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DavePR Review by DavePR
UPDATED: 175 days ago
member for 1.4 years, 272 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Canyon Country,Los Angeles,CA
 $35 per month (12 month contract)
 about 5 days
 AT&T
 "Security, Uptime, BBR Forum Presence"
 "Help sometimes hard to find"
 "Squeaky wheel gets the grease, Bobby."
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Smooth sailing for the past few months. I am updating the review at the behest of BBR. I generally am invisible unless I am whining. I do lurk.
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Randypinball Review by Randypinball
UPDATED: 177 days ago
member for 221 days, 36 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Chatsworth,Los Angeles,CA
$34 per month
about 14 days
"Fantastic tech support, good people, great prices, so far so good."
"Well nothing about DSLEXTREME its just that ATT makes it very difficult for DSLEX to get things going quickly and smoothly."
"After having to wait over 2 weeks due to AT&T NOT DSLEX I am Very happy that I fired Time Warner."
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So far after one full month of full service I am very pleased and impressed with DSLEXTREME, It feels like im back in the late 90's when ISP's really cared about getting their customers up and running on the internet. Their tech support staff have been great, always answering my questions and not bssing me, they never sugarcoated anything they always said what was up and explained why A ERROR 50 came up saying that at&t has to install a link between them and dslextreme a leasing line etc... Anyway it took 2 weeks and I was ok with it, I knew it wasn't dslextremes fault and i trust Leo Laporte anyway who recommended them. Finally the day came I got my Modem, insructions and within 15 minutes i was on the internet, the speeds were as stated almost 6000/768 mines about 5100/650 which is fine for me, because most sites limit you to 1mb or less download speeds anyway. And My theory about Just because Road runner gave me speeds of 25000/1.2up it didnt mean I got even near 2mb to ever use it and I am also noticing that my downloads are fast clean very little pausing at all. It seems to me that DSL is a better way to go to save $$ get great speeds and consistant accurate speeds, unlike cable internet which i had since it came out in 1999 in the Valley of Los Angeles. Kudos to the way DSLextreme runs its business. SO Far so good....... ill update..
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Johncal Review by Johncal
UPDATED: 179 days ago
member for 182 days, 6 visits, last login: 160 days ago
San Pedro,Los Angeles,CA
$21 per month
about 5 days
AT&T
"Good technical support. More helpful than local phone company."
"Limited by deficiencies in local phone company's wiring in my area."
"Best option for my location."
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In San Pedro, CA, my options for high speed internet are Cox Cable, DSL Extreme and AT&T. I had Cox a few years ago, but its cost was too high for the so-so speed and unpredictable pauses that I experienced. I switched over to SBC (now AT&T) DSL, and performance was as good or better than the Cox cable, but cost only 1/3 as much.
After moving to a new neighborhood 3 years ago, AT&T/SBC said that it could not or would not connect DSL at the new address because the connection was too poor and did not meet their standards. End of story - no further explanation was available. After hearing a radio advertisement, I signed up with DSL Extreme, and promptly received DSL service at the address that AT&T said was impossible to connect to DSL. And, of course, it was provided over AT&T's own wiring. This illustrates DSL Extreme's primary advantage, in my opinion: customer service.
Apparently, the phone service in my area is somewhat antiquated, and the best download speed that I can get is about 640 kbps. Last month, DSL Extreme tried to get AT&T to switch my phone service from a Central Office connection to a Remote Terminal, which is a neighborhood box with a fiber-optic connection to the phone office. However, AT&T was not able to do that. One day, I tried for a couple of hours to find someone in AT&T who could explain the hardware limitations that prevent getting a better connection, but there were no answers. The AT&T customer service people were nice enough, but they just did not know anything, and they did not have access to the type of information that I was seeking. This illustrates DSL Extreme's biggest disadvantage: they can get the phone company to cooperate up to a point, but ultimately, they are limited by the local phone service.
