Comments for Lapeer Internet http://lapeerinternet.com broadband internet service information Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:35:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 Comment on High Speed Internet in Lapeer County, Michigan by admin http://lapeerinternet.com#comment-21 admin Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:19:53 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?page_id=4#comment-21 qix has a tower on Lk. George that should cover you if you can get them to return your calls - http://lapeerinternet.com/attica/qix qix has a tower on Lk. George that should cover you if you can get them to return your calls - http://lapeerinternet.com/attica/qix

]]> Comment on High Speed Internet in Lapeer County, Michigan by JJ http://lapeerinternet.com#comment-20 JJ Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:25:35 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?page_id=4#comment-20 I live near the corner of Newark and Force Rd. in Attica. So far I know I of no high speed providers in our area. The phone co. and cable co even have the old lines so nothing here - the closest we get it is a dial up of 53kbps -wo who! I've asked when someone's going to upgrade the lines and I get the run around. Seriously the neighbors (just everyone I talk to out here) and I are DESPERATE for highspeed. I know we can get hughes net but is there any other option out here? I live near the corner of Newark and Force Rd. in Attica. So far I know I of no high speed providers in our area. The phone co. and cable co even have the old lines so nothing here - the closest we get it is a dial up of 53kbps -wo who! I’ve asked when someone’s going to upgrade the lines and I get the run around. Seriously the neighbors (just everyone I talk to out here) and I are DESPERATE for highspeed. I know we can get hughes net but is there any other option out here?

]]> Comment on Charter Internet by MCornwell http://lapeerinternet.com/lapeer-city/charter-internet#comment-19 MCornwell Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:13:01 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=6#comment-19 I had Charter High Speed Internet for three years. Everything was grand, until I added their Phone service. It took them three months to get my phone service hooked up....and from that point on, every weekend (Friday night at 6:37 pm until Monday 8:30ish am) we lost our internet....not the phone.....just the internet....Charter SUCKS! I called to complain, they said they would credit my account....three months later, they the "credits" came off my account...and they claimed I was behind on my bill - EVEN when I paid the "past due" they shut everything off.....and then tried to tell me that I had to pay a reconnection fee, which would be credited back to me, because it was their fault that my stuff was shut off. NO THANKS - I will go without before I EVER sign up with that company again! I had Charter High Speed Internet for three years. Everything was grand, until I added their Phone service. It took them three months to get my phone service hooked up….and from that point on, every weekend (Friday night at 6:37 pm until Monday 8:30ish am) we lost our internet….not the phone…..just the internet….Charter SUCKS! I called to complain, they said they would credit my account….three months later, they the “credits” came off my account…and they claimed I was behind on my bill - EVEN when I paid the “past due” they shut everything off…..and then tried to tell me that I had to pay a reconnection fee, which would be credited back to me, because it was their fault that my stuff was shut off. NO THANKS - I will go without before I EVER sign up with that company again!

