tw
@bellsouth.net | reply to Network Engineer
Re: Message from NextPhase CEO
re: President's message
This would have a lot more credibility if I saw it as a news release on Yahoo Finance. |
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acceleration
join:2007-06-12
Gainesville, FL
| reply to staijo
Re: speed factory seems to be no more....
Based on what several of you have said here, sounds like most of Speedfactory's equipment is still powered and online. Just that their main (and apparently only) Internet connection was shut down or got accidentally cut. That or the router that they use to connect to their upstream blew up. Regardless, this isn't the type of thing that normally takes 4-5 days to repair. Even if their main Internet connection was delivered to a site outside a central office or carrier facility and they had a complete fiber cut, those are usually repaired same day or worse case, next day. With an equipment failure, you'd at MINIMUM expect they have service contracts in place to get replacement hardware out within 24-hours (see Cisco advance replacement contracts). We actually keep full chassis backup spares in place AND Cisco (and other vendor) replacement contracts, so we're double covered and have immediate replacements on hand. I just can't believe they didn't do either.
As part of a maturing ISP, you learn from things like this. So let's assume it's not a financial issue (not paying their bill and getting shut down), I would have to think they do put a system in place of backup hardware or replacement contract after this. They'll lose more clients and revenue from this probably one-hundred fold over what it would have cost them to have spare equipment on hand or a replacement contract available (as little as $2000/yr in some cases). In retrospect, it will be a terrible oversight. That's assuming this has something to do with equipment, which doesn't completely add up. I think the people talking about financial distress may be on to something here because it just seems crazy they wouldn't have been able to get a piece of equipment replaced in this many days.
For those of you that are going to stick with Speedfactory, hold them accountable and demand an explanation of what steps they have taken to ensure this doesn't happen again. You all probably pay Speedfactory more than you would Bellsouth/AT&T to have service and this should be due to their high-level customer support and great uptime. Right now you're getting neither. |
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sf_customer
@ga.us | reply to staijo
I've got 2 months left on a 1 year contract. I've read enough here to say, assuming sf lasts at long, I'm going elsewhere June 14. |
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Moishe
@alter.net
| I wonder: Has anyone tracked down who Speedfactory/NextPhase buys bandwidth from and called them to get the low-down? I would think that would be able to answer some of the speculative questions written here like, Is their main provider line down; was there an equipment failure, or is their service terminated?
I'm sure some of the sleuths who are writing in this forum would be resourcful enough to do that.
Does that make sense? |
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ByeSFHelloAtNex
@atlanticnexus.net
| Their upstream is/was provided by PAETEC. Whoever said, "their main (and apparently only) Internet connection was shut down or got accidentally cut," I realize you are trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here, but if it was cut accidentally, do you really think it would take 3-4 days to repair?
It sounds like these guys at Jersey.net may actually care, but it is painfully clear that the parent company does not. It's too late for me anyway.
Unless you really believe this was accidental, how do you think they are going to get service restored to hundreds or thousands of Atlanta customers if their current provider cut them off? Do you think another carrier is willing to take a risk? Look at their SEC filings. Good luck to you if you hang on. |
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jbchatham
join:2002-01-17
Atlanta, GA | reply to staijo
They seem to be back on the air now. I'm not with them anymore but a coworker was and he can get to his addresses again (as well as the real website remotely). |
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RedKnight
join:2008-04-13
Snellville, GA
 ·Atlantic Nexus
1 edit | reply to Moishe
Moishe, earlier in this thread:
MissingSF@bellsouth.net (2008-04-12 13:50:38): "A reliable source at PAETEC (formerly US LEC), their (only) upstream provider, told me that PAETEC disconnected them for nonpayment of $64k."
and see »Re: Quck summary of the situation with Speedfactory which says the same thing
However compare:
Athens_SF@siskin.com (2008-04-14 09:58:06 in this thread): "I have a high-level contact at Paetec who handles the Speed Factory account. I talked to him this morning (Mon. 4/14). He said he has been begging for Paetec to cut off their service to Speed Factory for months, for non-payment. However, he says their records show that Speed Factory is still a live customer, that Paetec HAS NOT discontinued service to Speed Factory." |
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ByeSFHelloAtNex
@atlanticnexus.net | reply to jbchatham
Maybe...I see routes are behaving a little different than just a few minutes ago, and now their phones are getting answered by their phone system, but calls are getting disconnected immediately. |
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DayTrader13
@speedfactory.net
| reply to staijo
Thank you, CEO, but no thank you. . .
I've been with speedfactory for over 5 years, and I've loved the service. I've always been a big supporter of speedfactory until now. I can understand outages, but this was unprecedented. In addition, the supposed message from the CEO (if it's even real), is completely insulting -- a free month of service!!!! This is nothing compared to the revenue lost and costs racked up by this outage and the speedfactory's failed continuity of operations plan. One of the things I'm most upset about is the fact that I've been paying monthly for 5-years for the dial-up backup plan to ensure I could connect to the internet in case of an incident like this, however, when I attempted to use my dial-up backup through speedfactory, my userid and password were not recognized. I'm formally requested all 5 years of backup service payments be returned to me.
Bellsouth/AT&T are a much better deal anyway. 6Mbs at cheaper cost. I don't think I can beat that. I have lost all faith in speedfactory and nextphase. If only you could should OTCBB stocks like nextphase -- if you could, I'd probably recoup some of my lost revenues and then some. There stock tanked today, and I expect to see more. . . I think I know what the "Next Phase" will be-- bankruptcy. These jokers don't have a clue how to run a business or maintain positive cash flow.
Good luck to you.
