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Review by jsnorman 
Posted: 28 days ago
member for 9.5 years, 148 visits, last login: 10 days ago
 Chicago,Cook,IL
 $425 per month (24 month contract)
 about 70 days
 AT&T
 "Reliable, no downtime, good ping, clean connection, knowledgable tech support (when you can reach them), competitive T1+Voip"
 "Unreachable tech support, extremely poor install support"
 "Good "do it yourself" option, but be prepared for problems that will take a long time to solve"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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I have had the Megapath DUET (Voip) service with a T1 for data for about 9 months. I waited until now to review, because had I reviewed immediately after installation it would have been a very poor review indeed!
In the sales process, I talked with very knowledgeable and professional folks. I was greatly impressed, and decided to dump my existing T1 with Covad for the Megapath DUET T1 (replacing what had been a plain data T1 supplemented by Callcentric Voip). Of course Megapath's T1 is provided by Covad anyway, so I did not expect much of a change.
INSTALL ISSUES:
(1) LINE INSTALL. Line installation took 2 months. Primarily, this was due to extremely poor coordination by Megapath. The local loop installer from AT&T had to show up 3 times (!!) because the Covad person was not there (there were noise issues detected by Megapath that required Covad and the local loop installer to work together). Similarly, the Covad guy showed up twice and the AT&T guy did not show. This was all due to Megapath failing to confirm the scheduling properly (according to BOTH the AT&T and Covad guys). To make matters worse, I HAD to communicate with Covad/AT&T ONLY through Megapath, but Megapath tech/install support never answered its phones (we waited on hold for over an hour at one point, then the AT&T guy had to leave). These long hold times turned out to be routine for Megapath (see below) and are the central problem with Megapath in my experience.
(2) T1/DUET SETUP. After the line was finally up and running, I was expecting a smooth ride, but was sorely disappointed. The "tech" they sent from from DSL.net, a Megapath affiliate as far as I can tell who handles all the DUET stuff. Despite the fact that I had (2 months previous) filled out a detailed install sheet, which included my Voip switch, phone layout, and network details, the tech came completely unprepared. He had NO IDEA how to setup the Voip part of the service. Basically, he got the T1 modem working and left (despite the fact that I was promised during sales a full install and testing of the Voip service). It took me almost another month before I had the Voip working due to issues with the modem setup, my firewall, and the Voip switch (which, FYI, was listed as a fully supported Voip switch by megapath). Many calls to tech support, each time I had to wait 30-60 minutes on hold. E-mails to tech support would go unanswered or would get a "please call" response. No one in tech support had the slightest idea how to configure my Voip switch (again, a "supported" model that I bought specially for megapath duet!). After almost 2 months we finally got my Voip working (sort of - see below).
(3) NUMBER PORTING. Porting my former landline to Voip should have been easy. However, Megapath incorrectly told me that porting my landline would not terminate my local AT&T service (on which I also had DSL, hosting, etc.), and that AT&T would just assign a new local number for my landline (which I was then going to change to an emergency only landline). Unfortunately, this was bad information, and AT&T terminated all of my accounts as a result of the porting of my local number - and AT&T told me that Megapath ordered the termination, and that they should have advised me to switch to a new number before porting. This has caused countless problems on the AT&T side, as I still do not have local landline backup.
(4) T1 MODEM/ROUTING ISSUES. I had ordered 5 static IP addresses. However, it soon became apparent that I only had 2 static IPs that worked. I thought it must be a firewall issue so I spent several weeks testing my firewall, trying different configs, etc. Finally, tried the tech support line at night which was the only time I could get through. I spoke to a tech who confirmed that the problem was on Megapath's end, but he said that the DUET service meant that he could not access the modem to do appropriate testing... he promised to submit the ticket in the morning to someone who could fix it. I waited 2.5 months without resolution, then I tried e-mailing for a status update. Over 1 month after e-mailing (3.5 months after first reporting the problem) I finally got a response "please call". Ugh. Well, after another week of calls and e-mails the problem finally got fixed (remember the incompetent installer? well, turns out he configured the T1 modem for only 2 IP addresses).
(5) CALL FEATURE ISSUES. It took a couple of calls to tech support just to get CALLER ID NAMES turned on (off by default? wtf). Our main line still does not work with call waiting - I have on my to-do list to try to reach tech support about that.
