Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC
 ·Embarq
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
 ·Northland Cable Te..
 ·Dish Network
2 edits |  So Long Embarq...
After 2 months of putting up with a shoddy connection and numerous fruitless calls to Embarq support, I will be calling it quits with Embarq. Northland Cable is coming to install service in a few days after which I will cancel my dry loop service.
It didn't have to come to this, as I really wanted to stick with Embarq, but when you're dealing with latency in the 500-800 ms range during the evening (which is the only time I actually use my home internet connection), there really isn't any other choice.
My smokeping: »/r3/smokeping.···19b59.NY
I am neighbors with an Embarq technician and I spoke with him about the issue. He acknowledged that the remote we are pulling out of is definitely oversold, but that there were no plans to upgrade the bandwidth to the DSLAM...so unless people started canceling their service, the problem will not go away.
Embarq had many things going for it...better price, better customer service, but when I can't use my internet connection when I'm actually at home, there is little incentive to keep shelling out money for service I can't use.
*Edit*
I must mention that I've had the service for nearly a year. I first received service last November or so in the Cross Hill area, and my connection was fantastic. It wasn't until I moved closer to Greenwood (a much larger town) back in June that my connection deteriorated.
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ozar
Premium
join:2008-04-13
USA
·Embarq
|  Congratulations on your internet services upgrade, zach_lloyd!
My own DSL services with Embarq have been horrible for the last year, so I too am looking for the opportunity to jump ship, and will be doing so as soon as I can find another ride.
Best of luck with your new provider.
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oz |
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Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC | Thanks...best of luck to you as well. |
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ozar
Premium
join:2008-04-13
USA
·Embarq
| I ran across a news article the other day here on dslreports.com that said that Embarq wants the truly upset customers to call them at the hotline phone number as a last resort. I'm going to try that and give them another chance to make things right before changing. If things don't get better after doing that, I'm done. 
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oz |
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SANMAN
@embarqhsd.net
| Have you talked to any of the Embarq people on here yet? I have always had great service from Embarq, but a former co-worker of mine was haveing problems and it was resolved by the Embarq people on here pretty quick. This has been a while back not long after Embarq started having people on this forum, but from other post it looks like they are still doing the same thing. Just a thought. |
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ozar
Premium
join:2008-04-13
USA
·Embarq
| said by SANMAN :
Have you talked to any of the Embarq people on here yet? Yes sir, I did try contacting one of them by email and private message a few months back but he never responded to my requests for help. One of the others did finally offer some help, but he quickly jumped ship and I've not heard from him since.
Thanks for the recommendation, though. 
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oz |
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Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC | I did the same and contacted both Jenny and Lamont, who both stated were working on the issue. This was weeks ago. |
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ozar
Premium
join:2008-04-13
USA
·Embarq
| It was July 8th since I last heard from one that was helping me. I sent a few follow-up messages, but no responses were ever received.
Maybe they're just very busy with other customers.
In the interim, I'm still having fits with both my Embarq DSL connections. 
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oz |
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Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC | Same here...evening latency problems abound. Luckily the cable company is coming this Saturday to install my new service. |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
·Embarq
| reply to Hazy Arc
You guys have more patience than I'll ever have when it comes to this stuff. My metric for ISPs is one week of continued downtime twice in one year; poor performance for longer than one week two times in one year, or one terrible CS/TS call and I'm gone.
I switched half a dozen times back in the dialup days. Since going BB I've only had to switch once. But if I were having problems like you are and CS had me in a loop longer than one week? Gone.
I can have Comcast (* cough * gack) back online in a couple of days. If they start to suck the noodle, I go back to Embarq and repeat. Companies only understand two things: $$$ and charts. When they ask me to bundle I laugh so hard they never ask me again
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Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC
·Embarq
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Northland Cable Te..
·Dish Network
| Trust me...if more options were available to me, I'd swap in a heartbeat. The only problem is our area is serviced by a particularly crappy small cable company (Northland Cable). I'd happily put up with Comcast or Time Warner than have to deal with the fools at Northland Cable.
