 Review by Nightfall 
UPDATED: 156 days ago
member for 7.4 years, 3241 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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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above 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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