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Review by damosk 
Posted: 8.4 years ago
member for 8.4 years, 6 visits, last login: 8.4 years ago
 Sterling,Loudoun,VA
 $79 per month (12 month contract)
 about 30 days
 Cavalier
CLEC party: Cavalier
 "Definetly faster than my 56k dial up connection."
 "did not clarify the terms of service during the initial sign up"
 "Sales reps just want to make the deal"
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I was forced to switch my telephone service from verizon to cavalier after several failed attempts to install my DSL line. During the initial sign up procees the sales rep from cavalier told me they were going to inform me if I qualified for 768K service.
A few weeks later the technicians from cavalier showed up at my door without any notification that they were going to install my modem. The next day I was finally able to get a tech to answer the phone in order to get my static IP and DNS information. After configuring my PC I was able to surf the web witout any hassles. I decide to test my speed using the DSL reports test tools. The first time I ran the test, I was able to get 528k down and 250k Up. After tweaking the rwin setting my speeds improved a liitle bit to 579 kdown and 250k up. These speed have been consistent for the past 3 weeks. The test results from other test servers are very similar. With the same PC, I able to get 1.2mbs down and 250k up from my cabale modem connection in a different region. However I have used this same PC from other networks in my area. The test results exceeded those on the cavalier network. When I called to complain about these results the tech on duty told me I was getting up 768 from their test results. According to this tech, they ran the test from cavalier's network to my DSL modem. They never explained this was the bechmark test they used to verify their service aggreement. I am still talking with their manager and I have expressed how I think they are gouging the consumers. There has been no resolution to date. After going through hell jsut to get this service, the thought of looking for another service provider drives my heat rate though the ceiling. " am stuck between a rock and a hard place". I think Cavalier practice is unfair and a rip off. $948 a year for this type of service? 768 from the edge of the network? give me a break
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Review by leitec7
Posted: 8.5 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 173 visits, last login: 5.7 years ago
Centreville,Fairfax,VA
$60 per month (12 month contract)
about 60 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Cavalier
"Great speed, low pings, static IP, no yucky USB modems"
"Won't let you change the reverse DNS of your IP, MVL isn't real SDSL"
"Excellent value, great telephone service too!"
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I had been a customer of Evolving Edge/Northpoint from January '01 until the Northpoint collapse (03/01). A day after my IDSL line was knocked off, me and my father contacted Cavalier to order a 2nd line since I had cancelled my old 2nd line when I got DSL. When we signed up, they said that we had the possibility of getting DSL from them. I didn't believe it since everyone else (Northpoint, Covad, Rhythms) said I could only get IDSL, and Cavalier had no mention of IDSL anywhere on their page. Considering we had no more options since Covad and Rhythms suspended signups at my CO, we decided to let them try it.
The installation for the 2nd line took about three weeks (exactly 17 business days). I did the inside wiring myself as I had done earlier both with my old 2nd line and my IDSL line. The service itself was normal telephone, no oustanding features. My only gripe was that I was never notified the number of the line, but that didn't matter since I only used it for internet.
About a month or so passed, and one night our phone would make outgoing calls but not receive any incoming calls. Since I couldn't dial 8118# (Verizon's number readback service), I knew that it had been switched to Cavalier. The next day, my father spoke with Cavalier, who told him that this problem usually happened when DSL and phone were successfully installed but Verizon didn't give them the OK on it (or something to that effect). The following night, my phone worked normally again, which was a relief either way. The next day, I return from school and I see a Paradyne box with an Ethernet cable atop laying by my doorstep. Whee! I plugged it in and to my surprise the DSL light actually went on! I plugged it into my machine and boom! I had DSL again. It was faster than my old IDSL (I was at 192k at this point), I was getting 20kbyte/sec downloads vs the 16kbytes/sec I'd get with IDSL. I had some problems when I moved the DSL to my router machine (an old 486/25 with Linux) since Cavalier's equipment caches MAC addresses. After a few hours of letting it sit, it magically worked and everyone could once again have a decent internet connection. Static IP, no PPPoE or any other nasty things. Whoohoo.
That following weekend, I began getting speeds around 27kbytes/sec, and DSLreports' test said I was getting around 230 down / 214 up. It has stayed like this since, and our bill shows a few days of 192k service (more expensive for some reason) and several days of 256k service. I'm not complaining! On some FTP speed tests, I got 240kbits down and 230kbits up. Pings to close sites are around 30ms. First hop is 20ms.
