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Review by Miguel3239 See Profile

  • Location: Manchester, Hillsborough, NH, USA
  • Cost: $81 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 20 days
Reliable connection. Open policies are great!
Taxes not included in price of service. With the elimination of the federal fees, SE increased their regulatory compliance fee.
Reliable connection but recent changes in company direction is leaving the residential customer feeling unimportant.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I have now had Speakeasy in four different locations over the last 8 years. I have recommended them to many people and even helped a customer of mine to choose them for their DSL.

Over the 8 years that I have been with SE, they have improved upon their deployment and setup as well as the move of service to other locations flawlessly. The only hiccups were the fault of the phone company and they were resolved quickly.

Unfortunately, the few times I have had to communicate with their tech support (about 6 years ago and then my customers past dealings with them) I have detected a change in who they are using for support. What I mean is that it appears that they have a Tier 1 support department dedicated to answering the common questions or rather FAQ that they received. The first thing these guys want to do when you have a connection problem is put you into safe mode instead of trying to troubleshoot the line first before placing you into safe mode. These fews times that I needed support (and even my customer that has SE) the problem had nothing to do with my end but rather the phone company. Anyways, it just seems that the more knowledgeable staff have either left or they only have a few around for when a problem needs to be escalated to the next level.

My next point has to do with the price. It is getting harder to justify the price for the service when other companies are offering business class connections at faster speeds with the ability to run servers at either the same price or less. This recent move by SE to hide a rate increase behind the term "Regulatory Compliance Fee" has caused me to update this review. If a company has a federal fee eliminated, why would the cost to comply to this regulation increase? If their regulatory compliance costs have truly increased, why did they not choose to increase them until this other fund was done away with by the FCC. If SE would break down the fee then maybe I would change my mind on this point.

Last but not least, their sales department or their transfer of service department dropped the ball on this last move I made. I wrote to them well in advance about changing my service and they failed to communicate with me until I had to contact them again right before my move. So, I was without service for two weeks due to this. This isn't a big deal to me except that SE was usually always on the ball with this and this is just another example of how the company is slowly declining (at least with their residential customers since I only have used them for residential service).

Overall, I have really enjoyed being with SE but recent moves by the company and the lack of communication with its customers is leaving a bad feeling with many of its loyal customers. See »End of Reg Fee = Higher Reg Compliance Fee??? for more details.

I currently have the Home Select Plus OneLink ADSL 1.5/384 Pro-Install (C)

(Update 02/01/2011)

I think the day has finally arrived. My routing sucks. Bouncing from NYC to LAX and back to NYC to BOS to more than one location just doesn't cut it anymore. Being told there is nothing they can do. They do not control the routes (even though the first few hops are on their own network). Something changed in their network. But I am just a lowly DSL user under their old residential offering.

member for 20 years, 2305 visits, last login: 71 days ago
updated 13.1 years ago


Review by (hidden by request)

  • Location: Berkeley, Alameda, CA, USA
  • Cost: $110 per month
Used to be good
Turned bad now
Don't use them any more
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

They used to be excellent with their technical assistance and service
quality. Really bad now.

(review was emailed from domain TWGI.com)
lodged 13.2 years ago

schmelik
Premium Member
join:2002-04-03
Santa Cruz, CA

schmelik

Premium Member

Agreed

I have been a loyal client for many years (since 2000). But once their merger I have increasingly become frustrated, and service is interrupted more frequently. The time waiting on the phone has increase.

And the cost, well it's too much.
I am seriously taking a look at comcast cable.






Review by jbartas

  • Location: Cupertino, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $65 per month (month by month)
  • Telco party AT&T
Not much, anymore
High cost, speed suddenly got much slower, and they think this is OK
Once pretty good company has gone bad.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

This was a good company for a long time, but they've gone down hill.
The problems started about 4-5 years ago, when they started pushing
business VoIP and quit caring about us residential customers - the rates
stopped being competitive, and service calls went from being answered
pretty much instantly to 10 minute hold times or multi-hour turnaround
on problems reported online.

Things have gone from bad to worse in the past few months, coincident
with their merger with Covad. My service has simply gone dead twice in
the last few weeks. The last time they could only get it back up to 1.25
Mbps on my 1.5 Mbps account. The service reps tell me that that's now
going to be as good as it gets.

One last thing - if you were an ISP taking down your net for
maintenance, what's the dumbest night of the year to do so? That's right
- Election night! And that's exactly what Speakeasy did the first
Tuesday in Novenber 2010.

