how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
Review by masouds 
Posted: 288 days ago
member for 288 days, 0 visits, last login: 288 days ago
 Mountain View,Santa Clara,CA
 $45 per month (12 month contract)
 about 5 days
 AT&T
 "Good support. No Outage"
 "limited DSL speeds in my neighborhood"
 "Good, Solid ISP"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
The only problem I have with them is that they are limited by line quality that is maintained by AT&T. I can get 2.5megabit down, 500kbit up. Not bad, but could be better. I have Fixed IP which makes my life a LOT easier. Their support staff are very knowledgeable. Then again I haven't had to call them that often (3-4 times in 3.5 years, 2 of them were to check whether higher speeds are available or not). They can firewall your connection, and you can manage which ports you want them to firewall for you. They also allow you to setup reverse lookup for your fixed IP addresses which is very very nice.
Bottom line, I think I'll stay with them when I move, even though comcast delivers much higher speeds. I mean, I don't like a Ferrari that spends a good portion of its life in repair shop.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Lease4Less
UPDATED: 290 days ago
member for 8.4 years, 236 visits, last login: 133 days ago
Santa Rosa,Sonoma,CA
$69 per month (12 month contract)
about 8 days
"Excellent support/service. Nicest people to deal with. Great value."
"none"
"Consistent 5Mb DL speeds with 500kbps+ uploads for $59.95/month!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
UPDATED!
Sonic has always provided excellent service and technical support. Friendliest staff, always willing to go the extra mile if you need it. The dsl modem was free with rebate, and the install (self) was literally plug and play simple!
Great value now for the dollar: I have the new Enhanced DSL with 6000kbps/608kbps max speed. I am consistently at or near 5,000 kbps Download and 500+ kbps Upload. Since I am an online multiplayer gamer, I'm in love with the performance boost!
Test 2007-09-21 04:03:37 EST @ speedtest.dslreports.com
5141 / 654 (Kbps)
(627.6 / 79.8 KB/sec)
Compared to the average of 53 tests from sonic.net:
* download is 87% better, upload is 41% better
More than two years later I am still getting great service and great performance at a decent price of $69.95. ATT for static IP at these speeds was $89 with a bundle!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by nbfree
UPDATED: 294 days ago
member for 10.1 years, 144 visits, last login: 179 days ago
Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
$30 per month
AT&T
"Customer Service is number one"
"They must use AT&T lines"
"Great Customer service, good prices"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
In this down economy it is important to retain and attract new customers. I believe if the Sonic.net business model were utilized by more companies, they could weather this economic storm a little better.
I have been with Sonic.net for a little over a year, my contract expired in January. I received an email noting that my pricing would increase at the end of the month.
I called at about 7pm on a Friday evening, after their customer service department had closed. I spoke to a member of the tech support team, unfortunately I forgot his name. Yes, you actually get a real person on the phone who is located in their Santa Rosa, California office. I told him my situation, that I wanted to renew my contract and if he could make a notation in the system to have someone in customer service call me first thing Monday morning (since my dealings with other ISPs had taught me that tech support is not customer service and they can only help you with technical problems not billing or renewing contracts.)
To my surprise this tech support guy said, he could renew my contract and take care of my customer service needs. After five minutes on the phone, my contract was renewed and I received a monthly rate that was $1.00 less than AT&T Pro DSL. Thus Sonic.net retained me as a customer and renewed my confidence that there are businesses out there, thought few and far between, that walk the extra mile to keep their customers happy and loyal.
I do not live in Northern California, but this Santa Rosa company is gold. Also I found this company through DSLreports.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by sameog
UPDATED: 299 days ago
member for 299 days, 0 visits, last login: 299 days ago
San Francisco,San Francisco,CA
$45 per month
about 7 days
"Whoosh! Great speed!"
"None yet."
"I wish I found them sooner..."
| |
Before Sonic.net, I had Comcast. Comcast is good for watching TV. However, I couldn't see myself paying near 60 bucks for internet service.