Most probably would think that 240kbits/sec isn't anything to brag about. Well, I had 28.8 for years and only recently after moving did I have 56k. When I got my short-lived IDSL (not even 3 months!), it was like a miracle. Now with 256k, this is fantastic! And plus, please realize that I'm 23500ft from the CO (yup, 23500 and still with DSL). God bless Cavalier Telephone!
BTW, $60/mo includes local phone service - Cavalier requires you to switch to their local phone service before getting their DSL ($45/mo I believe). I'm not sure if that's the exact price because I really haven't been looking at the bills this time.
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 Review by PatientGuy
Posted: 8.5 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 1248 visits, last login: 7 days ago
Arlington,Arlington,VA
$90 per month
about 18 days
Cavalier
"Excellent value, tech support answers calls fast."
"Upload speed not up to snuff."
"Cavalier is the best ISP I've ever dealt with."
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I ordered Cavaliers residential 768/768 service. Their DSL service only comes bundled with voice. When compared to Verizon's rates an unlimited calls voice line, $.07 a minute anytime long distance plus 768/768 DSL, $90 a month is really pretty cheap. Long term contracts are optional. You have to buy the Paradyne 6350 Hotwire modem. My service was connected in 18 days from the order date, 12 days less than they promised. Cavalier techs came with the modem to do the install the day after Verizon provisioned the line. I called tech support for my setup and it was done in about 10 minutes. I did have to call them back after the setup to get the modem reset to 768. No big deal. They answered the phone instantly! So far Cavalier has been the best ISP I've ever dealt with (Erols/RCN, IBS Networks, Verizon) as far as customer service goes, only time will tell as far as the actual DSL service goes. Their mail servers seem real fast. (This is only an issue if you've had Verizon DSL). I got the promised routable static IP. NO PPPoE crap! The gateway pings at 10ms, DNS servers 20-30 ms and seem very fast. There is no web access to mail that I know of. The throughput is OK, good for the money.
DSL Reports Test:
** Speed 604(down)/491(up) kbps **
Good data stream (no rexmits))
Ping stability: 28 29 28 31 28 28 29 28 28 29
Verizon Speed Test:
(down)
626.1KBits 78.3KBytes
bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/:
(down)
test 1 complete 626.7
test 2 complete 673.3
To test for stability I watched a bad movie on METV.com while I had NetRadio running on a networked client and it ran the whole hour + at near 375 KBits/Sec without a blip! That's about a 400 KBits/Sec total stream for over an hour with 0 packet loss. Not bad, (so far). Now if I could just get it run at 700/700
After my experience with IBS Networks I am generally very reticent about recommending any ISP because most of them suck and I wouldn't want to be responsible for misleading anyone but Cavalier Telephone seems to be the exception. I don't think they get any better than this.
Please read my Diary for details of my experience. »/dsl_diary/other/260811
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Review by jandl
Posted: 8.5 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 4 visits, last login: 8.3 years ago
Virginia Beach,Virginia Beach City,VA
$60 per month
about 14 days
Cavalier
CLEC party: Cavalier
"Service connected earlier than expected"
"Sales reps misrepresented service priority and hours, usage, IP allocation"
"Not good if you need assurances of up time or repair - they close at night"
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Decided to go for SDSL through Cavalier Telephone. I may be sorry I did. I quizzed the sales rep pretty thoroughly in several areas: 1. Assured it was SDSL (yes) 2. Could I get multiple IPs. (yes, 3 free, $.75 each thereafter) 3. Could I run a LAN on it (no problem) 4. Could I run webserver, mail server, dns server (no problem) 5. What is guaranteed repair time for outage (4 hours - high cap, 24/7 support and repair) 6. Reliability - down time (solid - seldom goes down. Rep has had it for two years with no down time) 7. Constant speed (guaranteed up and down). 8. Should I get "business" DSL since I was going to run a server (no need since I work out of my home). This information came from both residential and business reps.
I contracted for 192-256k (depending on distance) and static IP with a total of six IPs to be obtained within two weeks, and placed the order. Had to go with voice (local and long distance service) and DSL for the promotion. They won't provide DSL only. They had a nice promo going, so the price was right. I was told it would take 30 - 45 days.