They seem to have forgotten that they have competition - I'm calling
Sonic as soon as I can get my email addresses changed away the speakeasy
domain.



(review was emailed from domain speakeasy.net)
lodged 13.3 years ago


Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221

Member

Speak-easier

They owned by Best Buy now...par for the course!

bhan261
join:2001-02-12
New York, NY

bhan261

Member

Re: Speak-easier

No longer...Best Buy sold out (except for a minority position, I think) to Covad/Megapath. Going from bad to worse.

I no longer need a static IP for work so I'm gonna move to Time Warner.
nanaki333
join:2010-08-11
Chantilly, VA

nanaki333

Member

Re: Speak-easier

yeah. i have their ethernet over copper service and it's on the fritz a lot. their excuse is it's my router and to check my logs. i wouldn't be complaining if it was as simple as getting an error in my router or there was just a lot of local bandwidth in use.

don't even get me started on their installation coordination. lets just say they forgot to "save to rom" when they were done, and after we unplugged stuff to move it back in position, nothing came up and "enterprise support" had gone home for the weekend...

Review by ClintJCL See Profile

  • Location: Alexandria, Fairfax, VA, USA
  • Cost: $85 per month (month by month)
  • Install: about 15 days
  • Telco party Verizon
It works.
being kicked out for actually daring to use my bandwidth, when I told them in advance that that's what I'd be doing
By far the biggest liars of any ISP I have ever dealt with. The worst of 7 DSL ISPs that I've had.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

After a VERY bad experience with Lightning Bolt DSL, I switched to SpeakEasy.

ALL problems were INSTANTLY resolved, but it didn't matter, because they are liars who screwd me over.

I negotiated for 5 IPs, as I am absolutely unwilling to pay $6/month for an IP. I know what an

UPDATE:

I have been harassed multiple times over the last few months for "using too much bandwidth". But of course, since they don't have limits, they wont tell me how much I am allowed to use. Just that it is "too much".

Against my best instincts, I complied with another request to install a scheduler, so that my bandwidth is limited to 25% levels during business hours. I even made business hours 10 hours long to deal with other time zones.

Again, I am called out and harassed today, despite the fact that I believe my usage has actually gone down a bit, and is certainly mostly during the evenings and night and weekends. Here is the email I got:

Hi Clint,

I know you can be rather difficult via email, but this cannot wait.

Are things still secure on your LAN? Have you added new wireless gear to your network that's not been locked down, maybe? You are severely over-utilizing your residential-class circuit, and are outside of compliance with our Terms of Service.

I know you are quite savvy, and since we have already discussed this matter, I must be firm. This download pattern must change, or your services will be terminated for abuse of our network.

Excerpted from »www.speakeasy.net/tos/#m ··· deration
"Customers will not be charged for the bandwidth consumed, nor do we have specific limits or caps on that bandwidth. If you utilize any of your Speakeasy services in a manner which consumes excessive bandwidth or affects Speakeasy's core equipment, overall network performance, or other users' services, Speakeasy may require that you cease or alter these activities."

If something else has happened, then I humbly apologize for my tone, but you are still responsible for what happens at your end of the network.

Lawrence McBride
Executive Escalation Manager

Toll Free > 800-556-5829 ext. 5103
Direct > 206.971-5103 Fax > 206.728-1500
Email > lawrence@hq.speakeasy.net
www.speakeasy.net

At this point, I feel very lied to. Who else thinks I should take them to small claims court for my setup fees (both for them, and for my next ISP)?

In the end, the terminated me. THEY CALLED ME UP AND SPECIFICALLY SAID, "DOWNLOAD LESS THAN 100 GIGS NEXT MONTH, OR WE WILL DISCONNECT YOU". Does that sound like what Lawrence McBride just said? Hell no. I also specifically asked them if I was negatively affecting other users' service, and they said no. They just didn't like me downloading 250G in a month. That's my prerogative!

They even threatened me with a $300 early termination fee, despite the fact that THEY WERE TERMINATING ME.

EarthLink may be the worst ISP ever, but SpeakEasy is the biggest hypocrite of an ISP.

Here is the link to my screenshots of their pre-sales chat where they, apparently, lied to me about the ability to use 100% of my bandwidth!:

»www.flickr.com/photos/cl ··· 6331358/

So yes -- I caught them lying. They say in pre-sales you can do what you want, then when you dare to actually do what you want, they cut your service. They are liars and should be sued.

