how-to block ads
|
next review in page
Review by skid289 
member for 2 years, 0 visits, last login: 2 years ago
updated 2 years ago
 Scotts Valley,Santa Cruz,CA
 $69 per month about 5 days "Availability in rural areas" "Unreliable connection and speed; unfriendly, uncaring support" "Use only as a last resort"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I was a reluctant Surfnet customer for almost 5 years. I live in a rural area of the Santa Cruz mountains and they were my only option - we don't have any wired service at all, and Verizon 3G was a joke. The only reason I stuck with them that long is there was nowhere else to go.
Surfnet provides "broadband" where no other company can in Santa Cruz county, using a system of relay towers communicating via 802.11b. Sales and installation went quickly and easily; but that's the only good experience I had with them.
The service was horribly unreliable. Most of the time, pings to the local tower were measured in SECONDS, with 40-95% packet loss. The 3Mbps I was paying for was never achieved. I eventually downgraded my plan to 1Mbps simply because the connection was not capable of anything more. Numerous calls to tech support and a couple of visits to change radios, realign the antenna, etc resulted in no sustained improvement.
Their technical support was terrible. Surly at best and downright hostile at worst, they always blamed connection issues on "interference by cell phones". During most storms, of which we have many every winter, the connection would go down for DAYS when one of the many relays failed. More than once, when I asked when service would be restored, they told me their techs don't work on weekends or when it's raining!
As a final confirmation of their unprofessionalism and uncaring attitude, when I called to cancel my service they didn't bother to ask why. They just told me to send them written request via email. I suppose they're used to cancellations!
I would not recommend Surfnet to anyone who can find a better option.
Comments:
 | next review in page (previous review)
Review by missingwings
member for 9.1 years, 26 visits, last login: 226 days ago
updated 2.9 years ago
- Felton,Santa Cruz,CA
- $50 per month
- about 5 days
- "Quick, efficient install/commission, great speeds"
- "Wish they had serviced my area earlier"
- "Very Satisfied"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Two years ago, I gave Surfnet Communications a glowing report. For several months I was very happy with their service. However, the up/down speeds began to deteriorate, to a point where service was often unavailable for periods ranging from a few minutes to several hours. I documented the problems and sent Surfnet a letter which was totally ignored (some excuse about not checking their mail very often). They made one attempt at some alternate hardware (with additional costs to me) but with absolutely no discernable result. Further communications had zero effect (no response). They had one tech who seemed very competent and concerned, but everyone else was unresponsive and borderline rude. I hope my previous review didn't mislead too may customers. Based solely on my experiences, I would strongly suggest avoiding this "company" unless you have no other choice. They are now so slow (up and down) that I would almost consider satellite again - which isn't saying much. Even dialup would almost be preferable.
After 5+ years with Hughes (Direcway) satellite internet access, I just got set up with SurfNet (Scotts Valley). The site survey and equipment installation was quick (about 45 minutes), and the commissioning took another 20 minutes.
Earlier today, I ran three consecutive speed tests on PC Pitstop (the entry level 2.4Ghz plan max is 1000 down / 1000 up, which is $10 less than Hughes).
Download Speed: 1036 / 971 / 1029 kbps (1012 avg.)
Upload Speed: 976 / 976 / 850 kpbs (934 avg.)
Latency (Ping): 30 / 33 / 36 ms (33 avg.)
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by troutman
member for 3.2 years, 0 visits, last login: 3.2 years ago
lodged 3.2 years ago
- Los Gatos,Santa Cruz,CA
- $90 per month
- about 5 days
- "Innovative use of 802.11b technology"
- "Service is relatively expensive, very unreliable and prone to interference"
- "Use if only alternative"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I have been using Surfnet Communications for about 3 months now. I am very technical and familiar with wireless networks. Our house has a 3 mile line of sight view of the Surfnet tower on Mt. Roberta which is a near ideal situation. Despite this I have had many problems, and the service has not performed as advertised. First problem is that even though I am paying $89/month for the 2 to 3 Mbps service, the performance tends to be 1.5 download and 0.7 upload. They advertise symetrical service, but I have never seen it. Their engineering response was that I don't need fast uploads... The other problem is the technology. Even though it is impressive that they are using 802.11b wifi technology, it turns out to be very susceptible to interference from 2.4Ghz devices such as your home wifi router, cordless phones, wireless video cameras and microwaves. In other words don't count on streaming music while you are heating up dinner... They also say that the service is not affected by weather. When it is raining, especially here in the mountains when it is rain and fog, the signal is greatly degraded to the point that it is dropped. Now that AT&T is rolling out HSDPA 7.2 in the area for $39/mo it no longer makes sense to use Surfnet unless you have no alternative.
Comments:
|
|
