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Review by b315653 
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 4.9 years, 1555 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Mentor,Lake,OH
 $34 per month (12 month contract)
 about 12 days
 Ameritech
 "The DSL,Tech's on BBR, SBC Direct Forum"
 "Phone Tech's"
 "Bang for the Buck"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I ordered online sometime in Sept. 2003 for the 384-1.5/128 speed for 29.95. Recieved my welcome pack/modem soon after. Waited untill the scheduled live date and hooked everything up but couldn't get online. That's when I called the support number and went through all their steps. Still nothing. I told them my modem would recycle itself without me even touching it and that must have gave them a hint that the modem was bad. They sent out another pronto and when I hooked it up and bingo DSL. I have since rerated to 26.95 and also added a router to take care of my connection. Connection is ROCK SOLID. Never even have to think about it. Still waiting for the upgrade to 256 upload but I'm on a RT and they haven't got to me yet. Great product for a great price is the bottom line. Also the techs here at BBR rock. I visit here almost every day just to stay on top of everything. Thanks to Beach Boy for checking my line for 6.0/600, unfortunately I'm to far to upgrade but oh well i still have a great connection that doesn't tie up my phone line. SBC gives me Dial-Up also as a back-up but haven't needed it yet although I jump on once in a while just to remind me what it used to be like. Also SBC is my local,local toll, and long distance provider. DSL ROCKS
Well it's 08/05/2004. I posted on SBC Direct forum to re-up for another 12 months at 26.95. I also wanted the upload increase to 256 because I am on a RT and didn't get the boost yet (still was 128). I posted on 08/02 and on 08/05 I ran the SBC speed test here at BBR and bingo 220 upload. You ROCK moose and so does SBC DSL. Rock Solid connection. Don't ever even think about it any more. Even my wife can surf without any problems. I could never return to dial-up. Only wished I was closer to RT when they were offering 6.0/600 but o well, you can't have everything. Keep up the good work SBC.
I have to respond to the negative posts on Ameritech (SBC) forums. My advice is the same as the tech's here, don't call SBC before you come here first and post at the regular forum (Ameritech) and if you don't feel you received help than go to SBC Direct forum and post there. If you do this first chances are really good you won't have to call anybody in India (SBC Customer Help) to talk you in circles. the techs here ROCK and know what they are doing. Why call anybody else and get totally frustrated? Take the road less bumpy.
Well it's 02/04/05 and all is still well. Received the upgrade a while back on the upload side. 384 now (330 actual). Rock Solid connection ALL the time. Wish SBC would come back with that 6.0/600 for 44.95 again but if they don't I'm still happy. One thing about re-upping your contract. Don't do it here at BBR. I did and found out too late that it didn't show up on my account and I slipped into the month to month price. I called and they finally straightened it out but you know I will have to wait a couple of months to get the credits. O well, live and learn. Moral of the story, Call SBC to re-up and get tech help here at BBR. Later.
Pre-Qualified at SBC Direct for Pro Package. Got the thumbs up and made a call for the upgrade on 03/21/05. Recieved the upload increase to 512 (435actual) and waited for my Active Date of 03/29/05 to get the download increase.Active date came with no increase so I posted in SBC Direct and within a day I recieved an answer that the profile was not changed at the Redback. Good to go now.
One thing. I'm on a RT and I was only getting 1.9 down so I reset my RWIN to 14750 and it jumped to 2522 down. This is a known problem that just requires a tweek. Moral of Story- Post in SBC Direct when you have problems, get results. Thanks to "wolfdragon01" at SBC Direct for his assistance. DSL Rocks.
Just an update. Called today (06/21/2005) to get a rerate. Talked to a nice AMERICAN lady. She checked the computer and said that would not be a problem. Now I have Pro Package for 24.99. SBC is aggressive but fair. Again DSL Rocks! Never in recent memory has my connection not been there. Rock Solid. Fair Price. Great Techs at BBR. What else could you ask for. (Maybe that 6000/600 package offer again). Keep your cable folks, DSL for me, period.
Called today (02/04/2006) to rerate. Was paying 24.99. rerated to 17.99 for 12 months. This is a great service for that price. Rock solid connection. Always on. Now they lower the price. Great product SBC!
05/07/06 Well, it finally came available at a good price (6000/608). I ordered the upgrade for the Elite service today. I did it online at www.att.com/upgrade for 27.99. If you look at the first part of this review you will see I paid two dollars a month more for the basic package in 2003. I will complete this review when the upgrade is completed.
05/12/06 This was my live date and when I gave it a speed test I had the proper upload but not the right download (3371/637). Posted in ATT Direct and left my computer for two hours. When I returned, bingo 5100/653. I'm good to go. Good price (27.99) and good speed. What's next ATT? DSL Still ROCKS.
03/31/07 All has been good since last update. Solid speeds and good connection. Only thing I don't like now is there are no offerings if you commit to a year of service. Come on ATT, how about rewarding loyalty.
08/20/2008 All is still good. Price for Elite is 34.99. Rock Solid connection. Never even think about it. I see a new cabinet going in by my RT (actually 2). Maybe U-Verse is coming with 10/1.5 internet. That would be great. We will have to see.
