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Review by swain22 See Profile

  • Location: Santa Rosa, Sonoma, CA, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month
??
DECEITFUL and UNETHICAL
Wouldn't use them again
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I am posting the email which I sent to the owner who NEVER RESPONDED. I even resent the email to him last week giving him a second chance to remedy the situation.
I have also reported them to the BBB.

From: hswain@sonic.net
Subject: Fwd: sorry... complaint
Date: September 20, 2006 2:19:37 PM PDT
To: dane@sonic.net

Hello again Mr. Jasper,
I have not heard back from you regarding my concerns below. I'm sure Eli told you that we spoke last week during your absence. Although he was a nice guy, he really didn't resolve the matter to my satisfaction. I am hopeful to hear from you by the end of this week.
Thank you,
Heather Swain

Begin forwarded message:

From: Heather
Date: September 11, 2006 1:57:04 PM PDT
To: dane@sonic.net
Subject: sorry... complaint

Hello Mr. Jasper,
I am writing to you today, unfortunately, to express disappointment with your company.
I have been a customer of Sonic.net since August 5, 2004.
I am now moving to Portland and called today to discontinue my service with you.
Everything is fine up to this point.

Your tech guy recommended that I check dslreports to find an isp in the Portland area.
Upon doing so I was comparing my options to my current service.

This is where the trouble for me starts. I came across your sales/broadband/dsl/residential.php page and began to wonder why I was paying $60 a month instead of the $27.95. I called back to tech support and a) got a support person who seemed to take my unhappiness personally (although I never raised my voice) and b) put together that I've been taken. I don't have a website with you or any of the other requirements for a static ip. I asked this testy tech guy if I could please speak with someone who had been there longer than he in hopes that they may be able to answer my questions as to why my account automatically went to the expensive option. I was reluctantly transferred to billing. That kind young lady said that upon my year contract being up, my account went to a month to month rate. She said that because I've been such a long time customer that you didn't have the dynamic ip option when I began my relationship with you and that notices were NOT sent out to existing customers to let them know about the less expensive dynamic option. I feel TAKEN for $360! And I am prepared to report your company to the Better Business Bureau and whoever else I can. I feel scammed.

I would hope that you would take the time to explain your seemingly unethical business practices.
I have been and am willing to hear a good excuse like I missed the email announcing your new rates and you have proof that it was sent.
But being told that it is my responsibility to check in with your company for rate changes, as was suggest by your billing employee seems just plain wrong and not cool.
Please explain.
Heather Swain

member for 17.5 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 17.5 years ago


DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium Member
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA

DaneJasper

Premium Member

Static versus dynamic IP products

There is an $8 monthly price difference between static IP and dynamic IP products. I'm sorry that you were not aware of the availability of lower priced products, but our website has always offered full data on all of the products which we make available.

-Dane

guhuna
5149.5
Premium Member
join:2001-03-31
Benicia, CA

guhuna

Premium Member

Re: Static versus dynamic IP products

I don't see how they "scammed" you. All you had to do was go to the website at anytime. Usually someone that is looking for a lower priced service !"usually"! goes to their ISP homepage.
baj475
join:2004-11-02
Hayden, ID

baj475 to DaneJasper

Member

to DaneJasper
$8 a month difference! Lets see, for the elite (6.0mbps down; 768kbps up) static plan that will come to $35.95 per month ($27.95 + $8.00). Sign me up. At this price, I'll take two of your elite DSL plans if you bond them together for 12mbps down 1.5mbps up?

By the way you should update your web site to show these great prices!
swain22
join:2006-09-25
Santa Rosa, CA

swain22

Member

Re: Static versus dynamic IP products

And it gets better:
Please note that he's ARGUING with his customer.

On 9/25/06, Heather wrote:
Dane,
Thank you for your 2 emails.
I appreciate the analogies except that I believe that mobile phones
and cable companies conduct an advertising campaign when they offer
new services so one is made keenly aware of the changes via
television or magazines or newspapers. And I believe that they don't
require a credit card for payment as Sonic.net did when I signed up.
I was entrusting you to draw from my personal bank account and feel
it merely ethical and common business practice to alert me of
changes, with special notification. My monthly YMCA dues are deducted
from this same account and they sent a notice to me via the mail when
they raised the dues just a few dollars. And since, I am one of your
few "legacy customers", as Eli put it, I would think that you
wouldn't have too many letters to send.

In my mind the benefit of using a start-up local isp is getting a
person on the phone when I call which I have with Sonic. The
drawbacks can be situations like this where they are busy growing and
occasionally may let something fall through the cracks. I get this.
From my point of view, as a loyal Sonic.net customer, I'm just being
honest when I say that it seems really fishy that no one took notice
of my service or my bill when I've called in the past year. I have
called you about a half dozen times regarding, what seemed to be, a
slow connection or changing my billing account. Even the SBC has
alerted me to different services when I call for whatever reasons.
Wouldn't your tech guys or billing woman have seen that I had a
static connection and wondered why? Can't you see who has and uses
web space? How can you sell new accounts if you don't know what your
capacity is to do so?

I've been paying you $60.45 since September of 2005 and I see that
your Dynamic IP DSL Elite runs $27.95. That is a $32.50 monthly
difference or a $390 refund. Before that my payments were $37.45.
Even the difference of that figure and the $60.45 is $23.05 or a
$276.60 refund. Now as far as your mention of an $8 dollar
difference I am not sure where you are getting that figure so please
explain.

____

On Sep 25, 2006, at 5:32 PM, Dane Jasper wrote:
I recently changed my cellular carrier. I had 900 minutes a month
with Nextel, and was paying $49.95. After I'd signed up with T-Mobile
for 1000 minutes at $39.95, I called Nextel to cancel, and they
offered me 1000 minutes for $39.95 to attempt to keep me on board. My
point is that lower prices for MORE product were available, but they
never told me, and this is quite typical. The legacy customer who
doesn't shop around on an ongoing basis will always pay more - but
they have a stable service which presumably they feel is worth what
they were paying for it.

The price you've been paying is a month to month price - you gain the
flexibility to, for example, move to Portland. The static IP product
on a month to month basis goes for $57.95/mo, and the dynamic IP
product goes for $49.95 - thus the $8 difference.

