 bgetchel
join:2000-07-05
Waterbury, CT | You get 4700 Kbps @ 12,000 Feet??!! I'm thinking that one of those figures must be off somewhere. I've never heard of anyone getting those kinds of speeds at that distance.
Are you sure? | |
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 | hervoyel
join:2001-02-09
Conroe, TX
| Re: You get 4700 Kbps @ 12,000 Feet??!! Well, that's what the speed test here said. I wrote it down and all just so I would remember the numbers. When I read your post I ran it again and connected to the LA one. This time I got 3910 down and 839 up. I admit to being a little dissappointed that I didn't get as high a set of speeds as the first time I did the speed test (and granted I get a faster speed from the bottom of the two servers, don't know why) but 3910d/839u still works in my book. | |
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Rickazo
@sprinthome.com | Re: You get 4700 Kbps @ 12,000 Feet??!! How are you getting 4700? I'm only 10,000 feet away and the best I can get is 788. | |
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| | | hervoyel
join:2001-02-09
Conroe, TX
| Re: You get 4700 Kbps @ 12,000 Feet??!! Rick I wish I could tell you. Farther down the discussion I had someone point me to some other speed tests that didn't show my line being anything special so take solace in that. One thing I do know though is that the line from my house to the box is new and during the course of my last year trying to get DSL from Southwestern Bell one of the holdups was a period of time around January of this year where the CO near me wasn't taking any more DSL orders because it was closed for some sort of equipment upgrade.
I really can't say if that had any effect on things but it's a possibility. Also I should mention that Chad, the Sprint guy who did my install said my line was showing "around 12,000 feet" but in the time I spent trying to get DSL from Southwestern Bell I was told repeatedly that my line was around 9,000 feet.
Actual distance I don't know but if anyone here knows a way you can get a definitive measurement of your line I would like to know just so I can put that little question to rest. | |
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| Anon |  Speed test this
»www.bandwidthplace.com
or check out
»www.toast.net and stream the 700kb video | |
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Teasip
join:2001-05-14
Plano, TX
| Re: Speed test this I tried the bandwidthplace.com site here from N. Texas and got numbers even better than DSLR! I got 1.4 MB/sec download compared to 1.1-1.3 MB/sec. at DSLR. I will check the video stream option. Yes, I did go to advanced options and check the 500 kb file. Using Earthlink/Covad setup.
[text was edited by author 2001-08-22 21:47:39] | |
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NS4683
join:2000-08-25
Hoboken, NJ
| the »www.bandwidthplace.com/ is not accurate at all. i have optimum online and i get blazing speeds not only from dslreports but also from »nyc.speakeasy.net/ the bandwidthplace.com says i have isdn! how wrong is that. anyways, that's my .02 | |
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nmop$
join:2001-05-05 | interesting cool, i've heard good things about this service. those speeds are great, altho it's kinda pricey at over $100 a month. thx for the review | |
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Darkflight
3G Stitch626
join:2001-03-03
Rowland Heights, CA
| Keep in mind that... for $100 (or more), you get anywhere from 1-4 phone lines that are fully featured. (Call Waiting, Caller ID, Call Forwarding, Call blocking, CWCID, VoiceMail), LongDistance Minutes (Equiv value of .07c min), and Extreme HS INternet Access.
Going on the rates for service in my area, that would be
$40 for 1 Line here in PacBell Country (And that's with a Lifeline Discount),
$20-30 for second line with same features.
$50-$80 for similiar DSL Connection.
Add it all up and you get roughly the same amount as an ION line before LD Charges.
--
Darkflight
[text was edited by moderator] | |
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nmop$
join:2001-05-05
| Re: Keep in mind that... well i really didn't even want to make the price an issue, but is cable available in that area?
cable usually delivers much faster speeds than dsl for cheaper prices.
just to make a price comparison, for $120 a month i could get 3 roadrunner accounts (my ISP) which would be 6Mb down, 1.2Mb up, assuming i had a load balancing router. 
or 4 OOL accounts (30*4) translates to at least 12MB down / 4 MB up. not shabby at all... | |
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| | | phrider
join:1999-12-17
Los Angeles, CA
|  Re: Keep in mind that...
