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Review by jeffc42 
UPDATED: 21 days ago
member for 3 years, 13 visits, last login: 6 days ago
 Santa Clara,Santa Clara,CA
 $50 per month (12 month contract)
 about 16 days
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
It was time to renew my contract for another year. I considered switching to Comcast, due to the much higher speeds, but ultimately decided to stick with dslextreme. Only hours after renewing for another year, I started losing service intermittently. Tech support initially claimed there was nothing wrong with the line they can see, even as I had 100% packet loss. The next day I called to cancel the contract renewal, but they refused to waive the $250 cancellation fee. They now claim the loss of service is due to "congestion", and they will look into it ASAP. Obviously, if this had happened only hours sooner, I would have switched to Comcast, and I probably will do so anyway. If they cannot fix the problem but still insist on the cancellation fee, I will challenge the charge to my credit card.
Reliability has been going down over the last year in general. I've been getting outages lasting a minute or so once a week on average, not enough to bother calling in and anyway they usually occur when I'm not around. But there have been prior serious outages. While I have no delusions about Comcast -- I do get TV service from them -- the one thing they will never ever do is say the fault lies with AT&T and all they can do is file a ticket with them.
UPDATE 1: tech support got back to me and they can't find anything wrong. So much for the "congestion" theory. They want me to callback during an outage. Never mind I already did that last night, and they couldn't find anything wrong then. Also note that the first time this happened, when I called tech support I was on hold for 30 minutes before I got through, and by then the problem went away. I was luckier the second time. The next time? We'll see.
UPDATE 2: it happened again, so I called tech support. Got put on hold for 20 minutes waiting for level 2, and by the time they answered the problem went away. Not that it would have mattered, as when they answered, all I heard was a bunch of faint voices in the background, and after a minute they hung up on me. And now I'm having serious problems sending e-mail through their servers (recently outsourced to Google, BTW). To avoid having to pay for December, I have to cancel by tomorrow.
UPDATE 3: I have requested cancellation.
Reviewing the reviews over the past year, I am shocked at how negative the reviews have gotten. If they were anything like this three years ago, I would have avoided DSL EXTREME. If you are thinking of signing up with them, make sure you read them first. And pay attention to their refusal to waive the cancellation fee, even when their failure to provide a working connection reaches absurd levels. The terms of service make it very clear that they will resort to a collection agency if necessary to get that fee. Too bad they're more interested in getting that $250 than in making it unnecessary to cancel.
Followup comments:  
dslx_gm
Premium,VIP
join:2002-12-26
Winnetka, CA
1 edit | Intermittent Connection Hi Jeff,
I took a look at your line and current line readings. I am showing that you are in sync at the full rate without any indication of line issues. You indicated in your post that you are dropping packets. Are you pinging your gateway to test the connection or where are you pinging to determine that you are dropping packets?
Do you have to do anything to restore the service or does it just come back by itself? Does a power cycle of your DSL modem, router help? If so next time it happens can you try to power cycle one device at a time to see if that resolve the issue. (ie power cycle router first and not the modem)
DN STREAM ERRORS During the last measurement period of 30 minutes the line ran error free in the downstream direction.
UP STREAM ERRORS During the last measurement period of 30 minutes the line ran error free in the upstream direction.
DN STREAM SPEED The line is running at the maximum bit rate of 6016 kbps.
UP STREAM SPEED The line is running at the maximum bit rate of 768 kbps.
DN STREAM S/N The line noise margin is 13.0dB, which is above the target noise margin of 6.0dB.
UP STREAM S/N The line noise margin is 9.5dB, which is above the target noise margin of 6.0dB.
DN STREAM POWER The line power is at the maximum of 16.0dBm.
UP STREAM POWER The line power is 12.0dBm, which is below the maximum of 13.0dBm.
Thanks
--
George
General Manager
DSL Extreme
Will work for reviews.  | |
| | jeffc42
join:2006-11-10
Santa Clara, CA
 ·DSL EXTREME
1 edit | Re: Intermittent Connection It is intermittent, occurring about 3 to 4 times a day, lasting from 5 to 30 minutes. I either have the full rated performance, or 100% packet loss and I cannot talk to anything on the Internet. It comes back all by itself, eventually. Power cycling the modem and/or router has no effect. I substituted another router and that had no effect. The lights on the modem flicker when I ping or try to initiate a connection; they just don't seem to get through.
