Innovative rolls out 10Mbps for $79/mo

I've lived here for two years. My Innovative land phone line has never worked well enough to have a voice telephone call. It doesn't even have dial tone since they "fixed" it. I love living here but Innovative sucks. Changed from Choice Internet to BBVI and coudn't be happier. Wouldn't try Innovative Internet if it were free.

I had major downs with Choice (first their now-defunct satellite service years ago and then their internet broadband service which promised the world but failed to deliver) for a very long time and, although Innovative hasn't been perfect, I've found their response to be prompt and efficient apart from one recent incident when my DSL moden went down and I spent a very frustrating time on the 'phone with an outsourced tech twit. I heard a babble of foreign languages around him and when I asked, "Just out of curiosity, where are you located?" he hesitated and then said, "St Croix" and then hung up on me. All was sorted out the following morning when the local techs answered my call - and with the backup of Innovative personnel who told me who to contact, I duly registered my complaint in writing.

I've very rarely had any problem with my landline and they've always given me great response on those very few occasions when something has gone wrong. A lot of it I think is in the delivery of reporting a problem and in the follow-up but that's part and parcel of learning to deal with island living which can be enormously frustrating at times. No reason you should accept that your landline doesn't work. Call and call again and do it with a smile!

To start with a side note , OldTart think I finally figured out who you are, miss ya cooking on the beach and my redheaded wench says to tell ya hello 😉 .........

I am a IT guy so want to try and let the board know a bit more in laymans terms about all of this also because I have seen ( no internet yet) but the new boxes

Innovative is running new Fibre Optic cable all over the island/s which is supposed to be finished by the end of next year. The way that they describe it is that it is a Fibre/Coax hybrid. The Fibre comes to the poles and the signal that you get from that is coming in on a cable wire. When the area that you are in is ready you will get a phone call to arrange for a Innovative installer to come in and get you set up with the new box. This new box IS NOT just for your internet service..... You will be getting the box if you have Innovative Cable, Voice, or DSL. Your voice line will keep the same phone # but you really will be on a Voice over IP Network (VOIP for the geeks). The box also will serve the DSL sorta service and cable. One neat thing about the box is it has a built in battery that will keep stuff up for 8 hrs or so, kinda like a built in battery backup ........

I have been a subscriber to Powernet since they first had service in the area. In the beginning I did have issues but these days I am quite happy with the service and rarely have issues. OldTart they outsourced their afterhrs support to other places and they are aware of it, what's going to happen I have no idea, bitched about it myself. When I call and say I can't get onto the Internet and the response is " can you try and goto a webpage" .... well that says alot.

There is one thing that I do have to say about the new speeds that Innovative is offering though. Right now if you are on their premium plan you are getting 1 Mbps synchronous, in geek speak this means that the speed that you download stuff is the same speed that you upload stuff. For most users it is all about the download speed but........ Apps like Skype and others your upload speed is important as that effect your outgoing stuff. The last that I saw was that Innovative's new plans were like this :

If you got a plan that say allows for a 1 Mbps then your download would be that but your upload speed would be 512 Kbps, or 1/2 your DL speed, for many this isn't a issue but just wanted to let people know.

Edit2: Innovative sales rep says the "10" on their website for 79/mo was supposed to be a "up to 5" (td)

Whoops! LOL.

Is Innovative my only option for STJ? The landlord had Innovative and is canceling the contract because she thinks we can do better with a new package deal/bundle. Do I have to have a land line to have Cable/Internet service on the island? I got rid of my land line years ago in the states--just seems so unnecessary with cell phones. Thanks for any advice.

There is one thing that I do have to say about the new speeds that Innovative is offering though. Right now if you are on their premium plan you are getting 1 Mbps synchronous, in geek speak this means that the speed that you download stuff is the same speed that you upload stuff. For most users it is all about the download speed but........ Apps like Skype and others your upload speed is important as that effect your outgoing stuff. The last that I saw was that Innovative's new plans were like this :

If you got a plan that say allows for a 1 Mbps then your download would be that but your upload speed would be 512 Kbps, or 1/2 your DL speed, for many this isn't a issue but just wanted to let people know.