Some editorializing: A recent news story said that more people in the US have cell phone service without a land line than vice versa. Based on my recent experience with my local phone company, I think that this trend is bound to continue. Internet service is a business where land lines could have an advantage over cell phones, but it seems that AT&T is indifferent to that market in my area. Other communities in the Los Angeles area, with other phone and cable companies, have fiber optic service, and people can obtain internet speeds up to 15Mbps - but not where I live. According to news stories on the internet, AT&T is spending lots of money to upgrading its wireless network. Land line upgrades do not seem to have as much priority.
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mike_f Review by mike_f
UPDATED: 181 days ago
member for 2.8 years, 179 visits, last login: 6 days ago
Hawthorne,Los Angeles,CA
$23 per month (12 month contract)
about 2 days
AT&T
"Quick self serve install, solid connection, decent services"
"Inconsistent tech support"
"Still better than the other DSL alternatives"
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Due to the high cost of cable internet access I only considered AT&T, Sonic.net and DSLExtreme in my area (metropolitan Los Angeles). Sonic.net had good reviews but some cost issue, AT&T is now the arrogant monopoly so I went with DSLX at the basic 768k service (upgraded to 1.5m).
The modem arrived by overnight shipping, plugged it in and it synced IMMEDIATELY - impressively fast provisioning! I chose not to install the provided software, and no PPPoE 'dialer' is needed since they use DHCP. Set up a LAN connection (after my firewall s/w was verified) and was online quickly.
Email service was OK but I use another provider (fastmail) for that; DSLX uses Google hosting now which I'm leery of. Personal web site hosting is basic - code your own HTML and upload it. UseNet access is above average, not too hard for that rating since all the big boys are eliminating the alt. groups or UseNet entirely.
I've only been disconnected (lost sync) a few times for short periods. Unfortunately tech support insists on reading their scripts, invoking the obvious (reboot your modem) and often refuses to escalate for more esoteric issues like excessive packet loss or latency.
Billing has been reliable but occasionally inscrutable - the descriptions on the invoice may not be helpful.
The company is very smart to participate in the forums here - more complex issues can get explained or resolved much better.
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j0eco0l Review by j0eco0l
Posted: 188 days ago
member for 3.3 years, 8 visits, last login: 188 days ago
Glendale,Los Angeles,CA
$35 per month (12 month contract)
AT&T
"Fast services, good hook ups"
"constant disconnects from services"
"Its okay at first then slowly dies off"
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When i first had dsl extreme it was very smooth and fast, but about a year later it got a lot disconnects and i am still getting them where it says the server could not find the host address or something, and when i called customer service all they said was that it was a problem with AT&T, my phone company, and so they said it would just go away, but even today it keeps on disconnecting my internet and im starting to wonder if this is dsl extreme's fault.
Followup comments:  hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | 3rd Party ISPS this is the problem with 3rd Party ISPs they can pass the buck and you'd never know unless you signed up with ATT directly or another 3rd party ISP. | |
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dslx_gm
Premium,VIP
join:2002-12-26
Winnetka, CA
| I would like to review your account. I apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced. I would like to review your account and see if I can assist.
Please feel free to send me a PM with your DSL Extreme account info.
Thanks
--
George
General Manager
DSL Extreme
Will work for reviews.  | |
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Liquid Lion Review by Liquid Lion
Posted: 189 days ago
member for 8.2 years, 2456 visits, last login: 9 days ago
Alhambra,Los Angeles,CA
$23 per month
about 3 days
"Great service and support"
"None"
"Best in the business and better than SBC/ATT/Verizon, etc."
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This will be my 3rd yr using DSL Extreme. Certainly, the best in the business. I'm more than happy with the support and service. These guys/gals don't provide lip service; these guys/gals provide REAL broadband service. I just could not be happier with DSL Extreme.
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Spense626 Review by Spense626
UPDATED: 189 days ago
member for 1.9 years, 122 visits, last login: 6 days ago
San Gabriel,Los Angeles,CA
$32 per month (month by month)
about 5 days
AT&T
"American tech support"
"So many problems.. to many to list here."
"Problems , Problems, Problems"
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When I first reviewed DSL Extreme it was one of the best DSL Companys I have ever had it has gone down hill pretty fast. Started experiencing disconnects, slow speeds, and outages will update if anything changes.
