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Still a customer and still happy. My speeds have gone up and my monthly bill has gone down (5220/620). And I still have my static IP and still do *not* have a restriction as to running servers, etc. I'd still gladly recommend TOL! Many, many years into my relationship with TOL. Speeds have done nothing but gone up (I'm now averaging over 2450 down and 440 up). Customer service has remained consistently first class. The only problems I have ever had (one or two) were with SBC and TOL ran interference for me to get those resolved quickly. If you want to be treated right, this is where you HAVE to be. member for 23.3 years, 569 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago updated 13.5 years ago
Ordered over the phone and was setup the day they said it would be. They were easy to work with as I was moving into a house and had to ship my modem to an address that was not my house. I have never had to call them as their service is rock solid and never out. The biggest down side is that you have to have an AT&T phone which I never use and adds about $15 to my cost and another bill each month. In summary, they may be a little more than AT&T but I think working with people who know what they are doing and have a solid network are worth it to me. member for 19.6 years, 884 visits, last login: 5.1 years ago lodged 13.9 years ago
I dropped Cable in Houston after the Switch to Comcast (It's Sucktastic!). Following this change, I sought out a new ISP. I was done with major corporations, and given that Comcast owns the only major network in town my choices were fairly circumspect. After a perfunctory search of Broadband Reports and the Web at large (Google, thank you) I turned up a small independent ISP called Oplink. I read their plain website and communicated exactly what I was looking for - people who understand what they are doing, but don't have the orgy of usless 'features' shoved down our throats by corporate America. I placed an order for their "Basic" (1.5/385) service a day after ordering my landline service from AT&T (I was wire-less until the decision to do DSL) - this is how Oplink recommends you order new service, and then sat back and waited. In response to my e-mail, withing 12 hours, Oplink had replied with a very informative e-mail telling me exactly (to 100 feet) how far I was away from the nearest DSL head-end (13,200 feet), what service I had ordered and how soon I could expect it to "go live." The modem arrived on schedule, and given my unfamiliarity with DSL modems I am as yet uncertain of the ultimate quality of the hardware, it is a Westell Wirespeed (Model number not clearly listed, perhaps 890?). Initially, due to the existence of several "bridge taps" on my line, I was unable to get connectivity on my line. This was an egineering problem of AT&T's - and from the moment I detected the problem, Oplink was on the ball - and within 4Hours had an answer to me from AT&T - explaining very clearly what the problem was, and how long it would take to fix it. (It's AT&T's crappy network design, not Oplink - who is 'leasing' the last mile from them). This issue was resolved within five days (despite requiring AT&T personnel to actually go out and repair the lines), and my service was active a day earlier than Oplink promised. I received a phone call the day before the issue was to be repaired informing me that it would be fixed, and service was restored that day (1 day before promised). Please note that the 11 days quoted in the notes above includes 1) Labor Day weekend holiday, and 2) 5 days to repair the poorly executed lines on AT&T's network. Following the service activation, I began running speed tests as the connection felt much slower than what I was accustomed to with Cable. (Of course, with a drop from 6Mbps to 1.5Mbps, what would you expect). Initial results were disappointing. On all servers tested, my results have been in the neighborhood of 300Kbps upstream and 250Kbps down. I state this with the caveat that given my inexperience with DSL and my past experience with more bandwidth I may be unfairly judging the service provided, however as compared with the stated maximums I am disappointed with performance. My distance from the cable company may be a function of this "failure," an issue I am trying to get clarification from Oplink on as we speak. So as of right now, my final thoughts are: +Excellent Customer Service, best from ANY ISP I have dealth with, by far +Seamless installation process +Works great with the obstinate and belligerent local phone company to get results for their customers (or at least answers) +Great communication with customers -Bandwidth measured doesn't match with bandwidth quoted Overall, I recommend Oplink, especially if your distance from the Phone Company is very low, if only to support small business and competition (though their killer service helps out quite a bit). >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> After getting in touch with Oplink on the bandwidth issue, they confirmed my suspicions that due to my distance from the DSLAM, I would be unable to receive the quoted bandwidth. They were completely up front about the technical issues, and offered me the opportunity to "opt-out" of my contract (a 12 month deal) as a result of the service issues. While I am disappointed that I can't get the max speed, still - Oplink handled this situation incredibly professionally, and their understanding and willingness to "level with me" as a customer was refreshing. I am uncertain if I will be remaining with Oplink, but let me say that their service thus far as demonstrated is a massive vote in their favor. I will definitely be considering continuing service with them, even with the bandwidth reductions. If you are closer to the DSLAM - I would recommend them over any other carrier. UPDATE: Exit Review The exit/cancellation process is pretty straightforward. At the time of cancellation I was month-to-month; this meant I could turn off my service at anytime. I called Oplink during regular business hours; after 2 minutes on the phone I had cancelled the service and received an e-mail detailing how to return their hardware. They even offer a drop-off option to save the shipping costs. One aspect of the cancellation I'd like to mention as a positive - Oplink didn't try or even mention anything that sounded remotely like trying to sell me back into their service. This may be because I wasn't wanted as a customer (who knows?) but I think they didn't want to undercut my decisions. It was nice to speak to a rep who's sole focus wasn't to sell me into something. Oplink Support is the best. I had Oplink service for approximately a year and a half. During that time I was thrilled with the service they provided. If the company has one weakness, it is that it is not the ILEC in this area. If you can get Oplink service, I would recommend it. Their support is simply the best, their service is excellent. I left Oplink because I was lured by the simplicity of doing it all under one roof (not to mention the cost savings). It remains to be seen if this will play out - but I would urge anyone looking for internet service to consider Oplink. The best ISP I have worked with. member for 19.9 years, 320 visits, last login: 8.8 years ago updated 14.7 years ago