]]> Comment on Big Tube Wireless by StillWaitingForHighSpeed http://lapeerinternet.com/lapeer-city/bigtube#comment-8 StillWaitingForHighSpeed Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:33:32 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=5#comment-8 I had a somewhat similar experience that captMcGee had with as far as the reliability and download/upload speed with BigTube but not as negative in regards to customer support. I live East of town, (slightly) SE of the tower. Last year, and just recently reliability has taken a nose-dive. The connection between there towers would be lost SEVERAL times a day, but the connection to my local tower would be remain intact, so of course it was not my tower, but I could not access the internet none the same (you can tell by performing a ping on the default gateway). Also, the download speed has become slower and slower, with it often reaching the lower end of 30KB/Sec ( 30 x 8 = 240 Kbps?) Much lower than advertised, with upload speed roughly half that. Try watching a video over it, even a 300 KB video will stop and cache. When I asked about the speeds (or lack thereof), I was told that there were too many people on the network. Why would the company continue to add new customers when there backbone is already stretched too thin, then blame apparently the customers? There is also slightly too much lag because the Imlay City towers is roughly 5-6 towers away from the backbone from ATT in Caro. It would be nice if they could use connect Imlay to Verizon, and branch off from there, but I doubt that they will not even consider that. I would bet that the folks closest to the demark in or near Caro, are probably happy as a clam with there service. Anyway, in their defense, they seemed willing to fix problems with my receiver after I had some problems. I think that they are willing to work through the problems with their towers, and continue to try to improve the service. Judging by the comments from there ex-customers, I do not think that they will ever be nearly as bad as QIX. If you are considering going with BigTube, or any other wireless service I would ask them some questions first: 1) what speed should I expect, upload and download? How much lag? 2) Are you willing to increase speed (or add more) to the Backbone as needed to support additional customers and would you consider adding Access points to improve service or do you just continue to add customers and let the speed continue to drop? 3)What can I expect from you if I have a problem with my service and/or speed? Will you check out my tower the same day, or keep me informed of outages? 4) How long of a downtime is would you consider normal, and how long before I should call (1 hour, I day)?? How about repeated outages in a single day, or inconsistent connections? 5) How do you compare to the other wirelss services? For instance, check out what some other wireless services provide. You would be surprised on what you may NOT be getting with this service. Check out Speednet from Saginaw, they have 3 MB down, 383 up at 35$ Month, plus 10MB web host, and dial-up: http://www.speednetllc.com/Wireless-Internet-residential.htm Conclusion: If you do not need a connection for work check out the satellite services: Wildblue (http://www.wildblue.com) and Hughesnet (http://www.hughesnet.com), just keep in mind that there is always a significant lag so it is not good for using with a VPN. Also, if you do work from home, there is always ISDN from the phone company. It will only be 128Kbps up and down, but it will be much more reliable. And then there is Sprint EVDO (http://www.nextel.com/en/solutions/mobile_broadband/index.shtml) . I’m not sure what the price is, but I think that it may be expensive, considering that it is “mobile.” I would like to hear from other customers on their experiences. I had a somewhat similar experience that captMcGee had with as far as the reliability and download/upload speed with BigTube but not as negative in regards to customer support. I live East of town, (slightly) SE of the tower. Last year, and just recently reliability has taken a nose-dive. The connection between there towers would be lost SEVERAL times a day, but the connection to my local tower would be remain intact, so of course it was not my tower, but I could not access the internet none the same (you can tell by performing a ping on the default gateway).

Also, the download speed has become slower and slower, with it often reaching the lower end of 30KB/Sec ( 30 x 8 = 240 Kbps?) Much lower than advertised, with upload speed roughly half that. Try watching a video over it, even a 300 KB video will stop and cache.

When I asked about the speeds (or lack thereof), I was told that there were too many people on the network. Why would the company continue to add new customers when there backbone is already stretched too thin, then blame apparently the customers?

There is also slightly too much lag because the Imlay City towers is roughly 5-6 towers away from the backbone from ATT in Caro. It would be nice if they could use connect Imlay to Verizon, and branch off from there, but I doubt that they will not even consider that. I would bet that the folks closest to the demark in or near Caro, are probably happy as a clam with there service.
Anyway, in their defense, they seemed willing to fix problems with my receiver after I had some problems. I think that they are willing to work through the problems with their towers, and continue to try to improve the service. Judging by the comments from there ex-customers, I do not think that they will ever be nearly as bad as QIX.

If you are considering going with BigTube, or any other wireless service I would ask them some questions first:

1) what speed should I expect, upload and download? How much lag?

2) Are you willing to increase speed (or add more) to the Backbone as needed to support additional customers and would you consider adding Access points to improve service or do you just continue to add customers and let the speed continue to drop?

3)What can I expect from you if I have a problem with my service and/or speed? Will you check out my tower the same day, or keep me informed of outages?

4) How long of a downtime is would you consider normal, and how long before I should call (1 hour, I day)?? How about repeated outages in a single day, or inconsistent connections?

