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Review by Velorium 13 
Posted: 4.8 years ago
member for 5.2 years, 30 visits, last login: 3.6 years ago
 Stoughton,Dane,WI
 $25 per month (24 month contract)
 about 28 days
 TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
 "good friendly customer service, fair speed, benchmark is 384/384, normaly get around 300-15 for both"
 "problems with bookeeping"
 "81% overall"
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additional sidenotes: speeds should be a bit closer to benchmark considering i live close to the ISP's local station. bookeeping exampe: modem crashed, asked for new one, TDS agreed at no extra cost, 4 buisiness days later called to ask why it wasnt shiped yet, said it got held up because address wasnt in the system though been a customer for over a year...
UPDATE: finnaly got the modem after 10 days total...
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 Review by hetfield
Posted: 5.2 years ago
member for 9.6 years, 622 visits, last login: 4 days ago
Oak Creek,Milwaukee,WI
$145 per month (24 month contract)
about 30 days
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"Rock-solid line, static IP (signed up for biz-class)"
"Way too expensive, lied about type of DSL service"
"If you need reliability and a static IP, their biz-class DSL fits the bill"
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When my Telocity/DirecTV DSL line was going to be switched to Ameritech (PPPoE) I needed to switch services to keep a static IP. Plus with the overall instability in the DSL market a few years ago TDS appeared to be a rock-solid company that didn't depend on a volatile market to survive.
My install went fairly well. TDS coordinated with Ameritech to provision a dry pair for the new line. The Ameritech installer encountered the same problem as when my Telocity line was being installed: the pole near my house had been hit by lighting many years ago and the copper there was damaged. The repair took only a few days, and an install that took Telocity three months to complete took only about four weeks for TDS. Then the bad news: my modem arrived via FedEx. When I ordered the service I was told that I would be getting SDSL. However, the Efficient 5260 ADSL modem that arrived surprised me a bit. I called, thinking they shipped me a residential ADSL modem instead. That's when I learned that their "SDSL" is what they call "xDSL" which is some kind of marketing speak meant to obfuscate what you're actually getting. After arguing with the rep on the phone that there is no such thing as XDSL I finally got another rep to admit that they give everyone ADSL and try to tweak business-class connections to get ul/dl as close as possible.
I could only get the modem to sync at 650 down and 250 up, which by their terms of service was the minimum upload required for a successful installation. Since my options were limited at the time of install (Sept. 2001) I felt that I should just accept what I had and move on. Recently I found I was having some problems with uploads stalling, so I power-cycled my modem. I was thrilled to find that it now syncs at 600 down and 480 up.
The only outage I've had came in November of 2002 when Ameritech thought my dry pair was just fine for giving voice service to someone else in the neighborhood. TDS worked to have Ameritech fix their mistake, but since they move like dinosaurs it took them almost a week. I've never had an outage or problem that could be attributed to TDS themselves.
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 Review by Worfus
UPDATED: 5.2 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 1374 visits, last login: 17 days ago
Milwaukee,Milwaukee,WI
$45 per month (24 month contract)
about 26 days
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"No hassles, good connection."
"Terrible usenet service"
"A great service for the price."
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After waiting an eternity (well, 4 months seemed like an eternity after having a short lived previous DSL connection) I decided to cancel with Telocity/DirecTV and give TDS Metrocom a try. Why did I wait so long?!? I placed the order on their web page. I received a prompt email response and a confirmation within a day or two followed by a snail mail confirmation and tentative service switch date. They did say that there would be a short delay as they were experiencing a slight backlog of new orders, but they were out to switch my phone service on the day they said they would. I did however have to meet a TDS tech the next day because he wanted to test the line for connectivity and I don't have an access box on the outside of the house, but he was able to work around my schedule which I thought was great. Usually you get the 8 - 12 / 12 - 4 "pick one and be home all day" deals. UPS delivered the modem a couple of days later and 10 minutes after I opened the modem box I was surfing on a broadband connection again. Ahhhhhhh.
Things to note: I did have to switch my phone service to use TDS Metrocom. Not a problem as they appear to be very competitive with Ameritech. I'm actually saving a few bucks per month compared to similar service from Ameritech. I also opted for the speed upgrade from 256 to 768 for $10 more. That was a no brainer for me as it's still $5 cheaper than what I was paying for the same service from Telocity. So far I very happy with the service and I think it's a fantastic value for the money.