Today I've noticed a new pattern of symptons: existing connections are unaffected and pings work, but new connections cannot be established. Again, it corrects itself automatically after a few minutes. Again, power cycling modem/router has no effect (other than to break the established connections, of course). | |
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Review by nharlotekk
Posted: 31 days ago
member for 31 days, 3 visits, last login: 8 days ago
San Francisco,San Francisco,CA
$32 per month (12 month contract)
about 20 days
 AT&T
 "Fast when it works"
 "Goes down frequently"
 "Avoid- why pay for service that doesn't work?"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
With a roommate moving out, the decision on which internet service to get fell to me. I took the opportunity to research ISPs on DSLReports- I decided to give DSL extreme a spin based on some of the favorable reviews on this board.
The initial sign-up was painless- a quick call and I thought I was set up- oh how I was wrong....
Apparently, DSL Extreme hooked up DSL service to my old roommates line without checking the name on the line - when I called AT&T to get service switched to my name, AT&T refused because they say they can't switch bill liability with service on the line. I called DSL Extreme and they took 2 days to temporarily unhook service, AT&T took another 3 days to switch the name, and then DSL Extreme took another 2 days to hook up service.
After getting the service going, it only took 2 days to break down- I went to bed one night with the service working - next morning nothing - call DSL extreme and magically 2 hours later it's working- same thing 2 days later, and again the day after that.
Whenever I call DSL Extreme it's always the same story 'must be AT&T's fault'. I sympathize because my interactions with AT&T haven't always been positive, but at the same time, prior to getting DSL Extreme I had AT&T DSL on the same phone jack, using the same cable, the same router, etc with no interruption of service in 3 years. Frankly, if you're a 3rd party provider on AT&T's line and you have vendor issues- IT"S NOT MY PROBLEM. Blaming a 3rd party isn't acceptable.
As I continue to work towards getting my issue solved, DSL Extreme has dispatched an AT&T truck to look at the line (with possible additional charges). I was excited to go with the 'little guy' and I love the fact that DSL Extreme has nice, knowledgeable folks in the US that answer the phone, but at this point I have serious misgivings about my decision. It's the 20th of the month and I have yet to get 3 straight days of uninterrupted service. My other roommate runs a small business out of our home, so we don't really have the option of flaky internet service. As a stopgap, I've had to use a 3G data card as an internet connection and incurred overage as a result.
I'm aware of DSL Extreme's ugly cancellation fee, but at this time I'm seriously considering going for it and getting service that works.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of DSL EXTREME |
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Review by Janak_Patela
UPDATED: 80 days ago
member for 80 days, 1 visits, last login: 78 days ago
San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
$25 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
"looks cheaper than AT&T"
"needs to keep local phone company,worst annual contract, no service"
"don't get into trap of annual contract"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
Don't get DSL from this company. I switched my DSL line from AT&T to this thinking that I can later on get a better DSL VOIP telephone than my current AT&T line. I signed in for a 12-month contract. There is no warm up period to think, if you want to cancel after 2-3 days (there is early cancellation fee of $250 and it applies from day one). On very first day, their tech support guy was unable to connect to my AT&T modem for >3 hrs, they threaten me that if i cancel, i will get a bill of $250.
Also, now they tell me that they are using AT&T line for DSL so I can not cancel that. I am now stuck for a year with old AT&T telephone line and DSLExtreme after 3 days into contract. So be aware. I will appreciate if some one can show me way out.
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Review by Spense626
UPDATED: 187 days ago
member for 1.9 years, 122 visits, last login: 3 days ago
San Gabriel,Los Angeles,CA
$32 per month (month by month)
about 5 days
AT&T
"American tech support"
"So many problems.. to many to list here."
"Problems , Problems, Problems"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
When I first reviewed DSL Extreme it was one of the best DSL Companys I have ever had it has gone down hill pretty fast. Started experiencing disconnects, slow speeds, and outages will update if anything changes.
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Review by sanjose95138
UPDATED: 191 days ago
member for 203 days, 18 visits, last login: 173 days ago
San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
$16 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
"unreliable service"
"just go with the phone company instead"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
I’ve been having dsl outages since I signed up with dslextreme in 2009. As it was explained to me by tech support, my circuit has reached a maximum capacity (other dsl customers are crowding the bandwidth at peak times). So my connection gets dropped frequently beginning around 5pm until at least midnight.
If you decide to go with this company be sure to SELF MONITOR for quality issues. If you think you may be having trouble, call in but be suspicious of techs who may tell you that “everything looks fine” (I believed them for several months until they finally saw that the circuit was in fact maxed out). Its important that YOU monitor your dsl line quality because they weren’t doing it for me. Use a tool like dslreport’s ongoing monitoring.
