TELCO)"
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UPDATED 11Jan02
Over the holidays I contacted the DTVDSL migration desk to check the status of my move from Rhythms to Ameritech. The very helpful technician (who answered in less than 2 minutes) informed me the reason I had not been transitioned to Ameritech was the request was never sent from DTVDSL to Ameritech - and I made the request at the end of September! He apologised and recommended that I cancel my existing (non-functional) service and place a new order. I had nothing to lose except my e-mail address and free transition dial-up account so I did what he suggested.
I had a second phone line to use for setting up the new service so I could avoid any account release issues. The only issue was I refused to pay the $50 set-up fee and they agreed - after I argued.
On 08Jan02 a customer service representative actually called me to apologize (he actually knew what I had gone through - quite shocking to me). AND he offered me an additional month credit for my troubles! He also told me the status of my "new" install and gave me his private line number and e-mail address.
Ameritech finished the "new" installation via the dry pair formerly used by Rhythms on 10Jan02 - so all I need is the new gateway.
NEW To the point:
DTVDSL is obviously going through serious growing pains. However, the customer service seems to be improving (have they installed some new CIS/CRM system and tied the Customer service to Sales to Billing????).
They have definitely improved the new account creation and connection function from my previous experience.
SO...
I will reserve final judgement until I actually get my first bill (to see if they keep their promises of the free month credit) and see what connection speeds they now can provide.
I would still go with your local TELCO if you do not need the static IP address - why pay for the aggrivation of a middle-man if it is not required.
============================================================
I have hade the service since January 2001 and had to write to the CEO and COO of Telocity (pre-DTV purchase) to even get the technical support staff to finalize the connection (it only took 3 months).
While provisioned by Rhythms, the service was excellent - great speeds (740/740) and only one brief outage. I did notice a deterioration of performance and service once DTV purchased Telocity and now with the failure of Rhythms, I again have no service. My CO was not picked up b by the Worldcom buy-out of Rhythms and the connection went dead at the beginning of November. I notified DTVDSL I wanted to be transitioned to Ameritech at the end of September and am still waiting. Another letter to the CEO & COO may be in order.
The wait time to speak to a Technician is very long (20 minutes plus) and they are essentially useless unless you get to Level 2 or 3 (more waiting). The last time I called Technical Support the "technician" was clueless and said they would open a ticket for Level 2 support to look into things and they would call me within 72 hours. I asked him for the ticket number and he told me he couldn't give it to me because he hadn't put it into the system yet - I asked him if he would do it while I was on the line and please give me the number. Between munching on his Doritos (or some other snack food) he said it would take too long. Enough said - I never got the ticket number.
To the point:
Works well when it works, the more you try to contact this company, the more painful it gets. Unfortunately, the situation is not very different with any other provider. I would go with your local TELCO (they are provisioning the service anyway) unless you really need the static IP.
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 Review by lscott5
UPDATED: 6.6 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 546 visits, last login: 5.3 years ago
Fort Lauderdale,Broward,FL
$49 per month
BellSouth
CLEC party: NorthPoint
"None"
"They are still in business"
"Avoid at all costs!!!!!"
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I pretty much think that this email from Telocity sums it all up quite nicely. After receiveing this mail they even had the nerve to charge my credit card $99!!
Dear Telocity Customer,
We are writing with some important and unfortunate news about your
DSL service.
As you know, the recent NorthPoint bankruptcy ruling required us
to transfer your DSL connection to another last-mile provider.
After a thorough review of your order, we have determined that your
home is in an area we cannot serve today with one of our existing
carriers. Within our national coverage, there are some
neighborhoods we are unable to serve until we partner with
additional last-mile carriers.
Telocity is working vigorously to contract with other last-mile
carriers to expand our service area. We hope that within 120 days
we'll be able to contact you again with good news and offer you
service again through one of our new carriers.
We apologize for this inconvenience. To help you as you look for
another Internet service provider, Telocity will continue to provide
you unlimited dial-up service and continued use of your Telocity
e-mail account and web space through the end of May at no charge.
