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shorthairedp
join:2005-11-21
united state

1 recommendation

shorthairedp

Member

PowerCode acquisitioned again

Some WISP out of Wisconsin just bought it. Net Man talked to them on the phone today, went over all our issues, got told we would have solutions shortly.

They guaranteed to not release any new features until the old bugs were fixed, guaranteed support would take care of problems.

Now that theyre not in Utah and theyre in Wisconsin, The trip with the lead pipe is more feasable, but if they fix the issues, that means no cheese for me

Rhaas
Premium Member
join:2005-12-19
Bernie, MO

Rhaas

Premium Member

I wonder if they have kept the same guy as the salesman? I've attended a couple of conferences where he spoke and personally I don't care for him at all. He got defensive when myself and others spoke up when he was claiming powercode was the first and only way to redirect customers to non-pay pages etc. He also kept pushing the idea of a 'premium' internet service - you would setup different tier that would allow customers access to a certain group of sites and a premium tier that would allow them access to movies and pr0n,etc (think cable service packages). That was pushing it way way way to far imo. That guy alone will keep me from even considering powercode.
mrbueno
join:2002-08-03
US

mrbueno to shorthairedp

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While it sounds like a good idea, I never saw anything about PowerCode that really was impressive.

All good ideas, barely done.

That's just my limited exposure.

I may take this weekend to tie Freeside into MRTG or some other monitoring system just to see if I can get similar functionality. I've already added "Map This User" that popup google maps of a customers address, linking to The Dude or MRTG can't be that hard.
shorthairedp
join:2005-11-21
united state

shorthairedp

Member

thats the selling point of powercode, they said you didnt have to figure out how to tie this to that and create that and this to integrate into a modded xbox 360 running linux and the dude with a serial connection to an 8086 box monitoring a .......

Theoretically all their promises were there. They were just poorly executed and no issue got resolved very quickly.

What the new company promises in their email to customers is fixing all that is broken before proceeding any further, even with a time frame of a month.

Every aspect they promised did work at one point or another, they just broke something else getting it fixed.

Even with all the bad things, Powercode has done more good than bad, we are in a much better position now than we were before powercode. This is due in part to figuring out a quick way to move all customers over to backup routers, etc.

but if the promises get followed through with, any WISP worth their salt who want to spend more time growing their business than managing their management systems would be well advised to check it out.

Currently though id stick to cobbled systems, at least if you cobbled them you can work on them

IntraLink
MVM
join:2002-08-14
Uath Valley

IntraLink to Rhaas

MVM

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Do you remember if that guy was Austin or Jon Wright?

They were fired fromt he company during the purchase I think (or 'left').

I didn't personally care much for either of them as they have consistently rubbed me the wrong way too.

Rhaas
Premium Member
join:2005-12-19
Bernie, MO

Rhaas

Premium Member

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It was Jon who I ran into a couple of times.

I think that would be a good way of putting it. It wasn't like he was rude or anything like that. I just didn't jive at all with the guy and I disagreed with some of his ideas and statements.

I agree the integration of all the different features is their niche.

MrBueno: I've added a google maps API to my new customer management pages that I've been writing. Do you think it's helped at all locating customers? I'm hoping to have mine completely done in a few months as time permits. I've decided to release the code once I get the basic customer database control written (php/mysql). The version I use for myself will be tied in with my email server and radius server.
gunther_01
Premium Member
join:2004-03-29
Saybrook, IL

gunther_01 to shorthairedp

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to shorthairedp
Three+ years ago when I started my venture I looked at PowerNOC. Sure looks like that same product plus a few things. If they are still fighting "issues" now, and they were back then. I would have a hard time placing my entire network at their, and the routers that they sell disposal.

In order for "me" to take advantage of their product fully, I have to purchase their particular router. I already have functioning routers, and I know for a fact they work.. Revamping my network just isn't my idea of a good time. And since I don't bridge it would get rather expensive

Myself, being a one man show for the most part. I just don't like the implications of an ever changing product in "control" of my network. And or an incapable or rather un-educated data entry person messing up my fine system. I'm not so much a control freak, really But there is a reason in my mind for people in a billing department, and the people in the network admin department... Collaboration is a wonderful thing. When it works right it's even better. But I personally feel no-one makes the perfect "product" for this. So why would I want to invest in one that isn't. And PowerCode is an investment for sure if I were to use it.
smeghead
join:2009-02-11

smeghead to shorthairedp

Member

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They definitely have a larger support team now. From day one they kept removing "features" because they didn't work never to be seen again. While they spent all their time making it look pretty.

Now they are jacking up the rates by a really high margin and not allowing people to purchase any more licenses. You have to pay around $1.50 per user per month. In other words your entire ISP management system will be owned by someone else. You stop paying, your ISP stops working.

How convenient. Nothing can stop them from jacking the prices up again and keeping everyone on a leash.

Steve
I know your IP address

join:2001-03-10
Tustin, CA

Steve

said by smeghead:

Nothing can stop them from jacking the prices up again and keeping everyone on a leash.
Taking your money elsewhere might work, no?
mrbueno
join:2002-08-03
US

mrbueno to Rhaas

Member

to Rhaas
said by Rhaas:

MrBueno: I've added a google maps API to my new customer management pages that I've been writing. Do you think it's helped at all locating customers?
YES! My tech needs to go somewhere, he can look them up and print a map all without even blinking.
smeghead
join:2009-02-11

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When you've invested time and money over the years only to get this, to have to start over again because of some greedy control freak does this, you really have to wonder. But money is the almighty isn't it. It is our God, it is our religion. Therefore you are right. If enough people take away their God piece by piece they will have to rethink their situation.

IntraLink
MVM
join:2002-08-14
Uath Valley

IntraLink to shorthairedp

MVM

to shorthairedp
On paper the PowerNoc looks ok.

But as you can tell the realities are shaping up to be something different.

For just a little more than that client price you can get a seperate company to completely manage your WISP and just hang radios, install and go golfing.

We went the other route and used a well known industry standard billing called Platypus that's been around forever. It's not the prettiest, but we've taken the time to integrate it with our other stuff and it works for us.
penypinch0
Premium Member
join:2007-09-07
Henning, MN

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Is anything good about powercode?
What they did you us is by far criminal
Wondering if anyone else has the same problems?
Thanks
penypinch0

penypinch0 to shorthairedp

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Maybe we should all get together and go meet then face to face all in the same room.
I sure do not see the promise of fixing all the old issues.
They just tried to charge me $150.00/hour for network support due to David Salick's failure to fix our stuff. The funny thing is Kerry got into the system and identified three problems and fixed two of them and the third is a data base issue and was not able to fix it He informed David and Jim
and they could fix it. And now to stop paying the PSA $50.00/month will result in biend locked out of our own locally owned server and we have a 250 user license????
And two BMU licenses each 250 users???
This is just the tip of the issue we bought the system back when Spence had the company and it sure was a whole lot better then, at least Spence knew how the program worked.
Jim Bertram has no clue " that is how it works" and wow Kerry finds major issues.
The real bad thing is us "little guys" will get screwed over and the "big guys" will be taken care of.
I really feel bad for Martin Frey he thought this sale would take Powercode to the next level, I bet he never thought that level could be below ground.
Is this legal???