I looked around long and hard for about a year and bumped into Sonic.net. I figured,"What do I have to lose?" I knew they "leased" their lines thru AT&T (oh well, no one's perfect) yet, I read the reviews -- more positive than bad. Again, no one's perfect.
I called them up, told them what my situation was. The sales girl was not only knowledgeable but understand the "broadband language." I'm thinking,"Wow, this is the first." 2 days later, I get a call from Operations -- they coordinate with AT&T about my "naked DSL." They tell me my line is cleared to go and my appt is set. I say,"Good. I'll see you then."
My tech shows up. It takes him 20 minutes to set up EVERYTHING! The man's good.
In a nutshell, here's the process:
1. Sales takes your order - takes about a week to go live (typical)
2. Operations clears and coordinates with AT&T
3. Your appt time/day.
That's it!
I have a Motorola modem 2210 -- I think
I got the Fusion package -- naked DSL product (i.e. no land line; just internet) --45 bucks flat per month
Smooth sailing from here! Sonic.net -- you're the BOMB!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by fusionbrkley
UPDATED: 309 days ago
member for 315 days, 2 visits, last login: 309 days ago
Berkeley,Alameda,CA
$45 per month
about 18 days
"LOCAL BUSINESS!!! prompt/competent customer service, fast speeds, minimal/no interruptions in service, honest billing"
"Technical support is not 24 hours"
"Small of body, but brave of heart, Sonic.net will always finish what they start!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have been fortunate enough to grow up with broadband. When I grew up in NJ, Optimum Online, the broadband branch of the local cable company, was incredibly fast (at the time) and seemed bomb-proof. Then, as more people caught on (around 2002), things started slowing down and the reality of frequent and inexplicable outages became annoying. However, I was not about to complain because my parents were paying for it!
Fast forward to December 2007. Having recently moved to the Bay Area and into my own apartment, I was looking at what my ISP options were. A long time fan of DSLReports for all my geeky Internet question needs, I went here to do this. I didn't want to sign up for the big, corrupt telco or cable company if I didn't have to, so I searched. And I found DSLExtreme and Sonic.net. Although reviews for both have been outstanding, I settled on Sonic.net for a few reasons:
1. Sonic.net's website seemed a lot more professional at the time - I liked its minimalist look and feel compared to DSLExtreme's 'look-at-me' gaudy feel.
2. Some of the negative reviews for DSLExtreme seemed disturbing and severe, more so than any of the negative revews for Sonic.net
3. Santa Rosa (where Sonic.net is based) is closer than Chatsworth (where DSLExtreme is based) - support the Bay Area!
So, I signed up for Sonic.net, installed it myself when the kit came, and off running I went. My speeds were 1.5 Mbps and 384 Kbps for their Express Residential service. And it sounded like they had good communication with AT&T through the whole process. Until January 2009, I enjoyed consistent and as-advertised speeds, ZERO service interruptions, and great customer service if I ever needed it.
But, when I found out about Fusion (through the Sonic.net corporate blog), I was super-stoked. ADSL2+ speeds for not much more than what I currently pay, AND I get to sever myself from AT&T? Sign me up!
So, I ordered it on 12/23. And by the first week of January, I was expectant of a phone call from Sonic.net to move forward with installation. I was going to be one of the first Fusion customers in Berkeley!
What follows is a detailed step-by-step account of my Fusion Pro (6 Mbps/1 Mbps - down/up) ADSL2+ installation process:
On 1/2, an AT&T technician arrived at my place and was a little confused as to why he had to stop by. Since I had not yet received a call from Sonic.net regarding installation, we spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out his reason for visiting my apartment building. When I told him that I had ordered ADSL2+ service from Sonic.net, we both realized that Sonic.net had simply not notified me to expect his visit. He told me that he knew what he had to do, which was to move my connection from the old AT&T line (on which I had my Sonic.net DSL service) over to the new dry-loop, or non-AT&T ADSL2+ line. However, I did not know at the time that Sonic.net had to come out to my place separately to install Fusion. Instead, I assumed that the AT&T technician's action would get me online with Fusion immediately.
