Choice internet

All I can add is that people who say you made the wrong Choice are right on the money! I went through months of sheer agony when I switched from dial-up and opted for their DSL. It was one thing after another and I finally ditched them (but got back ALL the monthly fees I'd forked out to them) and switched to Innovative with whom I've had very minor issues but whose techs have been extremely helpful and highly competent on those very few occasions. I would only recommend Choice to someone who I truly disliked.

good morning old tart!

in the interest of full disclosure, i am a choice customer.

i have not always been happy with the service - but let me mention that i used to work in the internet service industry and i have a fairly good understanding of what it takes to not only bring signal in, but ensure that it lives up to expectations. in a city, it was hard enough to provide steady high-speed signal (i should say "high-er" speed because i don't think we have what i consider "true" high speed available at an affordable price). the broadband initiative is supposed to change that, but that is another topic for another thread. ( http://www.vingn.com/vingn-strategy.aspx )

that being said, i agree that there may be customer service issues and connectivity issues. i am glad you got your funds back - they have always credited me for outages, as does innovative for my telephone outages, which are many because of basic problems in my area. that is the right thing to do once your situation has been confirmed.

i guess i have a problem with anyone who lives on an island decrying any internet service provider, except as it applies to actual bad customer service. an internet service provider supplies signal to the extent that topography, capacity and infrastructure allow. once it's determined that your service turns out to be technically not feasible (tnf), then it's wise for everyone to break ties.

you go to another provider, and hope that in their best-case scenario, you can have satisfaction. you did the right thing.

on an island it's even more challenging as we tangle with nature and the lay of the land. without getting too technical and boring myself and anyone else, i need to say this to anyone wanting high speed internet in the islands - any islands -... keep trying until you find one that can take care of you. don't put up with poor customer service, but i do ask that you consider walking away knowing that they really wanted to serve you in the first place. your ongoing monthly payment represents income for them to run their businesses, pay their employees, and perform all maintenance and upgrades.

the provider i would never use in a million years based on where i am living now, i have nothing but respect for. they'd love my money. they just cannot earn it. at least not now. that could change, but i am happy where i am, with choice internet... and to be honest, i have no reason to leave them, even if offered a lower rate, because i have been very happy with both their tech and customer services.

Good Morning, Anita,

I'm glad you've been happy with Choice. I do understand all the technical difficulties involved in providing such a service but when something is continuously promised but never delivered; when so many platitudes are extended that one reckons there must be an in-house manual containing more than one ever dreamed existed; when the "tech wizard" who makes weekly calls to you to "fix" the problem obviously doesn't know what he's doing and you(techno-dummy of the century) end up suggesting to him what logically might work better (and it does!); when you're spending more time offline than on and missing important emails; well, there's just a whole litany of nonsense which, before it lands you in the nut house, just has to be exorcised. I was so patient, for literally months, that my jaws ached from pleasantly smiling. In my book, I was subjected to the very worst case scenario of bad customer service. I do see your point but in this case it doesn't apply! Cheers!

PS: And I wasn't even needing super high speed internet. That was what Choice promised, not what I asked for, and all the speed I ever got was what I had with dial-up ...

Hi! May be this info is useful. I called Choice customer service to inquire whether there is any problem with their system. Oh no. There's no problem at all. Our systems are working fine. May be your modem is defective was their response. The system was checked on site by a geek friend who after diagnostics told me that my connection drops out due to EAP failure. The PER (Packet Error Ratio) of 1.25 is very high and probably is the culprit and that I could do nothing about it. Any suggestions welcome?

old tart, like i said, everyone's mileage may vary when it comes to trying to get internet. lots of factors!

jayahari, looks like not enough info is getting from your location to the server to get or keep you logged on. sort of like the server is talking to your modem, and suddenly one of them starts asking "can you hear me now?" but does not get an answer, so hangs up and tries again, or simply hangs up and moves on. they suggest the modem may be bad. your friend suggests there is not enough info being exchanged for some reason, which could present as an authentication failure because of dropped packets.

before i rule anything out, i would certainly bring in my modem for testing to see if it's gone south. if the modem checks out ok, that's a troubleshooting step, and they should then want to see what's being exchanged from their access point. it is all part of a process.

i realize that the average consumer is not up to so much work to get a connection, but just like when you bring your car to a mechanic he asks questions and tests, and tries to reproduce your problem then comes up with possible causes, then he eliminates them one by one by fixing the most likely... it's the same with tech support. if the cause is not readily apparent, we have no choice but to troubleshoot. sometimes the first step brings about a solution, sometimes not.

i wish you luck and hope it works out!

My issue with Choice is that they knowingly rolled out and heavily advertised service at levels that they had no infrastructure to deliver. When they came out with 5mbps they had no backbone to support that. Soon after they got rid of their 5mbps plan. Trying to sell something you don't have to someone is at the very least dishonest. The last time I checked (which was over a year ago when I got rid of my modem), Choice did not have even close to the infrastructure they needed to keep up with the speeds they were promising on anywhere near a consistent basis.

Sean

Broadband VI is the only reliable internet service provider on STX. Their service is outstanding and they deliver the advertised speeds consistently. I use them for business and household and obviously highly recommend them.

A Davis: Checked out the modem. Swapped with another. No problem with my modem. My modem puts out - Can u hear me -messages correctly, it is just the response from Choice is garbled.

I am supposed to be connected at 3 mbps; if at all I get connected I barely scrape 1 mbps

Here is a new issue with Choice customer service. I paid my last bill through their web site and my credit card was charged twice. Customer service keeps insisting that the excess payment was credited back on 3/27. However, the credit does not appear in my credit card account even after 10 days. Every time I call Customer service I am told that the issue will be sorted out in a day or two. One of their smart guys even told me to check with my credit card provider. If Choice did not post the credit correctly the cc provider can do nothing. The whole experience sulks.

For people out there, there are other choices. Read vicanuck's posting.

The 4G technology is not LTE. It is Wimax based. One disadvantage is that the bandwidth must be split among multiple users. So imagine if the traffic is heavy. Speeds would be simply low.

However in Broadband internet and telecommunication, there is a push to get everyone the internet at home at some fairly decent speeds. They call this sometimes the "last mile". This is where wimax wins. Just like a 3G network, you are able to cover larger distances with theoretical speeds greater than 3G. But I don't think customer would will want to care about that we want good speeds in practice.

A Davis: Checked out the modem. Swapped with another. No problem with my modem. My modem puts out - Can u hear me -messages correctly, it is just the response from Choice is garbled.

I am supposed to be connected at 3 mbps; if at all I get connected I barely scrape 1 mbps

Here is a new issue with Choice customer service. I paid my last bill through their web site and my credit card was charged twice. Customer service keeps insisting that the excess payment was credited back on 3/27. However, the credit does not appear in my credit card account even after 10 days. Every time I call Customer service I am told that the issue will be sorted out in a day or two. One of their smart guys even told me to check with my credit card provider. If Choice did not post the credit correctly the cc provider can do nothing. The whole experience sulks.

For people out there, there are other choices. Read vicanuck's posting.

well, you have done everything you could. you should consider cancelling and finding another provider. although i doubt you sat around waiting for me to tell you that...

i am also pleased with broadband vi, as we use them at work and i know of another person who uses their residential service. both locations have had their share of problems, but always dealt with professionally.

here is my speed test...