Attachments:
Click for full size
Click for full size
Click for full size
Click for full size


member for 22.5 years, 81 visits, last login: 7.4 years ago
updated 13.3 years ago


soundtank
Holy Cow
Premium Member
join:2006-02-07
Bloomingdale, IL

soundtank

Premium Member

What are you running?

What are you running on your connection? Server, torrents?

look in the mirror
@wideopenwest.com

look in the mirror

Anon

Re: What are you running?

Looking at this review and the users past ISP reviews, it appears to be a theme, over use the connection, and blame the ISP.

4-5 ISP's, all similar issues, maybe it is time to stop blaming the ISP, and realize you need more then an ADSL connection for your higher the normal use.
ClintJCL
join:2001-09-19
Alexandria, VA

ClintJCL

Member

Re: What are you running?

Looking at your review of my past reviews, there appears to be a common theme that you aren't actually reading them.

I gave glorious priase to my first DSL ISP, capu.net. They let me use 100% of my bandwidth 100% of the time for years. Then stopped doing residential DSL.

I was transferred to EarthLink against my will. At the time, I was downloading files at least 150 megs in size every day. Some by FTP, some by HTTP, some by DCC (IRC file transfer protocol), and some via instant messenger software transfers. NO RESUMES WOULD WORK. Now I know the network transport layer and the application layer are separate, but ALL RESUMING for ALL PROTOCOLS on ALL COMPUTERS stopped working. I used no router, I had static IPs. When I left earthlink, the exact minute I was cut over to my new ISP, ALL RESUMING for ALL PROTOCOLS on ALL COMPUTERS *started* working again.

I think that's a pretty good reason for complaining about EarthLink. The better business beaureu agreed, and eventually Earthlink accidentally refunded me even more money than I gave them. 6 months later, they inexplicably sent me a DSL modem even though I am not their customer. They are incompetent.

I then switched to Patriot.Net, who I used for years. Again, I used 100%/100% of my bandwidth, 100% of the time. We're talking 150G/month downloads. I was never hassled. EVER.

I ONLY left Patriot.Net because I could get double the download speed for $10 LESS a month with Lightning Bolt. That was a big mistake. They were rude. On the first day Brent, who runs LB, had the audacity to tell me "not to have your wife call us, she called us more in one day than most people do in a year". Despite having a static IP setup, NOT A SINGLE INBOUND CONNECTION EVER FUNCTIONED. They told me how to turn their router into a bridge via it's web interface, and doing so completely made all connections stop working whatsoever. I gave up and invoked my moneyback guarantee and they tried to charge me $200 for "breaking" the modem. Of course, they would not return the modem for me, and I stopped my check: If I broke it and am buying it, then you must give it to me.

It had nothing to do with my configuration. When I switched to SpeakEasy, EVERYTHING WAS WORKING RIGHT AGAIN WITHIN 30 MINUTES.

So no -- don't try to blame me on this.

I've only left ISPs for:
1) going out of business
2) no file resumes working
3) no inbound connections

If I leave SpeakEasy, it will be because they terminated my service because their "unlimited" pre-sales promise is a lie. They are getting on my case for "downloading too much". They have said to try to keep it to 100G.

Of course, I don't know if that means I have to restrict my upload either. I intend to use 100% of my upload 100% of my time. For one thing or another. When I have nothing to do with my upstream, I donate my bandwidth to the TOR network to help promote anonymity and free speech on the internet. If I can't use my upstream as I see fit, the access is not worth having.

If you don't believe me about pre-sales, I have screenshots of the entire pre-sales exchange, which I did under a pseudonym:

»www.flickr.com/photos/cl ··· eakeasy/
robscullion
Premium Member
join:2001-12-07
Philadelphia, PA

robscullion

Premium Member

Re: What are you running?

I was a little skeptical of Clint's story myself, but I strongly suggest checking out the flickr link provided before passing judgement. You have to read the pics in reverse order to make sense of it, but the SE rep clearly says that 100% usage of the bandwidth 24/7 is acceptable.

Most broadband savy people know that's a flat out lie, but if an SE rep signed up to it, then they should at least let Clint get out of this with no monetary penalty beyond the monthly fees associated with usage of the service. As for being responsible for setup fees for his next ISP...I think that's going too far. They clearly mislead him as to the nature of the service though and that's a mistake to which they need to own up.