Unfortunately, I came home later that day (after the AT&T technician had done his work) to see that my DSL modem was down and not picking up a signal. He had told me that the central office would need to do some rewiring to get me up, but I did not expect my service to be down. I called Sonic.net technical support immediately, and they were unsure as to how the Fusion installation worked (it IS a new product from Sonic.net), but told me that they would expedite the phone call I had been expecting from Sonic.net regarding installation.
So, that weekend, I had to go without my DSL access, which was not too difficult to work around (went to public places to get Wi-Fi). But, in the meantime, I emailed the CEO of Sonic.net about my problems (yes, you read that correctly), and he was willing to begin communicating with my directly about what was going on. I told him that a lot of the technical support reps did not know much about the exact implementation details of Fusion (it helps for him to know that I tried going through the proper channels first!). So, he told me that he would expedite my installation at higher priority.
I also contacted the local AT&T manager about the problem and asked him whether they could hook me back up with my old DSL line, while I waited for Sonic.net to contact me about installation.
Monday morning (1/5), the AT&T technician returned to restore my DSL connection (the one using the old AT&T line) and told me to contact him when Sonic.net contacted me so that he could come and reconnect the dry-loop, ADSL2+ wiring when the Sonic.net team came to install Fusion. Sonic.net contacted me shortly after he left to set up a time on 1/7 for installation. And I contacted my AT&T technician so he could stop by when Sonic.net comes.
1/7: Two Sonic.net Net Operations technicians (Josh and Tye) arrive early, BEFORE the appointment time, to begin installation. The AT&T technician arrives shortly after to go to the box (located a few blocks away from my apartment building) to hook my unit back up to the ADSL2+ line. After hooking everything up, they run a speed test. To my dismay, we observe that my ADSL2+ speeds are not much better than my old DSL speeds! My download speed is hovering just slightly below 1.5 Mbps (about the same as before). But, my upload speed is significantly faster, getting up to around 768 Kbps (vs. 384 Kbps before). They went back outside to do some more diagnostic tests, but were unable to determine whether my speeds were due to the wiring from the CO to the box or from the box to my apartment unit. They said that they had done everything they could, but that they would put in a work order with technical support to "clean up my signal." I told them that I suspected my place was on the far end of 8000 ft from the Berkeley CO, perhaps causing a noisy signal and thus slower-than-expected speeds, but they were noncommittal about whether that was the real cause. Since I was not happy with this, they told me that I could always request a refund and go back to my old DSL connection. But, I was insistent on keeping the ADSL2+ line...
I contacted the CEO directly and Sonic.net technical support again to ask them whether 1.5 Mbps/1 Mbps (down/up) was all I could ask for with the new Fusion ADSL2+ connection. Over the next few days, the CEO remained incredibly responsive to my concerns, but my connection kept going in and out and I was becoming increasingly frustrated. My speeds, of course, stayed about the same.
On 1/9, I called Sonic.net technical support and they told me that some additional work was being done at the Berkeley central office for my line. On 1/10, an AT&T technician showed up outside my apartment to re-do some of the wiring. And finally, on 1/12, I was called by one of the Sonic.net technicians that came out to install Fusion. He told me that they had just finished doing some work on their end on my connection, and that I could check to see that my speeds were up to 6 Mbps/1 Mbps. I checked using several local DSLReports speed tests, but kept getting about 3.5 Mbps and 768 Kbps as my down/up speeds. So, I called Sonic.net yet again, and the rep told me to go to Sonic.net's own speed test, available at: »speedtest.sonic.net/. I tried it and got the speeds that I had wanted - around 5 Mbps/768 Kbps down and up!
So, all in all, Sonic.net was incredible in their customer service. What other company can you expect to be able to directly contact the CEO and not receive an automated response??? I'm satisfied with my speeds and my connection has not gone down once since Fusion's up to full speed. I have been blown away by the sync in communication between Sonic.net and AT&T as well, even though they are technically in competition with each other. They both wanted to put the customer first in my case! 
Just as important, I appreciate the honest billing that Sonic.net has - no hidden fees, taxes, or charges there! Just a nice, round $45 per month. And plus, there are no bandwidth caps that I know of for Sonic.net's DSL service - beat that AT&T and Comcast! NET NEUTRALITY FOREVER!!!
