[NBLUG/talk] DSL provider recommendations?

[William L. Thomson Jr.]

On Tue, 2003-04-22 at 13:27, error wrote:
> > Now FYI, if you can look into services provided by ATG. I had a 1.1Mbps
> > SDSL line with ATG for $80.00 a month. I payed MegaPath/Covad $340.00
> > for a similar line.
> 
> ATG on the other hand is the worst company on the face of this planet
> when it comes to customer service.

No comment there I really never had to deal with them in the year+ that
they provided me service.
 
> Things only get done when you walk to their office and have a face to
> face conversation with the people that work there.

Never any face to face. Although the sales guy I dealt with was gone
just after getting my line all setup and running.

> I know someone that has a mispelled login because somewhere along the
> line someone made a typo on his login. They told him it would take him
> 3-6 weeks to change it.

It did take me a week to get access to their router, so I could
configure my own. Not to mention the PPPOE info and etc. Covad was no
different in this regard.

However my SDSL line with MegaPath was a bridged one, and there was no
PPPOE, or forms to sign to manage my own router.

> With that said, I once had an uncapped DSL line with them (it took
> forever to get it setup) and it exceeded 8/3mb a sec. It was amazingly
> fast for $69 or what ever it was a month.

Cheap bandwidth is ATG niche. Rumor has it that it's due to them sharing
a fiber connection with Cisco.

The latency on my ATG line was assume. A few hops and you are on a fiber
back bone. Much faster responses than I saw on my $340.00 a month line
with MegaPath/Covad.

> The problem was that they never got back to me about anything.

They were very responsive at first and recently when I closed my
account?

> Like the remote root holes on their servers that made me stop using
> their services.

Not aware of it. Not surprised, nor was I effected. Or I do not think I
was?

> This is one area where Sonic can't really be beaten, if I call sonic, I
> know I will be helped quickly.

True

> With that said, free bandwidth anyday.

Here, here. I second that. Here in Jacksonville there is a commercially
sponsored group running around setting up free Wireless Internet Zone's.
http://www.jaxwiz.org/

FYI, when I was on the phone with Covad. I was speaking with a guy in
Canada. His girlfriend has a cable line that regularly exceeds 3Mbps
down, and like 2+Mbps up for around $40.00 Canadian dollars a month. I
guess the Canadian Gov chips in tax dollars to ISP to bring the costs
down. Or something along those lines.

-- 
Sincerely,
William L. Thomson Jr.
Support Group
Obsidian-Studios, Inc.
3548 Jamestown Ln.
Jacksonville, FL 32223
Phone/Fax  904.260.2445
http://www.obsidian-studios.com