Selected ISP Support > Covad / covad.net > What would you like ADSL prices to be?

What would you like ADSL prices to be?

The short answer is: something comparable to cable.

of course, that varies all over the place.

So, round numbers:

384/128: $20 (i hate this speed offering; to really make sense this should be like $12-15/month, esp. when 1500/128 is $30, for example from Verizon... but what I don't know is the minimum required regardless of speed i.e. what's fixed in the cost...)
1.5/128: $30
1.5/384: $45
3.0/384: $60

static IP... +$5

What I'd like to see are reasonably priced packages that offset download for upload, like:

768/384 for $35
1.5/512 for $55

Assuming distance/line quality wasn't a problem, I'd jump on that in a heartbeat.

1.5/512?
I second that.

Half-megabit upload would be very nice.
Can't wait to see the new packages. My 1.5/128 contract with Earthlink is up in May and I'm switching back to Covad, or at least something with better upload.

But not Qwest, because Interleave sucks.

reply to LBDSL
There seems to be a decided group of broadband users which one falls into, that is unique in the aspect of upload, download, routing, static or dynamic IPs.

Gamers ... static IP and great routing are priorities. I have Covad, and the routing is tremendous. Often I am less than 10 hops to whatever server I'm playing on, and players flock to my server whenever I fire it up.

SoHo users ... I am part of this one too. We need a static IP or IPs, big upload, and reliability. Covad has me there too.

Pr0n masters ... I have no idea who these people are, but judging from the sheer volume of pr0n sites out there, there are a LOT of them. I would think all that matters to them is uncapped download

Warez punks ... Downloaders of illegal software ... I would think that all that matters to them is download, but some of them probably run servers to share their illegal stuff, so upload might be important too.

P2P degenerates ... downloading illegal movies, music, and other copyrighted material. I can't picture someone being this uncaring, devious and snakelike wanting to share, so probably only download matters to them.

I've been doing a lot of looking around lately. I like the cable company in my area's prices for 3.0/384 ... $45.00/mo, but they are charging $30.00 per each for static IPs. Earthlink re-sells the same cable for the same money, but with no static IP even possible. I pay $10.00/mo for my 5 static IPs now, which is a balanced deal. It's also an added and higher profit margin item for the provider. I had 768/768 SDSL from DirecTVDSL for $65.00/mo with 5 IPs, but those days are long gone I'm afraid. I have a friend that is grandfathered in with a rate like that on another provider, but they now charge over $200.00/month for new customers.

The best deal I have encountered so far is 1.5/384 with 5 IPs for $75.00/mo. I think I'm going to wind up going with this deal, but if a deal came up for 1.5/768 with 4 or 5 IPs for $85.00/mo, I'd snap on it like a gator on a chicken. I would also do 512/512 with 5 IPs for $85.00/mo.
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amazing stuff, this internet

reply to LBDSL

said by LBDSL:

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-List what speed packages you would like to see

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quote:

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-List the cost of each package you would like to see
As it stands now will will be offering:

328/128 Dynamic IP

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quote:

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1.5/128 Dynamic IP

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quote:

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1.5/384 Static IP

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reply to LBDSL
Thank you for all the input so far, please keep them coming.

Some of the packages/prices are do-able, and others are not.

Let me throw out some other subjects to cover, as aurgathor brought up, equipment, and Contracts.

If you could move to another Covad Partner without agreeing to a new contract, would that be worth it?

Please keep all comments coming.

Thanks!
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies

reply to LBDSL
Personally I'd like a selection with distinct reasons to upgrade. Something like:

384-768/128 Dynamic ($25-$35)
1.5/384 Dynamic ($35-$45)
1.5/768 Static ($45-$55)
3.0/384 Static ($55-$65)
3.0/768 Static ($65-$75)
3.0/1.0 Static ($75-$90)

I think that last one would draw a lot of people who like to get the most out of their broadband connections. As far as contracts, if it were used to waive a Switch Fee it would be ok, but it would be nice if we were told what the fee was and how much of it was covered during the contract period in order to know if it was worth it to enter into the contract or go contract free (month to month) and know that if a switch was made that fee would have to be budgeted into it. Also I think people like for the equipment to be free (big selling point!) and 768 upload is a necessity when cable companies offer 3.0/384 (rumored to be raised to 3.0/512) and telco's who haven't made a inroad into their subscriber base with price cuts are starting a wave of 6.0/??? upgrades.