Clint, I'd suggest emailing that flickr link to Larry McBride and see if you can work out an amicable solution. There's no way they're going to let you use the service 100% 24/7, but with such clear evidence in your favor, I'd think he would have to be more accomodating about releasing you from any financial obligation re: disconnect fees, setup fees etc.

I'm very disappointed to find an SE rep apparently lying to a potential customer. In my experience they've always been pretty straight shooters. My first call to investigate service involved the same questions and I was clearly told that usage was not hard capped but that I couldn't use it 100% 24/7.
NitroBiz5
join:2007-11-15
Kent, WA

NitroBiz5

Member

Read the TOS

Clint

I can understand your frustration and appriciate your love for freedom of speech but on the other hand you have to understand what your doing or have decided to do on a daily basis is affecting their network and inability to service their other customers.

Here is a excert from their TOS:

3.1 Bandwidth: As an ISP, Speakeasy's financial liability is partially determined by the amount of bandwidth customers utilize. Speakeasy can normally balance that cost and utilization while continuing to provide great service to all customers. Customers will not be charged for the bandwidth consumed, nor does Speakeasy have specific limits or caps on that bandwidth. However, if Customer utilizes any of Customer's Speakeasy services in a manner that consumes excessive bandwidth or otherwise negatively affects Speakeasy's core equipment, overall network performance, or other users' services, Speakeasy may require that Customer cease or alter these activities.

For the full TOS please refer to this website: »www.speakeasy.net/tos/msa.php

I would suggest you reconsider your actions.

LeeThompson
Premium Member
join:2002-04-12
Renton, WA

LeeThompson

Premium Member

Simple Solution

The "bandwidth usage courtesy calls" only apply to residential customers. If you want them to stop without changing your habits, just bump up to business class.

Review by sunbee See Profile

  • Location: Scottsdale, Maricopa, AZ, USA
  • Cost: $55 per month (12 month contract)
Absolutely None
salesman misrepresented terms, off-on problems with connection, lousy lying customer service
Worse DSL experience ever had. Stay away
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Speakasy has been the absolute worst dsl experience I have ever had in the 9 years I've had high-speed internet.

When I signed up, I gave them my debit card and the salesman said it would not be charged and that I could use auto-billing or go on-line to pay. A few months into the service they charged my card resulting in numerous overdrafts. The rep told me they would not reverse the charge but credit me on the next bill for a months service. I was also told a supervisor would call me the next day. That was 9 months ago, never happened.

To get the bill credit, I had to call in again. When I told them I wanted to cancel, they said I was under a 12 month contract and would be charged an early termination fee. Salesperson had told me when I signed up it was month-to-month.

Also I told them I wanted my card out of their system. They said they COULD do that, but I decided not to. Now today I want the card out of the system, now they say they CAN'T.

At first the service was alright. Installation did go smooth. But for the first six months this year, I've had intermittent outages esp. for hours in the early morning and slow speed. Then for three months it was fine. Nothing has changed on my end at all - it was on their end. Now I'm having the outages in the early morning again.

It is absolutely ludicrous to talk to these idiots at SpeakEasy. They lie, pass the buck, ignore direct questions (simple ones like what date the current bill covers). Run-around. Do yourself a favor, stay away from them. They don't value their customers at all.

member for 13.5 years, 1 visits, last login: 13.5 years ago
updated 13.5 years ago

hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

YEP!

Been there done that with them. But let them try charging you for an install fee when install never happened. then you buy their CPE then they charge you for that AGAIN! resulting in a threatening letter via email. Otherwise nobody will return you calls or nothing.

Their install team is a joke and they don't care; they never return calls either. So i'm sure the whole company is like that.

I changed from them and went direct to ATT for dryline.

Oh! Did you know you get to pay ETF even if Covad decides you can't get service. How in the hell is that possible? Covad says one thing and sends you the email and them but they say something else. Talk about a bunch of BS with that company and they can kiss where the sun doesn't shine! and stick their bill there too, as they won't see a dime from me.
glenbear
join:2010-09-16
San Francisco, CA

glenbear

Member

Don't support these losers "service" is down the crapper

One of the earlier reviewers posted this...

It is absolutely ludicrous to talk to these idiots at SpeakEasy. They lie, pass the buck, ignore direct questions Run-around. Do yourself a favor, stay away from them. They don't value their customers at all.

