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Review by daemonam 
UPDATED: 116 days ago
member for 3.8 years, 25 visits, last login: 140 days ago
 Sacramento,Sacramento,CA
 $107 per month (24 month contract)
 about 5 days
 "25 meg syncronous fiber circuit to my door that is solid as a rock"
 "DNS - Surewest has had a couple debilitating Domain Name Resolution issues"
 "Wouldn't change except to goto the 50 meg circuit that Surewest offers."
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings match consensus)
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After having ISDN, ADSL, and Cable, this has proven to not only to be the fastest but extremely reliable. I have had this circuit for 3 years. The install came with an Allied Telesyn AT-RG656 VoIP Gateway and a small APC Battery Backup and the Installer was GREAT. On a last note, this circuit is cheaper when bundled with a TV and/or Telephone package.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of SureWest Internet |
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Review by cybercris
Posted: 137 days ago
member for 137 days, 0 visits, last login: 137 days ago
Citrus Heights,Sacramento,CA
$79 per month (12 month contract)
"Connection is pretty good with DSL"
"Bandwidth limitation on data transfers (downloads)"
"Go to bigger company, these guys are cheap and small."
| Pre Sales information:
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It's worth mentioning that SureWest is somewhat reliable with it's DSL connection, however, putting a cap or quota on monthly data transfers of 40 Gigs is SHAMEFULL!
The thing is that I'm not a "movie or music downloader", but I am interested in Internet TV (IPTV). It's a new feature of the internet, where you can actually get your TV through the internet - at much cheaper prices - with many more channels that the local cable company doesn't carry (ie. international channels).
There are many companies out there that offer IPTV services, but one must have an ISP that does not have a transfer quota or can pay per GB of use.
AT&T (SBC) has a 250 GB per month of transfer and so does Comcast, but SureWest has 40 Gigs. So be AWARE of this before you sign up for the service and think that you can "unlimited download" - as they state all over their website.
They don't even have an option for you to pay for additional GB - as the tech rep "james" explained to me.
So if you want IPTV (internet TV) or maybe, who knows, you might sign up for one of those movie websites with unlimited monthly downloads, remember 40 GB per month!!! And a movie is 2-5 GB, per 2 hour movie, well imagine how many GBs the internet TV running for 24 hours would use up?
Unlimited is actually LIMITED !
Followup comments:  cyberbeing
join:2005-02-18
Sacramento, CA
1 edit | Surewest DSL = BAD | Surewest Fiber = GOOD So you had DSL and not Fiber from Surewest? In all seriousness, why did you signup with Surewest if you could only get DSL? The whole point of Surewest is their fiber network.
The moral of the story is don't sign-up for DSL with Surewest. A 40GB cap which is actually enforced, blah.
If you were in one of their fiber areas you wouldn't run into this problem, since they don't enforce any caps. Historically the only time people have gotten into trouble is when they fell within the top-10 heaviest users on their network (think 1TB+ downloaded per month). Yet in the 4 years I've had Surewest, I've only seen this enforcement of the top-10 heavest users happen a single time, which was back in 2007.
Something else to keep in mind is that what Surewest considers allowable bandwidth usage, increases as you upgrade to faster speed tiers. In the eyes of Surewest, moving 1TB on a $30/month 3Mbps tier is much worst than moving 1TB on a $70/month 25Mbps tier. In other words, if you expect heavy usage, don't be cheap and pay for a faster tier. | |
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 Review by spewak
UPDATED: 150 days ago
member for 8.3 years, 3424 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Elk Grove,Sacramento,CA
$120 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
"All good! (as the kids say)"
"DVR needs work"
"Excellent service for the price"
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• What other options did you consider for broadband
A) None. Always wanted Surewest.
• What SPEED/package did you order, at what monthly price?
A) Originally ordered the 10/10 but was informed that the 20/20 was available for $51 a month for the year. Of course, went with the 20/20!
• How was the order & install process?
A) Seamless. All the Utility companies marked their underground cables the same day that Surewest came out to bury the Fiber to the side of the house. Next day service was installed.
• What brand/model was the supplied equipment?
A) Residential Gateway and APC setup. House brand DVR.
• What good or bad experiences most struck you?
A) None really. Everything went smooth and service is well, fast! I realize it has only been a day, but I am excited like a schoolgirl!
*UPDATE* 11/16/08
All three parts of the Triple-play are going strong.
The DVR is functioning better than it was prior to several updates being applied.