I think that you have your terminology confused. What you are describing is Asymmetrical vs Symmetrical connections. Asynchronous vs Synchronous has to do with how the clocking is determined on a serial link.

Edited to correct spelling.. Has anyone else noticed that the spell checking is broken?

Is Innovative my only option for STJ? The landlord had Innovative and is canceling the contract because she thinks we can do better with a new package deal/bundle. Do I have to have a land line to have Cable/Internet service on the island? I got rid of my land line years ago in the states--just seems so unnecessary with cell phones. Thanks for any advice.

If you live somewhere with line of sight to the tower on STT, you may be able to use Choice instead of Innovative DSL. Or you could go with satellite, which is slow in one direction and reasonable in the other (but won't go down in a hurricane). I have tried every connection method available on STJ, and they all have issues of some kind. I also have an old (grandfathered) unlimited data plan through AT&T and tether my connection through my phone, which is actually comparable to the speeds I've gotten through all the other providers.

Having a landline here is a good idea for those times when the cell towers are down or the signal is so poor as to be unusable. That has happened several times over the last year alone, and happens consistently when there's a big storm.

edited to add -- I forgot, I know where you're living, jewels -- as far as I know, Innovative is your only choice for Internet in that area, besides satellite. I'm not sure how reliable the cell signal is down there; you may want to check with your landlady to verify. I wouldn't live there without a landline myself given the frequency of outages.

I'm getting 10 mbps for $15 per month plus taxes of a couple bucks. The price for internet is the one thing that isn't bigger in Texas.

enjoy Texas ... I'd rather pay the price and be here as long as i can still make a living......

Having a landline here is a good idea for those times when the cell towers are down or the signal is so poor as to be unusable. That has happened several times over the last year alone, and happens consistently when there's a big storm.

Couldn't agree more. Of course it should be noted that I'm a dinosaur and don't have a cellphone but for reliability I'd bank on my landline any day over a cellphone. Drives me nuts calling people on cellphones just on "normal" days when reception stinks and the connection fades out - but it's even worse when towers foul up and all you get is the incessant messages that, "your call cannot go through at this time" ... 😀

In my quite lengthy experience, relying on Innovative for anything is a waste of time and money. They do not maintain their infrastructure, they do not deliver the services they claim, and you will pay and pay, regardless.

Given that this is new infrastructure I didn't think that would continue to be an issue. It sucks that they are not offering the advertised speed (except to businesses apparently) but 5Mbit for 79/mo is still the best deal on the island. I'll probably still get it when it rolls out in my neighborhood and see how it goes.

Stings that Google is rolling out 1000Mbit up/down in Kansas City for less than what 5Mbit costs here, but at least we don't live in Kansas I guess.

Thanks FDR and OldTart for the advice on Innovative and having the landline. I have spoken with the owner and she says that Sprint (which is our current cell company) doesn't work at all at the house. I will be switching to AT & T when we arrive. Thanks again!

When I dropped Choice due to their lousy service and billing practices, I decided to use BroadbandVI even tho bundling services would be less costly with Innovative. I also went to Dish TV from cable. More channels - less costs and Broadbandvi has been very good/excellent when compared with Choice. When my home phone landline service thru Innovative goes down, one waits min. 2 weeks for someone to come see what the problem is and reslove. I simply cannot be without both phone and internet service for that amount of time. Then, one often sits home for a couple days when appointment rolls around because they didn't get to you on the day specified. It does cost more to do it the way I am but at least the promised service is there.

Note - sometimes where you live, you may not get Sprint, ATT, Choice or Broadband VI, if in a dead spot so Innovative may be your only choice.