I had AT&T DSL since 98 or 99 when they were SWBell, and even worked for them as a DSL technical supervisor for 2 years(before it all got outsourced), but after dealing with their support recently (or lack thereof) I knew it was time to switch. Now I can speak with a technician and actually understand what they are saying! With AT&T DSL I was having problems with high latency, even just going to Dallas. 70-110ms pings which was just unacceptable for this distance. They were routing me through New Jersey and back to Washington for some reason just to get 250 miles away. I e-mailed Oplink support to find out about switching at around 5pm, and to my surprise I received a personalized e-mail from Dan THAT night close to 8:30pm with detailed answers to all of my questions. I e-mailed him back the next morning to see if they could run a tracert for me to see what my pings would be like, and I got an e-mail back with a tracert from a DSL line at their office within just a few hours. I can't get this kind of service from most other ISPs even as their customer. I ordered DSL Wednesday, woke up this morning at around 7am (Friday) and noticed my PPPoE connection from AT&T was disconnected. Set my router to DHCP, changed my MTU, and within 10 minutes I was connected. Very minimal downtime with their "hot swap" process. My pings have gone from an average of 80ms down to 14ms and are extremely stable. I am very happy with the low latency and speed of their DNS resolution. Oplink must be doing something right! Thanks Dan, Nic, and Ryan for all your help in this process and I look forward to being your customer for a long time. You guys work very hard, and know how to take care of your customers. member for 15.1 years, 3 visits, last login: 15.1 years ago updated 15.1 years ago
I've had Oplink for a month now and have not had a single problem. Received the Wirespeed modem overnight, plugged it in a couple of days prior to my due date and it was on. I had no 'dial tone' from ATT at first, so I had to call them to have it fixed before I could get DSL, but once that was on, I got a connection and it hasn't dropped since. Due to my distance from the CO I can only get the 1.5 line. 6 static IP's is nice, and alot cheaper than it would have been with Comcast. Ordering online and setting up account details was easy, never have had to call them. The only telephone call was them calling me to tell me I was too far away for the faster line. member for 15.2 years, 4 visits, last login: 14.2 years ago lodged 15.2 years ago
I have moved around a lot and used many companies for my email service. While Oplink is not perfect, the others are far from perfect and do not care at all about their customers. Oplink does a great job. While they do not have the slick phone system to handle calls, inquiries, tech support, etc, they have people that will answer the phone and take care of your needs. Being small also means that they might experience some delays in getting back to you. However, you do not end up on the phone with the big guy for an hour being transferred all over the place before being cut off. member for 15.3 years, driveby review (so far) updated 15.3 years ago
Only considered their slowest connection for broadband, which is still faster than the rate from the other co. ⢠What SPEED/package did you order, at what monthly price? Ordered the 1.5 package @ about $25/month ⢠How was the order & install process? Plug & Play! That easy, box arrived by overnight FedEx & I plugged it in. Just like ordering & first using a Mac. ⢠What brand/model was the supplied equipment? Generic, but it works just fine. ⢠What good or bad experiences most struck you? The personal replies from the guys, even after hours! member for 15.3 years, 1 visits, last login: 13.5 years ago lodged 15.3 years ago
I used Time Warner, Earthlink and Comcast from early 2001 through August 2007. I started with Oplink after having read the positive reviews on DSL Reports. The instructions for getting the best rate from AT&T for a DSL line were valuable. Coordination between AT&T and Oplink on the startup was excellent. I have not had to return a modem or do a reinstallation. I use my connection for internet and VOIP. I have had service at 3 Mbps. I recently switched to 6 Mbps. The service is stable. I have experienced minimal downtime. Technical support is always knowledgeable and courteous. member for 15.4 years, 4 visits, last login: 13.3 years ago updated 15.4 years ago
Oplink is a fantastic ISP. They are small enough to give you the 1 on 1 care you need ,as well as big enough to support large scale enterprise solutions. Their speeds are great, really as much as DSL can give you..... -- People are nice, and they even have an AIM scree name which makes contacting them very easy! member for 22 years, 5 visits, last login: 15.4 years ago lodged 15.4 years ago
I discovered Oplink.net here at DSLReports in March of 2006. I switched from Time Warner's Road Runner service. I couldn't be happier with the reliability of their DSL service. My only issues I have had were related to my DLink router, and they were extremely helpful in diagnosing my problem. I have the 6.0Mbps Down/ 768Kbps service with 5 static ips. Their maximum bandwith speeds aren't as high as the fastest Road Runner packages, but the latency is much lower ( that is a good thing! ). I believe that web browsing is actually faster than Road Runner due to the lower latency. I know for certain that they do not block any TCP ports or restrict P2P applications. member for 15.4 years, 1 visits, last login: 15.4 years ago lodged 15.4 years ago |