I couldn't agree more. Since they made the switch (in March) from ATT to Covad or vice versa the connection has been horrible. The "customer service" has evaporated! They clearly DO NOT CARE.

Paying for 1.5/384

Here's the best I get..

Download Speed: 651 kbps (81.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 316 kbps (39.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Here's the worst so far

Sunday 10-Oct 2010,
Download Speed: 220 kbps (27.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 254 kbps (31.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

This is AFTER putting in a dedicated direct CAT5E line to the modem, and AFTER their Covad "tech" "found" a supposedly loose wire.

Escalation only results in more lip service and denial.

This for $65/month!

Hide your wallet from these folks!

My2Cents

jaykaykay
4 Ever Young
MVM
join:2000-04-13
USA

jaykaykay

MVM

I have been so lucky...

»Review of Speakeasy by jaykaykay When and if I can no longer get my legacy connection, slow as it might seem, I may have to reconsider, but for now, I am happy. Getting the same up and down and hardly ever losing a connection in all the years I've been with SE, is a pure delight. I am sorry to hear that things have gone down for others from when I started with them, at which point, they were one of the best.

Review by js9999us See Profile

  • Location: Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA
  • Cost: $119 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 30 days
  • Telco party AT&T
Great Telephone Tech Support. So-so Line Speed. Order status updated along the way.
Incorrect Order Entry.
Definately worth the switch
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I switched from XO to Speakeasy. XO was great, but a problem with my DSL line, a downspeed from 1.5 to 768, and the fact that they no longer support residential DSL prompted me to start looking for a new DSL provider. Found Speakeasy's 6.0/768 admin package cost slightly more than my XO line, but it would be potentially 4x/2x better with more mailboxes, the same number of static IP addresses, and a cheap webhosting option.

Called and ordered Speakeasy the same day. Felt a little pressured by the sales guy, but knew I wanted to switch anyway. Another sales guy called the next day and wanted to sell me OneLink. I told him I'd already ordered the Line Share but had a question. He transferred me back to the original sales persons, who wasn't there, so I left a voice mail. I never got a call back. Uh oh, not good.

One of the good things about Speakeasy is their order status website. It shows you your order and where it is along the way. They even put updates from Covad in there so I can see what's going on!! That's where I found out I had been set up for a standard install ($99) instead of a self-install ($0). Tried the online support but received no response. Posted on the Speakeasy forum and was immediately contacted by Adam at Speakeasy who informed me my order had been placed incorrectly. He was able to fix it, but it did delay things for about a week. With another ISP I would not have known my order was screwed up until it was too late. Thanks to Adam and the Speakeasy order status website I definately feel like these people want my business!!!

Once PacBell and Covad were finished with their little "Dance of Fools" everything went fine. Because of PacBell (they seemed to think I had another ISP already on my line, which wasn't true because my XO was on a dedicated line) the install was delayed an additional week. Once they determined my pair at the CO was labelled incorrectly, they fixed the label issue and then proceeded with the order, which meant I had to wait another 5 days. So, after two weeks of the ILEC/CLEC dance, everything is finally hooked up at the CO.

So now that everything is hooked up at the CO, Speakeasy shipped my self-install kit. It arrived a day before the install completion date and included a BroadXent 8012, 4 dongle-type filters, and a wall plate filter. Hooked it up and I'm in business!! I'm getting 5.0/640 at aprox. 3600ft from the CO (at least according to Covad) which is 4x/2x better than the 1.2/320 I was getting with XO. Way to go Speakeasy!!

It's really cool to be able to download RedHat iso images in 15 minutes instead of one hour. Time to set up a Quake 3 server!! My Quake 2 server is down at the moment, so my friends aren't able to test the new line for latency, but latency to my default gateway appears to be about the same as it was before.

I also ordered basic webhosting and moved my domain. Move went very well. I get 8 mail boxes with the @speakeasy.net address and 5 with my domain. I also get 500Mb of disk space and 10Gb monthly bandwidth limit, far better than XOs 20Mb/200Mb limitations!! I like being able to manage my DNS entries myself. I can always upgrade to the next package, which has no bandwidth limitation, should my website suddenly become the hotest site on the net (highly unlikely). This portion of the order went very well.

Bottom line, I'm paying more for Speakeasy, but now that I'm in, it's worth it!!

Update 09/02/2010

I've been paying the same price for DSL for 6 years now. Other ISPs have been upgrading and making their Internet products faster and cheaper. Speakeasy offers ADSL2, but not in my area.