Friday:
Lo and behold, it took two weeks. I didn't even have the NIC installed in my pc and had made no arrangements to begin building the Linux box. Oh well... 
Saturday: The modem was delivered, but could not install since I did not have the NIC. 
Installed the NIC next day - Sunday evening.
Now the problems begin:
It's Sunday evening and I call to get my IP assignment. No one is there! They lied about 24/7 support for DSL. They do have 24/7 for voice, though. ARGGGGGGG! I asked what happens if there is a DSL outage at night. Answer: It will be repaired next day. They won't even take a trouble ticket at night. Again ARGGGGGGG! Try running a server on that basis! The tech person was totally unhelpful.
Next day:
I asked about 24/7 tech support and was told "oh yes, we have 24/7 support." I asked how come I was not told there was no DSL tech support on Sunday evening. Answer: "Oh they leave at 5:00 pm." I ask how come they say they have 24/7 support and repair when they don't? Answer: "Oh, DSL has different hours." Lies, lies, lies.
I call for IPs and am told I can have only one.
I am told I cannot run a server because it is residential.
I call the business dept and am told I must have a dba even though I am not operating a business in order to have business DSL and it still has the same type of service as residential. It just costs more and I can get a few more IPs. I still have to beg for them and give my life story. However, I can't have business DSL because I don't have a business (dba). Sheesh! All I want is to pay them more so I can have some IPs. I don't need a business phone. They really don't want my account!
After several calls, waiting on hold for a total of 3 hours and attempting to deal with the erroneous information I was given, I obtained five IPs (the residential limit, and which they can recall at any time). Great way to operate an internet server, huh? In order to justify the five IPs, I had to give my life story. I still can't have guaranteed service, though, since they don't work at night.
It is now the latter part of day one (23 hours since start up) and I've been down twice. When I called to find out why, they could not tell me. I had someone do a trace and found that their popis congested (badly) in Norfolk. Routing is crazy. latency is sky high. Tests to west coast failed for hours - probably bad routing.
I'm talking to DSL.net to see if they can offer decent service. I'll let you know.
------------------------------
Update 5/8/01
DSL.net was going to call me back with comparative pricing. I have not heard a word.
Meanwhile, I have had to make a few calls to tech support because of occational sporadic outages (momentary). They said "I don't know" so many times, it was frustrating.
To date, speed has not been consistent, but is above 220 up and down. SDSL is supposed to be the same up and down, but it is not - at least not on my connection. It usually tests either 4 or 5 times faster than 56k modem speed, so I am satisfied for now.
I'm not sure I would be happy with Cavalier for business service, but for residential it is very good and I recommend it over Cox cable.
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Review by jfs11795
Posted: 8.6 years ago
member for 9 years, 249 visits, last login: 3.8 years ago
Richmond,Richmond City,VA
$89 per month
about 14 days
Cavalier
CLEC party: Cavalier
"Great Price for a Great Speed"
"None yet, hopefully won't have any either"
"For fast broadband, get Cavalier DSL"
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I was previously a subscriber of AT&T Road Runner, it was way too slow. Capped at 1.5/300 but running around 128/64 during peak usage and not much faster during non-peak usage. Cavalier was quick about the install only took a couple weeks and their tech's don't treat you like your stupid. If you can get service with Cavalier, get it, you won't regret it................
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Review by jfreed804
Posted: 8.8 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 45 visits, last login: 6.8 years ago
Richmond,Henrico,VA
$76 per month
about 93 days
Cavalier
CLEC party: Cavalier
"DSL is fast and reliable"
"Takes too long to switch dial-tone to their service!!!"
"If your willing to wait, this DSL service is fast and always up!"
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I only wish the customer service was more forth coming with the time it would take to turn on the service. I got bounced back and forth between Ma' Bell and Cavailers techicians. I am more mad at Bell than Cavailer, but still they need to learn to stick up for their custumers more. Other than billing mess ups.... The service is great and I always get high speed KBs/sec upstream and down. Only buy from them if you have a couple of months to wait. but its worth it. I have used Media One (AT&T Broadband) and Ma' Bell (Verision) high speed internet services. They both are unreliable for hosting and never seem to deliver the speed I need and pay for. (Well this true for their home user services...their business services are fine)
Static IPs = $1 per IP per month
DSL Hardware = $150 or lease it $10 extra a month
dynamtic IP is standard.