Lower prices are also available for customers on term committments -
with a $200 early termination if the term of 12 months isn't
satisfied.

The point is that there were lots of options - and it's our goal to
deliver a product which yields value to all of our clients, regardless
of their feature set, price point or term committment. Did you feel
that the product we delivered was worth the money you were paying for
it at the time?

-Dane

_________

Dane,
All I ever wanted was a fast connection to the internet as I told your people when I signed up.
What is this? »www.sonic.net/sales/broa ··· tial.php

Dynamic ip dsl for $27.95. What is the $49.95 you are talking about?
And are you insinuating that my plan gives me the flexibility to move? Are you crazy?
If I had been with anyone for over 2 YEARS I'd have the flexibility to do whatever I'd want to and still have $360 in my pocket.

Firstly, I can't believe that you don't have the decency to call me on the phone. At least Eli made the attempt.
Secondly, I can't believe that you are arguing with me. How old are you? And how long have you been in the business world?
I'm going to pass this whole situation by my lawyer because you are so incredibly unwilling to right your wrongs.
I will go ahead and file my complaints with the Better Business Bureau and make sure to tell everyone one I know that Sonic will scam it's customers with no second thoughts about it.
I could have gone month to month with SBC but I was trying to support a local small start up. You, Dane, have made me truly sorry I did.
I can't wait to post this whole email exchange on dslreports to let everyone how unwilling you are to work with a loyal customer and what unethical business practices you are condoning.
bigmike5
join:2003-11-07
San Jose, CA

bigmike5

Member

Re: Static versus dynamic IP products

If you didn't understand what you were ordering, why did you order it?

Their phone sales/support people are GREAT. They answered the phone quickly and answered every question I had, before and after signing up. THESE PEOPLE LISTEN.

Their website is great.

So you're complaining because your either lazy or choose to be ignorant.

Keep up the great work, Dane.

DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium Member
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA

DaneJasper

Premium Member

Re: Static versus dynamic IP products

said by bigmike5:

Keep up the great work, Dane.
Thanks for the kind words Mike. We're obviously working very hard here to deliver a competitive product, backed with really friendly customer service. It's very unfortunate that we've upset our client because she felt that she could have gotten a better deal. We feel that we have delivered a solid product at a fair price.

The irony in this is that the only reason our client became aware of the intro offers and various products that are available from us and others is that we were trying to help her find a new ISP in a new state she is moving to. We suggested she shop via DSLReports.com to find the best combination of price and rating in her area. In this case, our helpfulness backfired.

-Dane

Give it UP
@dslextreme.com

Give it UP to swain22

Anon

to swain22
Give it up already. The $27.95 package that you want to get retroactively was not even offered (by sonic or any other ISP) when you got the service. It is a relatively new price point on a different package than you have.

Sometimes you should look in the mirror before blaming others. Long letters, public outcry and legal threats do not always mean that you are right.
Fortson
join:2000-11-09
San Mateo, CA

Fortson to swain22

Member

to swain22
Hey Heather,

I am all about bargains but quite honestly , you are being a bit unreasonable to be quite honest. If you want better deals and you visit DSLREPORTS, I find it hard to believe you don't know lower priced deals around.

People here hop from low intro offers all the time.

Review by hawkstar See Profile

  • Location: Walnut Creek, Contra Costa, CA, USA
  • Cost: $65 per month (12 month contract)
  • Telco party SBC
Phone gets answered
inability to execute
What a nightmare
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Where to start? They have not gotten anything on this account right yet that I can tell. When I contacted them I explained that I was looking for a small block of routable IP's and a router to which they responded that they would sell me a Zoom X6 and 8 IP's and that my install date would be on Friday, 9/15. I was sent an email confirmation with a tracking number. I scanned through some of the reviews on this site and was feeling pretty good about my choice, then the games began. Equipment was shipped to wrong address, got no call from Sonic, I had to call them to find out what was going on, this was on Thursday. I also asked them about the warranty on the modem as I had read a post on this site from the president of the company that it was two years on the model I had purchased, however, all anyone would say was that it was one year, even after I emailed them the posting. Modem shows up on Friday, but no internet access, call Sonic and they call AT&T who says that the implementation date was, and according to them always had been, 9/19, so here I am connecting up with a dial up modem and wondering about my choice. Tuesday, the circuit comes up about 2am per the logs and I start trying to set up my internal networks to go out the 'router' and it doesnt work. Call support who after many times on hold while the tech on the phone 'consults with a senior engineer' it is determined that the X6 is not a real router but a gateway with NAT'ing. I had also noticed that the device gets really hot, I mean almost cooking hot and after discussion with the tech we settle on replacing the X6 with a standard modem and I will put a real router behind it and get my internal networks set up. He says that the modem will ship that night and I will have it on Wednesday. There is no email or tracking number sent and of course no modem shows up either. I figure maybe it got out late and decide to wait for Thursday and send an email to support requesting that I be contacted by management to discuss my issues, to which I get an auto-reply with a ticket number. Now it is Thursday, still no tracking number or modem, I call support and state that I want to talk with a manager as I am tired of ineffectual first line tech people. I am told that all the managers are in a weekly meeting and could not be disturbed, I ask for a director or VP or the president to which of course, are not available. I am told that a manager would be informed and it would be up to them to call me back, it is now after 5:30 pm and no call. Now is not only the modem still hot but now just goes offline on its own and I have to power cycle it to get back on line.

This whole implementation has been a nightmare and tech support so ineffectual as to be a waste of time overall, there seem to be some that understand the issues but no one seems to be able to actually do anything to fix it.

As their management seems to be unable to even get on a phone with someone with issues I guess I will have to start looking for another provider as this one doesn't seem to care about their customers.

member for 17.5 years, 1 visits, last login: 17.4 years ago
lodged 17.5 years ago


Atekama
@63.83.x.x

Atekama

Anon

Termination Fee

" ...I guess I will have to start looking for another provider as this one doesn't seem to care about their customers."

Well, aren't you worry about the early termination fee? I am doubtful about Sonic's willingness to waive it. But, I hope they don't charge you for it.
hawkstar
join:2006-09-21
Walnut Creek, CA

hawkstar

Member

What a nightmare

As a followup;

A couple days after the original post I received a phone call from one of the service managers who agreed that there had been some communication miscues. We have since gotten the issues straigtened out and service delivery has been as advertised. I was able to return the defective modem and was promptly credited without having to follow up with phone calls or emails.