Just My Opinion...
FTLNewsFeed
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"A woman never runs away, a woman never hides away in order to survive." -Ayumi Hamasaki from her song "Real Me"

reply to LBDSL
I agree with the previous post. I am currently getting Covad at $79 for 1.5/384. Anything lower is desirable and I wouldn't stop my son from a similar price for 1.5/768. Youth never get enough bandwidth except at college.

reply to LBDSL
How about some variation on the prices depending on the features provided by the ISP ? Take a look over in the Qwest forum as to how they are doing pricing. For 40.98 I can get a 1.5M/896 with a static ip (line is 28.00, ISP is 6.99 and static ip is 5.99). This doesn't include mailboxes or web space or antivirus or spam filtering, but if you don't need (or want) those, why pay for them ? If I need those or any of the other features offered they are available at additional cost.

Also, how about a variation in the rates, depending on what you can actually use your connection at ? If I sign up for 1.5/384 and best i can get is 928/384 (i.e. safe mode) can I get a reduction in price ? Granted this is better than 384/128, but still... As a few people have mentioned, something priced between 1.5M down and 384 down would accommodate this.

Month to month would be nice also, as well as the ability to rent a modem. If I want to sign up, but this means I get another modem and more filters (even if it's free after rebates) then I'm out the money (at least for a while). If I could rent the modem to ensure the service works and I have an existing modem that will work as well (if not better) with the service why do I need another ?

reply to LBDSL
I don't understand why there got to be a price to speed relation to "packages" as someone else from Sonic.net pointed out the bandwidth is cheap. I think it would be easier this way.
Presently, I have the Telesurfer plus (which uses the Zyxel modem 645) equal to the Dynamic IP Brent is talking about.
This modem is capable of greater speed then what Covad is doing with it.
My thoughts is why not have one price
for maximum speed feasible based on your distance from CO. So like I'm 5000 ft from CO and if I can get sync 6meg down and 512k up then that is what I get for Dynamic IP plan. If you 10000 ft away from the CO and you get half that speed then that is what you get. For $45 or 40/month Dynamic IP Plan.
For Static IP plan
Make it $69 for 6meg down and 768k-1meg up, same thing with distance, you get the maximum that the modem can sync to reliably same cost.
As it is now the offer to stay with my existing plan for another year for 39.95 is not going to work for me. I gonna move to another provider if Covad or Covad reseller don't make better offer. Value and service for the money is worth it to becoming a "loyal customer" vs getting a package and being forced in a year.
I'm looking at it as a service not bandwidth.
Hey Brent, my "contract" is up end of next month if you work it out with Covad for the best deal or close to the above mentioned you'll be hearing from me for sure if covad.net is gonna stick to there guns.
To answer "If you could move to another Covad Partner without agreeing to a new contract, would that be worth it?"
Depends if the price is right. If you give value to me I will stay without you worrying if I will leave. Keep in mind I think of this is as a service not bandwidth your selling me.
Thanks for reading.

Id be happier with a blan yu can customize. I have 3 internet connections. 2 cable lines and one dsl. The only reason i have the dsl is for the upload. I run gaming servers and ftp's and websites from home so upload is critical to me. So in order for me to get a fast upload i need to buy an insane download package. i dont need 3mbs down i only need the 768 up so a 384-1.5/768 would be perfect for me. price i dunno maybe 60 bucks would be reasonable to me.

reply to LBDSL
Here's how your might distinguish your company from all the other resellers. Besides offer the standard packages that everyone else seems to offer why not offer a stripped down package. Most of us power users run our own email servers, use our own Usenet feeds and really only want just a static IP and access.

