 Seven1
join:2002-07-24
Lexington, KY | Yeah right. I think I'd prefer if broadband providing companies would fix their problems before they start trying to offer higher speeds. I've had both DSL and cable. They both have many problems which the companies seem to just dismiss, and in fact make excuses for on their webpages.
I prefer stability over speed. Neither of the services I had were stable. Unfortunately though, Americans seem to be drawn to speed when it comes to just about everything. When it really shouldn't be as high in the list as plain old stability. The broadband companies know this love for speed, so they are playing people with this bogus 6mbps crap that they probably can't even sustain. |
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 AmeritecTechChange we can believe in, 1922Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
kudos:6 | said by Seven1:
I think I'd prefer if broadband providing companies would fix their problems before they start trying to offer higher speeds. I've had both DSL and cable. They both have many problems which the companies seem to just dismiss, and in fact make excuses for on their webpages.
I prefer stability over speed. Neither of the services I had were stable. Unfortunately though, Americans seem to be drawn to speed when it comes to just about everything. When it really shouldn't be as high in the list as plain old stability. The broadband companies know this love for speed, so they are playing people with this bogus 6mbps crap that they probably can't even sustain.
I'm not sure what problems you would have had with SBC in Kentucky. Did you live somewhere else previously?
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Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone not agreeing with them. It's the non-thinkers that always come in legions." -John Callari |
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 MikBoJust Happy To Be HerePremium
join:2002-01-04
Lynchburg, VA | reply to Seven1
"I prefer stability over speed".Couldn't agree with you more seven001.I have had plenty of speed and crappy performance to go with it.I recently signed up DSL at 768/128 and it loads pages as well as the 3000/256 I have with cable.Cost savings will be $40 a month when I drop the cable,overall I think I found a good deal.
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"Things will get better,despite our efforts to improve them!"--Will Rogers |
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Seven1
join:2002-07-24
Lexington, KY | reply to AmeritecTech
I wasn't refering to SBC, but to the industry in general. I know many many people online with Cable and DSL all over the U.S. and I can't think of a single one that doesn't have stability problems with their provider. It's also pretty sad that seemingly every broadband provider's tech support has the same solutions: restart the modem, reboot the computer, and if you have a router it is automatically to blame.
Just for the record though, I had BellSouth DSL (sensitive and highly unstable) and now I have Adelphia PowerLink (highly unstable). |
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AmeritecTechChange we can believe in, 1922Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
kudos:6 | I've asked many customers to bypass their routers, but I wouldn't necessarily consider that assessing blame. When troubleshooting, its always wise to start with the simplest configuration and work up from there. Furthermore, when connected directly, there are a plethora of error messages that one might receive. Invalid password, timeout, "remote destination is not reachable" (which really just means that the person's NIC is disabled), and etc. A router provides only one error message...Page cannot be displayed. The reason for rebooting equipment is that it solves approximately 90% of problems, in my experience. Generally, this is system resource problems. Since the advent of spyware, many people have very low system resources, particularly on non-2000/XP/NT machines. A reboot of the computer restores available memory to acceptable levels and connectivity is restored. Of course, its not always the computer. Occasionally the modem hangs and needs to be rebooted.
Of course, with any residential broadband provider, there will be outages. Trees fall on lines, routers fail, and there will be periods of maintenance some nights. Hardcore reliability is costly to provide, and the price of dedicated lines like T1's indicate that. A T1 is a mere 1.5 megabit up and down, so the majority of the cost is in the service contract and guaranteed uptime.
Generally speaking, though, I'd say uptime for SBC customers is pretty good. Even better is the fact that SBC has seen fit to put official techs on DSL Reports, and they sure jump on problems fast.
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Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone not agreeing with them. It's the non-thinkers that always come in legions." -John Callari |
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 toddbs98
join:2000-07-08
North Little Rock, AR | reply to Seven1
I have been with SBC for a few months now and have had no problems what so ever with stability of there service. The only time it was down was for network maintenance so they could give me more download speed and this was publicized well in advance and done between 12am -6am.Besides their confusing and sometimes messed up billing I've had no trouble with the service at all. |
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| reply to Seven1
said by Seven1:
Just for the record though, I had BellSouth DSL (sensitive and highly unstable) and now I have Adelphia PowerLink (highly unstable).