Followup comments:  attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA | yoyoyo so you are only synching at 6/608 advertised speed?
what about 6/768? iS IT NOT POSSIBLE?
... | |
| megaruski
join:2006-05-10
Buffalo Grove, IL | I am in the process too I placed an order on 4th of may to upgrade from pro to elite.... Still waiting, according to their online status page, should be up tomorrow | |
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Review by fwmyzzy
UPDATED: 5 days ago
member for 1 year, 10 visits, last login: 5 days ago
Naperville,Will,IL
$40 per month
about 5 days
SBC
"Very happy since I went to dry (no POTS, just DSL)"
"prior to dry, throughput was significantly under advertised rate"
"great speed at a great price ($40/mo, dry DSL, no discounts, no contracts)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Prior to going to dry DSL, I had picked up Elite (6 Mb down, 768 K up). In this configuration, with POTS, for some reason the line never got above 4 Mb down, should have been at least 5 Mb (80% of 6 Mb). Since going dry, throughput is actually AT 6 Mb (not 80% of 6 Mb). Throughput up is about 600 kbps. Very good and I'm very happy with that.
For some reason, VPN to work would disconnect every few hours until I moved the PPP stack to my router instead of the DSL modem. Since then, the tunnel has been as clean as it possibly can be. Not sure if there was another solution to this, I was just surprised at what an impact it had.
At home, I use VoIP phone service with AT&T CallVantage, which now seems to have an uncertain future. I've been pretty happy with the arrangement, although I can here bursts of static when we are also receiving lots of data at the same time I'm in a voice call.
The times I have called AT&T for support on the DSL line, they have been very responsive and helpful. Early on I had an issue with the modem and they spent over 2 hours working with me, and everyone I spoke with through the various tiers was clearly very, very, knowledgeable and experienced with troubleshooting the DSL line. In that case, they ended up swapping the modem. There was an issue with cutover of the line when I went to dry DSL. It was a pain for a day, but only for a day.
Previously, I had cable modem service with Wide Open West. When I tried VoIP with that, both Vonage and AT&T CallVantage had unusable voice quality. Tried DSL with much better results. Voice quality of CallVantage in my area with my usage pattern varies from passible to great. I spend a lot of time on conference calls for work from home, and the call quality (it's a VoIP based bridge) is usually at least as good as it is from our VoIP phone system at work.
I did not try Comcast, although they are available locally as well.
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 Review by XBL2007
UPDATED: 8 days ago
member for 7.6 years, 2673 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Chicago,Cook,IL
$18 per month (12 month contract)
about 6 days
Ameritech
"Low price, some nice extra's, fast modem delivery"
"The Usenet servers really suck, No Fiber deployment like Verizon, need phone line to have service."
"Download at 2.6 megabits, upload close to half megabit,"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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Tech Support:
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(ratings match consensus)
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Fast hookup and bang for your buck seems SBC has improved there DSL service by leaps and bounds from the what use to be inept service.
Update: About three weeks and I still have the same IP address and the connection has been solid.
4-14-2004: SBC Yahoo DSL still and $27 for 1.5 megabits is great price or $45 for 3 to 6 megabits is even better. Service has been rock solid, no outages.
11-15-2004: 1500~256 is still $26.95 and 3000~384 is $36.95.
June 2005:
Well they lowered the price and now for $14.95 you get 1500/384 and for $24.95 you get 3000/512. That's low and I have to say a GREAT deal.
February 2006:
Well they lowered the price again and increased the speed. 1500/384 is $12.99 and 3000/512 is $17.99
June 2007:
AT$T is still dragging their feet when it comes to deploying fiber. Verizon is way ahead with their Fios project.
January 2008:
Prices have gone back up to $24.95 for 3000/512.
August 13, 2008
For the love of baby Jesus upgrade you network so third world countries don't pass us by!!!
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Review by slyphoxj
UPDATED: 13 days ago
member for 6.1 years, 1612 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Brook Park,Cuyahoga,OH
$35 per month
about 6 days
AT&T
"Fast U/L for the price, low latency, included dialup, WYSIWYP pricing, no contract"
"Lingering upgrade/downgrade issue, poor phone support"
"Elite tier is a good deal for the money. Wish the 768k tier was less than $20 w/no contract"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I've had AT&T (formerly SBC) DSL since February 2006. Before then, I had Adelphia cable modem service for almost 5 years (5/2001 - 2/2006). Adelphia was great, but the much lower prices of AT&T/SBC DSL at the time enticed me to jump ship from Adelphia. I was just happy to have the option to pay less for less speed and still be able to get on the 'net without tying up my phone line.
Ordering: If I remember correctly, I ordered the Express tier (~1500/384). I don't remember exactly what the monthly cost was... I think it was around $20/month, maybe less, after taxes and fees. Order-to-live took 6 days. My DSL modem, a 2Wire non-wireless model with built-in firewall, arrived before the 6th day. If I remember correctly, when I ordered DSL for my sister back in Nov. 2004, she had sync in less than 6 days, but I believe her line was directly connected to the CO while mine goes to an RT.
I then later decided that Express wasn't fast enough and went to Pro for a good price, the back to Express if I remember right, then eventually to Elite after the u/l on Elite was raised to 768 and the price lowered to $34.99 about 2 years ago.
