bunnicula
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posted on December 20, 2000 08:01:57 AM new
Well, I took the plunge and signed up for DSL. I use Earthlink for my ISP, which recently merged with Mindspring, and when I signed up for DSL through my ISP, I got Mindspring.
Oh, joy.
It was installed Monday and I have had problem after problem since then. And when you call up you wait forever on the line before speaking to someone. Today I even got cut off a couple of times and had to start all over again. Every time I do speak to them they offer a "fix" that turns out not to be a fix after all. This morning I called customer service to say that I wanted my bill to be prorated and the little miss *there* kept trying to give me back to technical support even though I kept telling her I'd *already* been talking to them--3 times this morning (kept getting cut off). Then she said "you haven't been billed yet" and kept saying it even though I assured I *would* be billed (this isn't Utopia after all) and that I wanted the bill prorated. And then--you will love this--when I warned her that people *do* talk to each other on the Net about problems with companies and that I wouldn't be adverse to doing so...she accused me of "cursing" at her! I told her that as no doubt the conversation was being recorded, there was absolute proof that I *hadn't* cursed at her. Then she offered to send me back to Technical Support...
Grrrr!
Just three days into the service & I heartily regret getting DSL...$40 a month for this?!?
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HJW
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posted on December 20, 2000 08:16:43 AM new
Just when I was thinking about DSL, with
Mindspring or Earthlink. I understand that
they have merged.
I have always had a very good experience with
mindspring but I think that I will wait awhile to see how this service is resolved.
Helen
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HJW
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posted on December 20, 2000 08:51:30 AM new
What kind of problems are you having?
And opinions?
If both cable and DSL are available, which
is preferable.
Any info will be much appreciated.
Helen
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jada
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posted on December 20, 2000 12:24:55 PM new
Hi Bunnicula - I don't have DSL, but I do have Mindspring service. The service was getting worse before Charles left, (sold all his stock, took his toys and went home), but the incompetence level of customer service seems to have reached a new low since his departure.
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bunnicula
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posted on December 20, 2000 01:52:24 PM new
HJW: Problems? Let me count the ways:
1) clicking to *get on* the internet during the evening will often repeatedly get me "timed out" error messages, "authentication failed" messages, or "PPP Establish failed" messages.
2) Once I'm on, it tells me I'm *not* on when I go from looking at my email/newsgroups to the Net, and vice versa.
3) Whenever I try to send out email or post to a NG, it acts as if the thing went out--but the next time I open my email I am told that there were errors and the messages *weren't* sent. Then, many hours later, they *might* actually be sent. If I'm lucky. NG post are the worst.
4) abrupt slow-down of performance. A few times it has seemed that I wasn't even connected at the speeds my dial-up 56k modem gave me.
5) Customer service & technical support that is slooooow and ineffectual when it does come. And snide, as I found this morning. Not only that, but one hand doesn't seem to know what the other is doing--I've been transferred around so much this week I should qualify for flier miles.
RUN AWAY! Don't sign up with them! After only three days I am ready to tell them to come pick up their hunka junk...
Jada: you're right---low and digging deeper as we speak.
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bunnicula
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posted on December 20, 2000 02:01:17 PM new
Speak of the Devil...am experiencing one of those wonderful abrupt slowdowns of performance at this very minute...
I could just spit.
Oh--and a NG message I sent outat 1:00 AM just made it's appearance. The person I answered is going to wonder about me as the post mentions that it "is late at night."
I am loving Mindspring more every minute...
[ edited by bunnicula on Dec 20, 2000 02:03 PM ]
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HJW
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posted on December 20, 2000 02:45:08 PM new
Sounds like a nightmare!
Thanks for the warning.
Helen
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zeldas
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posted on December 20, 2000 03:03:13 PM new
Hi everybody
I just got Bell South DSL, other than the hooking up,(couldn't do it myself), I just love love love it. I am so pleased with it. Service is great too. And it speeds everything up. Now I can shop until I drop all day on Ebay. Everything loads so quickly.
My regular connection (earthlink) had gone so bad I was getting disconnected every hour and couldn't reconnect. I had to have AOL as a backup.....This was the best Christmas present I ever got.
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HJW
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posted on December 20, 2000 03:30:03 PM new
zeldas
Bell south is the place to be!!!
We have Verizon in the Northeast. I've heard a lot of stories
similar to bunnicula's about their service.
So I guess I'll just wait awhile until they get their act together.
Helen
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zeldas
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posted on December 20, 2000 03:37:16 PM new
Helen I feel bad when I hear stories like that about the Mindspring service. DSL is really a enjoyable experience if it works right and you can use it. It is well worth the money. I just wanted to tell my experience cause I just had it installed and to let everyone know not all providers are bad.
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HJW
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posted on December 20, 2000 03:47:28 PM new
zeldas
I really appreciate knowing that there is a good DSL! I just can't
wait to have an open connection all day!
Helen
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bunnicula
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posted on December 20, 2000 04:31:24 PM new
Zelda & HJW: Yeah, The reason I wanted to *get* DSL is that Earthlink has been sooo slow lately. And, come to think of it, it started getting bad a few months back when Verizon took over GTE. I can't do anything about that, though--I live in and area where Verizon is the only game in town that I know of. Even if I change ISP's, it'll still be the same phone company... On the other hand, another ISP's DSL might not be so crappy...