SERVICE QUALITY. Aside from the install-related issues, and horrible tech support queues, service quality has been outstanding. I have had the DSLreports monitor on for the entire time, and I get 20ms pings east coast, 80ms west coast, and zero dropped packets. No downtime since we went live. Phone quality is as good or better than POTS. FWIW, I am using a Talkswitch 288vs (and love it).
CONTRACT. The only other thing to note is that Megapath's termination policy is ridiculous. Unlike most other T1 providers (including Covad whose contract I cancelled to move to Megapath, and whose termination was 2 months service fees), Megapath will bill you for the entire remaining term if you cancel. This can be very expensive and basically means you cannot cancel unless you get a customer service exception.
SUMMARY. If you can put up with the install hassles, and do not need a lot of tech support to get up and running, the Megapath DUET service with your own Voip switch is a very economical and high quality service. The SLA is excellent, and I have never had to use the SLA credit feature (no downtime at all). Tech support is generally very good (outside of the installation process). However, tech support is about as difficult to reach as the Pope on Christmas Day, and their contract termination policy is about as un-customer friendly as the worst of the wireless phone providers. YMMV!
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Review by hirez
Posted: 66 days ago
member for 7.3 years, 100 visits, last login: 45 days ago
Alhambra,Los Angeles,CA
 Business customer
$454 per month (24 month contract)
AT&T
"Fair price, if service was reliable"
"Unreliable service, frequent downtime"
"Cannot recommend based on frequent outages"
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This downtime log should probably communicate our problems with MegaPath. There were also other outages not reported here that occurred at off-times or were resolved before a trouble ticket was issued. We are contracted for T1 service from Megapath with voice and data sharing the same line, so when the service is down, both voice and data are normally down. We also run our email server on this line, so our order fulfillment is interrupted.
05.05.09: Installation - Megapath failed to communicate with Dataphone, causing them more time in reconfiguring the changeover. As a result, Megapath credited us one month of service.
05.12.09: Voice service unavailable. Filed a trouble ticket. Later in the day, end user rebooted the Adtran and service resumed.
06.11.09: 6pm Voice service is down. Called Megapath on cellular and filed a trouble ticket.
06.12.09: ATT technician came in the morning for our service connection to the box down the street. Reportedly ATT's problem, supposedly unrelated to Megapath & Covad. Covad reportedly owns the last part of the line connecting to our business.
06.19.09: Services unavailable. Called in at 8:30am and filed a trouble ticket. Within an hour service is back up. Reportedly a problem with Covad.
07.23.09: Voice/Data services not available starting at 9:50am. Reportedly a problem with Covad.
08.10.09: Voice/Data service not available starting at 12:15. Reportedly a problem with AT&T.
09.16.09: Voice/Data services down since 7:30am. Per AT&T technician, he replaced a hardware card (provided by AT&T). For the previous times, the problem was reported to be with the cable (from Covad) connecting to our circuit. Resumed at 11am.
09.17.09: Services down again since 11:35am, appears back up at 4pm.
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 Review by sigma4506
UPDATED: 302 days ago
member for 9.2 years, 659 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Wilmington,New Castle,DE
$59 per month
about 14 days
Verizon
"SPEEDS ARE AS PROMISED"
"NONE"
"Good service"
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ORDERED 5000&2000
TECH ARRIVED AT 9AM THEY WERE FINISHED AT 2PM
ACTIONTECH MODEM
dynamic IP
GOOD SERVICE, IF YOU CAN MOVE FROM CABLE DOOOOOO IT
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 Review by Dogfather
UPDATED: 355 days ago
member for 1.9 years, 684 visits, last login: 280 days ago
Huntington Beach,Orange,CA
$400 per month (36 month contract)
about 7 days
Covad
"Rock solid T1, A+ support, free router+install (no rebates)"
"High junk fees"
"Excellent service, great T1 price, very happy"
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UPDATE: 12/2/08 Still the best service experience I've ever had with a provider. You definitely get what you pay for with a T1.