The manager that I worked with, Kavan, was understanding of my initial frustration and was able to deliver the service as was requested and appropriate information quickly. I am now feeling alot better about my choice in moving over to Sonic and really hope that all the rough roads are behind us and nothing but smooth traveling in front of us.

Thank you Kavan for taking care of this for me.

Kenn

Veloslave
Geek For God
Premium Member
join:2003-07-11
Martinez, CA

Veloslave

Premium Member

You made the right choice

I'm next door to you here in Pleasant Hill and have been with Sonic for almost a couple of years now and they are the first company I have ever ENJOYED working with.

As we all know... in life, poop happens but I say it's how you clean it up that counts and so far with Sonic I have had VERY little poop but when I did they cleaned up with class. I'm sure that within a year you will be giving them a 5 star re-review.

Review by Jimmmmmmah7 See Profile

  • Location: Carson, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Cost: $12 per month (12 month contract)
Tech Support actually picks up
sporadic speeds all over the place.
DSL shouldn't be like this!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've never had any speed issues when I was with SBC. My contract was up with SBC so I decided it was time to switch. After all the reviews and research that I did, I picked Sonic.net.

I ordered them through the website, and got the equipement in a few days. Anyway, I had some connection issues at first and tech support fixed it but it took about 3-5 calls before they opened a ticket to ASI. Once service was connected, they called to inform me they ASI has fixed the problem and I was receiving service.

Upon connection, I noticed that my speeds were sporadic going anywhere from 1 kbps all the way up to 1.5 mbps. So I've been calling tech support a lot in the past 4-5 days, and trying to figure out what the problem was. They said I had some attenuation issues on the line, and it was rather odd. I was getting frustrated because one morning I had 1.2 m with SBC, and when I switched to Sonic, I get speeds that are slower than 56k modems at times. They had me change out the modem with the SBC one, and my speeds were still screwy. They also had me go outside and plug my modem in to see if it was lines with my house! So I stood out there with my laptop, plugged the modem in, and still was getting screwy speeds. They told me they would call me back in 10-15 mins. I ended up staying out there for more than a half an hour. So while I was there, I decided to knock on my neighbor's door, and asked if I could borrow his DSL modem and his service line. I disconnected his line, and connected it my house. I went inside and plugged his modem in. I was getting 1.5 on his line.......GRRR.

I called back to Sonic to explain the situation and they wanted to send a truck out to fix the problem with the lines OUTSIDE of the house. They said that I would be charged for the service if they find something is wrong with it. Does this make any sense? Why would there be problems now that I'm with Sonic when I had absolutely no problems when I was with SBC???? Tech support thought it could be a virus on my computer. I have about 7-8 computers at my home, and a personal server that runs virus scans constantly. The biggest problem I have is the fact that I have to constantly call back over and over again to get an answer. I'm still sitting here waiting for them to call me as they promised over and over again.

member for 17.5 years, 10 visits, last login: 17.5 years ago
lodged 17.5 years ago


SMCinAZ
Premium Member
join:2000-11-29
Glendale, AZ

SMCinAZ

Premium Member

Here Is Your Reason For Poor And Uneven Performance

»Review of SONIC by diginoise

I suggest you dump them immediately.
dlindsay17
join:2002-07-10
Los Angeles, CA

dlindsay17

Member

extent of problem

So is this circuit capacity an issue for a small handful of southern california subscribers, or is it fairly widespread? Seems like it's restricted to Sonic.net as you said you had no problems with SBC before. Got any other updates?
Jimmmmmmah7
join:2006-09-10
Carson, CA

Jimmmmmmah7

Member

Re: extent of problem

I'm still waiting to here back....

DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium Member
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA

DaneJasper to dlindsay17

Premium Member

to dlindsay17
This capacity issue has affected just a small number of Southern Cal customers, all of whom have been notified and released from any contractual obligations of course!

-Dane
Jimmmmmmah7
join:2006-09-10
Carson, CA

1 edit

Jimmmmmmah7 to dlindsay17

Member

to dlindsay17

So....it is now Saturday, Sept 16

Updates:

I've had two "line" guy come out telling me that they might have to cap me to get a reliable speed. Still makes no sense to me at all. Anyway, I've on the phone with Sonic the past few days. They said that ASI was suppose to send out the DSL guy and not the line guy. So the DSL guy showed up yesterday, and did some tests. Told me I was capped at 768 which I find ridiculous because I was getting above 1.2 before. He also told me that I would get a better signal if I made the dsl connection on the side of the house. So, I moved my dsl modem to the side of the house. Only reason why I was able to do this is because the house came equipped with two cat5 cables. They run from the side of the house, to a box in my closet. I'm not sure if I have a circuit capacity issue or not, but when I ask tech support about it, they assured me that I didn't have the issue.

At this point, I just not sure what my options are. I've been very patient with them trying to resolve the problem, but it's coming up two weeks soon, and I still do not have a reliable speed or service. I've spent hours on the phone with Tech Support, and hours on my end trying to reconfigure things here to make it work better. I have not once yelled at them or anything, but I've been very calm and firm throughout the entire ordeal.

Every time I call them, I tend to get, we'll give you a call back as soon as possible. But yet, the next day I end up calling them back. As of last night, the rep told me it was going to be elevated to a SR Tech to see if the issue is and they would call me back. I still haven't had a call back yet, so I called this morning, only to be told that they would call me back, but yet I have not received a call back. What's the deal?
tonyq2
join:2006-08-01
Santa Rosa, CA

tonyq2

Member

Re: extent of problem

I took a look through your account history, and I see a note indicating that we called you regarding the port change that we arranged with ASI for 5PM today. According to the notes, that call took place at about 1:00 PM on the 16th. I'm sorry that there is still some confusion about the status of your DSL trouble, and I will give you a call as soon as the hour is decent (it's 6:40 AM now).

