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redsparks
Premium
join:2003-04-22
Los Gatos, CA
|  Losing my ISP??
Soon after I moved to CA from TN in 2000, I was burned in the Northpoint/Verio crash, and I'm still queasy about Covad since I was connected through one of their "modems." I did the panic looking for alternate ISP and there wasn't much choice despite that I am only a matter of feet from the Verizon CO... and I'm close to town! Anyway that's how I came to be a DSL Designs subscriber. I must say that when service is up it's pretty good. I am charged $128/month for 768/768 allocation (although when I tested speed today it came back at 360). But service can go down almost any time. In the beginning support was pretty good too, but then the CEO/founders moved to AZ (that's where I send the check) and I haven't been able to speak to a live human for months. It's a sad state of affairs when you have to find out about your ISP from reading the newspaper. The Los Gatos Weekly Times (www.lgwt.com) of 4/23/03 clarifies the "issues" which were reported on the tech line message machine last week (the whole Chapter 11 bit is scary). Since I was out of town for most of the outage, I only "lost" about 24 hrs. I maintain redundant access with an XO (formerly Concentric) dial up and I pay more than that is worth (XO only offers biz broadband). I am going to need some help choosing a new ISP if DSL goes down for good. I am looking at SpeakEasy, Covad, A-Link Network, and Bay Area Internet Solns if they can provide service in my area. I don't mind paying a fair price if I can only get reliable service and access to support. Seeking a long term relationship with a stable and profitable company.
Anyone got any ideas?? | |
scott adams
join:2003-04-17
Oakland, CA
| I do have an idea for you. As a foreword, this advice is shamelessly commercial, but here goes.
I work for a company called Transbay(.net), and lately we've been receiving a lot of phone calls inquring about our DSL service in Los Gatos. I honestly sympathize with customers that have been shut down and cannot get a hold of a live person at their ISP. At home (San Francisco), I have PacBell/SBC DSL, so it's easy for me to empathize with Los Gatos people who have their DSL go kaput. Our pricing is typical for DSL, but we shine in the fact that our customer service is top-notch. When our phone rings, it is almost surely a sales opportunity, and very rarely, it's a support issue such as someone's computer crashing, and they forgot the ip address or something of that nature. Obviously, I can't be objective, but I do know that we are stable, profitable, have been in business since 1986; in business since 1997 as an ISP. We do the whole gamut from dial-up & DSLto ultra high-speed wireless internet access. Since most of the people we talk with are using Fujitsu DSL modems, we are waiving our setup fee for DSL, bringing people over, and getting them up and running as soon as Verizon can re-activate their line.
I think Los Gatos DSL customers that have been recently left out in the cold by their isp should try Transbay.net.
As an experiment, call us during business hours, a human will answer the phone. In the case that your DSL went down during non-business hours, our outgoing voice message has our technician's cell phone# on it, so you can still get a hold of someone.
Please forgive me for this commercial posting, but many customers are being screwed and I am in a position to stop that.
Scott Adams
510/839-4873
scott@transbay.net | |
quiddich
join:2001-09-19
Los Gatos, CA
| reply to redsparks
I just activated Speakeasy on my other phone line; I called them last Thursday and the line was ready and running when my DSL modem arrived this morning.
My speeds seem slightly slower than the DSL Designs line (maybe 5%), but the idea of being able to reach a human being at any hour is very appealing. And if I'm lucky, I'll never have to call them anyway 
--
David
[text was edited by author 2003-04-24 01:13:29] | |
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