A big thank you to Sonic.net! How can anyone buy local and/or organic, but support the mean, corrupt organizations of Comcast or (to a lesser extent) AT&T? Think about it! And support Sonic.net!!! Spread the word!!! Conventional vs. friendly, sustainable business!!!
Cheers!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by mustangcelli
Posted: 352 days ago
member for 3.3 years, 10 visits, last login: 352 days ago
Modesto,Stanislaus,CA
$24 per month
AT&T
"Great customer service; very pro-active; willing to kick butt when necessary; have never experienced any downtimes"
"Still trying to find some!!"
"Have had their service for over 10 years. They are an outstanding company with great people."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
For my needs, this is the best option for the best price. Cheapest price does not usually imply that you'll get good service. I feel I definitely get what I pay for with Sonic. Have been with them for over 10 years and have never had an issue that has been their fault. (wish I could say the same for PacBell/AT&T) They are very patient and willing to work as a team to resolve issues. Find them highly reliable.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by woferry
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 1 year, 0 visits, last login: 1 year ago
San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
$69 per month
AT&T
"Static IPs, fast, reliable connection, great support"
"Customer equipment (Broadmax) questionable"
"Very happy customer"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I've been with Sonic.net for almost 5 years now, when I moved into my house I was thrilled to see that I could get 6M/600 DSL service since I was stuck with IDSL (144/144 through MegaPath) at my apartment. Researching what was out there Sonic had the best price for the speed and with 8 static IPs, and the price was less than I was paying for IDSL with static IPs so that was a plus. The install was very smooth, though I can't recall at the moment how long it took though I think it took a few extra days because the previous owner was slow to disconnect his DSL service with AT&T. At some point an announcement was sent that the upstream would be increased to 768k, that happened without a hitch and for no extra cost which was nice. I reliably get over 5000k/640k according to the speed tests here.
The only real problems I've had in the past 5 years have been with the equipment. The original Broadmax modem Sonic sent me died just over a year later, fortunately I had filed complaints of connection issues before the 1 year anniversary so it was replaced by Sonic under warranty. But the replacement Broadmax also died just over a year after it was put into service. I didn't put up any fight with Sonic over that one, I just went to Fry's and bought a USR modem for less than $100. That modem has worked flawlessly for almost 3 years now. I'm not sure if Sonic still hands out Broadmax modems or if they've gone with something more reliable (or if Broadmax finally got their act together), but that has been my only real gripe with my service, and since replacing the modem fixed the connection issues every time it doesn't seem like it was a line problem, just bad equipment.
The tech support has always been fast and excellent, it's rare when you can mention to an ISP that you run NetBSD and not have them say they can't help you. Most of my support contact was in that first year, but the few times I've had to call since then have been just as good, it's obvious that the people on the phone are very knowledgeable and try their best to resolve the issue, not to make excuses. They even provide IPv6 tunneling, easy to enable/configure from their member website, though an unsupported service I had no trouble getting it up and running on my network.
Overall highly recommended. I notched down connection reliability for the issues with the Broadmax modems (which at the time led to many days of outage, downtime since has been a few minutes a year), and value since I seem to be paying $10 more than what their website currently says, I've been meaning to call sales and see if I can negotiate a lower rate.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by wkeller
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 8.1 years, 101 visits, last login: 270 days ago
El Cerrito,Contra Costa,CA
$58 per month (12 month contract)
about 24 days
SBC
"Static IP, No ports blocked, Shell access"
"Dependent on AT&T's line"
"Eight problem free months."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
When I moved, I looked at all the ISP providers and chose Sonic.net because they had the best price for static IPs. I placed my order as soon as PacBell gave me my new number.
I had no installation problems whatsoever, and the line was working the day that the DSL modem arrived, five days before my scheduled install date.
I'm on the basic package (384+kbps up / 128kbps down) and I get a very reliable 640 kbps down and 128kbps up.
I have had no troubles with the line and have never had occasion to contact technical support.