The Tech support and Service reps are attentive to the needs of the customer.
*UPDATE* 06/25/09
Well, Surewest topped themselves by lowering the cost of their tiers and raising speeds.
I just got the upgraded 25/25 speed tier, it is fantastic! More HD channels being added soon.
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 Review by shinjuru
UPDATED: 166 days ago
member for 9 years, 4464 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Carmichael,Sacramento,CA
$51 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
 AT&T
"Super fast connection. Extremely reliable."
"Unpredictable Tech Support."
"10mbps Up/Down 24/7."
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June 2009
This is the most dependable service I have ever experienced. With the exception of the last few days. Fiber was acting up and lost connection. Called Tech Support Saturday and did some trouble shooting. The conversation near the end went as follows:
Tech Support: "Oh, it looks like you're do for an upgrade."
Me: "Great! When can we do this?"
Tech: "Umm, well, not a for a couple of months."
Me: "OK, so when am I going to get this current problem fixed?"
Tech Support: "You do have our original fiber service and do need to be upgraded."
Me: "..."
They scheduled to have a tech come by the house on Monday between 12pm and 5pm. After 5pm we called Tech Support wondering where our tech is. They come back and offer to have our equipment upgraded the following day instead. We took the offer, but were a little upset having to waste half a day for a no-show tech.
I hope this helps. Get the service, if you can. Just be aware of unpredictable tech support, if you eventually have a problem.
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 Review by jadebangle
UPDATED: 166 days ago
member for 2.5 years, 112 visits, last login: 74 days ago
Olathe,Johnson,KS
$70 per month
about 10 days
AT&T
"FIOS is already here and its about time, both att and comcast is obsolete compared to surewest and verizon fios"
"only available in select area like CA and KS, 50mbps expensive, 100mbps not offered"
"The future broadband is already here where I am and was surprised with all the digging and advertisement"
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20mbps in both direction is not bad for 70 a month.
I would love 50mbps but the price are unreasonable high for this tier
If 100mbps are offered in the near future then 50mbps maybe the next best thing after 20mb. 100mb will be a luxury tier and 50mb will become the standard for most subscriber.
I just wish they get rid of 1,5,10 and go with 20,50 and 100mbps or 10,20,and 50mb if 100mb are not offered.
These price have been set for the last 2 or 3 years and it hasn't change ever since.
It is available to many because fiber is considered next generation technology and the few that can get it has to pay through the roof just like with blue-ray or blu-ray bad spelling for a useless next generation dvd format.
Until most have anything faster then me I have no reason to complain about 20mbps at 70 a month 
Not everyone is going to need a 50mbps but it can make internet surfing more fun for those who loves to brag about it and able to do more with highest speed available currently
5/13/09 how did i get the date wrong? was 10/13/09, changed to 5/13/09 must be a typo
It seem that at 5mbps the provisional are decent 600kb/sec in both direction
at 10mbps its ok too... and at 20mbps or higher it get worse 2400kb/sec, 1900kb/sec
Decided to go with 10mbps again cause I couldn't stand 5mbps
I get about 1200kb/sec in both direction which is about the max you can pull off
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These are left blank intentionally to separate event.
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april25,2009: There is no better alternative! There isn't I would have to move to japan, sweden, netherland to have anything close to what surewest offers
The only complaint I have with surewest is the higher tier being much higher priced that any other broadband in the USA 91.99 dollars and 191.99 dollars is way above anything we have seen... if you can afford that, you can brag all you want LOL
If you bundle you will get a little discount but its usally 5 bucks... not a big deal eh?
enjoy life while you're at it. remember that the rest of the world is behind in broadband technology fiber is the future! copper, dsl, cable is yesterday's news! ENJOY
april 7,2009: i have decided to downgrade to 5mbit and the upload isn't much slower about 600kb/sec vs 1000kb/sec at 10mbit and 1900kb/sec at 20mbit
i guess the higher you go the more you lose in performance
The thing is i am not really frenzy about speed anymore as i use to be
1mbit is 29.99 and its cheaper but speed leave somedthing to be desired
i would go for it if it was 3mbit that in my opinion is a ripoff for 1mbit
for 1mbit i think 9.99 would be make more sense
2mbit for 19.99
3mbit for 29.99 their pricing are so inconsistent
I prefer 5mbit over anything faster as of right now because..
1. its a ripoff
2. it way over my budget
march 7 2009: I got some good news and bad news
Download and upload are not symmetrical! its still asymmetrical!