Reliability: Very reliable overall, but in the time I've had DSL, I've had more outages than I did with Adelphia. My line is clean and supports the full Elite speeds with no issues (I'm ~3200 FT from the RT). I didn't have to do anything to my inside wiring since I've had DSL other than hook up the filters.
What I like:
- 20ms lower latency than cable modems
- No extra charge dialup account included
- Free Wi-Fi access at McDonald's and other places with Elite
- OK (or at least used to be)? to run personal web or other server- cable won't let you do this
- What You See Is What You Pay pricing (well, almost, except for the penny discrepancy). AT&T eliminated the extra taxes/fees back in the fall of 2006. By WYSIWYP, I mean that my credit card is actually charged $34.99, the price advertised on the AT&T web site (well, actually, today (8/7/08), the AT&T site is advertising $35 even for Elite, but it's just a freekin' penny!)
- Wealth of info here on DSLR in the AT&T Midwest forum and access to AT&T DSL techs in the AT&T Direct forum.
- Much easier to get info about pricing, max speeds terms & conditions from AT&T web site than Time Warner's site
What I'm not happy about:
- Price hikes on all tiers except Elite a few month back
- Upgrading/downgrading to another speed package. They've always taken about 6 days to complete... why?? AT&T should have this down pat by now... shouldn't be more than 2 business days max IMHO. And after the speed changes goes through, I *always* have to put in a request in the AT&T Direct forum to get my Redback profile corrected after a tier upgrade/downgrade to get the full downstream speed I'm paying for. This has been an ongoing issue for several years, even long before I switched to DSL.
- People going to the Pro package (3000/512) fed from an RT and running Windows XP have to remember to (re)tweak their TCP settings to get the correct speeds.
- Poor outsourced phone support. What would I do if it weren't for AT&T Direct and AT&T Midwest forums here on DSLR?
Overall, my AT&T DSL service is a good deal. I was paying $39.95 back in May 2001 for 3000/128 on Adelphia Powerlink (the $39.99 included the modem lease- no option to buy your own modem at the time). Now I'm paying $34.99 for 5000/650 (actual speeds). The DSL modem only cost $12.95 for shipping.
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Review by dentman42
UPDATED: 13 days ago
member for 6.8 years, 618 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Columbus,Franklin,OH
$35 per month
about 9 days
AT&T
"No problems with self install, line was active 2 days early"
"Upgrade from Pro to Elite required ATT Direct to fix Redback profile"
"Great deal for the price, very stable (only 2 or 3 outages in 2.5 years)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Started with Express (1.5/384) in January 2006 for 14.99 with 6 month term. Equipment arrived with a few days to spare and DSL signal was present 2 days earlier than promised. I upgraded to Pro (3/512) for 17.99 with 12 year term a couple of months later. Toward the end of that year, Elite became available for 34.99 with no contract so I upgraded. This time, they didn't get the Redback profile right so I was at 3/768. A quick message in the AT&T Direct forum resolved that within 12 hours. Service has been stable with only 2 or 3 outages that I can remember (worst one was when the core router upgrade in Ameritech region went sour - that was probably 12-16 hours in duration), then a couple of outages that were over within 30 minutes of the time I discovered them. I also have Road Runner and I think it's had slightly more downtime than my DSL in the same time period, but both have been very stable.
Install was pretty easy, only 4 jacks to put filters on. Initially, I could only get sync at one outlet, and it was below 1.5/768 but that was resolved by removing an RF trap on the line (CB ingress also disappeared when the trap was removed. Some trap.). There's about 10dB s/n drop from the NID to the outlet, which is wired with what appears to be intercom wire (3 conductor). I keep meaning to do a new home run, but as I have full sync on Elite with a few dB of s/n to spare, it hasn't happened yet.
The worst problem was that the equipment rebate took about 9 months to arrive. After more than 2 years, the original modem still works fine, though it's required a hard reset (breaking the seal and hitting the reset button) once after a power flicker.
I even run a lot of torrents with no problems, though I set the (Speedstream) 4100 to PPPoE on computer and let the router handle the PPPoE session.
I just hope they don't start any kind of throttling or usage caps. If they do, I'm gone.
All in all, BBR sold me on trying the service between the AT&T midwest forum (with great posts about pricing, installation and problem solving - I wouldn't have known how to troubleshoot back to the NID without this site) and AT&T Direct help.
Also, my brother in law had upgraded from Express to Pro and saw no increase in speed. They were supposed to have downgraded him back to Express but his bill said otherwise. He had a 5100A (no line stats) so I took a 5100B over and used it to check line stats, which were very good. AT&T's phone support was useless (and was provided by a call center in India  ) but a post the next Monday morning in AT&T Direct and by that afternoon Beach Boy/David (he was still Beach Boy then) had the Redback profile corrected and the problem fixed.
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Review by gust334
UPDATED: 17 days ago
member for 6.2 years, 930 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Round Lake,Lake,IL
$35 per month (12 month contract)
about 176 days
Ameritech
"SBC techs here on DSLR, good speed, reliable uptime"
"moderately costly off discount; phone support remains useless"
"recommended, if you can use SBC techs on DSLR for support"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Bump.
