how-to block ads
|
 derk
join:2000-08-31
Cleveland, OH
| glad Ameritech DSL is working for you but.... I have been living in the Cleveland area since May 2000.
I originally started out using Ameritech DSL in my neighborhood (Cleveland Heights) in June 2000. So broadband has been available since then, although not widely available in the Cleveland area. | |
| | 
BurntCricket
Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do
Premium
join:2000-09-02
Here
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: glad Ameritech DSL is working for you but.... DSL has been available in Cleveland(proper) since early 2000, I signed up soon as the commercials started >> wasn't active until August >> I have been reasonably happy with the service >> I don't use the newsgroups so there is no big loss if it doesn't work >> Some outlying suburbs are just coming on line now. Where the problem comes in is >> a lot of houses are just too far away from the CO(in wire feet) until a RT is online.
--
The highways of life are full of flat squirrels, who couldn't make up their minds. | |
| rage001
join:2001-02-25
Euclid, OH
clubs:
| Works for me as well I've had A-tech DSL since April 2001 and I love it. I'm on the 768/128 plan as well. Speed is great, but sometimes the mail servers go down. I'm waiting for an upgrade to the 1500/256 plan, but that's another story. I'm glad everything is going good for you. | |
| |
BurntCricket
Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do
Premium
join:2000-09-02
Here
clubs: | Re: Works for me as well The upgrade to 1500/256 is available now >> $59.95 | |
| | rage001
join:2001-02-25
Euclid, OH
clubs: | Just tested my speed and upgrade went through. It only took two phone calls and about a month. I'm happy now. | |
| 
Bungled Buckeye
@af.mil
| Ameritech Honeymoon OVER !!! I've had Ameritech for four months now and other than an occasional drop in speed it has been very reliable. I too had a couple of heated calls with tech support in the process of getting set up, but was generally satisfied. Last weekend all of that changed. I came in to use internet last Saturday and - no DSL. I didn't call that day as I thought it might be a system wide event and gave them the benefit of the doubt. I called Sunday and was promised 24 hour response, which seemed fair to me, but their offer, not my request. 24 hours passed, by a few hours actually, and I called to get status and all I got was a bunch of double talk with the bottom line that we didn't really mean 24 hours, we just offered that to keep you happy, it is actually 72 hours, so I wait for 72 hours, call again for status and I never heard so much double talk in my life. A representative that understood and spoke broken English after several attempts found my account and I'm not sure what he was really trying to say, but after 10 minutes of listening to him say nothing I terminated the conversation in disgust. It's now 96 hours plus with no resolution. If I'd been told initially that they would get to it as fast as they could, but it might be a week I'd have understood - might not have been happy, but I'd have understood. It was with serious trepidation that I signed for anything that Ameritech provides as I could write a novel about how they tried to screw with me on the simple installation of a second line some years ago. These damn utility companies (that includes all of them, phone, power, gas cable, whatever, you name it) are getting away with the farm. The state of Ohio has severely fined Ameritech in the past, and I had them involved in my prior experience of a second line. The words "service", "integrity", "honesty" are not in their vocabulary, period.
I'd imagine my modem has went south, but I can't be sure. Wouldn't it have been nice if a few more questions from tech support had resulted in that conclusion, they could have sent me a modem, I could have exchanged modems and been back on the air a few days?? But, no that would be too logical and be too customer service oriented as well.
I'm going to be a little more patient and see what happens as I know from reading posting here in DSLReports that if I change providers it will take Ameritech weeks and weeks to free up the line, so their virtual monopoly continues, though I don't like it. I don't know if PUCO has jurisdiction over internet as they do telephones. but it is evident that Ameritech continues to screw the public in their respective states !~! | |
| | jojhn1
join:2001-11-09
Cleveland, OH
| Re: Ameritech Honeymoon OVER !!! Well i had ameritech dsl for over 2 years and it worked great, only a few times it went down. They did have it fixed within 12 hours each time. But now there service has slipped alot. I changed to cable and its much faster. For 34.95 a month I am on at usually 2800\265. But it also has its down times. the service has been ok, and also dsl is also a shared connection once you get past the co.So if your looking for speed go with cable. Dsl is ok and also it was very reliable for me,I dont know about cables reliability yet cause i`ve only had it for 2 months. | |
| | |
cvcaman
@il.us
| Re: Ameritech Honeymoon OVER !!! are you sure about dsl being a shared connection? I thought that only applied to cable. I mean isn't that why you can splice into another home's catv and get service for free yet you can't do that with a phone line for voice calls.
