Need help finding a new ISP.
naengwen
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
After years of frequent disconnects, broken promises, and less than helpful tech support leading to entire weekends sans Internet, I've decided to search for a better internet solution again. I'm prioritizing reliability; speed isn't too big a deal so long as it exceeds DSL speeds, and price isn't that large an object so long as it maintains the first two.
I say again, because past attempts at this have shown that there doesn't seem to be an easy answer. I'm not interested in DSL, but that's all I've been able to get from the major providers i've searched through in my area. Verizon doesn't seem interested in deploying FiOS here, AT&T seems content with making UVerse available to every street in the neighborhood except mine, and I've heard nothing but bad things from my neighbors about Time Warner's net service around here.
Anyone have any ideas/advice? Tried googling it, but the results for broadband in Ventura, SoCal haven't really given me a lot of useful information. Tried asking around, but everyone who's content with their service is using a service that doesn't quite reach me (and doesn't seem to be making any effort to reach me, either). I don't mind being patient, but I do mind being offline for weekends at a time.
I say again, because past attempts at this have shown that there doesn't seem to be an easy answer. I'm not interested in DSL, but that's all I've been able to get from the major providers i've searched through in my area. Verizon doesn't seem interested in deploying FiOS here, AT&T seems content with making UVerse available to every street in the neighborhood except mine, and I've heard nothing but bad things from my neighbors about Time Warner's net service around here.
Anyone have any ideas/advice? Tried googling it, but the results for broadband in Ventura, SoCal haven't really given me a lot of useful information. Tried asking around, but everyone who's content with their service is using a service that doesn't quite reach me (and doesn't seem to be making any effort to reach me, either). I don't mind being patient, but I do mind being offline for weekends at a time.
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They're a horribly evil company, but I still use them.
.facedesk
PS. UVerse isn't anything special. It's still DSL to your house; however, the location your neighborhoods DSL connections aggregate at is serviced by fiber connectivity. In other words, if you don't get your "promised" DSL speeds UVerse might make that happen. It won't make the last mile more reliable since it is still copper transport. It's a marketing ploy to try and counter the superior Verizon FiOS system.
Yeh, I figured. Verizon's not really making efforts to move into the area right now though, so I'm stuck with inferior solutions.
I suppose that brings me back to Time Warner again, then. Dunno, maybe since the rest of the neighborhood's been taken by AT&T, Cable's become a better option. I'll check with a friend of mine who's still using it.
Uverse runs fiber to the node. There's only a few dozen feet of copper in the mix.
Naengwen, I feel your pain on ISP selection. Last time I moved it was a pain to be able to find a FiOS serviced location. They are few and far between and I live in the area where the roll out started!
EDIT: Just looked up FTTN, the "Node," is an aggregation point between the CO and premise that covers access within a 1 mile radius. That's better than I thought because the highest speed DSL connections can run over such short loops.
Well, I've got Uverse and the fiber lines are on the telephone poles, with a box every few houses (one happens to be directly behind my house), and then its cat5 from there to the house.
Still, no telling when it's gonna arrive. AT&T is already here, except for my street. No idea if they'll ever get here, either; been like this for over half a year now. Kinda sucked to see the AT&T advertisers rave about it, only to say "oh sorry, nevermind" and start up again round the curb. :x
I hate to admit it, but if you can get Comcast, they'd at least be a mighty crapload better than dsl.
If U-Verse is available all around you, but not to your home specifically, it can be fixed. The reason it isn't available to you is due to two things:
1. The copper wiring that you are currently using is very outdated (probably from around the 1960's or 70's) and AT&T did not want to replace it.
2. You're in a new neighborhood that has not been attached to the local DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer, or, as referred to in the above posts, the CO...although that isn't the CO).
I've had multiple people contact Tier1 support with this exact same problem. With enough complaints, it can be pushed up to where I was (Tier2) and can actually be fixed. An INR technician will be required to finish the actual connection to the DSLAM. It's a pain in the ass to get them to send someone out to do this, so your only hope is to bug the crap out of them. Also, keep in mind, that U-Verse is very prone to EMI. I highly doubt AT&T will do anything other than connect your home to the node...that's about it. Your wiring outside the home that is currently being used by your DSL service will go unchanged. AT&T won't touch it. You can contact a local phone company, not an ISP, to have them replace the lines. Or you can try an outside contractor, which is not a good idea in most states.
Edit: I almost forgot. For those of you that DO have U-Verse, here's a quick tip. I'm not trying to derail the thread here, but this is some nifty stuff. If you have the TV service with Uverse, you can do this little trick to get INSANE speeds with your internet. The ethernet port on the back of those set-top-boxes for your TV doubles as a hub. If you run coax from your gateway to your set-top-box, then ethernet from the set-top-box to a computer, the results are pretty crazy. U-Verse operates on three tiers of service. Tier 1 is HPNA (or the TV service), Tier 2 is Ethernet, and Tier 3 is the VOIP, with Tier 1 getting over 75% of the service's throughput. If you use the box-to-pc method above, none of the TVs in your home will get service, and the internet will die out for anyone other than the computer connected this way. Although you will be registered at 32MBPS...unfiltered...as the RG will think your computer is a TV Set-top-box.