Now it is Aug2008, service continues to be reliable and fast. In March, I called to re-rate from $60 down to $35 and the CSR did a really passable job at imitating incredulity that I had not been re-rated automatically. It took a month to cycle through billing and I'm now being billed at the lower rate.
I remain unable to update to any faster service. I did investigate U-Verse briefly until I realized that the same sales person who was enthusiastically telling me the service was available to my house also enthusiastically told me I could receive four simultaneous HD streams to four HD TVs at the same time. Since the latter didn't appear to match reality as reported here on DSLR, I presume the former is questionable too.
Comcast continues to bombard me with ads to switch to their phone and internet service. Even though it might be faster, each time they call the house I remind them that during recent spring storms that hammered our neighborhood, their cable went out for over a day, power was out 13 hours, but our phone/internet service only went down for about a half-hour. (It was amusing to watch my wife surfing the net on her laptop, with the router/modem on the UPS, by candlelight.)
-------------------------
Bump.
Now it is Feb2006, and the service continues to be reliable, fast, and presently a good deal. SBC allowed me to re-commit to a promotional contract, which lowered my monthly rate from $60. However, since they still bill me $60/mo and then apply a credit for the promotion, I'm leaving the monthly cost as it stands.
I have had no technical issues in recent memory with this connection. It just works like it is supposed to. I now have my parents and an aunt signed up on the same kind of service. My parents suffered through cable internet for two years, and are now coming up on a full year of SBC DSL and they are just thrilled with the change.
On the scary side, I recently installed ComCast digital cable to my residence so I could get HDTV service (E* wouldn't sell me their HDTV PVR?) and I get about two junk mails and a phone call a month offering to add cable internet to my package. I smile every time I say no. SBC DSL is great!
-------------------------
Bump.
I ordered DSL in May 2002. It was installed and working fine until September 2002, at which point an error Ameritech made months earlier finally surfaced. Service was restored after about two weeks of mind-numbing, world-class pass-the-buck from various idiots employed by Ameritech, followed by quick, competent, and thorough actions by Ameritech/SBC/EPC staff that lurked here unofficially on this forum.
Since October 2002, the service has been very reliable, with excellent speed. Occasionally, my line/profile gets whacked by someone at SBC, but when that happens I contact the techs here and it gets fixed ASAP. Given that the techs here now have official support and endorsement from SBC, I feel that I can now recommend SBC DSL service to friends and family with no reservations.
I have Speedpath 1500/256 for $59.95/mo, PPPoE, other details below.
I tried to enter a second review (for my second installation by the same vendor) but this web site doesn't really permit that, so I'm amending my original review here.
=========================================Everything below is from 03/2003 or earlier
Good points: install was executed with submarine flaw
Bad points: worked for a while but didn't last
Bottom line: late 2002 Ameritech/SBC is as bad as Ameritech of 5 years ago
Errors by Ameritech in April and May 2002 didn't surface until August, and in September I found myself completely without DSL service. Ameritech acknowledges that they messed up, but they didn't do anything to reestablish service. They required me to order all new service again and would not do anything on their part to assist or rectify the situation.
===== the long version
I had existing ISDN as the only service to my IL residence for years. For those unfamiliar with Ameritech ISDN, the two B channels can be used independently for voice or 64kbps data; with the right equipment in your location and the right setup at the ISP, you can also bond both B channels together for a data call at 128kbps. An Ascend Pipeline 75 as the CPE worked fine. Voice calls would pre-empt one B channel for the duration of a call, after which the Ascend would re-establish the bonded connection. The drawbacks were limited top speed (128kbps) and significant per-minute local call charges, and my Ascend did not pass VPN traffic, so in order to telecommute I had to use an analog modem on the Pipeline POTS port... which rarely exceeded 28.8kbps.
The ISDN service didn't work when first installed, the first Ameritech technician lied about testing the line at the NI, as did the CSR I called, and when a tech did eventually test it he discovered something wasn't hooked up right at the CO (observed firsthand while we were both standing in the rain outside my house). The Ameritech of 5 years ago was a horrid, ugly monolith.
It was thus with some trepidation that I chose to use Ameritech/SBC to replace the ISDN line with two analog lines with the same phone numbers, and high-speed DSL service on one of the analog lines. Since ISDN was my only existing service, this required bringing tone on two more lines to the NI.
My installation requirements were somewhat troublesome because they didn't fit into any predefined installation category at the new Ameritech/SBC. For this very reason, I bailed out of my two prior attempts to order service. Each time, I marked my calendar 6 months later to try again. On this last attempt, it took over 90 minutes on the phone to escalate up to the people that would correctly coordinate the activities of the residential office and the business office (which handles the ISDN service for residences).
The time on the phone call was well-spent, because the installation went without incident. The analog phone lines were brought to the NI within 4 days (!), and I had two temporary phone numbers assigned to them. Other than checking tone and polarity I never used the lines. I received my self-installation kit a couple of days later; it was complete and intact. The DSL modem synced up the first time I tried it, mid-morning on the service date; I have no idea if it may have worked earlier because I didn't try it. The only glitch was that the authorization code provided on the self-install paperwork was not the number that the Ameritech/SBC website wanted, but that was resolved via a short telephone call to the Ameritech/SBC support number. The cutover of my phone numbers and the termination of the ISDN service happened on the scheduled date about 5 days later.
