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 Review by chris 
UPDATED: 5.9 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 4865 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Middletown,Middlesex,CT
 $31 per month (12 month contract)
 about 1 days
 Southern New England Telephone
 "Turned on waaaaay ahead of time / Rock solid connection / Great speed"
 "None"
 "Great value for the money. Get a router and forget that PPPoE software."
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Well to start, I came from Massachusetts and Verizons ADSL offering (ugh - 90K up is practically modem speed) and when I moved to Ct I immediately called SNET for DSL. I was told that I had to wait 15 business days after the line was active with voice service until the DSL would be turned on (this turned out to not be the case) and that they would send me the equipment right away.
They sent me the 5260 and a PCMIA card instead of a regular NIC (I already have one in my machine so it wasnt a big issue), which I got about 3 days after my initial phone call to them.
I never saw an install tech, just plugged in the microfilters.
Now, here is where I split off the path from most of my fellow SNET users. With the bridge I got the SNET Enternet CD and promptly threw it in the trash.  I instead bought the LinkSYS BERSR41 router at Comp USA. This way, all I had to do was make sure TCP/IP was bound to my NIC anb voila!, Im in!
Self config was a breeze (go into web browser, check off DHCP, PPPoE, enter username and PW and set your options). Took literally 2 mins. All I had to do was wait.
Tuesday of the next week I came home from work and all 4 lights were green so I opened my web browser, went into the router, clicked connect (username and PW were already stored) and BOO ya!, I was on. My PC is already tweaked for broadband so the RWIN and MTU were not a problem.
To date (I got this in early July) I have had no slowdown or disconnects. It has been rock solid and the speed is consistently over 1.0 MPS. The 128K leaves a little to be desired but hey, for 39.00 a month I am not complaining. I have heard some gamers unhappy but I gotta tell you guys, I get sub 100 pings everywhere I go (I play Tribes, Q3 and UT). I use this connection constantly at all different times of the day (especially weekends).
I understand NEtPLEX is an option but since I havent had any trouble I will just stay where I am.
I did not review the mail / DNS / news server because I still use my Earthlink stuff (only 17.95 per month and its a good back up plan if I ever need one) nor did I review Tech Support because I havent needed it (just trying to be fair)
UPDATE 11/29/03
Ok - I had gone from SNET to NetPLEX, stayed there for about 2 years and then went to Comcast. I got tired of paying almost $50.00 per month so I took another look at SNET/Yahoo. They have changed their pricing to be very competative with other area providers and as an added bonus increased the upload speed.
I ordered online on Nov 25th and was told I would be mailed the equipment and my username and password seperately. The email confirmation I got also said the service would be up and running December 2nd.
I came home from work on Wednesday and the ADSL bridge was waiting for me. I plugged it in and it synched right up. I called the number I got in my welcome letter and explained that even though I wasn't due to be turned up until next Tuesday I had sync. Because it was so early, I hadn't been mailed my username and password yet. The rep gave my username and changed my password for me (because they can't see it) right there. I put it into the router and I was up and running. No complaints and the speed is great.
Turned in the cable modem Friday morning and so far so good.
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 Review by gdlewis
Posted: 5.9 years ago
member for 9 years, 1154 visits, last login: 2.7 years ago
Woodbury,Litchfield,CT
$27 per month
about 14 days
"Consistent, reliable connection"
"none"
"recommended"
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Have had this service for about three years, since WTCO began offering it. Very happy and recommend to anyone needing a broadband provider.
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Review by griffpen
Posted: 6 years ago
member for 8.2 years, 269 visits, last login: 92 days ago
Danbury,Fairfield,CT
$49 per month
about 10 days
Southern New England Telephone
"Service is up 99% of the time"
"Speed less than promised. Expensive. Only 1 connection allowed per account. First tier of tech support is useless."
"Ok value. Could be better."
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Initial contact for tech support are automatons reading from a script to diagnose your problem. They have you try all the things you should have sense enough to have already tried. When they, invariably, can't help you they tell you a higher level of support will contact you within 72 hours! Fortunately the service is reliable enough that I have only had to call them twice in about 3 years.
