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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | Pay For A Modem With A New Account? So I am helping a client switch from Speakeasy (glacial speeds and they can't seem to get anything fixed) to ATT, and we call in to order a new account.
The CSR tells me that they are charging $49 for the modem. On a new account!
This is news to me - I know that if your modem tanks you will probably have to pay for a new one, but this was for a new account. Pretty brazen - the client asked me to call Comcrap instead. I resisted and am asking everyone here if this is now policy or maybe I just ran into an ignorant CSR?
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borked
Cheese With That Whine?
Premium
join:2003-08-10
Kalamazoo, MI | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Ordering on-line will get you a free modem AR. | |
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wayjac
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-22
Indy
·AT&T Midwest
| New online orders pay for the modem upfront
$49.99 shipping $13.95 plus state tax
$49.99 mail in rebate
No voice line orders dont get the rebate
The modem's have a one year warranty
Maybe you can use the speakeasy modem?
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God bless our troops | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Guess it is available to online orders but not over the phone.
Of course we could not get online - that's why we were looking into another ISP. But I can do it from here.
Also, the Speakeasy modem is an ancient Xycel (sp). I could possibly use it, but it's doubtful.
But as it stands, I just found out they are 16,000' from the CO and can only get Elite at the best. Seeing as Speakeasy has them on a 1.5 downstream as well, I wonder if ATT can do any better. They also have some issues with their POTS line - static, which in my experience often means a wet or loose connection down in the vault somewhere. Maybe if they can fix that they will be able to get decent throughput, but right now I hate to say that I'm considering Comcrap for these folks, much as I hate it.
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Dennis
Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-26
Algonquin, IL | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? 16k? Yeah 1.5mb at best.... | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Thanks Dennis - I agree.
"At best" is the key clause.
If they got 1mb, or even 768k it would be OK, but they are getting under 500k, so it may be best to hold my nose and order cable.
They are off of Fullerton and Halsted - I can't believe that ATT doesn't provide in that wealthy area better, they could get a lot of business - and according to WolfDragon in Direct, nobody around there has better than Express.
Any other opinions out there?
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| | | | | RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Are they getting 'under 500k' with Speakeasy now? Is it ADSL or SDSL? Do you know who the DCLEC is providing service?
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Hi Doc!
Yes, although when the COVAD guy was there he claimed he got 700 down at the NID, in practice they are not getting better than 300 down, usually somewhere around 100 - 200. There was some sort of issue with the connection at the CO, and ATT fixed it yesterday - no change at the house though.
It's COVAD. It is ADSL - 1.5 down and 3-something up. They are getting full bandwidth upstream. Static IP.
I hate to go Comcrap, but unless they can do something about bandwidth, I have very little choice.
Oh yeah, heavy static on the POTS. We've called it in, but ATT will only "send out a tech" to check things outside the house. My guess from experience is that the static is caused by a bad connection or wet cable in an underground vault somewhere close - probably beneath Fullerton somewhere. If the tech doesn't find something that may be incorrect. And I promise you they are not going to go inside the walls of their lovely Lincoln Park townhouse.
Ironically, the client is a major lawyer whose biggest client is Verizon - he's buddy-buddy with Ivan Seidenberg, the CEO. Doesn't help him in this market.
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Illegitimati non carborundum
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Is this line shared?
LOL, re: Ivan. Figures doesn't it? I know a couple of retired (very) high level execs whose names would raise an eyebrow but that doesn't do me a bit of good at the gas pump... 
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Well, I keep telling the guy to somehow get us exclusive FIOS accounts. No joy to date. 
Yeah, it's a line-share. The first thing Speakeasy did was send them a new modem and filters. I hooked up the modem and swapped all their old filters for the new ones. No difference.
Both the ancient Xycel and the new Broadextent (sp?) work the same - they get some sync, then they lose it, then they get it, then they come up with sync for about an hour, then they go down, and on and on.
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Illegitimati non carborundum
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Not that it would probably matter but ATT does have a little more interest in fixing lines for their own DSL customers. The 'direct' forum here may be able to do things that the phone-in trouble folks can't (or don't wanna).
Of course that requires taking the plunge.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Well, I was on the verge yesterday - woulda dine it if it hadn't been for the no-free-modem thing.
I already have Wolfdragon at Direct doing a pre-qual. I replied, mentioning the POTS situation. We'll see if they come up with anything this week - the tech will be out between now and Friday. Meanwhile, I coaxed the Speakeasy account back up at glacial speeds, so at least they can read their email.
I'll report back as soon as we know if they have made a good-faith effort to get rid of the static. If it is in the house they are SOL and we are better off removing the ISP from the POTS. This is all for the wife - the hubby/big-shot is a crackberry addict and doesn't bother with anything else. 
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| OK, the static is gone from the line - and a tech is supposed to go into the NID (which is in the basement) tomorrow.
