 Review by lev 
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 8.4 years, 4788 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Glenview,Cook,IL
 $65 per month
 about 3 days
 Ameritech
 "DSL service with static IPs and fantastic online support people here"
 "Poorly trained tier 1 support, server problems, no online status and disappointing communication between departments"
 "When I need more speed, I'll switch to Comcast unless AT&T provides static plans on UVerse"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
7/5/08
I've actually moved twice since my last review, and want to incorporate my latest experiences in my review.
First and foremost, if it weren't for AT&T employees [user=wolfdragon01] and [user=david], I wouldn't have service with AT&T. I'm on the fringe of a service area, and yet I'm currently maintaining a 1984/512 sync. I lose it sometimes, but it's still pretty damn nice to have.
Great work, guys!
11/25/03
I'm considered a "business" account because I have static IP service. But there have been several times I've brought residential customers back to SBC for local service, and now long distance, because I was able to help them obtain DSL with help from Annonamoose and Beatmeup of SBC's EPC division.
I will, over the next few weeks, be contacting as many of these people as possible, and have them register here to add their voices to how much these two EPC reps have done for SBC's image and reputation. Actually providing a top quality product at a bottom line price. Amazing!
SBC, if you're listening, BRING THESE GUYS ON FULL TIME! They are doing a killer job for you in the Ameritech forum here (»AT&T Midwest), answering problems, placing orders that your regular phone drones couldn't, helping fix billing problems, giving PROPER estimates of service... and they're doing it on their own time! Imagine what they could do if you turned them loose here!
9/5/03
I upgraded tech support again. Since I effectively never have to call tier 1 support anymore, thanks to the participation of SBC's tech's through this site, my rating should reflect my experience with them, which is definitely higher than 5 on a scale of 5. I'm certain my other numbers would be near 5 if I had the chance to order new service again. I would in a heartbeat if SBC lit the RT nearby where I live. However, last time I inquired, the estimated activation date went from December 2005 to December 2007. 
I'm on an unbundled loop, which means I don't have service over lineshare, and I'm too far from the CO to get any effective speed. There are continued rumblings of SBC's desire to terminate providing service to customers over unbundled loops. It would be a shame if SBC took someone who's been an effective advocate of their product off-line. Not only am I a consultant who's set up most of his clients on DSL service, but I'm a moderator in the Ameritech forum here, home of SBC Midwest. If you're reading this, SBC... light my RT, and give me a chance to rate the installation process anew.
1/13/03
Service is getting better and better, due to the SBC official online techs, Beach Boy, ADSL Guy, and Toaster2k. Their knowledge and concern for customers has done a lot to diminish the perception of the cold, corporate behemouth that is SBC.
While I'm concerned with the upcoming migration from unbundled loop that SBC is mandating, it helps to know these guys are looking out for us.
7/30/2002
Just realized, there's been a lot less downtime over the past 3 months. Connection reliability goes from two to three stars. Tech support still stays at one because nobody at any of the SBC divisions lets us know in advance of any planned work, and still doesn't let tier one know about work in progress.
II represent a beaten customer. Northpoint on their worst day still provided a better product to the customer. Up until the time they folded, that is. I've just come to expect less, and get it.
4/21/2002
Pretty much more of the same. Tier 1 seems to be handled by SBC now, and they're still clueless. Static router goes down about once every week or two, usually on a Wednesday afternoon/evening. I use the Unofficial Ameritech status page in the Ameritech Funhouse Forum here to point out the problem.
Addition on 10/16 update...
Finally last week, my IP addresses were provisioned properly,although not from the efforts to make them better. They are useable with Ameritech.Net's mail servers, when they're actually working. But they don't reverse lookup correctly, which can cause some things to fail. Luckily, that's not an issue for most people.
Note on the 6/11 update.... through my time involved with the Ameritech Funhouse Forum here, I've become well-aware that the problem is NOT the comptence of the DSL side of Ameritech, but the ISP side of Ameritech. Please keep that mind. Because of that, I've slightly upgraded my connection reliability score. The line tends to work; the problem is the place where it connects, Ameritech.Net, fails to route the signals correctly.
