I fired AT&T today

[Lzen]

I have had problems with my DSL over the past few months. It goes out sporadically or the speed is up and down. I pay for the 3 Mbps service. Here is a speed test I just did. Not exactly getting what I pay for.



One of the first things I did was to buy a new Motorola modem from them. Problems still.

Also had the phone line go out once during the past few months time. The phone line problem ended up being on their end, of course. But I had to waste my whole damn afternoon of leave time for their repair service.

Had them come out again recently to fix the DSL which hasn't been working properly for months now. Supposed to have fixed it. She said she put a filter on the main line into the house. Problems started showing up again shortly after that.

I even called them a week ago one last time to see if they could try to repair it again. The guy I spoke with said the repair center would be calling me the next day because they were already closed for the night. Of course, I knew that as I had already been through his a few times. This time, however, nobody ever called me to check my line and/or schedule a repair.

I called today and canceled my ATT phone and DSL service that I have been on for 18(phone) and 7(DSL) years. Cox will be out to install cable internet and digital phone next Tuesday. I can't wait to not have these problems anymore. Anyone else have experiences like this with ATT or any other provider?

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by chagrin

It's important to note - anyone trying to get speed, etc.

Understand that whenever you pay for a certain speed - DSL is an "at best" technology. 3Meg actually means "up to 3 meg" and whatever speed you sync up to at install is what you're going usually going to get. It depends on how far you are located from the CO - for what it's worth, I find DSL to be the most reliable form of transfer (cable is fast as hell but for the most part, you have to deal with peak times and cable outages - of course that depends on where you are and how good your cable provider is). However you have to be aware of what speed you are able to qualify for, and I don't mean what the salesman tells you you are qualified for.

Wouldn't a dedicated fibre line like U-Verse be more reliable than DSL and cable?

[rockymtnchief]

Originally Posted by Groves

You do realize that paying for 3Mbps means that you'd get a max of 3, but anything between 1.5 and 3 they'll call acceptable. Looks like you're below that, but not much.

There again, it depends on the company. We guarantee the speed to be within 10% outside of the house.

Originally Posted by Guru

Oh, I am not really complaining as much as just stating I have noticed a difference recently. It was consistent as hell for the nearly 5 years I have had them until this past few weeks. Now it seems to be normal again.

I am still waiting for the next price increase with a speed reduction like they did to me last year though.

I wish I could justify $40-$50 per month on internet but I just can't. I feel I am overpaying at $25 right now.

I didn't think you were complaining. Just trying to help.

Every situation and area will be different. In my case, 90% of my DSL troubles are inside the home since most of my plant is new. I've had people call our reps and chew their ass about slow speeds before. Then I drive 50 miles out to their home and find out they added Directv and didn't filter the receivers. Nobody ever apologizes to me or the reps. And they sure never admit to their friends that the trouble was inside their own home.

Last week I tested the speed ok at the NID for a gal and my job should've been done. She complained some more so I tested it at the jack ok. She still said it was the companies trouble. I tested it with my laptop off the wireless router she bought off Ebay and the speed was still good. She wouldn't admit that she probably had viruses, spyware, etc... on her PC. So she canceled her service and is going to try the other company in town and have the same results. But the damage has been done. She's already told all her friends that my company sucks. That reflects back on me and the work I do and I take it very personal.

But, from the sounds of the posts above, it sounds like AT&T has some issues. Good luck.

[Saulbadguy]

Heh.

[rockymtnchief]

Originally Posted by chagrin

It depends on how far you are located from the CO...

Exellent point

I have people that live in remote areas far from our CO or RST's. They call in asking for DSL from time to time. I let them know that DSL is engineered to go out 18,000'. I then let them know that it will work out further, but the speed isn't guaranteed.

[penguinz]

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I got the ATT U-Verse, VOIP local phone and I-Phone wireless services and couldn't be happier. DSL sucks.

I have ATT DSL, Its pretty reliable. I like it better than cable. Sure, I could get much higher speeds with cable, but I really have no need for it. I switched over from Time warner about a yr ago and have not seen a single outage. I like DSL better. Now, if I could get an optical service like Verizons Fios, I'd do that in a heartbeat. But, compared to cable, I like DSL.

[rockymtnchief]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Wouldn't a dedicated fibre line like U-Verse be more reliable than DSL and cable?

