Re:FCC urged to investigate Verizon’s statements on utility ...
by mindslight on Tuesday January 13, 2015 @04:16PM
(#8882646)
> Nobody likes their phone company or their ISP in the USA
I do. Sonic.net Fusion ADSL2+ resold by Omsoft. 14M/1M for $50/mo, bonus copper POTS included with free nationwide calling (nice emergency backup). Purportedly you can bond two lines for twice the speed, and/or Annex M for 5M/3M instead, but I haven't had the need.
The few times I've called with a problem, Omsoft has been ahead of me in diagnosing, which is actually a bit unnerving because with every other "customer service" these days, it's your job to figure out the problem and then additionally figure out how to convince them to fix it.
They can do all this because they're able to obtain unbundled copper from AT&T, as per 1996 telcom deregulation. The real problem with this larger debate is that we're having it after the fact. The US infrastructure is still based around DSL, yet most people thought it was a good idea to jump ship to monopoly cable companies for higher advertised speeds. Of course once you're hooked into a cable company contract, traffic caps and engineering congestion leave you worse off than DSL.
If you're in a decently sized metropolitan area and want to actually vote with your wallet (and lower your stress level), check to see if you have any competitive DSL options left. Even if it's just a business-oriented connection from Megapath (Speakeasy), wouldn't you rather give your money to people who appreciate you?
I do. Sonic.net Fusion ADSL2+ resold by Omsoft. 14M/1M for $50/mo, bonus copper POTS included with free nationwide calling (nice emergency backup). Purportedly you can bond two lines for twice the speed, and/or Annex M for 5M/3M instead, but I haven't had the need.
No data caps - I've had many months >1TB. And this kind of attitude, too: http://www.jwz.org/blog/2012/06/sonic-net-we-delete-user-log...
The few times I've called with a problem, Omsoft has been ahead of me in diagnosing, which is actually a bit unnerving because with every other "customer service" these days, it's your job to figure out the problem and then additionally figure out how to convince them to fix it.
They can do all this because they're able to obtain unbundled copper from AT&T, as per 1996 telcom deregulation. The real problem with this larger debate is that we're having it after the fact. The US infrastructure is still based around DSL, yet most people thought it was a good idea to jump ship to monopoly cable companies for higher advertised speeds. Of course once you're hooked into a cable company contract, traffic caps and engineering congestion leave you worse off than DSL.
If you're in a decently sized metropolitan area and want to actually vote with your wallet (and lower your stress level), check to see if you have any competitive DSL options left. Even if it's just a business-oriented connection from Megapath (Speakeasy), wouldn't you rather give your money to people who appreciate you?