So it seems there has been some outside work done. Downstream speed has increased from about 100kbps to over 300, and ended up hovering at about 700kbps.
SO there has been improvement on it.
Now the question is, should I switch her over to ATT (they won't promise more than Express, which is what Speakeasy has her at, on the hope that ATT can do better than Speakeasy/Covad.
They are 10,000' from the CO.
Some other differences, that may or may not matter:
Speakeasy uses a static IP, and doesn't use PPPOE. That's about it.
Think I should switch them? Stay with Speakeasy? Hold my nose and move em to Comcrap, which would be easy because the router is very close to where the TV cable comes in.
My recent experiences with Comcrap on the TV side, and several other recent situations with clients Internet connections staying unstable because it took them several months to admit they had to boost the signal - endless, pointless, bad tech visits, missed, appointments, the usual, certainly recommend against it, but damn - these folks aren't getting any bandwidth at all - always well under 768.
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Can you get any stats out of that modem?
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
1 edit | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Nope - it's an old, dumb Xycel.
I mean, maybe, like you can coax them out of a 5100A, but there isn't any firmware in there that I know if.
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? Damn, that's too bad. Would be really nice to know what the attenuation, et. al. is now after the repair. 700something sounds reasonable for a line running at 896 raw sync.
I may have a modem I can loan you that can cough out line specs if you want to try it.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? I have an old westell wirespeed around here somewhere, and a 5100b. It's just a straight DHCP connection so I can just plug it in and see what shows up.
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? That would be helpful. I suspect that the line stats have significantly improved.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL | Re: Pay Ofr A Modem With A New Account? No question - it's reflected in the improvement in the POTS. Static gone, voice quality is high.
I'll be up there again on Monday afternoon.
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| mtmra70
Premium
join:2001-03-22
Portage, MI | I know it depends on your area, but for me Comcast was far better than DSL...for both speed and price. | |
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? May be true in central Michigan. Certainly isn't here.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? We've both talked about how cable technology is limited and old. But for me the biggest issue is CUSTOMER SERVICE. yeah, ATT's ain't award-winning, but Comcrap's is as bad as any I have ever encountered anywhere, any time, any place, including socialist countries I have had to work in at various times.
Everything breaks sometimes. So it's a matter of being able to not spend hours and hours dealing with it when it does, and having minimally competent personnel and support infrastructure to deal with the problems when they occur.
For example:
-- Almost any issue with Comcast will require a truck roll, and we all know about the cable guy - missed appointments, etc.
-- Comcast denies they have an executive complaints department when in fact they do. It's an outright LIE.
-- The issue elevation process at Comcast is obscure - you don't know who you are talking to or what level they are on.
-- ATT has a tangible tier structure - you can demand to get elevated to tier 2.
-- Although not always the case, tier 2 personnel tend to be more competent, have more experience, and have more effective tools at their disposal.
So the differences are clear to me, even taking away my opinion about the "elegance" of DSL vs 75 ohm coax and the built-in problems both systems have and the issues all of us have faced with ATT.
Finally, for whatever it is worth, ATT seems to at least try to fix their broken support infrastructure. A good example is Direct, on this site. Comcast has done nothing as far as I can tell, even after the monitor-smashing grandma made the national media. It's about SERVICE!
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
2 edits | Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? The irony is that ATT's customer service structure was spawned by their regulated environment which holds them to at least some minimum level of both product service and customer service. Cable (Comcast in particular) has never been in that situation and their organization grows from the wild early days of cable (1970's) when cities were kissing their asses just to get wired with 25 channels.
ATT is nobody's poster child for service excellence, but let me relate a true Comcast story from last month:
Location, Naples, FL.
My soon-to-arrive tenants want HBO. Being the nice landlord I am I said I would take care of that for them while I was there so they didn't have to waste their time. The building is totally wired and has cable, and has had converter boxes before. Called Comcast. Earliest truck roll: 12 days out.
Me: Well, all I need are the two converter boxes. I won't be here 12 days from now.
Them: That's the earliest we can have someone there.
Me: Can I just come and pick them up? I have no problem installing myself since the outlets are live and I've done it before.
Them: Yes you could do that I guess.
Me: When can I pick them up? (It was about 6 PM at the time).
Them: Tomorrow morning.
Me: You already have my account information, right?
Them: Yes.
Got address of closest Comcast office (a brand new one not even on their website yet.)
Went in next day and picked up converters. Total time spent: 30 minutes.
Now...I bring them home, hook one up to the brand-new 20" HDTV in the master bedroom. After it goes through it's initialization it works fine.
Next day: Install the second one in the living room. Nothing. Just sits there after init. Checked status page on box. Reads same as bedroom unit.
Call Comcast's tech support number that box is displaying.
Me: Have a problem with one digital box. Other one is fine.
Them: You got one of them to work without calling in? Wow!