Review by diginoise See Profile

  • Location: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Cost: $12 per month (12 month contract)
Fast answer to service calls
very slow, unreliable, misleading info about installation, stuck up
pay the extra buck because its going to cost you eventually, get cable
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I signed with sonic.net for their basic DSL offer and was notified that it should work with my DSL modem previously used with PacBell, well that was the case but I was also promised to not experience almost no down time and I was without broadband for 2 full days. I call that a bad start and a lie by the sales crew to get the sales going.
finally after two days I got connected and the connection was slower then dialup, disconnects all the time and packets dropping. I called support and they said that the see some sort of problem but cant point it out advising me to pay for a new modem with a charge (was working flawlessly before with PacBell), I refused and they said that they might have to send someone from the phone company to check the lines and that it will cost me if they find a problem(again, lines were fine just a few days before with PacBell) I said fine and it took another week till the phone company got here to find nothing is wrong, the inpatient tech from sonic was not helpful at all while the phone guy was here and walked around and around blaming some other non related issues like my computer OS and so (have 3 workstations here so...) THEN IT HAPPENED, I receive a letter as follows:

Your account is one of a small group which are currently suffering degraded DSL performance due to a circuit capacity issue. This situation is affecting a limited number of customers in the Los Angeles area. You will receive poor DSL performance until this issue is resolved. Less than twenty customers are affected by this issue.

The link which is causing the performance issue is scheduled for upgrade, but due to the installation intervals for the large telecom circuits involved, it's expected to be four to five months before this issue is fully resolved. This interval is not firm, and is not something we have direct control over, and it could become longer.

We recognize that this is a very long interval, and we expect that it's likely that you will want to seek an alternate access solution from another DSL or Cable broadband provider. This notice serves as waiver of your contractual commitment to Sonic.net.

For the 19 customers who are affected by this, we will waive any early termination fee that would apply if you choose to disconnect your service to switch to another provider due to the degraded performance.
I'm very sorry for any inconvenience this transition may cause!

It has always been our goal to offer truthful and transparent communications to our customers regarding our service. In this case the issue doesn't have a near-term remedy, so we wanted to be prompt and forthcoming about the situation so that you could shop for alternatives.

Suggested alternate provider options:

»www.dslextreme.com/
»www.att.com/
»www.earthlink.net/
»www.comcast.com/

If you opt to move to another provider, after establishing service with them and disconnecting with Sonic.net, email billing@sonic.net to have them waive any applicable early term fee. At that time you may also request forwarding of your email addresses. To ease the transition, we will provide forwarding of your username@sonic.net addresses for a full year at no cost.

Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

--
Dane Jasper Sonic.net, Inc.
(707)522-1000
mailto:support@sonic.net »www.sonic.net/

right away I decided to cancel and go with cable when I saw a charge for early termination for $150 sigh, they wouldn't refund the whole amount saying I still need to pay for the faulty service.
I said, this is America, when something sucks you should get your money back but they didn't think so.

UPDATE:
Got a call from sonic net within a few hours of this post. promised to get a full refund for the faulty service which is exactly what I wanted

Posting here really helps

Attachments:

member for 17.5 years, 2 visits, last login: 17.2 years ago
lodged 17.5 years ago

dlindsay17
join:2002-07-10
Los Angeles, CA

dlindsay17

Member

service area

Any idea what service areas specifically are affected by this problem? All of LA? Just your city? They quantify a number of 19, but I'm not sure where those 19 people are located if it is territorial.

Veloslave
Geek For God
Premium Member
join:2003-07-11
Martinez, CA

Veloslave

Premium Member

Wow...

The problem was not even their fault (they re-sell ATT) they make lots of effort to make your transition easy, give you a full refund...

and you slam them in the review...

This turned out pretty well... much to Sonics credit... you could at least cut them some slack on the review score

Review by TradeMarkG See Profile

  • Location: San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Cost: $52 per month (12 month contract)
  • Telco party Ameritech
  • CLEC party: Ameritech
Mostly functional
Lied about their policies; doubled cost without warning
You can do better than this ISP
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Decided to go with Sonic to support a company that wasn't a national chain, but got ripped off in multiple ways. During signup I explicitly asked what would happen when I moved, knowing that I'd likely be moving within the city in a few months. Although they said there would be no changes or concerns, the truth is that they forced a renewed one-year contract along with raising my monthly charges. Since I specifically asked about this during my signup, this really pissed me off.

I lived with that for my contract period, but then without warning my bill skyrocketed -- apparently increasing after the renewed one-year contract elapsed. There was no warning, no offer to renew the contract, just a shock when I read my credit card bill and got the nasty surprise.

In my experience, Sonic.net is a seriously shady company -- lies about their policies, ripoff rate increases, and mediocre reliability mean I'll NEVER recommend Sonic.net to anyone.

member for 17.6 years, 2 visits, last login: 16.5 years ago
lodged 17.6 years ago


DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium Member
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA

1 recommendation

DaneJasper

Premium Member

Intro term pricing

DSL services generally come with intro term pricing, was the intro offer not clear? We try to be as crystal clear about this as possible to prevent exactly the type of surprise that you're describing.

You also mention reliability issues, and I'd love to hear more about that. As you can see from our other reviews, that's not typical. Let me know what you experienced, I'd love to investigate further!

-Dane
astiyosti8
join:2005-11-10
Asheville, NC

astiyosti8

Member

Re: Intro term pricing

go with sbc and cut out the middle man

Ploww
@hemotorenwerke.com

Ploww

Anon

Re: Intro term pricing

Yea if you want horrible service.

Most who go to them are sorry they did.
gamauche
join:2006-07-22
Buena Park, CA

gamauche to DaneJasper

Member

to DaneJasper
I signed up with sonic.net for two reasons. 1) Their excellent reviews on this website. 2) Dear old Mom & Bro live in Santa Rosa (sonic.net's home base) and have been with them and loved them since their inception. Their tech support has been great.

As to the pricing issue I believe they should be clearer as to their renewal policy. I could NOT find any mention on sonic's site as to what the charges would be after the first year. My intro price is $17.95. I extracted from Support that it is $49.95 if it goes month-to-month and $34.95 if you extend your contract another year. How do you extend your contract without relying on memory? There is a checkoff box at sonic's member site that allows you to switch your billing from m-to-m to annual contract. However, they are not upfront about it and you could easily miss it.

