 Review by BuriedCaesar 
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 4.6 years, 1478 visits, last login: 1 days ago
 Richardson,Dallas,TX
 $30 per month
 about 62 days
 AT&T
 "Excellent & very knowledgeable over the phone tech support for Mac"
 "CD is worthless for a Mac user - didn't really need it. Beware installation in Richardson, TX!"
 "Call Tech Support to finalize setup if you own a Mac. Don't use the useless CD."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Please see updated information below this initial review... thx
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Overall wonderful experience - three full days from order completion online to live on the internet. I ordered on Tuesday late, and the box with the DSL modem arrived on Thursday, and I was live on Friday with the capable assistance of live tech support after just about one hour, and have been happily cruising along since, with no individual problems (one regional outage, but everyone was down, not just me). Was really quite surprised, because they said it would be at least a week before activation - must have had a lucky convergence of events. Okay, for the nuts and bolts - ordered 1.5/384 for $29.95/mo for 12 months. No setup fee - first bill was just $44, including the suspect "shipping and handling fee" for modem - and since I didn't have to pay the even more suspect $50 setup fee, I thought it was a bargain - will see what's offered this time next year to keep me as a customer. I own a 14" iBook/800 Dual USB with 640MB RAM. Email has worked flawlessly and have been happily downloading music from the iTunes Music Store and checking out the movie clips on the Apple Quicktime website. Safari loads tons of tabs within seconds and the connection speed has been consistently at or above 1.0, even being more than 12K away from the CO. Pretty pleased customer, I am. Only drawbacks - didn't really need the "install CD" and was not really that interested in the Yahoo portal - the Tech guy was specifically told he couldn't help get the connection set up using my Airport Base Station, but that was pretty much a cakewalk after getting the service up and running through the ethernet on my iBook.
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Update December 28, 2004:
Well, I previously had SBC Yahoo DSL in Dallas County, Dallas proper, about 5 miles south of where I currently live, which is now in Richardson, TX, Zip 75080. I have altered the ratings categories accordingly, based on this latest experience. It was rather good for all things, but now I'm a little suspect of the Pre-Sales folks and for sure leery of the install coordination folks. Read on for more...
I the transition would be nice and smooth after the nice conversation I had with the friendly assistant when I called to get a new phone number and transfer my DSL connection to the new number. This was in mid-October 2004. We were scheduled to move into our new house in early November. I got the new number, and was told I'd hear from the DSL folks "soon" about the transfer. Then I didn't hear anything. For two weeks. I finally called and inquired about the transfer of my service. It was then that I learned that I was going to be living in an area of Texas (the only one in the state at the time, I might add) that had "Fiber-to-the-Curb" service for phones and DSL. I got one of those people on the other end of the line that immediately raised red flags for me when I heard "oh [pause] you're in Richardson. You've got "Fiber to the Curb. This is going to take a little longer." Boy, did it ever take longer. I had no idea.
My previous experience in Dallas was that I placed the order, got the installation kit in the mail, and had DSL up and running within about four days of placing the initial order. It was spectacularly fast and I had absolutely no problems. Not so with this transfer. If you want to stop reading now, just know that it took until December 20 (more than two months) to finally complete the process and get DSL running in my house, from a totally dedicated new line that they had to run from the fiber box in the alley to a plug in the room where we have the computer.
Want to learn the gory details? Here's the long version:
For reference, we have a pool in the back yard, with its own safety fence, and then the yard fence is also padlocked in the front and back to prevent any "attractive nuisance" mishaps occurring in or around the pool.
So, we moved in to the house in early November 2004. I was initially told that DSL service would be installed on November 24. On November 19, I get home from work and there's a phone message: "Hi, um, this is Mark, I'm with SBC and I'm trying to install some cable for your DSL service and I need to get in the back yard. Can you leave your back gate open so I can come back and install your wiring? Thanks." And that was it. No phone number to call back, no last name, no warning whatsoever that anything needed to be done in advance of the installation date I'd initially set with SBC. I immediately called SBC and asked what was going on and why did someone come before I expected them to and leave a cryptic message with no way for me to get back in touch with them? Suffice to say, there are some separate offices working on this, and the one can't talk to the other and neither of them could tell me how to get to the other to ask what was going on. I specifically took November 24 off from work to be home to make sure the back yard was unlocked for the tech to do his work, and called SBC and told them a week in advance that this would be the case.
