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jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

1 recommendation

jakkwb

Member

Fiber upgrade woes

Hello all,

I get my bandwidth from a large nationwide provider. I have for a few years now under contract. For the last year, I have been asking monthly or so about getting fiber to my building (their building is a block from me). They consistantly told me "sorry, not available". During this time, I had at least two fiber cable digs go under my office driveway and down the street next to my office, one going to our hospital and another going to an educational co-op building. I still would call and get the same answer.

So, in late July I finally got a "yes" answer. I was told that 20MB and faster services would be available. Was also told that it would be at least a 90 to 120 day wait time. I promptly signed the contract for the 20 service, which was about the same price as my multilinked T1 bundle.

I was given an install date in early Feb. I got my site requirements ready for them before this date arrived. The fiber was buried, brought in to my office, and terminated in their lock box a few weeks before the installation date. However, the install is not complete, because there is nothing as of yet for me to hook up to.

The install day came and went, with nobody showing up to finish the job. I called the next day and was told that it was still in process. Every day I checked and was given various answers about it being delayed, or the circuit was being engineered, or other answers like that. I was not given any kind of firm installation date.

So, today I am finally given an install date six weeks past the original. Needless to say, I am a little upset. Who knows if it will be completed when that day gets here? They gave themselves ample time to allow for any problems, right? (90-120 days)

I have already signed the contract, so I guess I am locked in. There are no other providers in this area that offer fiber as far as I know...

What are my rights here? Am I in a situation where I can make demands? Such as a reduced monthly rate, or a faster package for less?

Very frustrated.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya

MVM


What are my rights here?

That's really going to be dictated by the contract. My guess is since the company supplied the contract, it will always be in their favor.
"USA" is pretty vague, so I can't comment on specifics. If your state has PUC or PSC, you can try contacting them.
A lot depends on which company you are dealing with.
Regardless of what entity you are dealing with, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
Chele
join:2003-07-23

Chele to jakkwb

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to jakkwb
We had a 12-18 month lead time when we signed on with our previous provider. We were able to skip the fiber buildout by installing in one of their buildings and back-hauling it into our network--lead time was 2 weeks! To this day I think we were able to do that only because of two reasons: our rep was the district manager and she needed to meet her quota. We've stayed in touch with her over the years(she is no longer with the company--neither are we) and she said that what we did had been the only time it was allowed, more than likely because the higher ups didn't know about it.
VCWireless
join:2010-11-17
Valley Center, CA

VCWireless to jakkwb

Member

to jakkwb
I've had three different fiber drops installed - all of them exceeded the original expected installation time by 1-2 months. I know its not what you want to hear, but you are kinda at their mercy.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

1 recommendation

nunya to jakkwb

MVM

to jakkwb
You can try emailing:
Bill Dennis
telephone (at) psc.state.ar.us

The Arkansas PSC has no authority over internet data services, so it may not help much. What they may be able to do is get you in touch with the AT&T executive complaints (appeals) group.

This is the old number for AT&T executive appeals, I don't know if it is still valid 1-877-385-9945.

Call every AT&T contact you have and bother them. They'll get the hint. AT&T is a very reactive company (as opposed to proactive). They devote resources to noisy customers while the rest suffer in silence.
BlueC
join:2009-11-26
Minneapolis, MN

BlueC to jakkwb

Member

to jakkwb
We've had a number of fiber builds delayed this season due to permit delays with the cities. 1-2 month delays.

Depending on where you are, it very well could be the case, and it's really not the carrier's fault.
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

jakkwb

Member

I do not think anything or anyone in my town is holding up finishing the installation. As I said, the fiber is buried and terminated in my office, there is just no network interface on it(yet).
kc9sqr
join:2011-11-10
Rockford, IL

kc9sqr to jakkwb

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to jakkwb
Sounds to me as if it's okay for them not to hold up to their end of the contract... But let you slip on one thing in that contract and I'm sure they'll shove it right in your face..

Gotta love those one sided agreements...

viperm
Carpe Diem
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Winchester, CA

viperm to jakkwb

Premium Member

to jakkwb
Who is the provider?
kc9sqr
join:2011-11-10
Rockford, IL

kc9sqr

Member

I'm gonna take a stab at AT&T..
Not sure why but this just screams AT&T to me...
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

jakkwb

Member

Yes, you guessed it correctly.
cooldude9919
join:2000-05-29

cooldude9919 to jakkwb

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to jakkwb
Ive had at&t take over 4 months and the fiber was already in our single tennant building, just had to connect some jumpers around town! Had another take around 9 months.
If it is AT&T i hope you arent paying more than $999 for 20mbps, as ACC business (ATT subsidiary with agent only sales force) has it for that price on a 2 year contract with no install, 50mbps is $1300, and 100mb is $1800 and this is anywhere where ATT has ethernet. No one should go ATT direct anymore.
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

jakkwb

Member

That is the exact deal I am getting, and to get that deal was like pulling a tooth (from a hungry tiger).

I am just going on them saying it would be a 90 to 120 day lead time (that time frame is what I was prepared for). When it is all said and done, its gonna be around 200 days....
cooldude9919
join:2000-05-29

cooldude9919

Member

said by jakkwb:

That is the exact deal I am getting, and to get that deal was like pulling a tooth (from a hungry tiger).