5) How do you compare to the other wirelss services? For instance, check out what some other wireless services provide. You would be surprised on what you may NOT be getting with this service. Check out Speednet from Saginaw, they have 3 MB down, 383 up at 35$ Month, plus 10MB web host, and dial-up: http://www.speednetllc.com/Wireless-Internet-residential.htm

Conclusion: If you do not need a connection for work check out the satellite services: Wildblue (http://www.wildblue.com) and Hughesnet (http://www.hughesnet.com), just keep in mind that there is always a significant lag so it is not good for using with a VPN.
Also, if you do work from home, there is always ISDN from the phone company. It will only be 128Kbps up and down, but it will be much more reliable.
And then there is Sprint EVDO (http://www.nextel.com/en/solutions/mobile_broadband/index.shtml) . I’m not sure what the price is, but I think that it may be expensive, considering that it is “mobile.”

I would like to hear from other customers on their experiences.

]]> Comment on Big Tube Wireless by captMcGee http://lapeerinternet.com/lapeer-city/bigtube#comment-7 captMcGee Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:25:28 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=5#comment-7 I used to have service North-West of the Imlay City area. Many of the things you take for granted with a ISP, such as Customer Service , Free Web space, and a Dial-up backup plan is lacking with this ISP. Perhaps that is what soured me, plus the frequent outages last year. When I called, I received a response that interpreted as “We are your only provider, take it or leave it.” I called sprint and found out EVDO worked well in our area, in fact it does also as far North as Marlette. I used to have service North-West of the Imlay City area. Many of the things you take for granted with a ISP, such as Customer Service , Free Web space, and a Dial-up backup plan is lacking with this ISP. Perhaps that is what soured me, plus the frequent outages last year. When I called, I received a response that interpreted as “We are your only provider, take it or leave it.”
I called sprint and found out EVDO worked well in our area, in fact it does also as far North as Marlette.

]]> Comment on Big Tube Wireless by admin http://lapeerinternet.com/lapeer-city/bigtube#comment-6 admin Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:19:02 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=5#comment-6 captMcGee - since the QOS for a wireless provider is based somewhat on the coverage you can get from them, would you share with us where you are located, and when you used their services? captMcGee - since the QOS for a wireless provider is based somewhat on the coverage you can get from them, would you share with us where you are located, and when you used their services?

]]> Comment on Big Tube Wireless by captMcGee http://lapeerinternet.com/lapeer-city/bigtube#comment-5 captMcGee Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:12:28 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=5#comment-5 Very unreliable and slow service. You are better off using Sprint EVDO or moving. Very unreliable and slow service. You are better off using Sprint EVDO or moving.

]]> Comment on Big Tube Wireless by matt http://lapeerinternet.com/lapeer-city/bigtube#comment-4 matt Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:17:32 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=5#comment-4 We use them at work, and we've been very happy with their service. We've had very few problems with them besides weather related issues. However I do know a few people who have tried calling them and it took a few months for them to come out to their house to see if they could get service. But once you're set up its great! We use them at work, and we’ve been very happy with their service. We’ve had very few problems with them besides weather related issues. However I do know a few people who have tried calling them and it took a few months for them to come out to their house to see if they could get service. But once you’re set up its great!

]]> Comment on QIX.net by matt http://lapeerinternet.com/attica/qix#comment-3 matt Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:14:45 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=10#comment-3 There are times where they go for several months without a problem, and then we get a bad month where its on and off for most of the month. They shut our service down without telling us for overuse, and they supposedly called us, but we never have a record of this in our caller ID. The only reason we still are using them is because they're the only high speed ISP in our area. There are times where they go for several months without a problem, and then we get a bad month where its on and off for most of the month. They shut our service down without telling us for overuse, and they supposedly called us, but we never have a record of this in our caller ID. The only reason we still are using them is because they’re the only high speed ISP in our area.

]]> Comment on Big Tube Wireless by jonathan http://lapeerinternet.com/lapeer-city/bigtube#comment-2 jonathan Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:10:06 +0000 http://lapeerinternet.com/?p=5#comment-2 this is an excellent ISP, high speeds and we very rarely lose our signal, and then only in blizzards. this is an excellent ISP, high speeds and we very rarely lose our signal, and then only in blizzards.

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