Then, on November 23 I called to confirm that the tech would be coming and it is then that I'm told that the tech will NOT be coming, since they "couldn't work me into the schedule, and we didn't guarantee you a slot on that day anyway", and further that there is another person who will need to come inside the house to complete the installation, and since the outside tech can't come on Nov 24, then the inside tech can't finish his work, so there's no point in them coming either. Can you be home on November 30? I told them NO, the next time I can be home is December 20, when I have an entire week free and will be home on December 20 and 21 and which of those two days will they be coming? December 20 would be the day when the outside tech guy would come and finish the outside installation. Would an inside tech need to then come to finish the inside work? No, there will be only one person coming to your house to do the entire job, inside and outside, and by the way, they will be bringing you a different DSL modem than you currently have. Huh? A new modem? Yes, and it will cost you $1,500 if you don't return it should you move or discontinue service. Wow. $1,500 for a DSL modem. This must be one fancy-schmancy, super-duper advanced modem! No, it's just the one that will work best with the "Fiber to the Curb" technology in Richardson, TX. Oh. Okay then. See you on December 20.
I get another call from SBC DSL folks a few days later:
SBC: We're not sure we'll be able to send anyone out on December 20, and can we try for an earlier day?
ME: Sorry, NO, December 20 or 21 are your only two choices, since it's been this long, I can wait a little longer, since it will all be done by one person at the same time, right?
SBC: Yes.
ME: Okay, see you on December 20. What time?
SBC: Could be anytime that day.
ME: WHAT? Can you narrow that down a little?
SBC: How about sometime between 8 AM and 12 Noon.
ME: Okay. Can the tech call ahead to say they're on their way?
SBC: Sure.
Well, December 20 rolls around. Finally! The day has arrived. About 9:00 AM and the phone rings. It's the SBC tech - he's on his way! Will be there in about 20 minutes. He shows up as announced and it turns out his name is Mark. The very self-same Mark who called back in November trying to get into the back yard. I point out the pool, and I think he finally understood the issue I had with leaving the back gate open with no-one home. Just wasn't going to happen.
I asked Mark what he'll be doing inside once he gets the new line run outside. "Oh, no, I'm only doing the wiring to the house. I don't do any inside work." Um, well, that's not what I was told. Very well, get to work and I'll be making a phone call. About the time I'm picking up the phone to call SBC about this new development the front doorbell rings and lo-and-behold, there's another SBC tech at the door. He introduces himself as Troy and says he's got some work to do to install my DSL modem and make sure the wiring is good. Well, so we're now back to two techs. And they're both here at the same time. GOOD. Maybe I'll have DSL before lunch. Sure enough, that's the case. Troy takes one look at the wiring in the house and determines that we don't have but three wires for the main phone line, so he'll have to run entirely new wiring for the DSL installation. Great, so what does that involve? Running wire from the new box that Mark is installing outside to a dedicated line inside. Turns out that one of the walls that the outside line is being installed on is right outside the room where we want the inside connection anyway. So all Troy has to do is drill a hole through the wall, feed his line to the box, and that's that. About the time Troy finishes his inside work, Mark is just completing the connection to the main line outside in the alley. Seems that the connection box is right outside our back gate, which is convenient, so he doesn't have to run a hundred feet down the alley to hook us up. Everything happened within about 40 feet. From phone box on pole in the alley to the box on the exterior wall of the house, just above the electricity meter, through the hole to the plug in the wall to the modem.
Ah, the modem. Yes. That "$1,500" modem I described earlier was actually made in 1999, according to the packaging that Troy left upon his departure. I find it hard to believe that it's even worth a tenth of that. Still, it plugged right into my iBook. Troy helped to get the account registered and transfer the existing account to the new phone number and I was up and running. At the same speed as previously ordered, only this time it was set up over PPPoE. It was very easy to reconfigure my Airport for operating under PPPoE and then I was really back to operating at previous levels. Haven't noticed any difference in how PPPoE speeds and responses are compared to the direct Ethernet connection I had with the previous DSL service - so far they appear to be equal in all aspects.
So, finally, after two months of wrangling and vaguely incomplete information (not to mention having to get SBC to issue credits to my account for charges for DSL I wasn't getting during that two months), everything is now working satisfactorily. We'll see if there are any other charges that crop up from this lengthy installation process, that in reality only took the two guys about an hour each to complete, once they finally got there. The only little tidbit I can offer anyone considering DSL in Richardson is this: 1) Be prepared to wait. 2) Ask as many questions about coordination of the installation as you can so you'll know up front what to expect. Keep in mind I am living in Richardson, TX and I've seen some other reviews that folks living in other parts of the city had even MORE significant problems getting SBC DSL.
Caveat emptor!
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