On to the review.
----
I'm a consultant. I had several clients hooked up to Northpoint through Enteract, a Chicago area ISP that was purchased by 21St Century Cable, which was purchased by RCN.
When Northpoint died, RCN, which had a prior relationship with Covad, botched the switchover to Covad. They SHOULD have been able to take over the same dry pairs we had, which would have been great, and painless. I had clients (and myself) who needed connectivity immediately, and Ameritech was the only option I could assure them would be in business by the end of the year. But I warned clients that I'd be putting them with the equivalent of a $2 hooker. They wouldn't like the service they got, and I felt dirty setting them up with Ameritech, because of Ameritech.Net's poor reliability. I should have gone with a partner of ASI, which is the CLEC side of Ameritech. My ignorace. Same to a little more money, and we all would have been much happier with the results. Look at this link for an ASI partner if you don't want to put up with what caused most of my issues. »/forum/remark%···0#977336
The sales team actually took the order well enough. The agent lied to me about accelerating the installations once the wiring was done, although he was excited to get a quantity order and promised special treatment for all my clients. :::snort:::
First install I went on, Ameritech's registration system went down, so the installer wouldn't leave the router, since he couldn't set up an account.
Ameritech uses PPPoE, which requires username/password authentication instead of just recognizing the DSL circuit ID. Conceivably, you could steal anyone's network if you know the username and password, and they do not promote password security. Ameritech.Net's Level 1 tech group (a rent-a-tech company called Convergys) WANTS the password to be one on a short list, so that it's easier for them to "support". Okay, that's what pretty-much everyone does now; SDSL is dead and wasn't economically viable for a bunch of reasons, including fraud, collusion, and the impotence of the FCC. No use fighting the tide anymore.
All the fixed IP blocks my clients had were 65.42.*.* addresses. Ameritech activates the IP blocks after about 7 or so days (they don't pre-provision), and the login the router uses requires adding "static_" after the @ sign in the username field of the router.
Unforturnately, when that happened, these badly provisioned IPs appeared to be OUTSIDE of Ameritech's network. So any attempts to send mail via Ameritech's SMTP server, or access their newsgroups would fail. Again, unfortunately, at the time, Ameritech was claiming problems with their afforementioned authentication server, and blamed all these problems on that for a week. A WEEK! And even with a ticket number, I'd be telling people about a problem they denied existed.
I have some WHOPPER stories about their level 1 techs, who have little to no training as a whole. Suffice it to say that now that Qwest is in Chicago in some COs, go with them if you're a business and you can. Unfortunately, Qwest isn't in all the COs in the area.
Now the techs at ASI? Top notch, for the most part, and many of them participate in the Ameritech Funhouse forum here on DSL Reports. They're still there for you even if you go with an ASI partner though. Check out the Funhouse if you're getting Ameritech service. It's the difference between surviving and thriving.
On several occasions, their Windows NT/200 based SMTP server (mailhost.chi.ameritech.net) was accepting mail, but delivering it with between an 8 and 24 hour delay. I could write more information than you'd care to read about their promise to never support you EVER should you put a different brand of router on their business-class service, their poor newsgroup services, poor outbound e-mail services, poor website status pages, poor training of employees, poor language skills of said employees (the kind that have to "axe" their supervisor), and so on.
Small businesses can NOT afford a T1 circuit. If it weren't for the fact that Ameritech was the ILEC, who screwed up almost EVERY Northpoint or Covad install I was involved with, they would have faced competent competition. I can not repeat how much I hate Ameritech.Net as an ISP, and how quickly I plan to switch myself and clients over to a company that gives businesses the respect they deserve. Ameritech's a bad ISP for businesses. If they're the only choice, then take them.
If you can get Qwest DSL service for your business, take it in a heartbeat. I've set up three clients with it, and they're getting better price/performance/satisfaction than Ameritech installations. Qwest's website for service in the Chicago (and any other covered city outside of the US West service area) is »www.qdslonline.com.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of AT&T Midwest |
|
AT&T Midwest
(35)
(58)