Loved the tech support at Speakeasy, but I can't justify the price anymore. Plus, the copper in my area seems to get worse year-after-year and trying to come up with real reasons to have AT&T fix it is getting old.

If the pricing comes down I'll reconsider when my new two year contract is up with SureWest. Otherwise, thanks for the memories Speakeasy, it's been great working with you.

If your only option is DSL and you can get Speakeasy you should. You'll pay more but its worth it. If you need higher bandwidth or have other options available(FIOS, FTTH, Cable, etc.) you'll need to do some due diligence to determine if you are willing to pay more for Speakeasy service.

member for 22.4 years, 518 visits, last login: 12.3 years ago
updated 13.5 years ago


Review by chrispyman See Profile

  • Location: Simi Valley, Ventura, CA, USA
  • Cost: $52 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 2 days
  • Telco party SBC
Fast installation, consistent speeds
Way too pricey for DSL these days
Good for businesses, for residential service look elsewhere
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

To be fair Speakeasy was a good ISP for many years however since their acquisition by Best Buy they've started focusing much more on business connectivity. As such they're a pretty poor deal these days for residential service and I couldn't say I'd recommend them, but only because of their insanely high pricing for DSL. Other than that I haven't had any issues with the service, pretty much zero downtime, and they actually have a good support staff.

member for 20.4 years, 1182 visits, last login: 247 days ago
updated 13.7 years ago


Review by surratta See Profile

  • Location: Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, MI, USA
  • Cost: $99 per month
stable circuit
price, lack of improvements of any sort in years
speakeasy + best buy + covad = nothing like the speakeasy I signed up with
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

very little observable tech improvements in a looong time. paying what I did years ago for the same service... so few viable options here, though, what's their motivation to improve? apparently they don't care too much these days.

been with speakeasy for several years. they were always expensive, but I just don't think the price is justified anymore. I'm probably pretty late in realizing this.

praying for Google to deploy their fiber here. in the meantime, gonna try out Comcast. I'm no fan of theirs, but there's no one else here who can match their speeds.

member for 19.6 years, 113 visits, last login: 3.1 years ago
lodged 13.7 years ago


Review by dmnall See Profile

  • Location: Goleta, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $90 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 67 days
  • Telco party Verizon
Very Stable Connection, Great Tech Support and Nice Low Latency Connection.
Slow time to have delivered.
Great speeds compared to my Dial Up.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I first started the order process back in September for idsl since where my house is, I have one of 3 choices, Wireless(well I would need 2 $ 600 radios and $ 1500 - 3000 for solar power), Satellite, Dial up or idsl (No cable lines out to my house). Well I was tired of dial up, was on it since 1997 and wanted to go high speed. I checked into Satellite and since I want to play some games, I need low latency. Well I originally ordered through my work but found out that the loop charge would be $ 120 a month and my boss did not want to order service for me since it would not be beneficial for the company. So I looked around and ordered dsl through Speak Easy, originally I was told I could get their dry loop dsl and ordered that. Well since the copper lines are old, has load coils, no go. So a week later, I ordered idsl (09-12-2005). So I get an e-mail the next day I get an e-mail that on 9-23-2005 line would be delivered. Then around 3 days later, I get an e-mail for the line to be delivered on 10-04-2005. Well on 10-05-2005, I called up speakeasy to let them know Verizon never showed up. Well it came down that covad had to have submit a design on the loop and that failed because verizon told covad that they would not remove the load coils on the pair. Well on 10-19-2005, I placed another order for idsl. Well on 10-24-2005 I received an e-mail from speakeasy stating that line would be installed on 11-07-2005, well verizon ran the line and covads test was failing because of a short. On 11-09-2005, had informed that they will be coming out on 11-16-2005 and the line was still having problems. Well on 11-17-2005, Verizon replaced my repeater and my order for installation was on Tuesday 11/22/2005. On 11-18-2005 Covad tech called me up and did the install, I had him configure an efficient 5871 router that I borrowed from work because I could not get a Netopia R3100-I to even pass data. I have had problems with the efficient getting too hot and losing sync however, it is currently running after running a fan to keep the modem from overheating untill I get a different cpe next week.

Overall, I will add that the whole lag is not because of Speakeasy or Covad, just because Verizon likes to lag a lot. However the time was worth it.