Hours later my DSL problems continue unabated. I just saw that a NG post I made on Monday finally made an appearance. <sigh>
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scrabblegod
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posted on December 20, 2000 04:39:06 PM new
I have used Mindspring since early 1999 and found the customer service and the connections to be great. They merged with Earthlink about 10 months ago, and service has gone down hill and outages are increasing. I do not know if it is growing pains or what.
Now it appears that Time/Warner may allow them on their system to meet federal guidlines on competition. I imagine this will only make the situation worse. I can not get DSL in my area due to old phone lines, but they turned on cable modems a few weeks ago and I will move to that after the holidays.
Does anybody have any comments on @HOME?
Thanks
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december3
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posted on December 21, 2000 05:01:12 AM new
I just got roadrunner connected. It's great as far as speed but there have been a few bugs. It took them 2 days to get the password they gave me to work. Tech support seems about the same as any tech support, if you get the right person fine, if you get someone who knows less than you do(and I don't know much) try again.
E-mail is not quite as convenient as it was with my old dial up isp, but I guess I'll get used to it. My main problem is a new computer and a new service at the same time. I needed both but it will take awhile to get used to them.
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cariad
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posted on December 21, 2000 05:57:52 AM new
Does anybody have any comments on @HOME?
I love it and would never give it up ! Have had it for over a year and in all that time, have had only 1 downtime of about 2 hours. Once in a while email is down for an hour or so, usually happens on a weekend morning. Tech support is consistent with how experienced the tech is, but I haven't had to use them for over 6 mos.
cariad
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bunnicula
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posted on December 21, 2000 08:19:06 AM new
Problems getting worse, if possible! Now I'm having trouble connecting in the *morning*m 
If things don't get better soon, I will dump Mindspring DSL.
Anybody have any recommendations for:
A) cable modem
b) satellite
c) new ISP with different DSL
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KatyD
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posted on December 21, 2000 08:32:05 AM new
I dunno, bunnicula. I've been vacillating back and forth between cable and DSL. I like the idea of one phone line and the speeds of DSL, but unless I go with PacBell, the cost of DSL in my area is more than I want to pay. And I've heard such horror stories about PacBell's DSL. I thought that perhaps they had resolved their problems, but just last week my neighbor related his recent horror stories with their installation and customer service. He ended up cancelling them and going with cable. *sigh* such a dilemma.
KatyD
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december3
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posted on December 21, 2000 12:51:29 PM new
Roadrunner gave me a thirty day money back deal. If I don't like it I can find something else and it didn't cost me anything. The new computer has Win ME preinstalled and while I like it, it didn't like my dial up isp. 
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bunnicula
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posted on December 21, 2000 01:16:36 PM new
Just got off a *long* phone call with Mindspring technical support. First the guy tried to claim that "it is a coincidence" that I started having trouble posting to NGs just when I got DSL hooked up and that it would be happening anyway with my old dial-up modem. Yeah, right.
When I didn't let him get off the hook with that fish story, he dithered about then had me run a test of my link through a web site. All a go there. Finally he had me download Windows 5.5 w/SP1 & toolkit.
We'll see how this fix goes...I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Gotta head back to work now...
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bunnicula
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posted on December 22, 2000 01:31:20 AM new
Be still my heart! Twelve hours have passed with no DSL problems!!!!! Keep your fingers crossed that this last "fix" actually and finally fixed the problems...
...take a breath. Make a wish. Count to three...Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination...
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bunnicula
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posted on December 22, 2000 11:12:17 AM new
Spoke too soon. Am now totally unable to connect with my email/NGs...
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zeldas
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posted on December 22, 2000 12:19:59 PM new
bunnicula just cancelled my old dial up with earthlink. I never saw such a terrible connection since they merged. So far so good with bellsouth. I pay 40.00 a month. I cannot afford a backup in case this goes down so this has to be it for me....Sorry for your troubles,can't you get another DSL?
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bunnicula
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posted on December 22, 2000 03:16:25 PM new
zeldas: That may come. Email/NG once more accesible, btw. I am giving them another week to get their act straight, then I'll seriously look around for another ISP & DSL.
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luculent
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posted on December 22, 2000 08:13:10 PM new
I like the speed of cable service. I have @home, but their email stinks. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Seems like every other week it is not working right. And if you call and ask about it, request a refund because email is not working, they will tell you it is a "free service" so no refunds.
Other than email not working half the time, I've only had a day or two of down time in the last year.
One thing though, if you move your residence, @home does not allow you to keep the same email addresses. You have to chose new ones. My daughter moved to a larger apartment within the same complex, just two buildings away. She had to change her email addresses on @home.
Lucy
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zeldas
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posted on December 22, 2000 08:30:46 PM new
The way I was told on this DSL thing is that you must make sure that your cable is a direct line and not routed out. I was told that bellsouth is direct so maybe that is why I am having some success with them. I use netscape and Eudora to retreive my mail.
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