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TheBigZPremium
join:2002-11-07
Kunkletown, PA | Some background on Prolog A little background info on Prolog, will aid you in the formations of your opinions.
PenTeleData (aka Prolog) offers internet access via cable in northeast PA, as well as some limited areas of neighboring states. I had 2way cable access thru them starting like something 7 years ago. From all I've ever been able to find out, they were amoung the first to offer 2way cable. What made that impressive at the time, was that they offered this service in some rather sparsely populated areas. Meaning they made a huge infrastructure in a part of the country where most other companies never will... just not enough potential RoI for anyone else to do it. So why did they? Welp, in at least one of the counties they cover, they have a monopoly... no other cable companies. And not just for today... barring any sort of legislation forcing cable choice, they'll hold this monopoly for most likely at least the next few decades. Granted, they also cover areas like the Lehigh Valley where they do have competition... but there's a sizable chunk of their customer base that in all reality, they just won't ever lose. So those of you suggesting they we immediately drop them as a provider for greener pastures... believe me, many of us would be more than happy to... feel free to come spend a few million to start up a new isp. 
But there's more to this story. See, we Prolog customers have been suffering with less than stellar service for the last few years. From my point of view, it all started back about 4 or 5 yrs ago when they switched from the Zenith cable modem system they were using, to a docsis compliant system. It wasn't docsis itself that was a problem... the system became faster & more reliable (at least initially) once they made the change. The problem was in another decision they made. On the old system, we were paying $40/mo for the feed and $10/mo rent on the modem. When they rolled out docsis, the LOWERED the price for the feed by $10/mo. Yes... in a market where they have ABSOLUTELY NO competition, they LOWERED their price. Now I know some of you out there are just poised with you pointer over the reply button, prepared to barbecue me for suggesting that lowering prices CAN be a bad thing, but keep reading. Forget that fact that their own shareholders should want to slit their throats for doing such a thing, there's more. Since that happened, there's been what might be described as a slash & burn attack on the level of service we get. First, like a Congressional payraise done in a late night session, the downstream cap was lowered from 1meg to 800k. They didn't tell us they were gonna do it, they just did it... oh and shortly after that they raised the rate 1$/mo. At the same time (I admittedly don't know the specifics of this) the upstream has also been reduced. All this while adding more customers to the system. In our local forums, sometimes we get told there's "more than enough bandwidth" to service the customers they have, and other times (such as in the letter in question about p2p) we're lead to believe the system has become slower and less stable because people are using too much bandwidth. As customers, we've become unable to determine when we're being told the truth and when we're being lied to. The news server has also hit the toilet with a splash. What was once a notoriously reliable server, has now become little more than a large black of swiss cheese. Complete posts are all but non-existant. If you want news service, you are forced to an outside service. The email server has also become less than reliable over the last couple years. They maintain that this is due entirely to spam. They've gone to running Spam Assassin (or something like it) to solve the problem, but it hasn't seemed to help. And they subscribe to that email server blacklist thing, and some customers find they don't get all their emails. Oh, and we're not allowed more than 2 "internet devices" per account. Get his... a router or switch used to count as one of these devices! It was only after some of us went ballistic of that insanity, that they relented. But as it stands now... if you have 2 computers on the cable modem, and you get a net adapter for your XBox or PS2, guess what... you gotta lose one of the computers.
To me, this is all one big self-inflicted wound. I'm sure I don't just speak for myself when I say I would MUCH rather have kept paying the $10 more per month I already WAS paying, than to put up with these relentless reductions to the service level. Frankly, it's not blocking P2P that might someday cost them their business, it's having the fool that authorized that price reduction still around that'll do it. If I were the stockholder of a company who had themselves a monopoly for the next few decades, and they just GAVE AWAY 25% of the revenue, you can bet I'd be at the next board election. (NOTE: Yes Tom, I know PTD covers areas where there is no monopoly, but as you remind us frequently, the cable company affiliates you deal with have nothing to do with each other.) PTD has caused this problem themselves, and now they can't just raise the price again to fix it, so they're forced into stealth reductions in service levels. It's a shame that one stupid mistake has taken a company that was once on the leading edge, and turned them into just another of those companies trying to keep up. At this point, they probably have no choice but to block P2P just to keep the rest of their customer base from taking up torches & pitchforks for the lack of speed. | |
npyoung
join:2002-09-23
Jacksonville, OR | I suggest to you that you will never see any competition for your business in this area. The problem is that Prolog's prices are too low. I charge $400 for equipment and install, and then, our 256k/128k service is $45/mo, and goes up from there. And we aren't making a bunch of money at that rate. You folks have quite a deal going...and I don't really understand the complaining about not being able to run servers. 800kbps down? We charge $65/mo. for that--and you pay for the CPE up front, as I mentioned before. Under the pricing conditions that you have outlined, I'd never even consider going into such an area...no chance of ever making a return on one's investment. | | |
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 Chemop
join:2001-11-12
Stroudsburg, PA | reply to TheBigZ
Well I am a Prolog user myself and I agree we are getting a great deal when compared to the rest of the country. However I am deeply disturbed by what Prolog is trying to initiate here. If they are able to do this then before you know it they will be able to limit your downloads as well.
I think they should really re-think this approach or this might lead to going to other means of internet service. | |
| reply to TheBigZ
Thanks for the review of Prolog BigZ... shame this had to happen as I am in the Lehigh Valley & was going to switch to them from RCN sometime within the next few weeks. Since I have been with RCN on one way for about 3 years. I guess I will just have to keep waiting for verizon to get DSL in this area, or for some other alternative such as internet service from the electric company. | |
| reply to TheBigZ
I would like to clarify a few things here. When you are downloading have you ever gotten higher then 300K umm... no you know why routers and lines cant handle those speeds so dont cry for being lowered to 800k for you never saw 1 meg to begin with.
Next you complain about only having 2 devices hooked up per account... I have never seen this taken into effect.
You dont seem to understand here Prolog makes the rules but doesnt really enforce them. They are trying to get you out of trouble here and you slap them in the face. blame the RIAA if you want to blame anyone.
And once again you dont like the service leave... Sign up for AOL or epix...oh wait dont go to them they get there internet from Prolog. And just wait till you install all there beautiful software on your computer and im sure you will be gald you changed | |
| said by IMRIGHT:
Sign up for AOL or epix...oh wait dont go to them they get there internet from Prolog.
Wow now thats something to be proud of! | |
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