Total time from order to old-service-disconnect was 26 days. Total effort on my part was the 90 minute initial call, plus 5 minutes for the DSL registration, plus about 15 minutes to arrange the cutover and disconnect.
My service is SpeedPath 1500/256, at $59.95/mo. By opting for the 12 month contract and self-install, I received a $199 rebate in the form of a MasterCard gift card received several weeks later. Using the tools available on the dslreports.com website, I clocked 1231/242. I believe this falls within the reasonable expectations for this service.
The home equipment is the Ameritech/SBC-supplied Efficient Networks DSL modem, feeding a Nexland router/firewall appliance I purchased separately. (My employer requires VPN and they had specifically tested and recommended this vendor.) The Nexland talks to the DSL modem using PPPoE, but my computers talk to the Nexland via DHCP and/or static IP. The Nexland was a breeze to setup. Getting the computers to talk to the Nexland was just as easy.
I should elaborate on the installation procedure I followed. My first stab was to cable my desktop WindowsXP machine directly to the DSL modem and install the Ameritech/SBC software, and then registered on their web site to get a username and password. Then I restored (XP system restore) the desktop machine back to before the installation and purged all traces of Ameritech/SBC software, and connected the Nexland between the modem and computer. I entered the login information into the Nexland and everything worked just as before. I have Windows95, 2000, XP, and MacOS all sharing the same connection via NAT on the Nexland and none of them have a shred of Ameritech/SBC software on them.
The only ongoing issues are that the Nexland/Efficient/DSL combination seem to be more sensitive to storms (loses sync) than the previous Ascend/ISDN combination. Several times after a thunderstorm passed through the area, I found I needed to go down into the basement and unplug/replug the wall-wort for the DSL modem, and then power-cycle the router.
I don't generally use the Ameritech/SBC services (mail/news/www). They supply 5 email accounts. I registered one with them for service-related messages and ignore the rest. I have independent service elsewhere, so all I'm using Ameritech/SBC is for the connection.
I think that the monthly price is a little high, but in fairness they are charging what the market will bear. Phone and internet together is about break-even with the monthly average I had for ISDN service. My gut feel is $50/mo is really the sweet spot for this level of ADSL service, and for $60 you should get a static IP. I also think the rebate deal is needless complication, but I followed all the rules and got the cash card very quickly.
Analog voice quality has been fine. I am using the filter from the self-install kit.
All was going fine until September 2002, at which point my service was unexpectedly turned off. I still had a sync light, but I could not authenticate.
I spent two days having tech support walk me through the tier 1 boogie before the first escalation to tier 2. On that call, tech support relayed that tier 2 "tested the line and you are able to surf", but would not permit me to speak to the tier 2 tech. They confirmed the line had sync (I'm assuming they did an ATM ping to the modem) but I still could not authenticate. Discovered my account password and secret word had been changed, nobody knew how. Got those reset, still no joy. We played telephone for about 30 minutes, the rep putting one of us on hold to talk to the other.
On the next call I was told the same tier 2 tech downgraded the line from 1500 to 768, then further downgraded from DSL to dialup, claiming I was too far from the CO to get any service. My history of DSLR speed tests indicated consistently high 1200's with the occasional peak at 1300 over months.
Over the next days and weeks, I was told that I had requested disconnection, that I had moved too far from the CO, that they couldn't find my account, that they couldn't restore servce, and that I couldn't reorder the same service level I had for five months. I also couldn't install the same service level to my other POTS line because, even though installed on the same day to the same residence from the same CO on the same workorder, there was over 1/2 mile difference in loop lengths. I placed several orders to reestablish service and they were silently canceled.
I kept getting bounced from tech support to billing and back again, and the story changed each time. Many tickets were opened, including ASI tickets which were useless because I still had a sync light. Most of the tickets were silently closed with no explanation on file, and nobody would tell me who closed them. Collectively I spent over 11 hours on the phone and have spoken to over 26 people, including technical support tier 1 and tier 2, tech supervisors, billing, and a billing supervisor. I asked the people I spoke to today if the company had a policy of one problem, one person, and was told no, we don't do that.
Unknown to me at the time, Ameritech/SBC initiated a erroneous DSL disconnect order Aug29 on my DSL line because one of their computers had a wrong phone number in it. (Not their billing computer, naturally, that one always works fine.) Ameritech/SBC later admitted the disconnect error is entirely theirs because their computer systems are not coordinated, and also admits that the disconnect order was most extraordinary and that they will take steps to ensure it doesn't happen in the future. Unfortunately, the history here on BBR indicates it is still happening.
Ameritech/SBC installed DSL to a temporary POTS number, and then I had my ISDN TNs switched to the POTS lines; Ameritech/SBC then failed to switch the DSL billing over to my TN. Then, in August, they assigned the TN that had previously been my temporary number to a new customer, who was outside of range for DSL service, so they canceled my service without any notice to me.