Its 10/8 or 20/16 or 5/4... etc... upload are only 80 percent of advertised speed
I was told download and upload the same but it was not this is where i am disappointed... bummer.
The good news is that speed are awesome
The bad news is that its quite expensive the faster you want to go
Who would be crazy to pay 91.99 or 191.99 a month for 20 and 50mbps?
Even 53.99 for 10mbps is too much for most ppl
This is where surewest fail if they were to compete with verizon fios they would not survive. They would lose all their customer to Verizon Fios.
Surewest 5/5 and 1/1 blows  Verizon 20/5 and 10/2 is far better... for the same price
In America speed doesn't matter, its the money that matter the most. Company are not competing for speed but to see who can charge the most for faster speed!
Ok.. I'm tired of this silly games where we the consumer has to foot most the bill and their is no end in sight. I thought that we the consumer are the one who should choose how much to pay a month but instead company can charge whatever they can get away with and some would pay anything for faster connection. why can't we have fast connection and affordable? in usa fast affordable never existed and probably will always be slow and cheap or fast and expensive. 50mbps and 100mbps are still a dream pipe few can have or afford to even receive this kind of tier. Of course surewest will not charge less because att, comcast, roadrunner can charge more and get away with it too. Its business as usual. the more you pay the more they make? only in america where profit matter the most, satisfaction is nonexistent
Update:2/22/09 My personal thought on fios super high speed internet connection:
I will be updating daily to keep up with my service for those who are curious as to how good fios is or are. I would recommend that if you have fios avialable don't hesitate don't wait get web and enjoy true broadband that are the same down and up in both direction
many times faster then dsl or cable. it has potential to grow and pretty soon we should see 100mbps in a year or two. cable and dsl will be left behind in the dust.
Update:2/21/09 so far so good 20mbps is incredibly fast for me with 50mbps i would not be able to saturate it cause their is not enough pipeline to take advantage of this speed
Update:2/20/09 the upgrade to 20mbps was instant but its very hard to saturate this kind of bandwidth on the internet. Most website I download from are less then 20mbps so this is more of a brags rights then a necessity
I may downgrade to 10mbit in a few months cause this 20mbit is just for show and to impress others... I could have gone 50mbps but didn't want to risk paying 192.00 after my 2 months trail or free months. Majority of americans are still using asymetrical connection in my opinion symetrical does not impress them but when they have it they will realize how much easier you can breathe with it. most user worry about upload not big enough but with this kind of connection their is no worry. few have symetrical connection and thats real broadband not the 6/1, 10/1 crap asymetrical that most of us hate so much. i call it leechband or poorman's broadband owned. why the big download and small upload? so you can't share file or upload fast its being done intentionally due to lobbying and copyright law.
Update: 2/19/09 I decided to jump for 20mbps due to wanted to see if higher speed will suit my need I can alway downgrade later but only if I have problems paying 92 a month.
I just checked verizon fios for 20/20 without any package and its 77.00 dollars so it s 15.00 difference. The speedtest doesn't show 20/20 at all it show 20/9 or 20/15 which is odd hopefully this will be fixed maybe due to a lack of bandwidth?
The pricing are as follow...
50mbps 191.99 insane price!
I believe more then double the price and more then I can afford to pay a month. This is 50/50 not 50/20 like verizon most expensive tier which is 139.99 or probably 157.00 without any bundle.
20mbps 91.99 expensive, ripoff
10mbps 53.99 expensive,ripoff
5mbps 39.95 expensive,ripoff
1mbps 29.95 expensive,ripoff
I'm cancelling att 6/678 paying 45.00 a month. att blows they are a ripoff and they suck at billing too something that plagues the usa
There are no usage caps...woohoo but it is more expensive then i thought boohoo.
I am getting two months free so the price vs att is the same after 1 year
Hopefully the pricing for the 20 and 50mbps will come down in a year or so then will upgrade later if needed... What do I think is a fair price for 20, 50mbps?
I believe 39.95 and 49.95 would be fair
That will depend on market price and how many are willing to pay less
Some ppl prefer to pay more for higher speed so its a dreampipe for me to imagine paying less for higher speed
When you compare comcast 6/1, 8/2 for 42.95, 52.95
anything that is a little faster for about the same price will always be better in term of price per megabit
You see I was told 5mbit for 39.95 was plenty of fast for a symmetrical connection.
I am a speed craving maniac and 5/5 is actually still faster then att 6/768 by at least 10 times in term of upstream
That to me is impressive
Verizon Fios 15/15 for 64.95???