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sanjose95138 Review by sanjose95138
UPDATED: 194 days ago
member for 205 days, 18 visits, last login: 176 days ago
San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
$16 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
"unreliable service"
"just go with the phone company instead"
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I’ve been having dsl outages since I signed up with dslextreme in 2009. As it was explained to me by tech support, my circuit has reached a maximum capacity (other dsl customers are crowding the bandwidth at peak times). So my connection gets dropped frequently beginning around 5pm until at least midnight.
If you decide to go with this company be sure to SELF MONITOR for quality issues. If you think you may be having trouble, call in but be suspicious of techs who may tell you that “everything looks fine” (I believed them for several months until they finally saw that the circuit was in fact maxed out). Its important that YOU monitor your dsl line quality because they weren’t doing it for me. Use a tool like dslreport’s ongoing monitoring.
Also, you can only be reimbursed for the time you begin documenting the issues (so stay at it, and don’t let them close tickets until your problem is resolved) I’m still working to resolve my problem because I’m bound by the contract. I just wish dslextreme would provide reliable service-that's got to be in the contract somewhere.
-San Jose, 95138
ongoing monitoring:
»/testhistory/1641101/65491
Followup comments:
dslx_gm
Premium,VIP
join:2002-12-26
Winnetka, CA
| I would like to review your account I apologize for any inconvenience that you experienced. I would like to review your account to see if I can assist in getting your issue resolved. Please feel free to send me a PM by clicking on my username to the left of this post with your DSL Extreme account information.
Once again I apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to assisting you in getting your issue resolved.
Thanks,
--
George
General Manager
DSL Extreme
Will work for reviews. | |
| 
cameronsfx
join:2009-01-08
Pensacola, FL | $16 a month says it all Go with the Telco since they hate CLEC ISPs.
Cheap isn't always better. | |
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npln
Us Army
join:2000-07-17
San Francisco, CA
| Your problem is physical....not virtual "As it was explained to me by tech support, my circuit has reached a maximum capacity (other dsl customers are crowding the bandwidth at peak times)." That only applies to cable not DSL....they were probably speaking about your DSL readings! In order for your signal to be stable. It has to stay within certain parameters. Taking into consideration distance and speed. Example, attenuation=distance......a signal that registers 60db attenuation is the same as distance at 16000ft.
Your download speed is fluctuating. Line not properly filtered, too far away from C.O., trouble with the copper lines. Are some of the major factors that can cause your speed fluctuating! Connect the DSL modem directly to the incoming cable (MPOE) and test from there. You will have to disconnect all the internal wiring at that point to get a better idea, if the problem is "outside" or "inside"
--
The Future is uncertain but the END is always near! Jim Morrison | |
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Chair Review by Chair
UPDATED: 200 days ago
member for 7.6 years, 971 visits, last login: 53 days ago
San Francisco,San Francisco,CA
$36 per month (12 month contract)
about 9 days
SBC
"Good quality service, esp when there are problems."
"Can't have bad points if nothing comes around to start them."
"If you aren't with DSLExtreme, you are missing out on a lot"
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Lets see.. I ordered on the first, and was online on the 9th. Line was activated BEFORE I got my modem. And it was a 1 day shipping speed too. At first I had problems with only 220KB download, but the smart people at DSLExtreme got SBC to set me at my rated speeds after some calling and emailing. Nothing could be better  Well, other then their NGs failing to upload me all 1.9million headerfiles :P
Update:
I've been having problems with my phoneline and was basically getting disconnected at night almost constantly. dslx_tech stayed with me even through the constant "do another line test"! request. Then he got Tier 2 personel to help debug my line, and found out it was due to the old phone we had that was hardwired. After getting it removed, it was a matter of minutes when they called me back and said that I was back up to speed. I haven't seen 15 minute resolves in years. DSL Extreme is great for the price, in fact, a bit too great.