Sonic, you are a first rate company. Distinguish yourselves from the pack. When people are on your site to sign up, explain in your fine print what happens after the first year and how to avoid a m-to-m charge. I know that you cannot state what the renewal rates will be in one year, but you CAN say what they are currently running, both for a yearly contract and m-to-m. If you feel it necessary, use competitors numbers to explain that this is the way ALL DSL providers initially attract business. You can hold the moral high ground by explaining that you inform your customers upfront, instead of the way those other sneaky providers don't. Also, prominently display the yearly contract option in the Member's area and explain why it's good idea to check it now (you already have signed them up if they are in that section).

Cheers,

Gamauche
manfren
join:2006-07-11
Palo Alto, CA

4 edits

manfren

Member

Re: Intro term pricing

said by gamauche:

I signed up with sonic.net for two reasons. 1) Their excellent reviews on this website. 2) Dear old Mom & Bro live in Santa Rosa (sonic.net's home base) and have been with them and loved them since their inception. Their tech support has been great.

As to the pricing issue I believe they should be clearer as to their renewal policy.

(...)

Gamauche


Agreed 100%.

Sonic needs to be clearer about their billing terms. They need to communicate more, and more clearly, with the customer regarding payments: past, present, and future. Be clear about every rule, every charge, and every cent the customer should expect to pay if they remain a customer. I know you can't guarantee what the monthly charge will be when my promotional period ends, but don't hide the fact that it WILL end, and give me an idea of how much I should expect to pay you when the day arrives. Being coy, or oblivious, I'm not sure which, runs you the risk of looking shady. When prospective customers look to you, they are seeking refuge from the shadiness of the faceless multinational telcos. You know, the ones who secretly Cc: all of your mail to the FBI, NSA, et al.

My first two bills required a slide rule to be understood. I have no idea what my next bill is going to be, and NO idea what's going to happen at the end of the promotion. Sonic needs to be more clear about the charges upon inception of service. They need to be more clear about how the introductory offer works, when it expires, and exactly, specifically, WHAT charges will be assessed and WHY at every stage. Sonic: Every customer is scratching their head about these things. What am I being charged?? What WILL I be charged?? We appreciate your incentives, but give us the assurance up front, and again EVERY MONTH, in SIMPLE LANGUAGE. We don't like surprises on our credit card bills. You can be warm and fuzzy when you want to be. You are local, and have the potential to create a far-reaching impression that you are the organized, accountable, and friendly choice in your market.

Sonic: Over-communicate with the customer. Sonic has the skill and ability to do this, but they do so with troubling inconsistency. They have done this for me, but usually only upon request. Sonic is in a position to trump the offerings of the three-letter megalopoly telcos if they can just be consistent by doing the above. They are local, and they have the skill and the capacity to care. Implementing a "regimen of reassurance" policy toward the customer, both from the billing department and the brilliant support staff, would be a winning management decision.

Sonic is a local/regional company that uses SBC as a common carrier. They "ride" their DSL service over SBC's wire, which means, unfortunately, that Sonic -- who has great skill in facing the customer -- must rely on the flaky internal cabal at SBC, who I swear barely has the word "customer" in their daily vocabulary. As I write this -- names and accountability seem to change daily in this age of confusing, selfish corporate disservice -- the DSL group from SBC is now a division of AT&T known internally as "ASI", whatever that stands for. Thanks to Alphabet Soup Inc's 3rd-party involvement, or, more accurately, their apathetic, pass-the-buck UNinvolvement and seeming disdain for the customer, I now know more about DSL circuits than they do, but I still don't know what ASI stands for.

Cheers, (You stole my salutation, Gamauche!
Manfren

envisioned1
@pacbell.net

envisioned1

Anon

Re: Intro term pricing

ASI stands for Advanced Solutions Incorperated. They have handled the dsl for SBC for many years, at least six years that i know of.
frogtie
join:2005-09-02
Los Angeles, CA

frogtie to gamauche

Member

to gamauche
Where is the checkoff box on the member tools site to switch to annual contract? All mine has is the option to sign up for m-to-m at $49.95.

My annual contract ends on 8/15. Support told me I have to wait until it expires and goes m-to-m, then it will magically change and offer me annual at $34.95.

So I have to wait until 8/15 (or 8/16), then remember to switch. Meanwhile I have been billed in advance at the m-to-m rate (which is why I called support in the first place).

This is customer disservice, imho.
gamauche
join:2006-07-22
Buena Park, CA

gamauche

Member

Re: Intro term pricing

Froggie,

When you go to the "Member Tools" area, you have your basic information listed there. Look right below your address info and there is a line that states "Renewal period - Every X months". The default is one month. I changed it to 12. I actually don't know if it will protect me at the end of my initial term. The more I learn about Sonic, the less secure I feel.

Cheers

burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

Re: Intro term pricing

Changing your billing cycle to 12 will not cause your account to enter into an new 1-year term at the end of your current term. Please give us a call when you're at the end of your current term, and we can go through your options.

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Technical Support

loincloth
join:2001-03-29
Danville, CA

loincloth to DaneJasper

Member

to DaneJasper
said by DaneJasper:

DSL services generally come with intro term pricing, was the intro offer not clear? We try to be as crystal clear about this as possible to prevent exactly the type of surprise that you're describing.

-Dane
First of all, I find your response to be defensive and bordering on condescending. I also went through a very similar nightmare when I moved across town, keeping the same phone number. I communicated with three different sonic reps either by phone or email and was quoted three different rates and contract terms that would result from my move. One rep, when I pointed out that his was the 3rd different price/terms quote, responded, "Well, why don't we just put you on the month to month rate?"

Finally, a 4th person sent me an email basically stating my original 12 mo agreement would begin anew. The entire time I was "down" from dsl was about 2 weeks, yet I continued to pay for a dial-up connection during that time. How is that not a continuance of the original contract? I was still paying you without cessation.

Now I am aware that in the fine print of the "agreement" (on the web site's sign-up page) it does state that moving may terminate the contract.
"Any action taken by the customer resulting in telephone service being disconnected or moved will result in loss of DSL service. Customer remains bound by the one-year term in all such cases, and early termination fees still apply. Introductory pricing applies only to this service level. Any change to service level or any service disconnection or move voids the introductory rate and pricing immediately reverts to normal."
Here's what I don't understand, and seriously question its' legality: upon moving, either the contract is considered an early termination and one is required to pay the early disconnect penalty (the lesser of $200 or the outstanding balance of the contract), or Sonic will conveniently "overlook" this transgression if the user "agrees" to being forced into a new 12 mo. contract. One will not find these "terms" written anywhere in the coarse or fine print.