Ameritech/SBC indicated that they would take no extraordinary steps to restore my DSL service in an expeditious fashion, knowing and admitting that it was their error in the first place. Not only that, Ameritech/SBC refused to take ordinary steps to restore my DSL service themselves in any fashion, timely or otherwise. In fact, they refused to take any responsibility to restore service at all. What bothers me much more is that SBC admits the error is entirely their fault, they are making me jump through all the hoops to order new service. This SHOULD have been handled on their end, e.g. "Sorry we messed up, we'll get a new order in the system for you, and let you know when we have a date." Instead, they say "Sorry we messed up. Call our sales office if you want to try again."
I don't know anything about SBC internal organization; I don't know if any of the people I talked to had the power to fix things. I would think that any of the supervisors that I spoke to should have been able to review the facts and start the process, or at least escalate it to someone who could. Nobody was willing to do that. Everybody told me I had to take ownership of it.
The result is I had to wait for their erroneous disconnect order to complete its rounds at Ameritech/SBC, then I had to start all over and contact DSL sales to place a brand-new order for DSL service, with the usual minimum 7-10 days delay for a new installation. This meant a minimum of 23 days from the disconnect before I might possibly have DSL service again. This is all because two computers at Ameritech/SBC didn't talk to each other. Who else might this problem affect in the future?
For the disconnect to complete, I had to wait for SBC facilities to be removed from my line in the SBC CO before they could reinstall SBC facilities in the SBC CO for my line. Douglas Adams is grinning fiercely in his grave at the insanity and bureaucracy at SBC. Note that I still had a green sync light on my DSL modem while all of this was going on, and the EPC at one point told me that they couldn't find the disconnect order on the first POTS line, and that the line showed somebody else's facilities on it too.
My experiences with Ameritech/SBC people in the last week have ranged through a wide gamut. Most of the people have been friendly and genuinely tried to help but their efforts were compromised because their computers could not see the internally-generated disconnect order (which caused nearly two useless days of "unplug this, try that..."). Only the tier 2 technician and some of the supervisors could see that order.
The biggest exception to friendly and helpful was a billing supervisor who was offensive, condescending, and kept teasing me that he could do things to help (e.g. reconnect, reactivate, or expedite the installation), but wouldn't. The same billing supervisor flatly refused my request for a copy of my case log, including all billing and technical service inquiries and resolutions. The same billing supervisor also refused to issue a credit for the unusable DSL service I've already pre-paid until such time as they might actually restore DSL service. He said this is Ameritech's credit policy and he is going by the book. To add injury to insult, he did tell me the name of the customer that got the temporary phone number. Isn't that a violation of that customer's privacy?
I want to credit Ramiz, a technical supervisor in TX that helped eliminate some erroneous "no sync" tickets entered by earlier techs. Technical Support's Terry, Oscar, Tim, Darrell, and especially Kyle in FL were all trying to be part of the solution, rather than being part of the problem. On the billing side, Shelia, Sheri and her manager Chris tried to help too. Monica was the tier 2 tech that helped discover the disconnect order, but it took over 24 hours for the ticket to escalate to her in the first place. Laura in DSL sales helped explain what she was able to do, and what was beyond her power.
Unfortunately, DSL reports has no checkbox or field to describe an install that was installed, working fine, and then screwed up to the point of removing it.
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 Review by Nightfall
UPDATED: 17 days ago
member for 7 years, 3074 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Grand Rapids,Kent,MI
$30 per month
about 7 days
Ameritech
"DSL activated early! Reliable connection so far! Price!"
"Phone tech support could be improved a little."
"Awesome connection and well worth the price!"
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(ratings match consensus)
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2/3/04 - I have been a cable modem subscriber for over four years. In that time, @Home died and ATT took it over. Then Comcast took over from ATTBI. Last year, I went the route of buying DirecTV and getting rid of my cable TV service. Comcast initiated the bundling price right about that time last year. Luckily, I had prepaid for a year of service so it kept the price at $42.95. In March, my prepaid year was up and therefore my cost was going to go up. I started looking into other options.
I was nervous about trying DSL. I tried it once before when I first moved in November of 2000, but I was very dissatisfied with the service. The speeds and reliability were just not there. I then decided to give it another try based on the people in the SBC Midwest forum urging me on. That and I was 7,000 feet from the CO apparently.
I ordered DSL on Friday January 23rd. At the time, I wanted the Expert Plus package which would have given me extra speed. They said I qualified for it with a range of 6,934 feet, and gave me an install date of Friday January 30th. I was excited about trying it out.
A couple days later, I got a message on my answering machine from SBC saying I didn't qualify for the Expert Plus and they downgraded me to the Standard Plus. They also said I wouldn't have service until 2/3. I called back to ask why, and they said I didn't qualify for the extra speed. I then asked for what distance I was away or what the problem was, and the technician just didn't know. I didn't think much of it at the time. I figured the techs in the SBC forum would help me out after the DSL was installed and running.
On Friday 1/30, I got the modem in the mail. I plugged in all the filters and then the modem itself, and I found all the lights to be lit up green. I was quite amazed that the modem was already on, so I took the time to set up the modem with the CD. In about 10 minutes, I was surfing on the computer through the DSL. Speed tests were right about 1300/220. The modem itself said I had 1500/256 speeds, but I trust the speed tests as a little better indication.
Since then, I have had no downtime and the speeds are almost always top notch. Similar to Comcast. I subscribe to the line monitoring service, and I compared the graphs after I switched.