Another Update:
It finally works! All because of a broken splitter I used. They said they would call me at 6PM, and they called at 6:01PM. Not only that, they solved my problem in under 30 minutes. They bumped up my rate back to normal in a matter of minutes from their tech support too. If you aren't with DSLEXtreme, and you can get them, DO IT NOW! You wont regret it, honest to god. ^^
Update [2/26/2006]
Their service is still great. They are using DHCP IP allocation now, so you don't have to type in anything to get connected. I had a couple of minor errors which were fixed. I've been running in the clear for the last 6 months Good job DSLX
Update [9/17/2008]
Still a great service. I haven't had any downtime at all in the last 2 years, but I did experience a couple of hiccups where the internet would go out for a second. Only happened a couple of times. But recently, spot on maximum downloads.
Update [5/7/2009]
I upgraded my service after moving to a new place, now I'm at 6mbits down, and 768kbps up.
Only problem was that my service took 2 days longer to install because they forgot my apartment number.
Other than that, it was good service.
I haven't had any problems recently to talk about.
Overall, still good.
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clark252 Review by clark252
UPDATED: 200 days ago
member for 9.6 years, 1802 visits, last login: 93 days ago
San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 9 days
SBC
"(Almost) flawless install, superb tech support!"
"Dialup is extra. But, will I ever need it with this provider?"
"This is how it should be!!"
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Well, after starting with Netcom dialup in the early 90's, then becoming a Mindspring customer, then MS DSL in 2000, and the EL, I recently dropped EL and changed to DSL Extreme. No reasonable upgrade path to their 3 meg service (I'm on a dry pair) and the $49.95/month price for 1.5 meg service are my major reasons. Yes, I know I can call EL every six months, downgrade to dialup, etc., etc., but I feel that's too much of a hassle for a long-term customer to have to go through. I'm on the 3 meg DSLX plan at $36.95/mo through SBC.
I ordered on 10-13. My DSLX activation (lineshare) was Friday, 10-22. Free Westell modem lease. I had sync, but couldn't log on, as of 8 p.m. Friday. A call to DSLX Tech Support (about a three minute wait) resulted in a tech immediately contacting SBC to determine that they hadn't set me up correctly. Tech committed to calling me back on Sunday to see if the problem was resolved. However, as of noon Saturday, problem solved. And should I mention that the tech was easy to understand, and knew what "router," "SP2," and "firewire" were? I had heard their tech support was superb, and my first experience with them confirmed this.
Dialup is $5/month extra, but I never used it when I had EL anyways, so I don't think I'll miss it. The Westell Wirespeed modem provided on a free lease is kinda big, but I think I'll just use one of my Speedstreams instead-- I think it will work.
11-7-04 Update.
My speeds have been steady at about 2.2 meg, and my max download was set at 2.5. I IM'd the DSLX tech in their Broadband Reports forum, who said they would check into getting my max raised to 3 meg. Sure enough, less than 2 hours later, I get a call from a tech who says I am set at 3 meg. On a Sunday, no less!! Pinch me--I must be dreaming!!
5-19-05 Update:
After six months, I'm still very pleased with DSLX. There was a minor issue a couple of weeks ago with a DL speed problem that affected me and some others in the local area, but it was resolved quickly. The support through George in the DSLX forum here has been outstanding, and I can't complain about the help I got when I had to call in early in my install. These guys rock!! If they service your area, they're your best choice for DSL!
8-11-05 Update
Still great service from DSLX. Line has been rock-solid, and I consistently hit max speeds for my connection. Pings are about 80ms to the east coast, 8-9ms to my first hop.
I still visit the EL forum here every now and then, to make others aware that changing DSL providers can be a good--no, GREAT--thing.
9-8-2006
Another year with DSLX, and still no complainst. Renewed for another year at the 3-6 meg D/L package. I don't come here very often anymore, as my DSL has been rock-solid for almost two years.
11-4-2008: Still a happy camper, even after change of DSLX ownership and swith to Google for mail. Service is consistently good, no downtime. So good in fact I rarely visit BBR anymore!!
5-6-2009: Still a happy camper. Cannot remember the last time the service went down. Absolutely flawless performance for years now.
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