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Pre Sales information (5): After the nightmare that was Covad Wireless, I needed an alternative. For the wireless we had business ADSL, but being 19,200 Cu feet, we were limited to 768/128 and were lucky to get service at all (VZ limit is 18K ft). But 128kbps upload is painful for VPN so I did some searching and saw the Megapath $360/mo + junk fees T1 deal. It was more expensive than the Nextweb Covad Wireless contract I had, but about the same as what my renewal price would be when it expired (Covad had doubled prices and/or severely cut plan speeds). So I went to the site and had an online sales chat. I quickly got all the info and placed the order (including contract) all online. Took about 30 minutes from start to finish including all my questions.
Install Co-ordination (5): Literally within days Verizon was out to install the new NID for the T1 on my building. No problems. 3 days later Covad showed up to do the inside install which took a couple of hours including swapping out the router I had received which was bad (new in the box). Considering 3 companies being involved, a trouble free 1 week install for a T1 is very impressive in my opinion.
Connection reliability (5): 4 9's reliability by SLA but I'm seeing better. Looking at router logs I haven't has a single outage. Beyond excellent and FAR superior to Covad Wireless that it replaced. If you need a mission critical connection, it's hard to beat a T1 for reliability.
Tech Support (5): The best I've ever had. I called just looking for some hints on how to get my Netopia router into a bridge mode for my VPN appliance. They quickly set up the router from their end and it works like a champ. It's nice not to have to do that work any more.
Services (5): The service has quite a few features. My full T1 package includes:
Free install
Free Netopia router
20 hrs of dial up time
50 email addys
100MB web space (10GB traffic limit)
Up to 13 static IPs included
Usenet (throttled to 256kbps but it's free)
SLA
4 nines reliability
3 nines packet del.
MTTR 4 hours
Max latency 110ms
Value for money (3): Lots of extras, free $800+ Netopia router, free install, cheap monthly fee make this a great T1 deal, fast & clean install, excellent customer service and tech support. Plus unlike some other providers, this is true free router+install, no rebate bullcrap. However, as great as this T1 deal is, it doesn't compare favorably with business plans from Time Warner and Verizon FiOS. Unfortunately my building isn't serviceable. So value as a T1, it's a 5, but in the marketplace compared to competitors, it's just average.
I would definitely recommend Megapath if you're a small biz and need a T1.
Equipment is a Netopia 4622XL
Service full T1
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Review by mnrobards
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 1 year, 3 visits, last login: 149 days ago
Baton Rouge,East Baton Rouge,LA
$85 per month (24 month contract)
about 30 days
AT&T
"Needed Static IP's"
"Price and Speed"
"Would recommand if you want static IP's and do not have business phone"
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Wanted multible Static IP's and AT&T would not issue unless I had business service. Using this on home phone
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Review by duodec
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 5.4 years, 142 visits, last login: 311 days ago
Palatine,Cook,IL
$81 per month
about 21 days
SBC
"Fairly fast, initial tech support was responsive"
"Web support portal changed to require Internet Explorer only; it USED to work with Firefox; tech support unresponsive to this"
"it works, cheaper and faster than IDSL but slower now than it was at first"
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Ordered 6M/608 static-IP ADSL to replace Speakeasy IDSL when it became clear that Speakeasy wasn't going to provide any better service in my area. Sales were friendly and helpful, provided all the necessary information, and everything worked smoothly using self install with a Cayman 3346.
Current performance (~4400/450) is a little below expectations but I have a long and twisty inside wiring path from the demarc to where the router is located; that will be corrected.
The initial tech support call was to switch from a single IP with their router providing NAT to a IP range so that my firewall could have a public address. This happened in less than 24 hours, and support was very friendly and efficient. All internal services are working perfectly now.
Last week, when actually switching my nodes to the ADSL service, I found the Megapath mail servers rejecting my using them for relay. Per their FAQ I wrote them with all required info on 9/3, received the auto-acknowledgement the same day with a promise of a response within 24 hours. No response so far, and a followup note sent in reply to the acknowledgement has not been acknowledged.
Late on 8/31 I received an email with the rebate info promised in my contract. The referenced rebates ended up being for orders placed up to 6/30/05 (mine was placed in August), with a last postmark date of 8/31/05 (I didn't even see the letter until 9/1). I've written back three times since then with no response, however the two referenced rebates DID change; they now show last order dates of 9/30/05, but since the last POSTMARK date is still 8/31, they still are not usable.
Service has been solid since installation, no problems there.