UPDATE 10-27-02: Well it's been over a year with TDS Metrocom and I still a vary satisfied customer. The telephone service is no different than using Ameritech (except price; TDS is less expensive) and the DSL connection is rock solid.
UPDATE 5/5/03: It's been 6 months since my last update and I have nothing new to add. TDS Metrocom is STILL my ISP of choice for a DSL connection in the Milwaukee area. I highly recommend them to anyone.
UPDATE 8/30/04: I feel I must add to this review that if you are looking for an ISP with an included Usenet service, keep looking. As much as I really like TDS Metrocom and I have no plans to switch providers, I feel compelled to let others know that the Usenet service is less than stellar. It's not just plain pathetic, it's a spectacular variety of pathetic.
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 Review by JJ
UPDATED: 5.2 years ago
member for 9.7 years, 2335 visits, last login: 4.1 years ago
Madison,Dane,WI
$45 per month (24 month contract)
about 7 days
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"Good tech support"
"None really"
"Excellent"
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I have had DSL service from TDS since 10/99 and have been very pleased with it. The few times I've had to call tech support they were very helpful and even had a Mac specialist (I have a G4 500 DP) to help me. All in all a great value. Works fine with a wireless network.
Three years on I haven't had any problems at all. Very little downtime (a few minutes every few months).
Four years now and I'm still happy, though I do wish they would offer a 1.5Mbit option for home users as some downloads from Apple can be in the 600MB range, and that takes a while at 768K. Upload speed isn't really a concern.
Modem: Paradyne MVL
Speed: 768 bi-directional
IP: Dynamic
Other details:
3 email accounts, news server, 5MB web page space.
TDS recently added a spam email filter that seems to do a pretty good job of catching the obvious stuff.
Although my IP is supposed to be dynamic it hasn't changed in a year or so.
8/04: TDS has finally offered a 1 Mbit option for home users and I ordered it today. It will be cheaper than what I'm paying now for 768K. It's bi-directional too, so that's nice. I will have to get a new modem to replace the Paradyne.
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Review by pweil
Posted: 5.2 years ago
member for 5.2 years, 0 visits, last login: 5.2 years ago
Black Earth,Dane,WI
$49 per month (2 month contract)
about 10 days
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"reliable connection, almost always close to advertised speeds, decent tech support"
"no speed options above 768k, relatively expensive"
"given that TDS is our only option, I'm reasonably satisfied"
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TDS DSL is the only choice we have for high speed where we live. The order and setup went fine, except when TDS inexplicably used the wrong password. This prevented me from authenticating for 2-3 days until we figured out the problem. I do have complaints about some of their techs, who can be arrogant. I complained vociferously about their blocking port 25, and got nothing but snarls from them. I don't especially like their approach to spam problems, especially when they started blacklisting mail servers from other ISPs and left it up to the customer to resolve the issue. As for outages, there have been very few in the two years we've had the service. Up time has been very good. Anyone who wants to complain about TDS tech support ought to try dealing with tier 1 support at SBC, as I did in setting up a relativve's DSL in Kenosha. It's a complete joke - one 'tech' was a girl who couldn't have been more than 14-15 years old. These people are useless automotons. At least TDS uses real, professional techs. I give them a 'B' - it would be higher except fo the occasional arrogant know-it-all you sometimes have to deal with. As for speed, we bought a 768k package, and we usually seem to get speeds very close to that. My complaint is that TDS really ought to start offering some higher speed options, and perhaps at a more competitive price. Id like a static IP-- the IP lease time is pretty short - but this isn't available for residential customers. Overall, I'd recommend TDS for the reliable service and decent tech support. With some more speed, more options. and more competitive prices, I'd like it even more.
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Review by moonjaguar
Posted: 5.3 years ago
member for 6.5 years, 47 visits, last login: 3.8 years ago
Rockford,Winnebago,IL
$25 per month (24 month contract)
about 15 days
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"Love the upload speeds, customer care was very helpful"
"The looong wait... but they had to deal with SBC who owns the lines so it's more of a neutral than a bad"
"I'm a satisfied customer, great for the casual surfer, outage problems solved quickly."