Strange. I have Adelphia Powerlink, and it's very stable. Could be you have older lines in your area? Or (as my networking teacher in college once said), "Ever wonder why connection speeds in the South are so slow? Because everything down here is deep-fried, including the phone lines!"  (I can say this because I grew up in the South...:p) |
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Seven1
join:2002-07-24
Lexington, KY | reply to AmeritecTech
quote:
Of course, with any residential broadband provider, there will be outages. Trees fall on lines, routers fail, and there will be periods of maintenance some nights. ...
Please spare me. I mean no offense, but if you had to deal with the ISPs I've had to deal with you wouldn't be so pleasant about it and you certainly wouldn't be making such lame excuses for them. The downtime and connection problems I suffer are simply unexcusable. Especially when I get 3 different answers about why in the same week.
As for the tech support thing, I understand those are the most basic things to check first, but for those of us that are technically inclined and KNOW its on the ISP's end, we shouldn't have to endure the 'techs' that don't know anything about what they are supporting beyond what they read off to us from a computer monitor.
All I'm saying is that the industry needs to improve what it already has before it starts moving on. Half or more of broadband companies must be bad quality or else there wouldn't be a need for such a site as this one. Think about it. SBC might not be troubled, but this thing they and a few other providers are doing with speeds are just going to spur on the rest of the industry. So the crappy ISP I have to live with is probably going to be focusing on offering higher speed accounts instead of improving their very troubled network. In the end, it affects us all. |
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AmeritecTechChange we can believe in, 1922Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
kudos:6 | said by Seven1:
quote:
Of course, with any residential broadband provider, there will be outages. Trees fall on lines, routers fail, and there will be periods of maintenance some nights. ...
Please spare me. I mean no offense, but if you had to deal with the ISPs I've had to deal with you wouldn't be so pleasant about it and you certainly wouldn't be making such lame excuses for them. The downtime and connection problems I suffer are simply unexcusable. Especially when I get 3 different answers about why in the same week.
Lame excuses for who? I speak only in reference to SBC, an ISP which you have no experience with. I would not presume to know anything about any of the providers you've used.
quote:
As for the tech support thing, I understand those are the most basic things to check first, but for those of us that are technically inclined and KNOW its on the ISP's end, we shouldn't have to endure the 'techs' that don't know anything about what they are supporting beyond what they read off to us from a computer monitor.
I understand this sentiment and I share it when calling my own provider about an outage, but it is remarkable how often people who are certain it is on the ISP end are incorrect. If a customer does not care to troubleshoot, I create a maintenance ticket. That department then locates the problem. If its determined to be a problem at the residence that could have been fixed with troubleshooting on the phone, the customer will probably get charged for the visit. Those who are certain that its not on their end are free to just get a trouble ticket, but they probably will be charged if they are wrong.
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All I'm saying is that the industry needs to improve what it already has before it starts moving on. Half or more of broadband companies must be bad quality or else there wouldn't be a need for such a site as this one. Think about it. SBC might not be troubled, but this thing they and a few other providers are doing with speeds are just going to spur on the rest of the industry. So the crappy ISP I have to live with is probably going to be focusing on offering higher speed accounts instead of improving their very troubled network. In the end, it affects us all.
SBC, as an independent company, has the right to set their prices and speed caps wherever they like. The fact that other providers, particularly providers who are not even in the same region, are providing crappy service should do nothing to keep SBC from its plans. Every company should excel to provide a balance of quality service and low prices to the consumer if it wishes to survive. Any company which does otherwise is acting against its own self-interest. I think it would be rather absurd if an SBC executive were to say "Well, it seems like a good plan, but people in Kentucky and other places are getting bad service from their providers right now, and if we do this it will only make the market more competitive. Is it really fair of us to implement this plan?"
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Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone not agreeing with them. It's the non-thinkers that always come in legions." -John Callari |
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 BoogeymanDrive it like you stole itPremium
join:2002-12-17
Panama City, FL
 ·Comcast
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Re: Yeah right. I have Bellsouth DSL and my service is right on, I've only been down a few times, mostly my own fault (loose ethernet cable) and 2 times for scheduled maintenence. Whenever I call tech support, I'm always connected with someone within 2 min. It all depends on the area you live in. I had Earthlink DSL when I lived in Tallahassee and it was awesome as well, good support and stable service.
I jsut wish Bellsouth would offer higher speeds like SBC, I'm within 5000ft and I'm sure I could get at least 4mbps if you factor in line noise and whatever.