New Jersey USA monitor - Comcast: 30ms consistantly. SBC: 35ms consistantly
California USA monitor - Comcast: 95ms consistantly. SBC: 85ms consistantly
San Francisco USA - Comcast: 65ms consistantly. SBC: 70ms consistantly
My Comcast connection and this one are almost identical. Very few ping spikes which means I get good speeds and throughput. The only difference is what is in the graphs and that is only by a few milliseconds. Comcast wants to charge me $57 or so just for the cable modem. SBC charges me $27. A $30 difference? I am all over that. Even if I get the Expert Plus package, it would cost me $45, which is still a $12 difference.
My only complaint is that I don't think the phone techs know what is going on with my connection at times. I have inquired about the Expert Plus package and I while I understand that I don't qualify, they won't tell me my distance. I also can't find out for sure if I am on a CO or RT. I guess this will have to wait. I am in process of talking with the techs here on the forums. I hope they can give me the answers I am looking for, a speed increase to the next level, a move from a CO to an RT, or something along those lines.
Until then, I will enjoy the $26.95 price and the Comcast cable is going to be disconnected in the next couple weeks if everything stays the same. SBC, it looks like you have a new customer.
2/6/04 - Well, after talking with Beach Boy, one of the online techs here at broadbandreports.com, it looks like my range is much longer than I thought. I am currently sitting 14,000 feet from the CO. Almost 2.75 miles. I am glad I got a straight answer. Apparently, the max speeds would be about 3000/400 or so. The rumor is that they are working on a new price tier that would be $35 a month for those speeds. Instead of pay $45 a month and get capped, I will wait to see what SBC comes out with later. I hope they do release the mid-tier caps for that price. I would pay up. 
Today was a big day for me. I called and canceled Comcast cable. I explained to them it wasn't the quality, but the cost. If the comcast cable internet service was $42.95 and there was no penalty for buying their cable TV service, I would have kept it. However, that wasn't the case. As it was, I was paying $13.50 for basic and $42.95 for cable internet. If I opted for no cable TV, I would have paid $17 so it just made sense to get basic cable. I am going to save $30 a month now on my internet service and I am very happy. Even if I go with that mid-tier plan when it gets released, I will save $20. Lets just hope I see the stability and reliability on this DSL line like I had with the cable modem in the long term.
2/17/04 - So far, everything is still up and running. I haven't had any downtime at all and I always get the top speeds. For $26.95, I can't beat the price. I would be willing to pay more for more speed though so I hope SBC reads this and places an RT close to me. If they do start up a new speed tier for $35 a month that will give me 3000/468, I will jump all over it. My max speeds apparently will be 2486/416 this far away according to the techs. It isn't 6000/608, but oh well. Just give me an RT! I am still very happy.
2/25/04 - Still going without a problem. It is quickly approaching my 30 day mark. After that, I am locked in for a year with SBC. If everything continues to be superb, you can bet I will stay with them.
3/04/04 - This is probably going to be my last update for a while. Now I have passed the 30 day mark and I am keeping the SBC DSL as you probably have guessed. The connection is up and running smoothly. No downtime to speak of. The only thing I would like to see is an RT installed in my area so I can take advantage of the faster speeds. I hope SBC looks at this review and grants my request.
7/21/04 - A little over four months later, I am still happy with my SBC DSL. I have had ZERO problems with it and hardly any downtime. I believe the only downtime I had was back a month ago and that was a scheduled outage! The price continues to be a big selling point for me and I don't see myself going back to Comcast anytime soon. Lastly, the techs here are hands down the best I have ever talked with. Instead of calling the technical support lines, I post a message here on BBR and talk to the techs. They need a big pat on the back and a raise! The only thing I would like to see is an RT deployed out in my area. I would love more bandwidth and am willing to pay for it. PLEASE deploy one out in my area! Email me if you want me to help you. I work cheap. 
9/23/04 - Still VERY happy with SBC DSL. I had a couple instances of downtime, but come to find out my DSL Modem needed to be upgraded to a new firmware version. Since the upgrade no problems have been seen. I am still very happy with SBC and the $26.95 price point. The only thing I would like to see is to get my speed upgraded. I can only get 1500/384 (thanks for the extra upload). It would be nice to get 3000 down for a little extra money. However, I am still out of range. Oh well. Beggers can't be choosers I guess.
12/13/04 - What can I say? No downtime, top notch speeds, and low latency equals a happy customer. I just signed up for an additional year at the low $26.95 price. Gotta love it. I still want more speed though and am willing to pay for it. I just keep hoping that SBC reads this review and puts in an RT close to me.
3/15/05 - Still no RT, but service is still top notch! I have had no downtime and my service is solid. I am looking into seeing how much speed my line can support and if I can upgrade. It may not be worth the price to upgrade and only get a little more speed, but I am looking into it. I want to once again sing the praises about the SBC techs here on BBR. They are always quick to help. They are the best I have ever had the chance to deal with!
6/7/05 - No downtime, top notch speeds = happy customer. I have said it multiple times and I will say it again...I wish I could get the Pro speeds.
1/20/06 - Once again, no downtime and I always get the speed I pay for. I am still a very happy customer. Just took advantage of the $16.99 per month price for 6 months. It just can't be beat. Where is my RT so I can get more speed? That is the only complaint I have and it is a small one.