In addition, you can take advantage of a special $100 rebate offer
if you order satellite-based broadband services through DirecPC(TM).
Hughes, our new parent company, will offer high-speed, two-way DirecPC
broadband services via satellite to Telocity customers beginning
August 1. To thank you for being a loyal Telocity customer, we will
offer you a $100 rebate payable after installation and activation,
if you order DirecPC and sign up for a year of service. A DirecPC
representative will contact you shortly to discuss this opportunity
with you.
At this time, however, we must unfortunately close your Telocity DSL
account. We sincerely regret that Telocity cannot continue to provide
you with DSL service at this time.
Sincerely,
DSL Assistance Team
Telocity
4/19/01, 9:12 PM
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 Review by ElioAC
UPDATED: 6.7 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 107 visits, last login: 6.7 years ago
Bellflower,Los Angeles,CA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Verizon
"Great Replacement for DirecTV DSL users"
"None so far"
"If you're in the Los Angeles area, you can't go wrong with DSL Extreme"
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* * * UPDATE * * * 3-10-03 DSL Extreme
Well, I hope the 3rd time is a charm. As you can read below, this is my 3rd service provider since I decided to get home DSL service. Lets go threw memory lane real quick...Flashcom.com: great service, went out of business, DirecTV; insane speeds; went out of business, and now DSL Extreme; great overall service; please do not go out of business!!! DSL Extreme got me up and running in less than 10 days. I placed my order while I still had DTV. My DTV DSL service was on for about 5 days, before the telco shut it off, by then, I had already received my notice from DSL Extreme on when I was supposed to get my modem and service up. Just like clock work everything ran smooth for me. My dload speed is about 746K, although when I lived in LA, it was a crazy 1300K with DTV DSL. I can live with the 746K, as long as they don't go out of business. By the looks of their work, it appears they will be around for a long time. Great job DSL Extreme. You have my vote of confidence. Static IP, quick delivery of modem, reliable speeds, good price for service!!!
***UPDATE*** 12-20-01
I got a quick update for all of you to read. Since my last update my speed continues to be a solid 1.3Mbps download and a wimpy 79Kbps uploads (it was supposed to be 128Kbps, but who really cares...I just want to let you all know that this service continues to be a great bang for my bucks. I read here about how terrible tech. support is, fortunately for me, I have never had to call them so I can't really comment on that part of the service. What I can tell you is that every time I click on my browser...BOOM! my connection is on and flying like a rocket. I do feel bad for those of you who have not had a good experience with DSL. Before I had DTV DSL, I too had my nightmare stories as you can read in my background from my first review. I went thru HELL before I found DTV DSL, now I just update my review every so often to let you know that not all service providers are bad and that some of us do have great service. See you in the gaming room. (And for those of you who want to question my 3's for tech support and Mail, it's because I really don't have anything bad or great to say about those components of my service, so I figure I would go the safe route and select the middle of the road).
* * UPDATE * * 9-16-01
FIRST- My thoughts and prayers go to the victims and their families.
Second, This service just gets better and better! Since my last review of my ISP, I have continued to run the DSLR speed tests with great results. Over the last week, I have been getting 1.3Mbps download constantly. It is awesome to see such speeds. I have not had to call any tech service, because I simply don't need it. This service rocks! If you're in Los Angeles, I highly recommend DTV DSL. I haven't tried their web space, but will do so this coming month. Will keep you updated!
* * UPDATE * *
I posted my review of my ISP here less than 24 hours ago and all of the responces that I have received have been put downs, crying and bit-chins about "you must work for DTV and your a MORON and IDIOT. Why are you guys slamming me. All I did was post my experience. If you have a beef with your ISP, than change it. I did changed it and now I have what I want. Fast, reliable service. I guess some of you just can stand it that others have good service and you don't. I don't work for DTV, but I am enjoying the service. So I'll continue to stand by POST and say that DTV is the ISP service for ME.