See the thing is surewest offer symmetrical connection while Verizon offer semi symmetrical at only one tier...
Thats right...
50mbit,20mbit,10mbit,5mbit,1mbit
symmetrical connection in a residential area
pretty impressive right? oh not really since most of the time upload will not be used but it is useful when needed but only on rare occasion ^_^
That's what I see on their website That's not fiber its coaxial cable internet.
»everestkc.com/
Trailblazer 10.0 - 1.0Mbps up to 10.0 Mbps download
Trailblazer 8.0 - 768Kbps up to 8.0 Mbps download
Trailblazer 5.0 - 512Kbps up to 5.0 Mbps download
Trailblazer 1.0 - 384Kbps up to 1.0 Mbps download
»everestkc.com/internet/index.shtml
Update: 2/18/09
I would like 20mbps but I would have to shell out an extra 38 dollars
This is very temping lol
Should I or should I not?
The question is very confusing because is 20mbps really more useful then 10mbps
I mean i can easily max it out regardless of mbps
yes i have 2 months free so i may as well go with 20mbps for 2 months then downgrade to 10mbps
i don't know because haven't made up my mind yet but i will update this review to reflect any changes in the future.
Its a hassle to upgrade to 20mbps then downgrade 10mbps
*shakes head*
*confused*
Followup comments: hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | Should be FIber When SureWest took over your provider they said it was FTTH. You may want to recheck that. | |
| | | | | hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | Re: Should be FIber interesting because you reviewed them as a company that they took over. | |
| | | | | | | | | hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH
 ·Time Warner Cable
·buckeye cable
| Re: Should be FIber Again. the company you have reviewed: Surewest WAS actually Everest as even your links above say that. And you should read this:
Are you making enhancements in Kansas City now that SureWest has acquired the company?
On the network side in Kansas City, we plan to add 2,000 new residential homes on the hybrid fiber-coax network while creating a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network starting with a release of 8,000 FTTH homes in 2008 that will deliver enhanced bandwidth capabilities on the network to improve our data and video products.
They're HFC network in areas but also FTTH which Surewest is known for.
You're actually provider is NEVER SureWest until recently. It was a local company. SureWest just bought them.
Which does NOT make SureWest your 3rd provider/option just because they bought someone else. Also you don't count Telco's U-Crap as an "option". | |
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jadebangle
Premium
join:2007-05-22
Olathe, KS
 ·SureWest Internet
·AT&T Yahoo
·Comcast
| Re: Should be FIber said by hottboiinnc :Again. the company you have reviewed: Surewest WAS actually Everest as even your links above say that. And you should read this: Are you making enhancements in Kansas City now that SureWest has acquired the company? On the network side in Kansas City, we plan to add 2,000 new residential homes on the hybrid fiber-coax network while creating a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network starting with a release of 8,000 FTTH homes in 2008 that will deliver enhanced bandwidth capabilities on the network to improve our data and video products. They're HFC network in areas but also FTTH which Surewest is known for. You're actually provider is NEVER SureWest until recently. It was a local company. SureWest just bought them. Which does NOT make SureWest your 3rd provider/option just because they bought someone else. Also you don't count Telco's U-Crap as an "option". surewest is my 3rd provider that provide telephone, tv and fiber internet
They were nonexistent not long ago
I still have att and comcast
I can have all three now lol but its costly
everestkc aka everest kansas city is not my previous provider
everest was bought out or taken over by surewest due to how successful they are in california area
everest is a cable tv and copper based internet company that has never served in my location, they serve only in kansas city which is like 150 miles away
so yes I am correct I am still with ATT and Comcast
surewest is now my 3rd provider
End of story. | |
| | | | | fredwilson12
join:2005-04-20
Sacramento, CA
| Full Duplex ethernet is 200/200 in both direction
Full duplex ethernet is still 100mbps in each direction. The concept of full duplex (vs. half duplex) does not increase the amount of bandwidth available, but just allows the bandwidth to travel in each direction at the same time. Effectively, you can be transferring data @ 100Mbps between hosts in both directions (i.e. uploading and downloading) at the same time. So collectively you can get 200Mbps if you add both the uploading and downloading, but it is not 200Mbps each way. | |
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jadebangle
Premium
join:2007-05-22
Olathe, KS
·SureWest Internet
·AT&T Yahoo
·Comcast
|  I will stick with 10mbit for awhile unless of course I win..