Me: Uh, yeah. Can you tickle this one and wake it up?
Them: I can't believe you got one to work on the first try!
Me: I guess I should go buy a lottery ticket.
Them: I'm sending the signal now.
Me: Yup, it's working. Thanks.
Total time on phone: 5 minutes.
For this they needed me to wait 12 days for a truck roll. 
Moral of story: There are people at Comcast that know what they are doing, can actually do it, and probably wish they were allowed to do it. Unfortunately the corporate atmosphere does not nurture competence. That the phone tech was surprised anything worked was sad. Even sadder is "not working" seems to be the norm instead of the exception. I wonder how much money they waste on totally unnecessary truck rolls? I doubt they care though...the cost is just passed onto the customers and there is no incentive to do any better. Which is the real problem.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? Occasionally I have gotten someone who knows what they are doing, but 99% of the time it's lies or BS or plain old idiocy and ignorance.
All this speaks to the level of training that level one CSRs get from Comcrap. The funny thing is, I often get a call center in Edmonton or some such frozen Canadian place. In my experience, Canadians tend to be nicer and sometimes smarter than Yanks, but these folks seem to be hired under Comcast rules; communications skill not essential.
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| | | | mtmra70
Premium
join:2001-03-22
Portage, MI
·AT&T Midwest
| said by jsinaiko  :We've both talked about how cable technology is limited and old. But for me the biggest issue is CUSTOMER SERVICE. yeah, ATT's ain't award-winning, but Comcrap's is as bad as any I have ever encountered anywhere, any time, any place, including socialist countries I have had to work in at various times. Again, I disagree and again, it must be regional. Every time I called Comcast tech support, I was connected to an English speaking technician, in the state, that actually knew about my problem. Whether it was the fiber upgrade causing slow up streams, the local node loosing power or my past due bill, their techs that answered the call (usually in less than 5 min after placing the call) were very knowledgable and I was always left satisfied (whether or not my problem was fixed on the call).
Of course, I love how AT&T has this forum with very knowledgable techs...but I'll be damned if I will ever call them on the phone. Other than local billing person and ASI tech I spoke with once, all AT&T reps I have ever spoken with have been rude, unknowledgable and just plain frustraiting.
It's a love/hate relationship with both companies I guess. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? The language is never a problem, it's the relative state of service. As bad as it can get here in the Chicago area. Seriously.
AT&T is not so great, but Comcast is truly the worst I have ever seen.
I don't know where Portage MI is - and I spend a lot of time in SW Michigan - but they must have extraordinary management or something.
Not so much down here.
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| | | | | | mtmra70
Premium
join:2001-03-22
Portage, MI
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? said by jsinaiko :The language is never a problem, it's the relative state of service. As bad as it can get here in the Chicago area. Seriously. AT&T is not so great, but Comcast is truly the worst I have ever seen. I don't know where Portage MI is - and I spend a lot of time in SW Michigan - but they must have extraordinary management or something. Not so much down here. Well, Portage Mi is exacly halfway between Chicago and Detriot. But Vicksburg is where Comcast is (about 10min south of Portage). I *think* their call center is somewhere in the middle to upper part of the state. | |
| | | | | | | mtmra70
Premium
join:2001-03-22
Portage, MI | Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? And one other thing, since they appear to filter content *cough* bit torrents* *cough* by region, I can see why Chicago might suck where as my area doesnt. I never once had issues with ant BTs I down/uploaded but many others cry wolf. | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL | Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? It's the service too - really, really, really, really bad.
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borked
Cheese With That Whine?
Premium
join:2003-08-10
Kalamazoo, MI
| I've had the opposite experence. I live in Texas Twp. (just down the road from Portage) and when I moved here a few months ago Comcrap quoted me $175.00 a month for the internet/cable I wanted.
Went with AT&T/Dish for the same programing for $130.00. Internet is 6M instead of 10M. The contact I've had with the AT&T CSRs have always been great and they have always had the right answers to any questions I've had. The DSL has been rock solid.
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It is much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem.
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) | |
| lgmayka
join:2001-08-21
Aurora, IL | My friend turned down the $50 modem. Will he still get a self-install kit that includes filters (probably for a $13 shipping charge)? | |
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jsinaiko
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Pay For A Modem With A New Account? Good question - I have no idea. my guess would be that he won't get anything - that the $50 is for the entire self-install kit - which would seem to be self-defeating on the part of AT&T in that a lack of filters will cause problems, which will take time, which will cost AT&T dough, although maybe not $50.
I'd call 877-722-3755 and ask.
It still may be offered for free or with the rebate card on the website.
Also, as others have pointed out, it's easy to find a 4100 or 5100 on eBay for about $20 - $30 bucks, and a lot of the time you get the entire self-install kit.
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | The $50 modem is the self install kit. They rebate that cost. Your friend won't be getting anything.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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