I would be all over a package like this:

3.0/384
1 static IP
$75/month
No email addresses
No Newsgroups
No dial-up
No fluff, just access

reply to bored_in_nh

said by bored_in_nh:

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...but if a deal came up for 1.5/768 with 4 or 5 IPs for $85.00/mo, I'd snap on it like a gator on a chicken. I would also do 512/512 with 5 IPs for $85.00/mo.

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is a 1.5 upload possible?, I thought the technical limits were under 1mb.

You are correct 1mb is the current limit with ADSL.

reading FAQ's pays off yet again lol Ok so how about a package with
1.5/1.0
or
384/1.0
or
512/1.0
or
768/1.0

And why is sdsl more then adsl? everywhere ive looked a 768/768 is more then my 3.0/768?
You would think it would be cheaper. You are using less bandwith downstream?

ADSL is lineshared technology now. SDSL has always been a dedicated circuit/line so it will always be more expensive then ADSL.

Back in 98 or 99 there was a company in the city of chicago that offered 1.5 SDSL for $80 a month. It was nice while it lasted, which for me was about 1.5 years.

Sorry Brent back on topic:)

reply to LBDSL
128k upload is too slow. 256k should be the min on any real package.
I'd personally like to see packages like 768/512 or 1.5/768. If you can do a single static IP, and have it cheaper then the 8 static IP packages where you can only use 5, that would be good too. The no-fluff comment like no email accounts, web space, dialup, etc is also really good. I never use any of that type of stuff, not even once.
Why not offer packages like 512/512 ADSL if its possible to be cheaper then 512/512 SDSL. ADSL doesn't mean it HAS to have a higher download does it?

I wonder if some people would like a 128/128 or even a 128/64 if the price was like $14.95/month. It would be slightly faster then dialup, without tieing up the phone line.

No contracts would be really nice too. I don't have a contract for any other bills I pay (mortgage, electricity, gas, water, sewer, garbage, local phone, long distance, cable tv, cell phone).

The stupid fees and taxes SBC will soon be charging me (sorry Covad, you gota get into the RT near my house )
really suck. $2.00 "USF" fee, plus 4 or 5 different taxes, none of which Covad added onto my current bill. I like a flat $79.95 being charged each month. Its hard to compare prices when you don't know if one place adds in $20.00 in fees and taxes and another doesn't.

What about a burstable ADSL connection? Say you can get a 6.0/3.0 line somehow, but throttle it back so you can only average out 1.5/384 from the line over the course of the month. I would like to occasionally be able to download a large file really fast, while my dsl connection sits idle for hours at other times of the day/night. As long as its not a tricky billing situtation where you start occuring fees per MB over a certain limit, that would suck. I wouldn't mind being able to get 6.0 download for 10 minutes and then have it throttled to 384k download for the next 50 minutes when I'm done downloading and probably not even using the connection anymore.

reply to gdm
No need to be sorry gdm .

I am reading comments as they come in, will be addressing most of the issues this weekend, once I have given enough people a chance to comment.

I will address this issue now however, since it has just come up

ADSL upload verse SDSL.

SDSL is priced higher for a few reasons.
-Dedicated line
-High quality service
-SLA (Service level agreement), which includes uptime and repair times (ADSL does not give you this)

Those are just a few of the reasons, SDSL is more then ADSL

Now keep in mind, I can not create, or price ADSL services that would hurt SDSL sales.

As gdm stated, ISP's had charged under $100 for good SDSL service 5 years ago. But you find me one of those companies that are still in business.

I have to price ALL services in such a way that when you sign up for service, I will still be around in a year to provide you that service.

Please keep providing any and all input!

I will address one other issue. You will NOT see any DSL plans lower then $30/month, no matter the speed. As far as I know, SBC has been the only one to break the $30 mark, and the advantage they have is, they own the copper, and pay no one to lease it.

Some ideas have been very good, and are very possible.

Thanks,
Brent
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Lightning Bolt Technologies

why dont anyone offer a 1mb upload?
If you offer one ill definately get my service from you if i can. i have 19 days yet to get out of my covad contract.