I might be wrong but I doubt it. | |
| | jojhn1
join:2001-11-09
Cleveland, OH | dsl is not shared from your house to the dslam but after that it is a shared connection. | |
| | | Hilton Head
join:2000-11-04
Miamisburg, OH
| Re: Ameritech Honeymoon OVER !!! I think that from the DSLAM systems to the internet (shared) has a higher speed connection like ATM. So that means the line will be solid at higher speed as agreed CAP speed. DSL Modem does not cap out the speed, but the DSLAM does. If the CO notices the drop in speed, they can adjust the speed quickly. The speed will drop if you live further from the CO office, because the number of the Load Coils along the line. I am on a separate line which is not on load coil at all between the CO and my house
Road Runner or cable broadband on the other hand is shared closest to home (shared ended at the pole or junction box). Which means the speed is not promised and it can be jammed with other neighbors; unless the lines are made to support a lot higher speed. I heard that the line can hold up to 27 Mbps per node, so that means if 50 users are online at the very same time, the speed can be at about 540 Kbps instead of 2.5 Mbps. That is why I do not trust this kind of service at all. I think the cable modem will cap out at the speed about 2.5 Mbps, so you may not get higher speed then that. If you live in the neighbors with a node shared less then 15 users, you are very lucky. Wait and see how many users will sign up in the near future. If the cable operator notices the speed drop per node, they will change the equipment at each node which will take at least six months to a year (equipments cost big money to cable operator). In Dayton Ohio area where I live, Time Warner told me that I am at Node 95 (which means they have more than 95 nodes in Dayton Area).
Another hint, Imaging more people choose cable broadband (over 500 kbps) instead DSL broadband, because the cable broadband are available in areas that DSL broadband are not (over 18,000 feet away from the CO without RT). So that means more users will slow down the cable broadband unless cable operator has to pay for more lines to help speed up the services. Don't be surprise if the bill will go up in the near future.
I could not be any happier for any user who can still get broadband either ways who wants higher speed. I choose DSL because I am at about 5,000 feet from the CO which provide me a better steady speed service. Road Runner is available in my area, but I tried it out and do not like it, because I discovered a wild speed on that line (this is why Time Warner called their heavy users "Broadband Hog" stated on this DSL Reports about a month ago). | |
| | jojhn1
join:2001-11-09
Cleveland, OH
| I also was on seperate line. Had ameritech dsl for 2 years speed ranged from 250 to 650 down and 85 to 133 up. I was 4300 feet from co. Speed variations come from traffic more than anything else and at $49.95 a month, cable was a better deal.1800 to 3400 down and 225 to 289 up for $34.95.pings are even a bit better 60 and 70 for cable and 120 to 500 for dsl.I think depending on ISP and the equipment they use is what determines the service your going to get plus the area your in. so for now cox has a better service for the money in this area than ameritech does. Don`t forget dsl is not a guaranteed speed either after the dslam. | |
| | Hilton Head
join:2000-11-04
Miamisburg, OH
| I ran a number of speed tests and it appear to be the same speed every day 1253/244. I have no problem at all. If you think DSL is not a guaranteed speed, then why did Ameritech offer the service like "1500/256" and Cable never say anything like "2500/256"? Sounds like Cable does not have any guaranteed at all then DSL. I tried the cable service and it went far over 1500 kbps below then 2500 kbps like it went wild speed. Yes I ran test a number of times on cable and the test response between 20kbps to 2500kbps. I think wild speed is not worth $44.95 at all. If you think it worth $34.95 then that is what you are paying for. Cable people just advertise "Broadband internet access" that is all, nothing else like 2500/256. I will be very happy to switch if the Wild Speed stops and they advertise like 2500/256 otherwise I stay with DSL. | |
| | jojhn1
join:2001-11-09
Cleveland, OH
| yes I dont blame you and your right dsl is more stable.I tried to get 1500\256 on dsl and they wanted $60 a month. Thats why I wanted to try cable.the speed so far is rarely under 1500 down so far. thats not to say it wont get crazy any time soon. If things do get bad I would switch back to dsl it was reliable. | |
| | Hilton Head
join:2000-11-04
Miamisburg, OH
| Just keep in mind about few things before you stop using Ameritech DSL.