Last time I checked, this kind of strong-arm leveraging was called extortion and is illegal. Either the user violated the contract or not... Sonic knows it has the upper hand here, as it is unlikely anyone would want to shell out upwards of $200 for no service vs. an "offer" to renew the 12 mo. contract.

Is this what you meant by "crystal clear?"

My own scenario revolves around being a renter on a month to month lease. I did not choose to move, but my landlord had a relative moving to town from back east who needed a place to live. Through no choice or fault of my own, I suddenly found myself being forced to move within 30 days. As if that isn't stressful enough, I had to wrangle with sonic reps over the course of two weeks. I argue that this practice discriminates against renters whose living situations are rarely under their control.
gamauche
join:2006-07-22
Buena Park, CA

gamauche to DaneJasper

Member

to DaneJasper
I received another nasty surprise from Sonic. I found I was billed for the entire first year and the funds withdrawn from my account. I do not recall my previous DSL provider billing the entire amount up front. It was always month to month billing, from the beginning. This included my first year when I had the intro rate. I thought I read Sonic's terms thoroughly before signing up (at least twice) and I do not recall reading anything about popping me for the entire amount for the entire year. Does this also mean that if I renew in a year they are going to automatically withdraw almost $500 from my account at once? And if I don't like this option I can choose to be billed monthly at $49.95? For shame!

I have not gone over the fine print again to see if pre-billing was specified. My hunch is that it problably is in there. I am trying to preclude a Sonic hack answering back in this forum pointing out how it is in there and they try to be crystal clear, ad nauseum.

This is the point, Sonic. There are enough sensible complaints on here for your corporate ethics gurus to sit up and take notice. Again, you need spell out these policies that seem deceitful more clearly. I would like to see a response printed here by Mr. Jasper or another authorized Sonic rep that at the very least it will come up as a subject in one of your meetings.

Not so cheers,

Gamauche

PS I am officially notifying Mom that I am SO disappointed.

burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

Re: Intro term pricing

I strongly suspect that this happened due to setting your renewal period to 12, which tells our automated billing system to charge you for 12 months at a time. Since this clearly wasn't your intention, I'm sure that our billing folks can straighten that out for you.

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Technical Support

Review by ArtieN See Profile

  • Location: Santa Rosa, Sonoma, CA, USA
  • Cost: $18 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 14 days
  • Telco party SBC
Very good tech support
Terrible connection, speed, and information
Not a very good service, wouldn't reccomend it
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

The price was $18/month, but nowhere in the contract did it say about the $52 monthly cost after 12 months. The connection went down almost every few weeks, speed dropped to 600 kbs instead of 1200 kbs. Pretty simple installation, tech support was great. Other than that it was terrible.

member for 18.1 years, 20 visits, last login: 17.5 years ago
lodged 18.1 years ago


burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

promo terms

Do you mean this part of the promotional terms?
After the one-year term, pricing reverts to the then current price.
Unfortunately we were not in a position to guarantee what our then-current pricing would be one year after you signed up, so we could only lock in your price for the duration of the term commitment you initially signed up for. We maintain a listing of our non-promotional (out-of-term) pricing at »sonic.net/sales/broadban ··· thly.php

Regarding your speeds, please give us a call or send me your Sonic.net login name via private message and we'll be happy to see what we can do about your slowdown.

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Technical Support






Review by berndm See Profile

  • Location: Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $40 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 10 days
mostly reasonable prices, customer service
hidden fees charged for new service contract
not sure if there is much point, perhaps get it directly from Pacbell
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I signed up for their "Pro"-DSL service (1.5-3MB/s download). I barely got 1.5 MB/s. I decided after the end of the original 12 month period to downgrade the service to Express (up to 1.5 MB/s) which seemed to be closer to the speed I was getting anyway. Sonic changed my plan, my download speed dropped to 750 kB/s and they charged me $50 fee for changing the service without telling me. The price difference between Pro and Express is $5 x 12 month is $60. Almost all the savings are eaten up by their hidden fee. If I would have known this before I would have canceled their service and gone back to cable.

member for 18.1 years, 1 visits, last login: 18.1 years ago
lodged 18.1 years ago


burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

Downgrade fees

Out-of-term "Pro" DSL pricing is $59.95 monthly at this time, which is $10.00 per month more than the monthly price for out-of-term "Express" DSL. The downgrade fee imposed by the phone company should pay for itself within 5 months, tops. If you downgraded your service level in such a way as to initiate a new 1-year term, the savings should kick in even sooner.

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Technical Support

DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium Member
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA

DaneJasper

Premium Member

Static or dynamic?

Sorry to hear you've got such a long or noisy loop and are not getting full speeds!

That said, if you downgraded to Express, you should be at a $29.95 price point for 12 months. Even Express-S (static) would be less than $50. The pricing numbers you're mentioning don't make complete sense.

The downgrade fee is clearly published when you process a downgrade using our tools. Unfortunatly, SBC-ASI charges this fee whenever a customer downgrades from one speed to another, so it's not something we can waive for customers! Sorry if this was unclear.

Finally - speed shouldn't have changed during your downgrade, unless you really were synced at a higher speed previously. If you were getting a 1.5Mbps sync, you should still be getting the same sync speed after the upgrade. Our staff can run a line stats report and double-check this for you, perhaps when they downgraded, it got it's profile pushed down. We can assist in resolving this.

-Dane
magusat999
join:2005-07-08
Oakland, CA

magusat999

Member

Re: Static or dynamic?

Wait a minute here! How can you charge a customer for something they have no knowledge or control over??? It should be YOUR responsibility to provide the correct speeds IN THE FIRST PLACE! It's ludicrous to implicate that you didn't know what the speed would be, but you signed a customer up for a higher speed plan than what you could provide. Get it together and stop making lame excuses for your foibles! We shouldn't have to bear the costs that you are incurring with faulty processing. You should pay these people back.

burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

Re: Static or dynamic?