Yes and no. Fiber, in most cases is better. It depends on your head end equipment and fiber doesn't help if you still have a bottleneck somewhere else in your network.

Also, if you live close to a CO and subscribe to 3 meg service, you probably couldn't tell the difference between copper and fiber.

I'm assuming everyone already knows the advantages of copper so I won't go into it.

Edit: Given the choice, I'd rather be on fiber.

[Fritz88]

Had similar problems.

Go for Cable but remember you have a download limit every month. It's much faster though.

[Skip Towne]

OK. It took 30 minutes but I'm done with them. It feels really good. I did keep DSL though.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by Skip Towne

OK. It took 30 minutes but I'm done with them. It feels really good. I did keep DSL though.

I don't know if magic jack works with DSL, but I think it does. At $1.66 a month, it would be hard to lose.

http://www.magicjack.com/4/index.asp

[rockymtnchief]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

I don't know if magic jack works with DSL, but I think it does. At $1.66 a month, it would be hard to lose.

http://www.magicjack.com/4/index.asp

I've heard mixed reviews about it. For personal calls it's worth trying. But if you have professional business to conduct or health issues, I'd keep a cell or landline handy. If the power goes out you're S.O.L.

[Lzen]

I may be late to the party, but I thought I would address this anyway.

Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD

I currently have directv and get all the channels. Pretty much the only thing I watch it for is movies, and a very select set of tv. I'm starting my test of netflix to the 360 this week and if it meets my needs I'm dumping directv. Not because I don't like it, but because it's value is low to me. If I can get what I get today(and sooner releases for some movies) on netflix why would I pay $100+ a month for satellite?

Guess what? Not everyone is like you. Some people actually watch tv shows and sporting events. I like NFL Network, ESPN, etc. And there are shows I like such as Burn Notice, Dog Whisperer, etc. Can't get those on Netflix. Hulu? Maybe, but not the newest episodes as I recall.

BTW, I also have Netflix and I watch movies through the 360. Of course, it sucks when your bandwidth is limited. It reduces the picture quality to match your bandwidth/connection speed. Hopefully, I won't have that problem anymore after next Tuesday.

Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD

Tivo's another classic example, good company, interesting technology, but also likely dead in the long rung. Why would I need a DVR when I have my movies/TV on demand when I want them already.

Shut up, you! DVR is the best invention evar!!

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by BigChiefDave

I pay for 6megs. I'm happy with mine. Its consistant, no outages.

That's good and I'm glad you're happy with it. Your ping is a bit slow, btw. Anyway, if you don't have to deal with customer service and your connection and speed stays consistent, then you are a happy customer. Unfortunately, they couldn't provide that for me. Looks like they have quite a few unhappy customers judging by the 2.9 out of 5 stars rating.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

To the question, when I was in college, I got SBC internet because they ran some promotion or something. Hated it. Kept it a year, cussed at A LOT of reps.

I had to watch my bill very closely because 4 or 5 times they'd charge me for shit I didn't want no matter what I said.

Never worked. They could never fix it. Hated it. Awful.

They do that, too. We have had that happen a time or two. Same with my coworker.

[jidar]

Originally Posted by rockymtnchief

Last week I tested the speed ok at the NID for a gal and my job should've been done. She complained some more so I tested it at the jack ok. She still said it was the companies trouble. I tested it with my laptop off the wireless router she bought off Ebay and the speed was still good. She wouldn't admit that she probably had viruses, spyware, etc... on her PC. So she canceled her service and is going to try the other company in town and have the same results. But the damage has been done. She's already told all her friends that my company sucks. That reflects back on me and the work I do and I take it very personal.

This is exactly true. I've worked as a network engineer in the industry for about 12 years.

As the network engineer I have the ability to view the traffic going to and from a given customer on demand, and vast majority of the time I've ever had a customer get through the support chain up to me about speed issues it's been virus or trojan related. I am 100% sure of this because I can view the network traffic raw and see the virus activity myself (something support people simply cannot do).

Nobody ever thinks their computer or home equipment sucks, but yet they run a malware scanner, get 1200 hits, and forget about it by the next day and start claiming they've got a shitty isp again. I'd be absolutely shocked if more than half the people in this thread actually had legitimate problems.