Sorry to say, but I'm no longer a speedfactory customer. |
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teradude
join:2008-04-13
Cumming, GA
| reply to Network Engineer
Re: Message from NextPhase CEO
thnx NetworkEngineer for the posting from prez Robert Ford. Too little way too late. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
They have lost well over a hundred customers and maybe HUNDREDS in past 3 days. Atnex alone has provisioned over 100 of us SF-refugees from what i read.
For me to stay with SF is to invite another outage when their insufficient revenue stream [lost hundreds] hits them in 30-45 days. Besides, as others have said, it was handled unprofessionally and stumble-bum. Of course having it happen on a Friday was the worst possible that could nail them. It clearly was a lack of payment to an upstream provider, not a data center disaster. They seem to be scrambling, as a new company who bought out our old company SpeedFactory, to learn how to be an ISP as they go. But as other techs here have noted, SF lost its good techs with bad mgmt and poor compensation at least a year ago.
There was no one competent here to lead the recovery when it happened Friday. The mgmt was staring at one another it appears to me. Not even basic communication vehicle alternatives were set up to comfort us or lie to us LOL.
I fortunately have an expired contract with them. I will be trying to
- get refund on my payment of April 1 and
- stop future payments, or as suggested in this forum, cancel this credit card number and get a new one so they can't siphon off our payments while we are gone!
Has anyone seen ANYTHING on ACJ or TV or yahoo or Clark Howard? I am amazed this has gotten no national coverage. A reporter could build an entire article out of this forum posts. THis thread here on dslreports is a fascinating minute by minute expose of the death of a company and the resilience and savvy of its customers to recover and help each other! The Net at its best. |
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TomHemingway
@exo.com
| Please call me at 714 765 0010 tomorrow and I will gladly refund the portion you request. If you leave us as a customer I understand and we will still take care of you.
We are all upset over what happened at Speed Factory, however I assure you the procedures we are implementing will stop this in the future.
I wish you all the best at your new provider and we will gladly assist you in any way possible.
Tom Hemingway
COO |
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TomHemingway
@exo.com
| reply to DayTrader13
Re: Thank you, CEO, but no thank you. . .
I thank you for your finacial assesment of our company. However, our stock closed exactly where it opened.
I wish you all great success at your new ISP. You are welcome to call me and discuss markets anytime you would like. I am sure I do not have the vast experience you do. But I will try my best to keep up.
I wish you all the best and am willing to help in any way I can.
Tom Hemingway
COO |
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RCDNeed4Speed
@regencyhospital.com
| reply to staijo
Re: speed factory seems to be no more....
Checking in...
My SpeedFactory Internet service is up. 
My SpeedFactory email is having problems (can only retrieve mail from one out of three POP mailboxes)  |
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DayTrader13
@speedfactory.net
| reply to staijo
Tom,
You are quite right about your closing stock price. Last time I looked, it had tanked to a low of .72 PPS. Given that your volume was only at 6,975 shares today, that doesn't say a whole lot. Only 100 shares traded at 1.01 at the close. All other shares trades about 20 lower than that during the day. Look at the longer time frame of what the company has done. It was trading at twice the PPS today at 2.05 on January 2.
Good luck to you and your company as well. I wish you sucess -- you certainly have a huge job to do.
Thanks. |
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RCDNeed4Speed
@regencyhospital.com
| reply to TomHemingway
Re: Message from NextPhase CEO
We are all upset over what happened at Speed Factory, however I assure you the procedures we are implementing will stop this in the future. Mr. Hemingway,
For those of us who are thinking of giving SpeedFactory a second chance could you elaborate on the details:
* What events happened that caused the outage?
* What will be done to prevent it from happening (network, operations (including manpower), etc.)?
* How will SpeedFactory address the impact this has had on its customers (business and residential)?
Thanks,
RCD |
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DayTrader13
@speedfactory.net | reply to staijo
Re: Thank you, CEO, but no thank you. .
Tom,
I'd love to call you to discuss the markets, but every time I try, I get an "all circuits are busy now" message. . . |
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RCDNeed4Speed
@regencyhospital.com | reply to staijo
Re: speed factory seems to be no more....
My SpeedFactory email is back up! |
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invalidname
join:2000-12-24
Grand Rapids, MI
| reply to Network Engineer
Re: Message from NextPhase CEO
The following is a message direct from the CEO of NextPhase Wireless parent company of Speedfactory. It would have more credibility if posted from a non-anonymous account, or if this same text had been e-mailed to all Speed Factory customers.
I see the Speed Factory web page is back up, but at this point I've already signed up with Abraxis, and sent a snail mail to SF directing them to terminate my account. Even if the company is still in business, a multi-day outage with zero accountability or responsiveness is totally unacceptable, so I don't regret moving on in the slightest.
--Chris |
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sherwin1
Premium
join:2002-04-12
Buford, GA
| reply to Network Engineer
You might try posting something on the front page of your web site, especially since neither of my mail logins works so I can't even tell if you sent something to members.
Your phone is still are returning "all circuits are busy."
We're cancelling all our corporate accounts - this was the last straw. Taking over two months last summer to get BellSouth to fix my DSL circuit used up all my prior good will.
If you're really offering a free month, let me know how to apply it to your last charge. It will save you the chargeback fees. |
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FormerCustomer
@comcast.net
| reply to staijo
Re: speed factory seems to be no more....
My email is back. I had left Speedfactory a long time ago for my internet but kept an email with them.
Some of you that left may need to do what I did for convenience . . . buy a low level speedfactory email account. It is $5/month. That way you can transition to a new email if you used speedfactory.
This outage made me realize that I need to be more diligent about using my own domain email which is hosted elsewhere. Having your own domain is a wise choice.
I really feel badly for Speedfactory. As an IT person, I know that when things go south . . . hours of diligent effort is unappreciated. If they did have a hardware problem, someone sweated this out for them and I just want to thank that person. |
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