Hello,

I'm not familiar with the particulars of your situation beyond what you've posted here, but you described your speeds as being 1.5mbps per second on a 1.5mbps-3.0mbps circuit. If you were unable to get the minimum 1.5mbps, we should be able to get that downgrade fee waived. Send me a PM with your Sonic.net account name and I'll be happy to look into it.

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Technical Support

Review by gbroiles See Profile

  • Location: San Jose, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
  • Telco party SBC
Great tech support, great reliability
Price is higher than commodity providers
You get what you pay for ..
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I used to be very happy with Sonic.net.

member for 23 years, 386 visits, last login: 3.8 years ago
lodged 18.6 years ago

Mac OS X0
join:2006-03-11
Washington, DC

Mac OS X0

Member

Tech support?

You rated tech support at 40% but your review says "Great tech support". Which one is accurate?






Review by nosox See Profile

  • Location: Mountain View, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $32 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 10 days
Fairly reliable connection and latency.
"Pity us" attitude, more expensive service. Why did I choose Sonic over SBC?
I'm not really sure why I'm paying Sonic more. My dsl works well, though.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:



Constant outages and poor latency left me scrambling from Comcast's grip a few months ago. I didn't have a landline, so I had to add that cost into my monthly connectivity equation. Although SBC was $5 cheaper at the time Sonic's stellar rating had me convinced I was buying something more responsive, something that was ultimately a better value. I don't think the premium is justified, at this point.

Prior to comcast I had SBC DSL for about 3 years- I was one of their very first DSL installations, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with SBC. My service during that period was top notch, with great connectivity and decent pricing. Sadly I went to Comcast in an effort to save about $30 a month at the time. After comcast, well, I went to Sonic...

Overall connectivity has been good. I've experienced a few days with packet loss >10% but never total loss. Broadbandpreports tests indicated this loss was Sonic's upstream provider, but after contacting them they seemed unaware. Not a good sign in my book, but it cleared up.

My real gripe with sonic is that they lowered their prices, yet do not extend this new pricing to exisiting customers. Instead of acknowledging that this is a basic lack of respect for those that chose to adopt them earlier I'm deluged with emails on how SBC doesn't play fair and how it's basically their fault. They also go on about how DSL is a loss leader, gee your rate is already good (pity the fool that's locked in at a price higher than me?) but it's all good, because sonic loves me so much they're streaming free crap from the BBC for me.

Reality check, Sonic: I don't care about your business model, your issues with SBC, nor about fabulous streaming from the BBC. I'm a consumer, I work hard for my money. I care about my DSL being on and trouble free and about it being a good value. When SBC lowered rates they accomodated customers, new and old, who called in. Not only did you refuse to lower my rate to what you offer all new signups (even though I signed up a few months ago) but you had the nerve to explain that because SBC is putting the screws to you that you're effectively doing the same to me.



member for 20.1 years, 15 visits, last login: 17.7 years ago
lodged 18.6 years ago


Bagong
@ascendance.net

Bagong

Anon

A Deal is a deal!

The subject says it all. You agree with the price, you go for it, but now you gripe! What's the matter? You remind me about the parable in the bible. The person who came in morning gripe about working the whole day and yet get paid the same price with the person who worked for the last hours of the day. Extreme example: It only cost my parent about 20k to buy a brand new Honda Prelude for me about a decade ago. If Honda was still offering the car now, there is no way I could have bought the car for the same price. I couldn't demand Honda to give me the car for $20k, could I?
nosox
join:2004-02-03
Mountain View, CA

nosox

Member

Re: A Deal is a deal!

When SBC and Comcast willingly re-rate their customers with a simple phone call yet the ISP that proclaims "We're the best, we're so much better than SBC!" won't, well.. who's better then?

Your car metaphor, well, don't quite make sense, so I'll leave it be.
mdurkin
join:1999-08-11
San Bruno, CA

mdurkin

Member

Re: A Deal is a deal!

SBC Internet and SBC/ASI are owned by the same parent company, and a single set of stockholders, and their incomes and expenses are ultimately combined.
Sonic is an independent company.
Both SBC Internet and Sonic pay SBC/ASI X for a DSL line.
SBC/ASI decides to lower the cost for new DSL lines to X-Y, but embedded lines stay at X.
SBC Internet allows existing retail customers to rerate to a retail rate that is Y less, even though it technically has to continue to pay SBC/ASI X, because it doesn't care what it pays SBC/ASI... they're both owned by the same parent, and it's a paper loss for them.
Sonic however does care that its cost to SBC/ASI stays X and it doesn't have a cost reduction of Y for your line, because that's real money to Sonic
So yes, IMO, SBC is the bully and Sonic really is practically constrained. You should not blame Sonic for not wanting to go from a razor thin margin on your account to a negative margin on your account solely because of SBC's anti-competitive policies. SBC/ASI also charges ISPs a fair bit to downgrade the speed on a DSL line even though I've never seen SBC Internet pass that cost through at retail... more of the same, tilted playing field.

DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium Member
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA

DaneJasper

Premium Member

Lower my price or I'll give you a bad review.

3.0Mbps for at $29.95/mo is a pretty nice price - it's not as nice as a new DSL loop today gets, but you have had service while the other guy who waited for the lower price was probably stuck on something else.

Early adoptors of technology never get the best deal - but we love the gear or the speed or whatever, so we buy the product.

Threatening us with and then posting a revised review in an attempt to get $5/mo knocked off your price is just not right. As I said in my email - if you want to ding us on "value for money", that would be the only category that would really be reasonable, wouldn't it.

You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

-Dane
nosox
join:2004-02-03
Mountain View, CA

nosox

Member

Re: Lower my price or I'll give you a bad review.

I gave you a heads up that a bad review was headed your way because of your inflexibility, that's all Dane. My review is fair and completely honest about MY sonic experience. I have contacted your support people with questions and received mediocre answers, your connectivity has been spotty at times(I have the broadbandreports line tests to prove it, so does your support team) and well, your refusal to accomodate customers on an issue that SBC does flies in the face of your "We're better than SBC" propoganda.

My review stands, as well as my distain for your condescending attitude. My review was never "revised," I merely posted it so others are aware of your locked-in rate policy.

It's YOU that's turning my honey into vinegar.
caseville
join:2004-03-11
Caseville, MI

caseville

Member

Re: Lower my price or I'll give you a bad review.