6/28/06 - Just renewed my contract to $15 a month for 1500/384 speeds for a year. At that price, I got the ok from the wife to run dual broadband connections to the dual WAN router and run them in load balancing mode. So now I have DSL and Comcast Cable internet! The DSL side has always been solid so I am happy on that end. My thirst for more speed AND a failover internet connections should be fulfilled with the addition of the Comcast HSI.
1/5/07 - Well, a little over 6 months later, I am really enjoying my dual high speed connections. My DSL and Cable connections are totally solid. My DSL in particular is very nice. I just wish I could get faster than 1500/384 on it. I have asked and asked about it. Its too bad I live smack dab in the middle of a city and I can't get anything faster.
10/25/07 - I finally got an upgrade to 3000/512 and it works great. It works so good, I am thinking I am going to drop my comcast cable modem connection in December. I have had dual broadband connections for a while, and while it is nice, I just can't justify it anymore now that I have a faster connection. Still very solid service and I highly recommend SBC.
01/28/08 - The faster connection has been so good that I dropped my Comcast cable internet service and am down to one connection. The good news is that I am not paying for a second connection. That other connection did have its advantages, but I was rarely using them like the fact that I have a redundant connection. However, if the line never goes down, its hard to justify. AT&T rocks in my area.
08/04/08 - AT&T DSL is still rock solid. With help from AT&T Direct here on the BBR Forums, they got my speed upgraded to about 4500/768 which helps out a lot. I had the service hiccup on me one time in the last 6 months. It seemed that the modem lost sync. When it picked back up, it didn't go down again. I love this DSL service!
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Review by number3fan
UPDATED: 18 days ago
member for 4.8 years, 264 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
Saint Peters,Saint Charles,MO
$35 per month (12 month contract)
"internet connectivity"
"horrible time reaching american tech support, terrible speed"
"If cannot get 4-6 megs living within 5500 feet from CO, canceling service"
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I Had sync 3 days before scheduled turn up, which is the awesome kind of service i came to expect working for SBC as an NCT at ASI 2000-2005. I previously had 6 meg service which worked flawlessly. I recently came back to ATT and ordered the elite package on an unbundled loop. I have wireless and do not need dial tone. The nice tech came out to do the install and was greeted by my wife who informed her that i had already got the dsl up and running, she recalled that i was a former NCT. My wife asked her to check the speed profile because i did not think the DOC had me provisioned to the correct profile. The techs laptop would not boot up after 3 or 4 tries. She wound up calling her manager and they wound up capping my line at 1.5 I was at work and not able to convey to the tech that my line had previously ran great at 6 meg. I will be speaking with ATT this week to see if i can get switched to another pair or if it might be an IW issue, which i doubt since the NID's in the basement and the IW is fine. More to come. Hopefully i can get the higher speeds or adios ATT, back to cable.
Does ANYONE have any idea what the deal is with att's mail servers? i can receive email fine but cannot send it. i have checked with tech support but no one can fix it. relying on web based email for now but would really like my mail client to work.
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 Review by c0wzg0m00
Posted: 19 days ago
member for 3.4 years, 47 visits, last login: 6 days ago
Evanston,Cook,IL
$39 per month
about 14 days
AT&T
"easy setup, great value"
"no options for additional ip addresses or static ip for residential"
"best in the area"
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I have AT&T elite dsl direct. im getting 6megabit per second downloads and 768kilobit per second uploads. exactly as I was told when i signed up. My first experience with dsl and I must say that I am very pleased. far better value than dealing with cable.
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 Review by Omega
UPDATED: 28 days ago
member for 6 years, 3061 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Lakewood,Cuyahoga,OH
$35 per month (12 month contract)
about 14 days
Ameritech
"Good Contract, Free Modem"
"none at the moment, however it would be nice for more upload bandwith"
"A good deal for $40/month"
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Excellent service. Been an AT&T customer for 4 years now.
Update Sept 07
DSL working great. No complaints.
The deal I am getting is great 12 months of unlimited 768/128kbit access for $29.99.
Overall I would give them a 8 out of 10.
Update: (05/2003)
Lagging has improved greatly. Whatever was going wrong got worked out. I change DNS servers every now and then, so I think that is why I am getting the better bandwidth.
Update (12/06/2003)
DSL has been awesome. I hardly ever get disconnected now. Uptime is unbelievable. Occasionally I need to reboot my modem, but thats no big deal. Speed is still 768/128, hoping for upgrades someday, but for @29.95/month, it is no big deal.
Update (02/02/2004)
I finally got a speed upgrade. I am now running 1500/256 for $29.95/month. I am very happy with this service.
Update (05/10/2004)
After 3 long months of shotty service (due to bad modem), I upgraded to the 3mbit plan. Speeds are great, couldn't be happier! My speed tests are around 2.2mbit/384kbit. For only $39/month, Great deal!
Update (03/21/2004)
SBC upgraded my upload speed to 512kbps at no extra charge. Service runs great, hardly any downtime.
Update (07/24/2008)
Service is great. Guess I am a customer of AT&T now. Could be a bit faster.
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AT&T Midwest
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