Also, you can only be reimbursed for the time you begin documenting the issues (so stay at it, and don’t let them close tickets until your problem is resolved) I’m still working to resolve my problem because I’m bound by the contract. I just wish dslextreme would provide reliable service-that's got to be in the contract somewhere.
-San Jose, 95138
ongoing monitoring:
»/testhistory/1641101/65491
Followup comments:
dslx_gm
Premium,VIP
join:2002-12-26
Winnetka, CA
| I would like to review your account I apologize for any inconvenience that you experienced. I would like to review your account to see if I can assist in getting your issue resolved. Please feel free to send me a PM by clicking on my username to the left of this post with your DSL Extreme account information.
Once again I apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to assisting you in getting your issue resolved.
Thanks,
--
George
General Manager
DSL Extreme
Will work for reviews. | |
| 
cameronsfx
join:2009-01-08
Pensacola, FL | $16 a month says it all Go with the Telco since they hate CLEC ISPs.
Cheap isn't always better. | |
| 
npln
Us Army
join:2000-07-17
San Francisco, CA
| Your problem is physical....not virtual "As it was explained to me by tech support, my circuit has reached a maximum capacity (other dsl customers are crowding the bandwidth at peak times)." That only applies to cable not DSL....they were probably speaking about your DSL readings! In order for your signal to be stable. It has to stay within certain parameters. Taking into consideration distance and speed. Example, attenuation=distance......a signal that registers 60db attenuation is the same as distance at 16000ft.
Your download speed is fluctuating. Line not properly filtered, too far away from C.O., trouble with the copper lines. Are some of the major factors that can cause your speed fluctuating! Connect the DSL modem directly to the incoming cable (MPOE) and test from there. You will have to disconnect all the internal wiring at that point to get a better idea, if the problem is "outside" or "inside"
--
The Future is uncertain but the END is always near! Jim Morrison | |
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Review by Ayeroll
UPDATED: 229 days ago
member for 74 days, 2 visits, last login: 72 days ago
Santa Monica,Los Angeles,CA
$45 per month (12 month contract)
Verizon
"faster to get setup than verizon"
"service drops out randomly and often, not as fast as advertised by a large margin"
"been on dslx for a long time - apprx 10years. service used to be good and reliable. over the last year become very unreliable"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
we have had dslextreme for many years, lately service has been down a lot -
eves & weekends. we are in verizon territory. they say its verizon, but we
have been able to get on wirelessly with other networks. speed is a lot less
than advertised. seems like dsl extreme is going downhill. i think i might
switch to verizon for my ISP. would like DSLX to refund us some of our monthly fee due to the often and random drops in service
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of DSL EXTREME |
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Review by gotGipped
Posted: 245 days ago
member for 245 days, 6 visits, last login: 232 days ago
San Diego,San Diego,CA
$21 per month (12 month contract)
"Cheap"
"Get about 1/5 to 1/10th of the speed that I paid for"
"Not worth it."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
Have not had consistent decent connection since day one.
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Review by Vandethuong
Posted: 271 days ago
member for 271 days, 0 visits, last login: 271 days ago
San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
$17 per month (12 month contract)
"Service and promotion for loyal customers"
"I would not recommend this for any one else."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
I have been using DSL Extreme for more than 3 years. And now, I have to pay 17.88/ month for the service which is slower than 384kbps. I saw 3000kbps for 19.95. I asked them to upgrade but they said because I am not a new customer, the maximum speed they could provide me is 1500kbps for 20.95/month. If I want the 3000kbps for 19.95, I have to cancel the service and return the modem. And then, after that I have to order the service as a new customer, I could receive that. Is it ironic??? They should treat loyal customers as least as the same as new customers. If a customer cancels the service, they may never come back to that one ever again.
Followup comments: 
TheTECHGUY
@sbcglobal.net
| Are you on verizon frame relay? if you are on the older verizon service, you cannot get anything higher then 1500. the system just cannot support it. they should be able to switch you to the new system without cancelation and give you the new price if they are willing. if not cancel service with them and go with someone else. IE verizon see if you can get FIOS. | |
| |
Van Nguyen
@dslextreme.com | Re: Are you on verizon frame relay? Hi TheTECHGUY,
Thank you so much for your responding.
I am having AT&T service, but they still said 1500 is the maximum for me.
Yes, I agree with you. That is what I plan to do.
Thank you again and wish you a beautiful day. | |
|
dslx_gm
Premium,VIP
join:2002-12-26
Winnetka, CA
| Renewal rates are less than AT&T new customer rates... The new client and renewal rates that we offer our clients are closely tied to the rates that the Telco charges us on a monthly basis for leasing the phone line. As it is their goal to help us attract new clients, they provide us with promotional rates for new clients that allows us to in turn offer promotional rates to new clients.