Just as an FYI, most ISP's will not just re-rate a customer who is IN CONTRACT(a few might, but not a lot). After all, that is the point of a contract. Look at it on the flip side, what if Sonic raised prices, and you were in a contract, would you want them to raise your price, or would you say, wait a minute I have a contract for xxxx price/month.

It appears Sonic.net and Dane have attempted to help you with many issues, but a contract price, is a contract both parties must maintain.

Review by advocate14 See Profile

  • Location: Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $45 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 7 days
Quick installation, good customer and technical service
Poor speed
Questionable value
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Well, I've been working with Sonic.net now for about a month now, so I figured its time to give a review. Everything started out great, I ordered their Express-S static DSL described as DL:384kbps-1.5mbps UL:128-384kbps on a Friday. I immediately got an order confirmation and an installation date was setup with SBC for the Monday after the second following weekend (ie 9 days later). The equipment for the self-install arrived the following Wednesday, and on the next evening, my new modem was working. Not bad!

Well, when I did some speed tests the next Tuesday, I was disappointed. The results are:

2005-05-12 11:13:56 EST: 639 / 317

Your download speed : 655087 bps, or 639 kbps.

A 79.9 KB/sec transfer rate.

Your upload speed : 325563 bps, or 317 kbps.

So I went and emailed their tech support and tried to engage their support to get a higher DL speed. I was met with politeness and courtesy, but pretty much was told this is the best we can do, and we aren't going to budge. They say I'm 12,000 ft from the telco and thats the best anyone can expect. To me, this is BS because I know people who are another mile away from the telco and they get better download speed with the cheapest service around, SBC Yahoo PPPoE. After explaining this, I was met with a smiling email, but pretty much a firm 'take it or leave it, we can't do any better'.....

So I would have to say I'm not very happy. I should have better DL speed. But their customer and technical service seems really great. Such an improvement over Comcast. But don't get me started about that group of clowns.... And so far the dsl service has been rock solid. Since its only been a month, that does not mean much.

member for 18.8 years, 27 visits, last login: 16.2 years ago
lodged 18.8 years ago


Kacoa
@ascendance.net

Kacoa

Anon

Trial Period

You will be chastised for giving a review anything less than excellent. It is unacceptable to Sonic. You know that you sign up with one of the best ISPs, don't you? And so, the guess is, the problem must lie on somebody else (and that include you). Therefore, stop whining! Don't you wish there is a trial period for ISPs just like Cell Phone providers? Even then, some problem could come up after the trial period. They will kiss the dust on your shoes during the trial period, then they will kick you afterward. It reminds me about Verizon Wireless.

elvey
Spamassassin
join:2001-02-17
San Francisco, CA

elvey

Member

Actions

So, since you're not happy, did you switch to SBC? Did they have better speeds?
westpost
join:2002-05-09
Menlo Park, CA

westpost

Member

No Reason to Complain

Basically you have no reason to complain. You will do no better with SBC, because they use the same wires. You are limited by the length and quality of the copper between you and the CO. Your friends might be farther and get better speeds because the quality of their wiring is better. There is really nothing that Sonic or SBC can do about it. To blame Sonic for speeds that are *way* better than the promised minimums is wrong. If you knew you would be unhappy with these speeds (that are far within spec), perhaps first trying it out for two weeks off-contract is the best course. Sonic does not force you to sign a contract AFAIK. So who is to blame for your unhappiness?
advocate14
join:2005-05-12
Sunnyvale, CA

advocate14

Member

Re: No Reason to Complain

It seems to me that you are assuming a lot here. Perhaps you are a recording of a Sonic rep. Did you read my post? I said that Sonic did NOTHING to TRY to get better speed. They simply gave me some emails with soothing words to the make it SEEM like they did something. At this point, I am blaming Sonic for doing NOTHING. Sonic does not offer any trial period, but they do offer a refund before 30 days. Your post contributes NOTHING.

Kacoa
@ascendance.net

Kacoa

Anon

I told you so!

As I predicted, you are being chastised for criticizing Sonic. I am sorry that you have to go through this. But, if you spent a great deal of time reading the reviews of Sonic here, you could somewhat predict it. I went through it myself. Sonic has a fragile/insecure "ego", so it can't take a salt out of criticism, or any feedback/review unless it is an excellent one.

Now, I will predict again that Sonic's worshipers will turn against me. Just wait...

burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

speeds

Hi there,

Please send me a private message with your Sonic.net login name and I'll be happy to run a line test to see if there's anything we can do to bump those speeds up. I've seen plenty of circuits at or around 12,000 feet loop-length that have been able to get the full 1.5mbps. If the problem is something like excessive noise on the loop, it may be useful to try something like a home run (to mitigate locally-generated noise on the premises).

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Tech Support

sonic fanboy
@63.193.x.x

sonic fanboy

Anon

Twice the minimum not good enough?

Should they run fiber to your house to earn your measly $20 a month?

Sonic.net is the best ISP in America; you are lucky to be their customer.

Blaming them for your location and line condition is unfair, Mr. Whiney McCryalot.

burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

Re: Twice the minimum not good enough?

Without specific line quality information handy, we should give this person the benefit of the doubt. In many cases of mid-range throughput (where actual performance falls somewhere between the minimum guaranteed and the maximum speeds) it is possible, through a variety of methods, to speed things up. We certainly shouldn't be satisfied with providing 700kbps when we could instead be providing 1.5mbps on the same circuit.

I notice that you appear to have posted from a Pacbell.net IP address. If you're in California's LATA 1, 5, or 9, an ISP switch may be available for you.

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Tech Support
advocate14
join:2005-05-12
Sunnyvale, CA

advocate14 to sonic fanboy

Member

to sonic fanboy
Did it ever occur to you that perhaps Sonic is not perfect? Maybe someone else did not get the same satisfaction that you obviously have? Are we entitled to have a different opinion than yours? Without getting called names?

burrowowl
Sonic.Net
join:2003-01-22
Santa Rosa, CA

burrowowl

Member

Re: Twice the minimum not good enough?

Thank you for the follow-up. I looked into the situation and sent you a private message (to your Sonic.net account). I hope everything runs a bit better for you now!

--
John Fitzgerald
Sonic.net Tech Support