You were on a separate line which was a better benefit then line sharing with the phone line. Once you stop using the Ameritech DSL on your separate line, the separate line is gone for good, even you decided to go back to Ameritech, you will not be able to go back to separate line. That is why I have never stop DSL while I was trying out the Road Runner with Time Warner.
If you stop using Ameritech, your email address will stop as well. If you decided to go back to Ameritech, you may have to wait 60 days (after you stopped) before you can get your email address back.
Third, the speed is solid at 1500/256 between the DSL modem and the DSLAM, but the speed may change very little once it is being shared with other people after the DSLAM. The reason the DSL Reports speed test shows lower is because the Data frame packet gets bigger and bigger as it goes from one hop to another (router to router). Each router has it own IP address so the data frame packet has to carry each IP addresses to the source server. The server will be able to send back the data frame packet back to help the routers to find other router's IP address to trace the data back to your computer. You might want to try the demo software called NeoTrace or IP Trace. The trace program will tell you how many hops your data has gone thru. With cable internet, the system is so big that there may be more hops to handles, than DSL internet system (depends on the number of people who signed up with the broadband services).
While I was watching T.V, I saw Road Runner Ads that they are the highest rating broadband service and received the award for that. I personally do not believe they should receive that award at all. I think they received the award is because they have more users on the service. I think they do not rate the service, but they just rate on how many users are using the service. My old way of saying “the more users you have, the more problems you will experience”. That does not only mean Internet, it also means taking care of the computers for the users such as students at schools. I am a computer technician and I know by experience.
Last, good luck on your research and email me what you think (if you are interested sharing the information with me). | |
| | 
jgsteel34
join:2002-03-12
Miamisburg, OH
| I also tried out rr when I had dsl from ameritech. So far, it has been one month and rr has beaten ameritech hands down for me. I live in Miamisburg also but I am about 12000 feet from the CO. I always had issues losing sync and my best speeds were around 1000 down, but this varied quite a bit. I was on lineshare and had ran a sperate cat5 cable from my NID straight to my modem to try and help connection.I had ameritech do a bunch of research and they found nothing except for the fact I was on the fringe of being to far from CO. I think the speed stability is there for dsl if you are like HiltonHead and are 5000 feet or so from CO but as you get farther out and there are no RT's then you get what I experienced. I have yet to experience wild speed on rr. I also have had virtually no time at all of being down on the service. I have ran Thousands of tests during different times of day/night and my speed varies from 1.8 to 2.2 down. If this continues I will stick with RR,unless they really raise prices for bandwidth hogs.Although I do not fit in this catagory. I would consider ameritech dsl again if for some reason I develop problems with rr, but Atech would need to open up a RT in my area and I could get steady speed from it and also they would lower price for 1.5/256 plan. At least for me it was 59.95 per month and I am paying 44.95 per month for rr and not dropping below 1.8 down. I know they don't guarantee any speed but Atech does.Its like the saying in the Movie Tommy Boy with Chris Farley, "If you want me to crap in a box and mark it guarnteed I will". This is not at all implying that Ameritech is crap, its just that I personally do not put alot of confidence in some guarantes. Good luck and I will keep posting on my success with rr or not. (hopefully with) | |
| | Hilton Head
join:2000-11-04
Miamisburg, OH
| jgsteel34, I am glad to hear from you again. I could not be any happier for you once you are happy with the road runner. I have been thinking about switching over to road runner during the month of March, but after trying out the Road Runner, I discover it was not for me at this time. I really hope Time Warner will not increase the price because of the broadband hog. I am going to sit around a little longer to see what happening between the Atech and RR. I like the lower price, but I do not like too much risky. Speed changes between 2500 kbps and 1800 kbps is still out of question for me. That is 700 kbps different in speed it too much changes. If I drop the Atech, I will lose the separate line for good which I do not want to do that. I just want a real good steady speed with RR before I switch.
About your DSL, it appears that you have a number of load coils on your line which weaken your signals. I believe that RT will do better for you. Atech told me that my DSL line does not have any load coil between my house and the CO office (they told me two years ago, but I do not really know if I should believe them or not). | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of AT&T Midwest |
|