1 phone filter for free.
3 megs of web space and 3 email accounts
no dialup access
Local phone service is included
free 3way calling
free 900 block
long distance through Cavalier
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Review by jjacobs
Posted: 8.8 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 10 visits, last login: 8.3 years ago
Virginia Beach,Virginia Beach City,VA
$89 per month (12 month contract)
about 22 days
Verizon
"Outstanding technical support."
"Line speed has not been up to par as advertised. Working on it though."
"I enjoy their service and would recommend them."
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I ordered 512Kbps up/dn with static IP at $89.00 month. This includes free local calling and $0.05 min long distance with various features (i.e. caller I.D. etc...) I ordered the service from their web site (after review of several) and called them to discuss various matters. Basically, I was looking for the Internet, long distance and local phone packages. Decided to go with CavTel. I was told the DSL install would take approx. 30 days. I was hooked up in 22 days. Bad note - I was expecting a call when the tech came out, but no call ever came. I received a call at work from the wife whom informed me that the tech had stopped by, left the modem and filters, gave her some instructions, a toll free phone number (for tech spt) and left. I arrived home, installed my NIC (tech could not do it), connected the PARADYNE MVL Modem ($149.00), turned on my computer and viola. Nothing... I immediately called tech spt. After some casual chit-chat and I informing the tech I was a bit savvy with computers, we configured, and re-configured my WIN 98 Network TCP/IP settings to no avail. Finally, we figured out that the CAT 5 cable the tech dropped off was the wrong one. He dropped off straight thru and I needed a crossover cable. So I built one and bingo, that was it, I was up and running. I have had no problems since then other than tweaking to get my connection up to the actual 512Kbps. When I said I would recommend CavTel, it is based upon their Technical Support folks. They are intelligent, personable folks and they do not talk down to you like some of those Support sites out there. I applaud them to keep up the good work. Jake
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Review by tentaclefiend
Posted: 8.9 years ago
member for 9 years, 31 visits, last login: 4.3 years ago
Virginia Beach,Virginia Beach City,VA
$109 per month (month by month)
about 35 days
"Awesome tech support (they actually know stuff!) Good service, Responsive"
"Long time to install, due to Verizon's policies regarding non-ADSL service"
"Excellent service, reccomended to anyone who can get it"
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What is there to say? i ordered the 768k/768k service, but due to a line problem i'm running at a rather variable rate (when i did finally call them on it they confirmed the problem and sent a tech out right away). Home equipment was a Paradyne MVL SDSL modem, i ordered 6 static ips ($.75 ea, 1st free). Order and install were a breeze, the salespeople even knew what they were selling, amazingly enough.
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Review by grotz
Posted: 8.9 years ago
member for 9 years, 22 visits, last login: 8.7 years ago
Richmond,Henrico,VA
$74 per month
about 21 days
Cavalier
"Fast! Smooth install and transition from old telco"
"N/A"
"Good all-around deal so far"
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Had to switch phone companies to Cavalier from Bell Atlantic, but that was extremely smooth. Kept the same number, etc. CavTel showed up less than an hour after Bell Atlantic and total install time was less than an hour. So far it's smooth sailing at about 375mBps. I'll post a follow up after a couple weeks.
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Review by rapids8
Posted: 9 years ago
member for 9 years, 44 visits, last login: 4.5 years ago
Richmond,Henrico,VA
$76 per month
about 25 days
Cavalier
"Reliable, Quick, Tech Support Great, Install a breeze"
"Slightly excessive 'on hold' time awaiting tech support"
"GREAT service, Extremely pleased."
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ordered 384k/384k, Tests from this site, by way of NY test site, consistently show 330K+ down. Install process excellent, equip is Paradyne Hot Wire MVL modem, static IP. Cost includes DSL and phone, with several phone options. Installation was a breeze: Plugged in modem, tech support walked me through the setup quickly. I have had NO ISP related problems since install. One throughput problem caused by one of my older NICs. Cavtel tech support helped in determining solution to problem. I am VERY satisfied with Cavtel, and recommend the service to anyone.
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