But one of the primary sources of value is the phone service:
1. I switched off one home office "business line" with many of the same features as the ION phone service (but with less flexibility) at $50 per month.
2. The AT&T long distance of 750 minutes/month and 800 line went away: $65 reduced to $5/month.
3. I dropped a residential fax line, $20/month.
4. I dropped a DSL service, $40-50/month. Cable would cost the same in my area.
Direct savings: $180. But I signed up for the xt4 service, which provided 2 more phone lines. And we now use those 2 more lines regularly (as a second line for the home office and as a dial out line for my wife's corporate PC, for which she hasn't gotten the NIC and VPN setup).
Plus, on the internet service side, I get upload speeds that are 4-8 times faster than nearly any cable provider (except one). Oh, the download speeds remain a very stable 3.5 times the peak of my old DSL service and are as fast as the best cable service. The "best" cable service is not in my neighborhood -- we have an old mediaone system locally that peaks at 1400/200, not my 5000/790.
So, if you need the phone services, the economics are strongly in favor of ION. | |
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| | | | | Anon | Re: Keep in mind that... a load balancing router is $400 of them thangs at nextland.com, god i wish i had 1, but someone told me that you wont get faster than any one of the connection, you might i dont know as i dont have $400 to throw on a router plus 2 modems to try it | |
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| | | | | Anon | Re: Keep in mind that... lol...you can just get a router..or zonealarm | |
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hervoyel
join:2001-02-09
Conroe, TX
| Ok, after some other speed tests.... I found a wide variety of speeds ranging from "Ok, so I got a good number from the DSL Reports test" to "Oh my God! I am being seriously misled by the DSL Reports test AND the people at Sprint!" In other words my connection is either really fast, really slow, or somewhere in between. Not very informative I know but I am at work and forgot to bring what I wrote down last night in the way of numbers. I do remember that on both the tests that the first guy replying to my review recommended I scored significantly lower just as he predicted. I then went back to DSL Reports and redid their tests but still got the higher numbers.
My conclusion is that I have decided I don't really care what the speed tests come up with. I am going with the idea that this is still very fast and I am happy with the service.
I did try about 4-5 different speed tests and while I'm sure many people disagree with me on this I am thinking that these tests are worth less than I previously believed. Sounds to me like these tests should be viewed as nothing more than rough estimates and the results taken with a grain of salt just like the claims of the companies selling broadband. | |
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| phrider
join:1999-12-17
Los Angeles, CA
| Re: Ok, after some other speed tests.... You are wise to take it all with a grain of salt. But you are doing quite well in comparison to others at your distance.
To check the relative performance of your line, the test that is least influenced by outside net congestion factors is the Sprint speed tester for your area. I can give you the site for Southern California, but that won't help much. If you don't already have it, perhaps some other SprintION Texans can speak up...
Once you go off-Sprint, your tests are subject to other issues, such as net congestions and the quality of the path from you to the tester. The best single point of comparison seems to be DSLreports: check the »www.dslreports/archive to see how others do on sprinthome.com and via other providers in your zip code (or 3 digit zip or 2 digit zip).
Speeds are also influenced by whether or not you use a router and by software on your machine. See the discussion at »Non-ION factors in speed tests | |
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Darkflight
3G Stitch626
join:2001-03-03
Rowland Heights, CA | Re: Ok, after some other speed tests.... Very true, I find the best way to determine bandwith, is mass d/l. How many simultaneous connections can you intiate @ max speed without any decrease in net performance, while not accurate, does help gauge what you're capable of handling. | |
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Microxot
join:2001-08-06
Lewisville, TX
| You give me hope
So far I have not had much problems with DSL ISPs except they keep going away (local companies). I had Cyberramp.net (very good), but after a year, they suddenly sold off to Internet America. I ***HATE*** IA. I feel that they are a big ripoff. I refused to use IA because I had been with them before - they don't care about the customers - they swore up and down I would like them and refused to refund my money. (I ended up getting credit and giving it to a friend of mine that used them as a dial up service.