After the first year we offer our clients very competitive renewal rates within the overall market. The current new client rate on the 1500 speed package that you are on is $19.95. Our existing client renewal rate is just $1 more at $20.95. The main thing to note though is that the new client rate from AT&T on that package is $24.95. At the moment we are fortunate to be able to offer our new and existing clients rates that are less than what AT&T is offering their new clients while still offering 24/7 local support.
Thanks
--
George
General Manager
DSL Extreme
Will work for reviews. | |
| | 
mbaha
join:2009-03-01 | Re: Renewal rates are less than AT&T new customer rates... I'm in same boat with slow DSL and paying $20/month and the only way to do anything about it is to change providers!! | |
| sanjose95138
Premium
join:2009-05-02
San Jose, CA | I feel ya I'm working with them trying to get my line quality issues worked out... I'm not happy with this company and I'm not renewing the contract either. | |
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Review by M30Guy
UPDATED: 272 days ago
member for 1 year, 11 visits, last login: 33 days ago
Pittsburg,Contra Costa,CA
$22 per month (12 month contract)
AT&T
"Speed is consistant even if on the low end of bandwith scale"
"Slower than expected speed ........ 12 month contract"
"nice low price for 12 month contract if was higher above minimum speed"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I gave pre-sales a 3 - since I don't know if the pre-sales info I had was more or less than I would have gotten from other sources. Info looked on par with DSL info I found at AT&T. Ordering DSL on line was quick and easy... Email came back in a wek saying it was all setup and ready for mr to connect. Good thing DSL-Extreme has the LAN connection info that needs to be changed in Windows.
Connection got a 3 because it is at the low end at 1692 kbps and I'm supposed to be on the 3000 speed plan (where the minimum speed is 1500...).
The other choices get a 4 because as far as i know i'm satisfied with the service but there is a lingering thought that I'm not getting all that I'm paying for. I just checked the stats at Speedtest.net and DSL Extreme is at the bottom speed comparison. Comcast cable is about 10 times faster and doesn't cost 10 times more. Now I'm feeing a little bummed out..... and changed Value to a 2.
I'm using my own DSL modem - a Speedstream 5260, which should be capable of 6,000 kbps thruput. I'm using the inline filters on the standard phone lines on each of the three phones in the house.
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Review by shuxclams7
UPDATED: 281 days ago
member for 6.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 6.3 years ago
Winnetka,Los Angeles,CA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
AT&T
"I have DSL"
"Support - All facets"
"DSLExtreme is not as sharp as they used to be."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
What a sham(e)!
I once told lot's of people about DSLExtreme and the service. In
particular their customer support. It's unfortunate now for me to be
writing a review of this company WARNING people to just stay away. Their
customer service has all but disappeared and the service is lackluster
at best. All this compounded with their 'Contract'. Beware your service
contract expiring, you will be charged 20% or more a month for the
service until you resign with them!
I had their DSL Elite (6mb w/5 static) package for years and recently
purchased a new home. I wanted to keep them even after having dealt with
the 'Contract issue'. The speed and customer service was still good.
Well during this move I got the first person who told me I could only
get the 15mb +1 static or 10mb +1 static service and since I lived in
xyz city she wasn't sure if I could get service otherwise. The second
person I spoke to was very helpful and said I could move my service
intact, started the process and told me to call back with the phone
number as soon as I got it and I'd have service up and running mid-week.
When I called with the number I was told that I couldn't get the same
service, best I could do was 3mb + 5 static... after reminding the
person I needed the static. I was quoted the wrong price and again I was
I would have service for almost an additional week! I was stunned and
wasn't sure if this was right. I called back the following day and was
told that I would have to wait until the following week for service even
though my modems DSL connection was showing it was syncing the day it
was originally supposed to come on from the second person I spoke with.
The last person I spoke with opened a ticket and had this to say
"Someone should make it clear to customers that the provisioning date is
not the activation date"
I know that I am probably not close enough to a CO to get the service I
wanted but I went ahead and did the line test to see how bad it was....
Since it felt terribly sluggish etc compared to what level I had for so
long - wouldn't you know I barely pull 1.5mb - basically 25% of the
speed I once had, was told I could get at almost the full price of the
6mb. I am sure the next phone call will be something like what I had
with the original 'Contract issue' from years ago.... This company has
gone down the shitter..... STAY AWAY! I won't be renewing my 'Contract'
with these people!
Sean Frazier
"As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man
objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever" -
Clarence Darrow
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