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"There's no such thing as a soul. It's just something they made up to scare kids, like the Boogeyman or Michael Jackson." - Bart SimpsonDigital Anime forums, where all the lamers come to play |
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Seven1
join:2002-07-24
Lexington, KY | reply to AmeritecTech
quote:
Lame excuses for who? I speak only in reference to SBC, an ISP which you have no experience with. I would not presume to know anything about any of the providers you've used.
You sure presume to make excuses for "any residential broadband provider", though.
quote:
SBC, as an independent company, has the right to set their prices and speed caps wherever they like. ...
I wasn't saying anything contrary to that. I was basically just saying that soon all broadband providers will be upping the speeds to compete, when most should be focusing on improving / fixing their networks first. You seem to think I'm attacking SBC or something. I'm not. This news post may be in direct reference to SBC, but I thought my stated opinion was relevant here as well. Was I wrong? |
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AmeritecTechChange we can believe in, 1922Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
kudos:6 | reply to Seven1
Re: Yeah right. said by Seven1:
quote:
Lame excuses for who? I speak only in reference to SBC, an ISP which you have no experience with. I would not presume to know anything about any of the providers you've used.
You sure presume to make excuses for "any residential broadband provider", though.
I was merely pointing out that no residential service would have flawless service, and that if they did, they'd charge a pretty penny for it. OBVIOUSLY different providers have different levels of quality. This is true with any industry.
quote:
I wasn't saying anything contrary to that. I was basically just saying that soon all broadband providers will be upping the speeds to compete, when most should be focusing on improving / fixing their networks first. You seem to think I'm attacking SBC or something. I'm not. This news post may be in direct reference to SBC, but I thought my stated opinion was relevant here as well. Was I wrong?
Your title of "yeah right" seems to indicate skepticism that SBC can provide a high level of service while lowering prices. Skepticism is your right, of course, but I was just trying to point out that SBC may be different than the broadband providers you have experience with. If you were talking about broadband companies in general and were not really talking at all about the topic of the news item, very well.
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Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone not agreeing with them. It's the non-thinkers that always come in legions." -John Callari |
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Seven1
join:2002-07-24
Lexington, KY | The title of the news post is "DSL Strikes Back". That would indicate to me that the spectrum of this issue is broader than just this SBC stuff. Hence my speaking in general. |
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army5
join:2002-04-30
Oklahoma City, OK | reply to Seven1
quote:
Please spare me. I mean no offense, but if you had to deal with the ISPs I've had to deal with you wouldn't be so pleasant about it and you certainly wouldn't be making such lame excuses for them.
These are not lame excuses but the facts of life in the network world.
quote:
As for the tech support thing, I understand those are the most basic things to check first, but for those of us that are technically inclined and KNOW its on the ISP's end, we shouldn't have to endure the 'techs' that don't know anything about what they are supporting beyond what they read off to us from a computer monitor.
If you are technically inclined I think you would better understand what AmeritecTech is trying to explain. His comments appear to be general, non-biased and informative.:)
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To fill the hour, that is true happiness - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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Seven1
join:2002-07-24
Lexington, KY | quote:
These are not lame excuses but the facts of life in the network world.
I seriously doubt my connection being horrible for a solid month could be attributed to a tree falling on a line, a router failing, or maintenance. Those are temporary problems, and have nothing to do with the reliability I'm talking about. My ISP's networks have simply been unstable and probably way over-subscribed.
quote:
If you are technically inclined I think you would better understand what AmeritecTech is trying to explain. His comments appear to be general, non-biased and informative.
What are you talking about? Thats the one thing we DID agree on.  |
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My kudos to SBC! I signed up for DSL in the beginning of December and service has been excellent. Service has been down only once since then and time to actual restore was sooner than the estimates given by tech support over the phone. It's been very reliable and my wife and I are very pleased with the service. Keep up the excellent work!
Thought I'd give this feedback after reading the thread started by seven001...not everybody is dis-satisfied!:) |
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Seven1
join:2002-07-24
Lexington, KY | To quote myself...
quote:
The title of the news post is "DSL Strikes Back". That would indicate to me that the spectrum of this issue is broader than just this SBC stuff. Hence my speaking in general.
I'm not an SBC customer, so I can't express dissatisfaction towards them. I really wish people would stop skimming my posts and then making assumptions about me.  |
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AmeritecTechChange we can believe in, 1922Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
kudos:6 | Well seven, I think you confused many when you referred to "this bogus 6mbps crap that they probably can't even sustain". In actuality, SBC has been selling 6mbps for quite some time, but it was much more expensive.
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Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone not agreeing with them. It's the non-thinkers that always come in legions." -John Callari |
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