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I placed the order for phone service and 384K up/down Net Essentials DSL after the holidays, the second week of July, after I had terminated phone and DSL service with SBC on the 3rd of July. Because there was a bit of rigamarole about SBC allowing TDS to use the lines since SBC owns the lines, and SBC testing the lines first before allowing TDS to test the lines to see if they were DSL ready, there was a lag. I was given a ballpark figure of service starting on the 20th. I got a notice of a successful test on the 19th or 20th and my modem, an Actiontec DSL/wireless ready with a stubby antenna that looked like an old crystal fire/police scanner, arrived on the 22nd. Install was easy, the book that came with the modem was straightforward and I didn't have to install any proprietary software to get the modem to work.
I was having some connection drop problems so I called tech support on the 23rd. I was instructed to reset the modem, turn it off, and it helped for most of the day. It happened again and I called tech support again on the 24th. The analyst who handled my call that day ran some tests and told me in geekspeak what he was doing and translated into layman's terms what each range meant-- and he felt that the modem was defective so he placed an order for a new one to be sent to me. This new one, another Actiontec, looked something like an early tapeless answering machine and it had some odd port which I was told was for wireless, and no power switch. The book had the same easy installation instructions but the cables had tags on them in with instructions as well, heh... and still no CD to install proprietary software. A shipping tag for UPS was included so I could send back the defective modem, free of charge.
I've had very good luck from then on. I generally speed test at 328K down/up. My downloads aren't as fast as with the 1.5 mbps with other companies I used but I have faster uploads plus I have a lot less drops and timeouts. I've never seriously seen anything go over 150K for a download of a file. Since I'm not running a business nor am I a web host, I don't need major speed. I think there's some router or firewall that blocks certain ports in the modem itself.. despite opening ports on the XP firewall for file sending via AIM I can't do it. Then again, my computer hasn't needed deworming!
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 Review by sinned69
Posted: 5.5 years ago
member for 6.2 years, 33 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Deerfield,Lake,IL
$35 per month (24 month contract)
about 10 days
Ameritech
CLEC party: Ameritech
"Bundled with phone service, Rock SOLID! TDS portal pretty good. FINALLY got online bill pay."
"256/128 base service level :("
"plenty fast enough, decent price"
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Bundled with thier MetroPack phone service. I miss the faster linspeeds of Telocity/DirectTV. No problems, no hikkups. More reliable than my SBC account at work!
Order process was smooth. about 10 days for switchover.
I am using Speedstream 5360 modem, Sonicwall Tele3 for router & firewall.
Dynamic IP, PPoE.
Would definitly recommend.
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Review by Kerrful
Posted: 5.5 years ago
member for 8.6 years, 258 visits, last login: 1.6 years ago
Madison,Dane,WI
$45 per month (24 month contract)
about 3 days
"The good techs are pretty good"
"There are some bad(can't be bothered) techs."
"5+ years with them- I'm still happy"
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I've recently upgraded from a 1 Mb to a 4.6 Mb (4672)- nobody had fun on this one. It took a couple of calls before they earnestly started looking at their own lines for what was a very frustrating problem (rollercoaster speeds from 24k to about 1.7Mb max- sometimes stopping completely).It took about 4 weeks but they found whatever it was and I've had good consistant speeds ever since (about a week)- 3.83Mb -which is a lot of fun. While this was a painful episode I still have to say I would rather be dealing with TDS than most anyone else- I'm very happy with them.
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Review by anthony727
Posted: 5.6 years ago
member for 5.6 years, 0 visits, last login: 5.6 years ago
Waukesha,Waukesha,WI
$39 per month (12 month contract)
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"NONE"
"Slow setup, bad tech support."