I am just going on them saying it would be a 90 to 120 day lead time (that time frame is what I was prepared for). When it is all said and done, its gonna be around 200 days....

well at least you are getting the best price possible from att. Ive done several installs with ATT and ive never seen anything in the 90-120 day range for a new build out.
Just wait until you need an upgrade, and you have to place a whole new order and it takes another "90-120" days, even though i hear they are working on MACD changes to allow upgrades to take place on existing connections.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband to jakkwb

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to jakkwb
I have some contacts within side AT&T and can see if I can pass their contact information out to you. I have email addresses and phone numbers. If you are interested that is.
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

1 recommendation

jakkwb

Member

Yeehaw. Thought I would visit this post again. My installation completion was rescheduled from early Feb to today, March 19. A six week reschedule. Well, once again, no tech showed up, nor did I get any phone call saying "sorry, we won't be showing up today".

Shouldn't six more weeks (in addition to the original 90-120 day lead time) be enough time to get this right?

I am extremely ticked at ATT right now. Pretty shoddy small-business support.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

1 recommendation

nunya

MVM

No customer should be treated like that, big or small.

When I left AT&T, it was a major "relief" to finally be able to handle customers the way I wanted to, and not have to deal with some bureaucracy.

At this point, I'd be tearing into somebody.
gaforces (banned)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA

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They are busy lamenting the loss of the t1 cash cow.

0$ for the install aye? Looks like you are getting your moneys worth.
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

jakkwb

Member

Revisit - ATT missed my second installation of March 19th. After contacting someone about it, apparently there was some confusion on their part as to what type of demarc/termination it was supposed to be (Ethernet hand off is what I ordered, but as of now there is no Ethernet jack for me to plug into). B/C of this, I find out Thursday that it has been "escalated". Come to find out, escalation allows another 48 to 96 hours for everyone to respond and get their ducks in a row. Talk about non-efficient.

So, I am tired of this crap. I found a contact for ATT Executive Appeal and submitted all my information. He told me he would create a case....

So this is now 45 days past my first scheduled installation date, and 3 days past my second scheduled installation date!
jakkwb

jakkwb

Member

Revisit -

The saga continues. Early last week I was given a THIRD installation date of 4-5. Well, that day came and went, just like the previous ones....I get word today that it will be at least another 7 working days until my FOURTH installation date. Their reason for the miss - "Our order was issued with an incorrect detail, forcing delay in access delivery, and is in process of being reissued."

So...I am and have been up a creek with maxed out bandwidth. I am currently limping along on one circuit from this areas cable company (yes, I have permission to resell it). What I am trying to do is setup my Mikrotik to load balance both the cable circuit and my original 4.5 circuit from ATT (this will be replaced by the fiber, someday). This will give me a little more bandwidth to get by.

I have the code for PCC load balancing in the router, but something is still just not right about the config. It is very close.

If there is anyone out there that can assist me, I would welcome your help.

Inssomniak
The Glitch
Premium Member
join:2005-04-06
Cayuga, ON

Inssomniak to jakkwb

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to jakkwb
I'm I a similar boat. I had a 30 meg fibre installed but it always worked at 100mb anyways. The company got bought out and now it's throttled.
We did get a sweet deal on a full 100mb but we have to wait for them to provision it.
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

1 recommendation

jakkwb

Member

So, this fiber actually got installed yesterday. My contract says 20MB up/down.

Question is, how close to 20MB should I deem acceptable? Closest I've gotten so far is about 18.4 up/down using speedtest.net at the location closest to my tracert up my interface.

The router I am attached to is not in production, so there is no traffic on it.

Is this normal?

Inssomniak
The Glitch
Premium Member
join:2005-04-06
Cayuga, ON

Inssomniak

Premium Member

yea I would consider that acceptable.
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

jakkwb

Member

OK, thanks.

Do you know of a better way I can test it?

zed173
join:2010-07-17
Mississauga, ON

1 recommendation

zed173

Member

Use iperf, best way to test it.
cooldude9919
join:2000-05-29

cooldude9919 to jakkwb

Member

to jakkwb
Throw some multi threaded traffic at it. NNTP if you have that, or download a few big files from a few places at once.

viperm
Carpe Diem
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Winchester, CA

1 recommendation

viperm to jakkwb

Premium Member

to jakkwb
Congrats! finally huh did you have to beat up the management group to get the thing installed?
jakkwb
join:2009-04-27
Arkansas

1 recommendation

jakkwb

Member

Yep, I went straight to the top and filed an executive appeal. It eventually got to level 5 and then presidential escalation.

They actually beat their fourth installation date by a few hours!

That is how it "got done".

Now I get to change out my PTP so it can handle the extra load. I have been running on some old Tranzeo TR5 units - never have seen them go above 13Mb on throughput....(is that right?)

viperm
Carpe Diem
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Winchester, CA

viperm

Premium Member

Man last time I played with any of those was like 5-6 years ago..

jlester
join:2005-02-07
N. Calif.

1 recommendation

jlester to jakkwb

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Congrats! Been through a similar hell with Verizon...

Our 20 Mbps fiber usually gets about 19.5 Mbps at speakeasy.net. 18.4 would be at the very bottom of acceptable to us.

Your Speed Result:
Download Speed: 19440 kbps (2430 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 19107 kbps (2388.4 KB/sec transfer rate)