I have previously used Speakeasy (via Covad) and DSL Networks, and I am quite pleased with Sonic.net and would recommend them without hesitation.
Nov. 15, 2008 update:
Well, I've been with Sonic for somewhere over 5 years now, so I guess maybe an update of my review is in order.
Since my original review, I had an episode where my line became very unreliable. I had numerous occasions to call tech support, and they were always very professional, but it quickly became clear my interment issues were most likely a problem with AT&T/ASI's line. It was only after a series of multi-day outages, and seemingly countless calls to support over a period a few months that AT&T/ASI finally identified the problem and my reliable service was once again restored.
The only AT&T people I had to deal with directly were the service techs that came out a few times. All other dealings with AT&T/ASI were done by the Sonic staff.
Also at some point since my initial signup my speeds almost doubled from the ~640k down / 128k up I was originally getting to ~1240k down / 310k down, but my price remains the same as the day I signed up 5+ years ago.
Overall I am still a satisfied customer.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 1 year ago
(review was emailed from domain gmail.com)
Palo Alto,Santa Clara,CA
$50 per month
AT&T
"Really reliable service. Great telephone support."
"No complaints."
"Wish I had switched sooner."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have been an Earthlink customer for several years. Early this year, my
DSL line started to drop connections, a few times a week at first, then a
few times a day, then every ten minutes or so. Each time I called, Earthlink
tech support suggested resetting the modem and resetting the wireless
router. Nothing helped.
I took some modem measurements at the network interconnect:
Downstream Noise Margin 16.5 dB
Downstream Attenuation 54.5 dB
These values limit the maximum speed I can get and I was led to believe that
I was lucky DSL worked at all. But reliability was so poor that I figured I
had nothing to lose, so I switched to Sonic. After the service came up (I
needed telephone help to set up the Eathlink modem), I have not had a
dropped connection for two months. Not even one.
What I take away from this is that my AT&T connection is fine. I continue to
use the same DSL modem and Orinoco wireless router, so the unreliability can
be attributed entirely to Eathlink. That is disappointing. But now I'm a
satisfied Sonic customer.
Followup comments:  
astiyosti1
@cherokeenc.tv
| wow All you needed was a new provisnining order to reset your line. Would u please let us know how you as a customer was able to get those readings? It sounds like sonic is trying to advertise with dsl reports again lol.Here's a kicker too if you would've switched to at&t your dsl price would've bee around 12.95 a month. | |
| | msmith0
join:2004-10-30
Post Falls, ID | Re: wow i have earthlink (currently in the process of switching to sonic) and with my p600r-elnk modem i can get those signal readings no problem... in fact theres a lot more than just those 2 | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by dbcalo
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 7.4 years, 176 visits, last login: 4 days ago
Chico,Butte,CA
$25 per month
AT&T
"As long as you don't have a problem they're great."
"If you have a problem other than the standard ones, they suck."
"If you don't live in the bay area then don't bother with them."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
For two weeks I've had a bad connection in which I have massive packet loss and can barely load a website. They claim my line is great but I say other wise. I've given them two weeks to solve the problem and with no success I'm going to switch providers.
I've never been able to get more than the 1.5Mbit/.384Mbit connection even though people feet away can. Comcast can offer me 6Mbit/1Mbit and I'm jumping on it.
Followup comments: Kavan
join:2003-01-19
Santa Rosa, CA
| Packet loss issues Hello,
It sounds like things did not go as we would like in this situation. If you could pm me your Sonic.net account name I would like to look into this to figure out where things went wrong. If you have not already migrated to Comcast, and are willing to give us another shot at fixing this that would be great too. | |
| 
bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA
 ·SONIC.NET
| Not in Bay Area? I don't get why this is relevant. Sonic is in Santa Rosa and I'm in San Jose, 100 miles away, and they've been able to give me stellar service, including solving several packet loss issues over the years. Get on the phone with them, and work through the trouble shooting. If they need to roll AT&T, they will do it.
--
Iraq Military Deaths | bobrk | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of SONIC.NET |
|
|
(12)
(42)
·
Been there