Charlie

Update 05-17-2010 I have to say, I canceled my idsl line because I am awaiting my new T1 directly through Covad which hopefully will be up next week *sucks my idsl service was canceled 05-14-2010* because Speak Easy just turned out to be a complete Joke! Let's start from the beginning of this year!

January 15, 2010: I called up Speakeasy because my cpe which was still under the warranty period *which 11 months 10 days of a contract*, died on a power up.. Eh no big deal, just do an RMA and get a replacement. Well 3 days later, new modem out but will not sync or anything.. An hour on the phone with Charles Simonds, needing a replacement modem *luckily I had a spare modem from my previous job* and was using that but it had issues.. Which is why I had it as a back up, so a 3rd modem was being shipped out. Another hour trying to reconfigure that modem and still doing the same thing. So on January 27th, Covad came out and I was under the impression if there is an inside wiring problem, I would have to pay *no big deal when I knew it was not inside wiring*... Covad came out tested their 2 spare modems that SE sent me and they were obviously bad, Covad Technician called up SE to get approval to leave a working modem. The Tech was there a total 5 - 10 minuets, leaves a working cpe and off. Well everything was fine until I get my next bill $ 900 in charges... I call up SE and talk to Charles Simonds again along with an e-mail on what is going on. Charles Simonds stated that he was trying to get the charges reversed and he was going to be sending me an RMA for both the replacement modems that SE has sent me.. So 3 months go by and I finally get an RMA for the 2 modems which now I was billed another $ 600 for 2 modems.

04-20-2010: I update my trouble ticket and state, if no resolution I will switch over to another provider because SE has not fixed anything, Sales has not called me back about ordering a T1 after 3 - 4 calls and 3 - 4 e-mails. So I decided to sign up with Covad.

05-17-2010: Sent an e-mail via my cell to Charles Simonds on 05-15-2010 to cancel my account because of the whole issue of no call backs and their support jacking my bill up too $ 1300 for a simple RMA. Still awaiting my T1 which is now pushed back to 27 because Verizon is slow and lagging *great thing thinking being a T1 they would push this through asap! No such luck lol* but no connection at the house and SE has totally dropped the ball big time! I am glad I did not get a T1 through SE because of how bad they have gone the last couple of years *latency was nice and low for 3 years and went from a 20 ms ping to a 60 - 120 ms ping*.. Their tech support cannot get anything done in a proper time. Avoid SpeakEasy with a plague, the connection was rock solid for 3 years straight but has went down around 20x in the last year.

Cheers,

Charlie

member for 18.3 years, 5 visits, last login: 13.7 years ago
updated 13.8 years ago


Review by RbbrDckyBK See Profile

  • Location: Danbury, Fairfield, CT, USA
  • Cost: $69 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 14 days
Tech support is actually technical & understands what you're talking about
Reliability, price, service if you have a problem
Avoid
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I signed up for Speakeasy service way back in 2002. At that time, they were pretty much my only option for broadband, and the best package I could get (due to my distance from the CO) was 384kbps SDSL for about $120/month. Other than the high price, I had absolutely no complaints with Speakeasy for about 4 years. My connection was rock-solid and I can't remember it ever being unavailable. Other (far cheaper) broadband options became available in my area, but I stuck with Speakeasy due to the excellent reliability I had experienced with them.

In 2006, Speakeasy switched me over to a 1.5mbps/384kbps ADSL package, at a lower rate. Due to my distance from the CO, my actual download speeds peaked out at about 700kbps, but it was still almost twice as fast (downstream anyway) as my 384kbps SDSL had been. No complaints, especially since I was also paying slightly less.

Fast-forward a couple years to 2008, when the problems started. I started experiencing intermittent drop-outs, low throughput speeds, and high latency - randomly. My connection might be completely fine for a couple weeks, then terrible for a day or two, and then go back to normal. I spent a few hours with Speakeasy tech support several times over the course of a few months whenever I experienced an especially bad outage. Their tech support had me repeat the same tests each time, but since the problem was intermittent, they were never able to resolve it.

This went on for a couple years - the issue never got bad enough that I was without internet for a significant period of time.

However, over the last couple of months, the problem became much worse. The drop-outs became extremely frequent, to the point where I expected that I would not have an internet session without losing my connection for a few minutes several times. I've spent a significant amount of time trying to resolve the issue with Speakeasy, to no avail.