I can get 50mbps but I cannot shell out 191.99 a month
53.99 a month is all I can spare for now
So sorry about those speed craving maniac on DSLR
When it comes to brags rights I believe I have not that rights yet unless I can get the best speed now and have no problems paying 191.99 a month...
I consume quite a bit of bandwidth
at 3 or 6mbps on DSL I assure you that 500-750gb a month is the norm for me LOL
The reason why its harder to consume more bandwidth on DSL and Cable is because the upload are only a fraction of what your download are... say 6mbit/1mbit, 5mbit,384k, 3mbit,512k
This mean that if you upload a long time at 384k, 512k,1mbit,2mbit you would not consume any more then symmetrical connection say 384k/384k, 512k/512k, 1mbit,1mbit
Since most activity on internet is peer to peer a symmetrical connection is best used...
asymmetrical are not better or practical in a sense it is infact a gimmick
false advertisement of speed such as 6mbit/1mbit is not 6mbps! its bogus... and misleading for the average user
10mbit/1mbit or 10mbit/10mbit
definitely the latter because you can do more with symmetrical then asymetrical because if you do a lot of uploading then the 10mbit/1mbit isn't any better then 1mbit/1mbit. It is sad but true. facts proven that asymmetrical are lousy for most application and for those who just don't upload much or at all
6.0/1.0 or 6.0/6.0
I know that some folks will say that even 10/1 is better then 6/6 but let's compare similar speed rather then different one causing confusion
60/1 or 60/60 we all know that symmetrical blows asymmetrical out of the water everytime if compared statistically
25/1 or 25/25
conclusion: asymmetrical = obsolete, next to useless for peer to peer activity such as file sharing and other intensive apps
If you're one of those user called a kid you wouldn't notice anything different because all you do is watch youtube all day and nothing else. a sad sad truth but but I am just giving you the facts
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 Review by bbarrera
UPDATED: 174 days ago
member for 9 years, 4997 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Elk Grove,Sacramento,CA
$89 per month (12 month contract)
about 70 days
"fantastic Internet connection"
"phone still flaky at times"
"great value!"
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Update after 2 years... Surewest is great ISP but phone is flaky. I've got 20M/20Mbps Internet service and love it. Ongoing and intermittent phone problems about once a month.
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 Review by sfromsf
UPDATED: 202 days ago
member for 8.7 years, 3474 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Sacramento,Sacramento,CA
$65 per month
about 7 days
"Speedy install, fast and reliable connection"
"pricey"
"At least its not ATT"
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I signed up for the 3MB download speeds. During the first month I got the 10MB service for free. What a difference it makes, but at close to $100, I decided 3MB was enough for me.
Service and connection is reliable. Customer service is always friendly.
When I moved in February, being in Surewest's service area was a big reason for selecting my new home. I don't regret it.
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 Review by odeonkreel
UPDATED: 207 days ago
member for 9 years, 3427 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Olathe,Johnson,KS
$39 per month
about 7 days
"FAST!"
"None yet"
"I like it I like I like it"
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Finally! Surewest brought fiber to my little neck of the woods. I was able to tell Comcast to take their crappy unreliable service and take a hike.
So far Surewest is excellent. The speed is constant and steady, no variance based on time of day. I opted for the 5Mb-u/5Mb-d plan. For $39.99 + taxes and no contract, it is much cheaper than naked HSI from Comcast (who wants about $62).
In the future I may consider getting the phone and TV as well from Surewest, but not right now.
The installation was successful and pretty quick. The installer was very knowledgeable and professional. Kept the place clean and tidy.
Now I have to go remove all those little red and yellow flags all over my yard
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Review by IPTVdave
Posted: 257 days ago
member for 1.9 years, 179 visits, last login: 43 days ago
Roseville,Placer,CA
$46 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
"Super Fast, always up"
"waited 5 days for an install"
"worth the wait. Blows Comc@st out of the water for speed and installers. The guy was on time and friendly."
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Supper Fast connection 20 meg up and down. I love it. The installer was ontime and friendly. It was worth going without broad band for the 5 days while I waited.
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 Review by sderenne
Posted: 297 days ago
member for 5.4 years, 1630 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Sacramento,Sacramento,CA
$60 per month
"Fast,low latency,great pings for gaming,very reliable"
"its not free"
"10mbps up/down for a fair price"
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The fiber to the home is fast and affordable.No bandwidth limits I'm aware of. Newsservers can max the connection.
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20/20 for 51.00 a month???
consider yourself lucky
why only 5mbit???