"Stay away from these guys if you can"
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I called up TDS to install thier phone and DSL service. When we were talking to the sales rep, they said that they would send someone out to test the lines and see if we could get thier service and then call us back. Well they never called back to tell us what they found and if we could in fact get thier service. So we called them. They said it was all good and our phone would be active in a few days and same with the DSL. B-S. The phone took about a week and a half, and the DSL, well that still doesn't work, but the modem didn't come for another week. When the DSL modem finally came, I plugged in the filters like they said and then the modem. Well the modem wouldn't sync up. So I tried several other jacks in our house and came up with the same results. So I called thier TECH SUPPORT, and sat on hold for about 45 minutes before I got through to someone. He had me try several things, plugging into the main box, and cycling the power (thier number one answer to fix it), and trying other jacks, before he said the modem was bad. So they sent out a new modem, and well we got the same results. So back to the calling of tech support. Same thing though.... Power cycle your modem. Well after aboiut an hour of screwing around, they finally said that the lines were no good, and they would replace them but it would be expensive. So I was furious now and told they guy no that I wasn't paying for that. So they said I could cancel it, but I had to pay the first months service and a $150 cancellation fee. I argued with them cause they said they were testing the lines wich they aparently never did cause if they would have told me in the first place that the lines were bad, I would never had gotten the service. I finally got them to cancel the service and take thier modem back, but I had to pay a $40 cancellation fee and the first months service. So if you are in an area where RR is available or some kind of cable, get it instead. These guys suck.
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Review by citking
Posted: 5.7 years ago
member for 5.7 years, 12 visits, last login: 5.5 years ago
Lancaster,Grant,WI
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
TDS Metrocom
CLEC party: TDS Metrocom
"Fast install, helpful tech support for advanced problems"
"Cheap ActionTec DSL modem prone to failure"
"TDS is a great ISP with above average service"
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I have had TDS DSL for approximately one year and one month. I opted only for the 256/128 plan since I don't do anything too hardcore...just wanted a faster connection than dial up.
Overall I've only had 1-2 brief outages, always fixed on their own within a half hour or so. The two major issues I have had was a bad DSL modem (It's an ActionTec) that was replaced after having to talk to customer support twice for a total of two hours (did you power cycle, did you go to the modem's IP and try configurating stuff there, etc.) I was rather put off at first, having worked a help desk now for 3 1/2 years and knowing the ropes, so to speak. Even when i told this to the tech, he was less than receptive.
The modem was bad, as I could not access it via web, the power light and the link light were the only two that would come on, and, of course, no internet. No amount of explanation would get through to this guy, who insisted that it was my phone line that had suddenly "gone bad". Calling back and getting another tech turned out to be the right thing to do; after a few minutes he concluded that the cheap ActionTec modem had indeed died and told me to take it to the nearest TDS office (about half a mile from me) to have it replaced. Sure as heck, the new modem was in my hands 15 minutes later and worked like a charm! Too bad it is the same cheap ActionTec modem exhibiting similar symptoms of failure that it had started to show before it died last time.
The second issue was a bit more technical: I couldn't access a particular webiste at all. Just this one. So I sent TDS an e-mail, and a few days later I was told to call since the problem appeared to be a bad router in Madison. I called and the tech support woman was more than helpful. I sent ping and traceroute reports as asked and was notified that the issue had been escalated and sent to the next tire of support. A few days later I noticed TDS had started routing traffic through a different router and everything was good again! Unfortunately I still experience occassional outages. I discovered that resetting the modem via the web interface always fixes the issue. Again, I blame the cheap ActionTec modem for the continuing failures. I am hesitant, however, to talk to tech support as I know I will get the "power cycle" and "try a different jack" script all over again. I'll live with it for now.
All in all, TDS has provided above average support (except for the one tech who appeared to be having a bad day) and very stable service. Up/Down speeds have been slower lately (176/92) versus a few months ago (200/110).
I would reccomend TDS as long as you don't get the cheap no-name DSL modem made by ActionTec.
* * *
After I posted this my DSL modem died completely, giving me no internet light whatsoever. Upon calling tech support and telling him it had happened before he authorized me to go to the TDS office in town and exchange modems.
When I got there the guy at TDS was more than helpful (Jason, I believe his name was). He told me that this was a common occurrance with ActionTec modems and that a new firmware release would fix the "no INternet light" issue. He flashed it (took lass than a few minutes), verified it worked, which it did, and off I was! Couldn't be happier with the level of support. From broken modem to phone call to TDS office to home: Less than 1 hour. Way to go guys!
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TDS