Update: 17-Jun-2008
Overall reliability has been excellent. However performance has been slowly deteriorating. I upgraded the wiring from the DSL modem to the demarc to Cat-5 and had an initial boost from (~4400/450) to 4600/480 (repeatable) but average performance has declined to (4000/420) since then, and upstream latency is occasionally an issue.
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 Review by madmax2000
Posted: 1.6 years ago
member for 2.5 years, 455 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
Lookout,Pike,KY
Business customer
$500 per month
about 20 days
AT&T
"Fast Install just under 21 days with local loop provided by at&t"
"None so far other than a contractor showed up to configure my router"
"Great DS1 line with under 60ms round trip with sla of <110ms"
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Very fast install and great support circuit turn-up team.
I have little to review about this provider at current time as services were only turned up Friday, The only bad thing well not really bad point was a contractor showed up to configure my router how ever this was not needed and he left about 10mins after he got here after verifying ciruit was online
I supplied my own router Cisco 2621XM and csu/dsu had no problems with configuring for dmz and lan access
Will post more at a later date
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Review by ROKKSTAR
Posted: 1.8 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 44 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
New York,New York,NY
$249 per month
about 30 days
Verizon
"Best service and tech support bar none!"
"none"
"The ISP I have had so far"
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I have been with Megapath for mearly 8 years and love them.
1.54 SDSL and getting 2.0 SDSL speed.
Tech support is the best, and always fast to answer the phone.
Yes I pay more than there current rates since I signed up years ago.
But for the quality of service and support I get it's worth it.
can't say enough about this ISP.
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Review by mtm10
Posted: 1.9 years ago
member for 3.2 years, 54 visits, last login: 50 days ago
Los Gatos,Santa Cruz,CA
$400 per month (12 month contract)
Verizon (ex GTE)
"Very reliable service (4 years)"
"Hard to reach customer service sometimes"
"Once you get to a human, they fix the problem"
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I have a T1 from Megapath because we have no cable, too far for DSL, and satellite is too high latency. (Megapath is reselling Covad T1 over Verizon wires). I beam the T1 to 5 neighbors via Proxim Tsunamis, and hence get the cost down nicely.
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Review by SCCutler
UPDATED: 2.2 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 1945 visits, last login: 15 days ago
Dallas,Dallas,TX
$189 per month
Southwestern Bell
"Fast Effort, Good Communication after NP Shutdown"
"A Little Line confusion"
"Hats Off to MegaPath for their efforts!"
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Update 8/07-
No longer with MegaPath, but their service was top-notch to the end. We have now changed over to Birch (bundled phone and data on a T-1).
Update 4/17-
As a DNV (Designated Northpoint Victim), we were in big trouble when we found out that NP was going to shut down; MegaPath had ordered the new line through Covad before NP stopped working, and we had a SWB wiring date scheduled soonthereafter; SWB showed up on the appointed day and wired; there as a bit of confusion when, the evening of the CO line installto the demarc in the building, we received an email which said that the wire install had "failed" (Whatever that means)- I sent along an email telling them that the wire was in place, waiting in the demarc with a nice ident tag on it, and they sent a subsequent email stating that after additional "testing," the new line was ok (whatever).
Next day, got message that Covad scheduled to install 4/17; and around 9:30 am today, a knowledgeable and competent Covad tech showed up, did the install in about 20 minutes, and answered all the questions posed to him. All up and running, very happy, already placed my order to bump speed from 384 to 768. Now have a Netopia 7200T in place.
Now TELOCITY, on the other hand, still hasn't managed to get a line ORDERED. But that, my friends, is another story entirely.
________________
This part was from before...
We came to MegaPath through the Phoenix acquisition (failure?). Was a little bit miffed when the call informing us of our pending changeover came in on a Saturday (or Friday night)- outside of business hours, but hey, they have a lot of changeovers to do. So we had to "do the hustle," since the 'Net is muy importante to our business. Various problems with our firewall and verifying source of trouble after cutover from Phoenix's DS3 to Mega's, but Mega's Tech Support absolutely, positively, would not quit, and ultimately got things running (problem was at NorthPoint). Good tenacity, and the feature set for the buck is pretty good. I'd deal with them again.
Now, if I could just get some response from Telocity (at the house!).
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MegaPath
Very Slow Install and Abusive Contract Renewal
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