Review by NormanS 
UPDATED: 236 days ago
member for 7.8 years, 2128 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
 $30 per month
 about 7 days
 SBC
 "DSL support is very good. POTS is pretty good."
 "NNTP service is mediocre. Email service is only as good as Yahoo! Mail Plus."
 "Still needs improvment."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
When I started, the name of the service was, "Pacific Bell DSL", which was allowed by SBC, even though they were the parent company. Seven years, and some changes later, the service is now called, "at&t Yahoo! HSI"; a legacy of the outsourcing contract between SBC and Yahoo! (BTW, the name change from "SBC" to "AT&T" reflects a corporate decision by the SBC managment team after they bought AT&T. The "new" AT&T is just the old SBC re-branded.)
Recent changes were made by Yahoo! to the way they hand email through their SMTP Message Submission servers. These changes were made unilaterally, and without prior notice to AT&T, leaving AT&T CSRs to field customer calls when things broke for the customers. These changes pretty much make their message submission servers useless for power users. I am reasonably sure that most ISPs don't force this limitation on their customers. Basically, using an email address different that the account requires prior "verification" with Yahoo! to avoid an SMTP error where email using that as the "From:" address being rejected.
As a result, I have downgraded my opinion of the quality of the services. I probably should have downgraded the "Tech Support" rating earlier, as well; primarily because deciding whether to take troubleto Yahoo!, or to AT&T, can be confusing. Technically, the DSL connecting (AT&T support) is fairly good. However, Yahoo! support for their Internet services is somewhat lacking.
Wish: That AT&T would reconsider their outsourcing conract with Yahoo!.
Followup comments:  stridr69
join:2003-05-19
San Luis Obispo, CA
| thanks... for your review, NormanS. I just got ATT/Yahoo DSL service on the 25th of October(768/384), and liked what you had to say. I decided to get DSL service for the price($14.99 monthly)vs $44 monthly for 3Mb/256Kb cable modem. So far, I'm happy with what I got. Currently at 620/320 speeds, but only have had activated service since 10/25. Time will tell...but I DO like the faster upload speed!!
 | |
| stevem01
join:2004-01-31
Waterford, CA
| Wow $18 / month for Pro? I need to give them a call and upgrade. I've been on Express (1.5Mb) for just under three years at $27 per month with the yearly contract... From their site it looks like I could now get Elite for only $7 more. Thanks for the info. | |
|  | NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
| Re: Wow I think you may have missed the boat. That is an old contract price, but the old contracts are no more. The current price structure is:
Basic (384/384): $14.99
Express (1536/384): $19.99
Pro (3008/512): $24.99
Elite (6016/768): $34.99
»www.sbc.com/gen/general?pid=7709···37922269
My contract was renewed at the end of July, 2006. The new contract prices went into effect October 3, 2006, or so.
I don't know what I will have available at the end of my contract. Assuming things stay as they are, I will consider whether to keep the Pro at $24.99, or drop back to Express at $19.99.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum | |
| | | stevem01
join:2004-01-31
Waterford, CA
| Re: Wow Thanks for the replay. I appreciate it. I figured it must be something like that. But even at those current prices, I've been paying $27 per month for Express when I could have twice as much bandwidth (Pro) for a couple dollars less... or 4 times as much for just a few dollars more per month.
By the way, do know if those are the regular rates or if they are introductory prices that change after 6 months or a year, etc... I looked all over their site for that info and couldn't find it, so I was assuming that they are the standard rates.
Anyway, Thanks again. | |
| | | | NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| Re: Wow They appear to be good for a year. I am not sure if they are "introductory" rates, or if you can rerate a long standing account. I believe that people have rerated long standing accounts, though.
The web site lists two packages per price tier, a "month-to-month", and a 12-month contract. I've seen it posted that you need to get the 12-month contract to get the $49.99 rebate for the CPE. The rebate is the same, regardless of the equipment. You either pay $49.99+Tax, S&H for the SS4100, or you pay $79.99 for the modem/wireless router combo unit. The rebate is the same for each: $49.99.
From what I can tell, though, the rebate is applied to both packages. Perhaps the deal is, if you rerate, you don't get the modem.
»www.sbc.com/gen/general?pid=7709···37922269
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum | |
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