Background: After having had Flashcom DSL for more than 2 years, they finally went out of business. Although, Flashcom was badly beaten here, I never had a single glitch with them, then they went broke. Here is the chain of events that led me to get DirecTVDSL. SBC/Pac Bell was my first choice for replacing Flashcom, after a month of no e-mails calls or service, I cut them. The idiots tried to bill me after I had cancelled for no service established. After 20+ calls or so, I got a credit on my Phone bill, (Stay away from Pac-Bell). My next try was Earthlink. PPPoE, what kind of (Excuse my language) CRAP is this software?!? When I had Flashcom for 2 YEARS, I never had to load software to get DSL. Dumb move for me. I installed their software, which installs its own IE version, which I still have in my system. After 3 days of talking with their tech support schmucks, They could not get me connected. The support guy told me that I needed a new NIC (Network Card) to resolved my problem. I have and have had my internal LAN for over 2 years without any problem, so I cut them, sent their modem and CRAPPY software back, and little did I know that when I removed their version of IE, it erased ALL of my links. (Excuse my language again) but F*^k! Earthlink. You should NEVER, under ANY circumstance have to use ANY software program to connect your DSL.
So, here I am with DirecTVDSL. This was my last straw. I figured that if I had a bad experience with DirecTV DSL, I would go with a T1 next. THERE IS A GOD!!! Besides waiting for my service to kick in 31 days, my service with DirecTV DSL, has been FANTASTIC! I cannot believe how good this service really is. I've been running the speed tests here at DSLReports on a daily basis for over three weeks and every time I get a download speed of 1100Mbps or higher. DirecTV DSL gave me a static IP, which I can use with my Linksys Router/Firewall. No software is loaded in my system to connect to them. Every time that I have gone to their support site 10.5.1.2, I've gotten the information I needed. I cannot believe how good this service is.
For those of you who are interested, I am in the Los Angeles, CA area. I don't work for DirecTV DSL, and I was praying that their service would not be as it has been described here. I cannot believe how awesome this company is. When I called them last week to request some info about my billing, I was on hold for about 8 minutes, then I got someone who knew what they were doing. I actually got an educated response. I have to give DirecTVDSL a major Thumbs UP. They have my business for as long as I live here. I wish for only two things from my DSL company, that their services will continue to be this good and that they don't go out of business.
Elio
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 Review by pattithepotato
UPDATED: 6.7 years ago
member for 8.2 years, 269 visits, last login: 282 days ago
Buena Park,Orange,CA
$49 per month
about 28 days
SBC
CLEC party: SBC
"very constant connection in the Orange County, CA area."
"e-mail, but I don't use it anyway"
"It's one of the more economical DSL's and works great in my area."
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I'll be short and simple 
I don't use their e-mail, since I use some other pop/smtp server so I can't say anything about that.
My connection is usually around 1300kbps down/90kbps up
There are extremely low amounts of downtime. (so little that I have not even noticed one)
My credit card company can just block DirecTV DSL in the event that I want to cancel, but DTV DSL takes forever to do so. (so I've heard...) So make sure you can do that or you have SOME kind of protection... That is if you plan on cancelling your service in the near future.
Update:
I found out why my email has not worked... Something went wrong from the very beginning so I wasn't even setup on the mail severs. But everything's fixed and the emails seem pretty good! (So far... will see if I can update later on this) Also their tech support has greatly improved! I called in twice on Sunday ~3:00pm and I had to wait no more than 1 minute. Can't say anything about other days, though.
Update:
I've cancelled my DSL because I don't use it at college. There was no hassling on their part. I would say this is a great improvement for them. Unfortunately, if you don't cancel near the end of your payment month, you'll have to pay for that entire month.
Newest Update:
I cancelled before DirecTVDSL's closure.