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 Review by CyberSchnook3
UPDATED: 6 years ago
member for 7.3 years, 748 visits, last login: 5.9 years ago
East Hartford,Hartford,CT
$27 per month (12 month contract)
about 18 days
Southern New England Telephone
CLEC party: Southern New England Telephone
"None."
"How many ways can they screw up?"
"Technically OK; marketing PITA, Billing errors. I hate SBC."
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Now, I got a letter stating that my discount is $18/month, bringing my rate to $31.95/month unless I qualify for other unspecified discounts.
FRY IN HELL, SBC!
First bill arrived. The online advertised $26.95/month is charged at $49.95/month.
Run like hell!
STOP CALLING ME ALREADY!!!!! First it's sales calls after it's running; now it's repeated "how's it going?" calls. I don't want a buddy, OK? When I want your opinion, I'll write it out for you, wrap it around a rock, and throw it!
Tech support was truly impressive handling start-up glitch (bad board at the CO is my guess).
All reps are exceeding polite! Fun people, even!
3 weeks up, and they're still calling and mailing (snail, not e-) to sell me the service I already have.
If you're no longer a phone customer, you can't have DSL. Allowing phone companies to be ISP's is an abomination against all that's holy.
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 Review by Techie2000
UPDATED: 6 years ago
member for 7.9 years, 1949 visits, last login: 84 days ago
undisclosed location
$35 per month (12 month contract)
about 29 days
Southern New England Telephone
CLEC party: Southern New England Telephone
"Excellent speed, MrFixitCT, the SNET forum, and free dial-up account"
"None!!!"
"SBC SNET Yahoo! DSL is the best, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants DSL!!!"
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Ordered the standard DSL service for home with up to 1.5mbps down and 128kbps up. $44.95 for the first six months, and DSL modem is free after $149 rebate. We got the self-install kit that included 6 filters, an Efficient Networks SpeedStream 5260 ADSL modem, and an ethernet card, plus phone cord, and network cable. Also purchased the popular Linksys BEFSR41 4 port DSL/Cable router to use with it. Was able to connect everything together without a hitch.
The DSL was activated several days early at the Telco, but didn't work. MrFixitCT at the forums had a tech sent out. The tech came the next day at night, and determined that we didn't filter our water meter. He gave us some extra filters so that we could filter the water meter and then the DSL worked perfectly, 1 day before the said activation date! The mail has been working fine, same with the news, and DNS. Using connection tests I always get over 1Mbps. Tweaking my RWIN value has also given a small speed boost.
SNET includes Enternet PPPoE software for use on most computers, but I'm using the PPPoE on the DSL router. If you don't want to use SNET's software you can always use RASPPPoE. The people at the SNET forum are very helpful! Also VPN support is useful, I know people who are switching to DSL because their cable connection will no longer allow for VPN. Overall I love it!!!
Yahoo! Migration Update
We migrated to Yahoo! recently. The new mail servers are more reliable. You also get some nice extra perks from Yahoo! and they gave us another discount for 6 months after the conversion. I'm very satisfied with SBC SNET Yahoo! DSL.
Speed Upgrade Update
Recently SBC instituted some new changes in its pricing and tiers, and as a result many people got free upload upgrades on their service, including myself. I got my best speed test result so far (1296/216 kbps) and the added upload is nice. Kudos to SBC for giving this upgrade for free to their customers.
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Review by mirano3530
Posted: 6.1 years ago
member for 6.1 years, 0 visits, last login: 6.1 years ago
Stamford,Fairfield,CT
$29 per month (12 month contract)
Southern New England Telephone
CLEC party: Southern New England Telephone
"turned on 5 days before they said it would be; combined with phone svc, a good value."
"dsl line is down very often; even if on, tracert shows interconnect delays"
"cust svc is officious, the dsl service is sporadic; would go back to optonline if price were the same"
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Have just left Optonline after 2 years to move to sbc yahoo dsl. Big, big mistake. DSL is cheaper ($29 vs $45/mo) but, the dsl pppoe connection goes down very frequently (3 days out of the last 5) and i have to go through officious service reps who "do me a favor" by helping me despite my having a router. Ok. So i disconnect the router and plug directly in. They claim the trouble is fixed because i can open a browser window to yahoo.com. BUT. No other professionally run web site can be reached. Not NYT.com; not Ebay; Not MIT.edu; not even www.sbcglobal.net. Pinging out to these sites shows time outs; doing traceroute shows the delays happen AFTER leaving the sbcglobal network. AND they have the temerity to warn me that they MAY CHARGE ME if they find out the tracert delays are my fault! Give me a break. Lousy, lousy customer experience. Would warn against leaving optonline if the dsl service is this dismal...