The last straw for me was when they completely dishonestly tried to milk for for an extra $100 by billing me for a "loaner" modem. They wanted to send me a modem on a loaner basis to rule out a potential problem with my existing modem, and insisted that I would not be charged a penny for it. The modem arrived, I hooked it up, and within 10 minutes saw that I was still experiencing drop-outs. I unplugged it, put it back in the box, and let Speakeasy know that my modem was not the issue.

To give you a better idea of what occurred after that point, here is the timeline from Speakeasy's online ticketing system:

(2/2/10: Ticket opened for frequent random internet outages - we run several tests over the next week which aren't successful in helping the issue; Speakeasy tech supports asks if they can ship a loaner modem to rule out the possibility of a bad modem, I agree)

2/9/10: I receive loaner modem from Speakeasy.

2/12/10: I install modem and verify that it is not the issue. I report to Speakeasy that the modem is not the cause of the problem.

2/15/10: Speakeasy responds via their ticketing system that they want me to test the new modem.

2/15/10: Via ticketing system & phone, I clarify that I did in fact test the new modem, and that it did not clear up the problem. Speakeasy suggests that they dispatch somebody to my house; I agree.

2/19/10: Rep comes to my house & verifies the issue firsthand, with both modems. Finds an issue with the wiring on the outline line, which requires the phone company to fix, which is scheduled.

2/22/10: Phone company does their thing. Appears to fix the issue, or at least dramatically improve it, which I report to Speakeasy via their ticketing system. State that I will monitor for 24 hours and report again.

2/23/10: Report to Speakeasy via their ticketing system that I've had no dropouts over the past 24 hours, and that the issue appears to be mostly resolved. I have some concerns about my ping times which I post. At the end of my message, I ask about how I can ship the loaner modem back to them - this is the first time that anyone brings up returning the modem.

2/24/10: Speakeasy responds via ticketing system about my ping concerns. Buried in this post, they also say that they can email me a shipping label to print so that I can return the modem. Note that they do not actually do this, they just state that it is an option. Also note that this information is being delivered via Speakeasy's ticketing system - they do not convey this via email or phone (they have my home & cell numbers). I happen to miss this post because the ticket has grown quite long at this point.

3/1/10: I report that there have been no issues at all on my line for the past week, and that it is probably safe to close my ticket. I again remind them that I still have their loaner modem, and ask them to tell me what to do with it.

3/1/10: Speakeasy responds later that day via their ticketing system that I have 2 options on how to pay (!) for the modem.

3/4/10: Speakeasy states (again, via the ticketing system) that since they have not heard from me on the modem, it will automatically be billed to my account in 48 hours. No phone call, no email on the subject. They just post it to their ticketing system and assume that their customers check it every day, I guess.

3/8/10: I check the ticketing system, and see the previous 2 entries regarding the modem. I immediately clarify that this is a loaner, and that I neither need nor want to keep it - I point them back to my previous tickets where I've been asking about how to return it.

3/8/10: Speakeasy responds (again via the ticketing system) that I only had 14 days from the date that the loaner was received to return it, and that it is now too late, and that I will be billed for it.

I was absolutely livid when I saw their final response. No 14 day deadline was ever expressed to me, either verbally or in writing. Speakeasy wanted to send me this thing to help THEM troubleshoot the issue with their service! I asked them twice about how I could send it back. They have my home phone number, my cell phone number, and my email address - they could have used any of these methods to let me know what to do at any point. Had they just sent me a shipping label (either via email or snail mail) - or even just an address - the modem would have been back in the mail the following day.

I canceled my service on the spot.

This is how they treated a customer of 8 years. A customer that stuck with them while there were faster/cheaper options available, because he foolishly believed that their reliability and supposed excellent customer service were worth the extra cost. A customer that stuck with them over the past couple months while they tried to get the service that he was paying for to actually work!

I cannot BELIEVE that a company would have the gall to try to blatantly milk a loyal customer for an extra $100. I've paid over $10,000 for Speakeasy internet service over the years that I've been a customer with them, and they were willing to alienate me over a bogus charge on a "loaner" modem. How do you think they'll treat you?

member for 14 years, 7 visits, last login: 13.9 years ago
lodged 14 years ago


CorpsSuck
@verizon.net

CorpsSuck

Anon

With all due respect...

Corporations exist to screw customers. I just wish you didn't have to take so long to learn that. Your story unfortunately doesn't surprise me.

bhan261
join:2001-02-12
New York, NY

bhan261

Member

They don't care

SE no longer cares about their residential customers. They're probably just as happy to see you leave.