#gigibit

[angelamerkelultras]

Ich hab so ein Jet-Lag. Nächste Woche schicke ich den #hipsterspahn auf die #rp18

Angela Merkel, Bundeskanzlerin in der Gigabitgesellschaft

[themodernobjectivist]

As I've reported before, Seattle desperately needs affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service, and a lot of people are pissed off that the city's two dominant providers—Comcast and CenturyLink—haven't yet made it available in all parts of town. President Obama says he stands behind any city that wants to take matters into its own hands, over those companies' objections, by creating municipal utility-run gigabit broadband networks.

[so-so-gay]

Sonic.Net Fusion Broadband

Last month I got tired of Comcast and their expensive cable internet. Sure its fast (my connection is about 10-18mbps) but it has data usage caps of only 250GB per month and its about $65 a month not including tax and modem rental!

I know what you are thinking, "Why do you need more than 250GB anyway?" The answer is simple, "I dont!". But, I do plan to cancel my cable service as well, and move to using Hulu and Netflix on Roku. And not use just one device, but two, one for me, one for my roommate. This will use a lot more data than we currently use, but I doubt it will hit 250GB per month anyway. However, just in case, we switched anyway.

$39.99 per month, we get UP TO 20mbps ADSL2+ service (currently pulling in 9-11mbps) and a home phone with unlimited calling in the USA, Canada, USVI and Puerto Rico. I had to buy my own equipment, but I found ways to save money by buying a combined modem/router, and save more since Im not paying some silly $5 monthly rental, nor a $4 reconnect fee if I forget to pay the bill. So that can save me even more. Oh, and ironically the modem/router is compatible with cable internet as a router only should I ever want to go back to cable, if it wasnt ironic enough, that saved me even more.

Now, getting all this wasnt without MANY issues. I did blow through a Netgear Modem and Router before I realized that the issue with my DSL service disconnecting and rebooting itself wasnt with the modem or router themselves. Rather Sonic had me set up on a Dynamic IP address system. What does this do? Well, it releases the IP used to connect the modem to the network, at what SHOULD be every day, or when I choose. Unfortunately, it did it every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Thankfully one of the amazing tech support people at Sonic knew immediately what was going on, and suggested moving me to a static IP, that way the modem had a direct address and the network could never give it away. It fixed the issue. THANK YOU SONIC! 

The issue still remains that there are ADSL2+ filters coming in the mail to boost my speed up a little more, due to slight noise on the line. No worries there, plug and play. While I dont get the advertised speed, Im glad I get at least HALF of it. I hear horror stories of DSL customers getting less than 3mbps, which just wouldnt do it for me today, maybe 5 years ago Id be okay with that.

I cant wait till Sonic Fusion Gig comes to my house. That will offer 100mbps to 1gbps, and since its done via fiber, I believe those speeds are not cut in half like DSL is, and are pretty accurate since fiber isnt as limited as copper wire is.

Either way, now that everything is working, I am a much more happy customer with Sonic. My only complaint is that no one noticed this until I called 4 or 5 times. However, the customer service was pleasant, never talked down to me, and even explained the issues to another tech should the one I had not be able to fully help. Im so used to explaining my issue to 10 people over and over, Sonic doesnt make me do that, and thats valuable to me.

So congrats Sonic! Happier Customer!