Thus is the price I pay for living in in a small town. |
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Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC
·Embarq
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Northland Cable Te..
·Dish Network
3 edits | reply to Hazy Arc
*UPDATE*
I was recently contacted by an Embarq employee who offered to look into my problem and find a resolution after they read this thread. They caught me 2 days before the scheduled cable install. Because of the previous good experiences I've had with Embarq (and the garbage that is Northland Cable), I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and will see if they can fix my connection before I go through with my initial threat.
I will give them a few more weeks to straighten my latency issue out...after which I will be gone for good. |
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skj
Welcome to the far side of reality
Premium,Mod
join:2002-04-04
Atlanta, GA |  reply to ozar
(topic move) So Long Embarq...
Moderator Action
The post that was here (and all 4 followups to it), has been moved to a new topic .. »Embarq problems, need hot line number |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
·Embarq
| reply to Hazy Arc
Re: So Long Embarq...
said by Hazy Arc  :Trust me...if more options were available to me, I'd swap in a heartbeat. The only problem is our area is serviced by a particularly crappy small cable company (Northland Cable). I'd happily put up with Comcast or Time Warner than have to deal with the fools at Northland Cable. Thus is the price I pay for living in in a small town. Sorry to hear that. But, small towns (usually) do have their own charm.
I guess in your case I'd work my butt off with Embarq!
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robl27
Premium
join:2008-07-16
Mary Esther, FL
·Cox HSI
 ·Vonage
| small towns should have the same quality as big towns. glad im not an embarq customer.
you should also complain about embarq and your cable company to your town, let them deal with it.
check for a hotline to call about consumer complaints in the phone book.
honestly, i would love to live in a small town providing it had decent broadband (road island..i want fios!)
-Rob
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»www.cband.info our internet radio station. |
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ozar
Premium
join:2008-04-13
USA
·Embarq
| said by robl27 :you should also complain about embarq and your cable company to your town, let them deal with it. Good point, rob27! A signed-petition with signatures from other local users delivered to and discussed at local city council meetings can sometimes help to bring improvements about. |
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Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC
·Embarq
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Northland Cable Te..
·Dish Network
1 edit | reply to Hazy Arc
*UPDATE PART II*
After a few more weeks...it now appears that Embarq has finally fixed the problem with heavy evening latency on my line. I've been in contact with a few Embarq employees who have been troubleshooting along with me. Since this past Friday, my connection has been spotless: »/r3/smokeping.···19b59.NY Coming from a connection where daily evening latency was a given, this is a big change!
I am hesitant to post this for fear of jinxing myself and the problem returning, but we'll see.
I'll give it another week or two, and if the latency remains low and the connection is stable, I'll happily raise my review of Embarq! |
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hossfly
@embarqhsd.net
| Hey Zach. I see we're neighbors. I'm a Greenwoodian myself.
For the last week my dl bandwidth has been half what I'm paying for in the evening hours. I talked to a guy, Chris, night before last who was excellent. He acknowledged Embarq engineers saw the issue. They literally corrected it, temporary as it was, while we were online. Of course we did the ftp tests, etc, etc but it SEEMED resolved.
Last night, it happened again. I called again. The first guy told me he was "putting it in his notes." The second guy reluctantly agreed to escalate the issue. Whether he did or not, I can't say. I asked for some communication on the status of the issue and he said they would give it to me. I won't hold my breath.
I'm an IT consultant and a sysadmin. I KNOW how difficult some users can be and I know equipment goes bad. My annoyance with Embarq, with the exception of Chris, is it is pulling teeth to get them to acknowledge an issue. I've been in I.T. a long time and I'm not stupid enough to expect perfection but I DO expect people to address my problems and keep me posted when I'm paying for the service.
Anyhow. Good luck with your connection. |
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Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC | What part of Greenwood do you live in? It would be interesting to see if our issues were related.
Go ahead and register for the site here while you're at it! |
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