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Review by Macharoni
UPDATED: 6.7 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 3421 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Pittsburgh,Allegheny,PA
$49 per month (month by month)
about 10 days
"Semi-smooth Transition from Flash"
"Terrible Ping Times - Erratic and Fluctuating U/L - D/L speeds"
"If things don't improve with Telocity - I'm Canceling"
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;
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 Review by Sysadmin
UPDATED: 6.7 years ago
member for 9.4 years, 3872 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Auburn,Placer,CA
$49 per month
about 21 days
SBC
"Easy to configure DSL Modem"
"recycles more than I like"
"Ok deal"
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Final Update 02-28-03: With great sadness my connection was turned off today. Although there were problems at first it did end up being a great service for me. The first couple of times I called SBC to possibly swap me over they said they couldn't due to the distance from the CO. Thanks to a member of BBR that works with SBC helping me we have started the process of getting switched over.
Update 10-23-02: After a few months of great service with my last issue resolved I hate to see them go. I hope that SBC can do a hot swap to make the migration a smooth one.
Update 05-22-02: I finally got to the bottom of my re-sync issue. Apparently, I'm 2000ft beyond where Pac Bell will normally allow service! Pac Bell put me on some different card in the CO so that I wont have the re-sync as often. It's been 3 weeks since the change and I rarely get re-syncs. The only down side is I will not be able to sync higher than 384-128.
When I first got my DSL they were called Telocity and I'll tell you, they were terrible!!! The modem was actually a breeze to setup and get online and the first week or two I was always connected. After those great two weeks It was downhill from there. The weekends were the worst. I could almost forget about going online on Friday nights, the modem would constantly recycle. I would cycle the power and it would work for 10 minutes then back to the modem cycling again. The wait to talk to a techie was 45 minute to an hour each time I would call.
I must say though since DirecTV picked them up they have made great progress. I rarely get cycled on the modem for more than a few seconds. I do however have to power it down & back up once a week as always with these modems. When I do have a problem I can get to tech support in 5 minutes or less!
Because of how far I am from the CO I only get 384 down and 128 up. I must say it is consistantly at that.
Correction: I only get 384/128 because of Pac Bell. I could pay $89 a month and get better speeds but I find that hard to justify when so many others get more bandwidth for $50 a month!
I love that it is a static IP. No logon like Pac Bell.
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Review by bobnuts
UPDATED: 6.7 years ago
member for 8.3 years, 65 visits, last login: 6.7 years ago
Wrentham,Norfolk,MA
$49 per month
about 30 days
"Very fast, tech support was outstanding"
"slow speeds for 1 day...fixed"
"thumbs up from me"
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update!!!
2 months, still going strong. I recommend telocity to anyone.
update!!
i had speed problems 8/17-8/18, in which i would get speed tests as low as 28/19...i called tech support, and spent many hours troubleshooting my problem. cause im a kid, i didnt really mind that much waiting for them to run all the tests that they made me wait for. they gave me a trouble ticket, saying they would follow up on it to insure my satisfaction with my connection. i get a call tonite 8/20 from a tech saying that the problem was fix! yay! see, the tech support isn't that bad, and everyone should stop bitching about it 
ps...cable is not much better when it comes to speed and "tech support blaming other things". a good friend of mine has COX @home cable, and he was reaching speeds of 64/102...not very good at all so he calls tech support and they blame the CODE RED VIRUS hahaah!
ok heres what happend...
i ordered on June 13, 2001, and i receive my Gateway modem in about a week. I read the installation manual and follow the directions carefully. It says, when your power light is a steady green and ure status light is a steady amber, pop the cd in and begin to setup and configure your modem. Well i didn't get a steady amber light. I got a red blinking light, which means i didnt have a connection. I wait a long time to call customer service, I was on vacation and was extremely busy, but i called up tonite and was speaking to a live tech within 20 min. 20 min seems to be good considering all you people are bitching about 2-3 hrs on hold. the tech told me that my telco (he said bell atlantic, which is now verizon...dunno what he was thinking but hey, he fixed my con =) ) has unusual configuration, and that i should just install my modem w/ the red blinking light. within 10 min i was online. i ran a speed test and i was 290 down and 32 up. i was kinda pissed cuz i am supposed to get 640/90, but it sure beats the 33k that i used to have . but then i tweeked my RWIN and now im up to 550/82 and i ping mostly at 60 ms. wah lah. telocity is definatly worth the money, well so far
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DIRECTV DSL (TM) (ISP Closed)