I went to Directlink.net (*WAS* EXCELLENT) because I heard how good they were. They were fantastic until then end. I *Luckily* called in because of downed newsgroups, and found out they were going away in less than 60 days. So I had time to try and find someone else. In addition I finally got a hold of someone and am getting a refund on the unused portion of my prepay! Now things are changing again in regards to Directlink. One of my freinds just called up and they are now saying that they are looking for another ISP to purchase the directlink accounts and it was the ARCDSL accounts that are getting dropped. Another friend called up and was told the same thing I was. Go figure.
So here I am, looking again. After weighing all my options and prices, it came down to Verizon doing both hardware and ISP or SprintION doing everything.
For the price I was paying Verizon for the DSL line and Directlink for the ISP (768 down & 128) about $73 a month, I could have went with Verizon and got 1.5down & 384up ($80 a month). Downside - no static IP address
For the price of Directlink and Verizion and my basic phone bill (no LD), I am going with the Sprint ION XT1 package for the same price ($105 a month) plust I get 200 mins of LD, all the phone amenities (call wait, call ID, call conf, etc) AND a static IP address.
I had decided on Sprint ION and placed my order last week and have been closely monitoring this thread for any new reports on the company to see if I made a good choice or not. I have 19 more days to sit and wait. I have 32 days of directlink.net left.
Here I sit and hope I made a good choice, hope that my install isn't delayed, and hope that my directlink account doesn't shut off early. | |
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| Microxot
join:2001-08-06
Lewisville, TX
| Re: You give me hope I received an e-mail yesterday (8/27) that stated that my Pre-install dateis 9/4/01 where the local phone company (Verizon) should come to have a line provisioned to my house that will support the standards associated w/Sprint ION services. After that, if everything goes as planned, Sprint ION will be out on 9/21 to install my service. 9/21?? I was told 9/12.
I call up to sprint ION to question about the change in install date and why it was moved back. I did not get an answer (unless you count "well, when it came into my system, this is the date that is on it'). I explained about my concerns about having close window between install and cutoff date to begin with and now my window has closed down to 0 business days (2 days if you count the weekend). I was told by the person helping me, that she would monitor my account and that after Verizon installs the loop and the tests are good, she will try to have my install date re-scheduled to be within the next 7 - 10 days.
Im crossing my fingers. | |
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| | Microxot
join:2001-08-06
Lewisville, TX | Re: You give me hope crossing fingers don't work, but of course, you can read that in my trials and tribulations with ION and Verizion in my post | |
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| | Anon | RE: IS bandwidth for real? at bandwidth place. im getting
Raw speed of 3337985.1 bits per second
Communications context
Like a rating by a carrier. kilo=1,000 mega=1,000,000
3.34 megabits per second
Stored data context
Like on your hard drive. kilo=1,024 mega=1,048,576
407.5 kilobytes per second
3mbps is that possible? | |
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eyecannon
join:2001-07-24
Los Angeles, CA | Why can't they service apartments with > 4 units? Sorry for the strange spot. I am here in LA and I live at an apartment with about 50 units to a building. Why won't they serve me? eyecannon@hotmail.com | |
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y
@americas.unity
| Re: Why can't they service apartments with > 4 units? It's not that apartments with more than 4 units are not serviceable its most likley the type of wire that is going into the apartments and the type of service that you are requesting.
ION has been installed in buildings with multiple floors and also shopping centers. | |
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| | | Anon | Re: Why can't they service apartments with > 4 units? I believe this is a business decision, not a limitation on the capacity of the lines or system. Since the cost of setting up a new customer is so high, many companies do not want to provide service to customers who are not expected to keep the service at least 3 years. It takes that long for them to break even on delivering service.
Remember - Broadband is not yet on a par with utilities. All companies providing service are only doing so with the promise of making money in the long term. Unlike utilities, there is no government support to spread the cost of delivering service among all households. | |
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