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Review by sruthan
Posted: 6.1 years ago
member for 6.1 years, 5 visits, last login: 6 years ago
Cromwell,Middlesex,CT
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 15 days
Southern New England Telephone
"Usually fast, price has lowered"
"Terrible customer service and tech support"
"An actual ISP would treat you better than a Utility Company"
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Well, if you have enough technical knowledge to take care of yourself and you are NEVER late on your bills, this would probably be ok.
But, they turned me off for being a couple of weeks late on payment and are making me wait more than 10 days after I paid up in full to get it back on.
The tech support knows much less than I do, and I don't really know enough to support myself well on PPPoE DSL connections.
Customer service and tech support are incompetant and rude. These are qualities that I think many of us are used to from utility companies. An actual ISP would be much more likely to treat the customer with respect.
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Review by dharma21
Posted: 6.2 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 1639 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Shelton,Fairfield,CT
$29 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
Southern New England Telephone
CLEC party: Southern New England Telephone
"Reliable, Stable, Good email and Yahoo link"
"only a couple small outages, nothing major"
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I have the 128/1500 and i normally average 136/1150. I've called the Help desk a couple or times due to lost dial tone, but the DSL always worked. SNET Forum is great for solving problems. Great new price for the same service. It used to be $44.95.
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 Review by Halgren
UPDATED: 6.2 years ago
member for 9.6 years, 1278 visits, last login: 3.6 years ago
Wallingford,New Haven,CT
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 21 days
Southern New England Telephone
"Good Service and Speed."
"Newsgroup server could use some help."
"Not too bad. Better than dialup."
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I have had SNET (SBC) DSL for about 10 months now. All I can say is that it has been working fine for me. The major problem for me is that the Windows TCP/IP has to be worked on in order to work better.
I am usually online all the time through my Linksys Router. ( I hated the Enternet Software.) My speed's are usually 1000-1200 down and about 90-105 up. Which for me is fine.
I ordered DSL as soon as it was available (late March 2000) and got installed and running in about 3 weeks or so from the date ordered. All the equipment came in on time and and even the techs were at my house at the appointed time. Had to do a few changes to my networking at the time, but everything worked. Just a few tweaks later (from here) and I was flying.
The only thing I hate is that the newsgroup server for SNET stinks. I am a newsgroup reader, so I really hate it. Also though, is that sometimes it takes awhile for me to get my email. I usually get it about two hours or so after it is sent.
BTW, I am about 10,000 feet from my switch, and I do know of a couple of other that have it already and they like it too.
Update May 16th, 2001
I installed Linux on my machine and now I enjoy better speeds of at least 1220 down and 110 up. And this is consistent too. DSL and Windows do not mix very well. The TCP/IP stack in Linux is better suited for networking anyways.
Update
Still working good. Back to Windows 98SE but I still enjoy good speed and service. This is one service that is up about 99% of the time. I am using a D-Link router now, which I like better than the Linksys. Now I have to see about getting my PS2 online.
Dec. 22, 2002
Still working great. No problems at my end at all. Still getting good, consistent speeds.
Aug. 24, 2003
Still no problems at all. I use it now for my PS2 online games as well. Mostly Everquest Online. But still one of the best ISP's I can think of. The only one in my area for broadband anyways.
July 2005
Still going strong. Tech support could be better though when you call them. I had to figure out a few things by myself.
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 Review by i_never_tan
Posted: 6.2 years ago
member for 6.3 years, 137 visits, last login: 5.2 years ago
Norwich,New London,CT
$45 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
Southern New England Telephone
"reliability of connection"
"none that I can think of"
"Uptime 100% since installation."
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The installation was a breeze. Uptime has been 100% since installation. Average connection speed 1280 down, 138 up. There is nothing to complain about except for the fact I wish I had uncensored usenet access. Otherwise it is the best thing that has ever happened to me and my PC.
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SNET - Southern NE Telephone
