AT&T is dumb. School Me On WiMax.

[tony1679]

I want HOME internet service. I live in a city of more than 100k people, and live in the current year of 2015. There are fiber lines (AT&T) literally running through my 1 acre property (72 feet from line to house to be exact). There is even a pedestal ("node") on my property as well. I have confronted AT&T about their lack of service to my house (and entire street), and they gave me nothing but excuses and said they cannot offer service to me. Seriously? I have fought, argued, annoyed, pestered, negotiated, begged... It's all been done. They still say

Never in my life have I had such difficulty trying to GIVE someone my money.

Rant over.

There are only two other options, both are WiMax. Company "A" has NO speed limitations whatsoever, but is expensive (literally said they can give me 100Mbps if I could afford it). "B" states they absolutely can NOT give me faster than 3 Mbps (yes, three) due to "tower restrictions", even though they do offer faster plans (6 is their fastest offered).

Sadly I am going to be stuck using span>6Mbps no matter what ("A's" cost for 6Mbps is $100/mo, "B" can't offer more). I was under the impression of IF a signal can be established, the tower can supply it's maximum speed (pending interference and demand) or the speed you pay for, whichever is lower. Isn't WiMax's only limitation line-of-sight? Why is there a set limit for "B" even though the limit is lower than their fastest package?

Many thanks in advance for your input.

 

[eljefino]

How far are you from the tower? There might be latency issues or licensing ones for max RF power etc.

in short the technology might not be there but marketing calls it something else.

 

[michaelluscher]

Don't even consider WiMax long term, it's gonna be shut down 11/6/2015, and It wasn't very good when it was in its prime.
It's not line of sight, but its such a damm high frequency for alleged capacity, that it just doesn't go very far or penetrate well.
Get a hold of your local PSC, and file a complaint with the FCC and BBB. That should stunt AT&T's local engineering department to realize your able to get service.

Cross post to http://www.dslreports.com/, this is there specialty.

If worse comes to worse, you'll have to go cellular hotspot, but let's not go there.

 

[tony1679]

I am 7 miles away from Company "B's" Tower. Between 3-4 miles from Company "A's".

Even if I were 15 miles away from "A", they can still give me insane speeds. I guess I just don't understand the vast difference.

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
Don't even consider WiMax long term, it's gonna be shut down 11/6/2015, and It wasn't very good when it was in its prime.
It's not line of sight, but its such a damm high frequency for alleged capacity, that it just doesn't go very far or penetrate well.
Get a hold of your local PSC, and file a complaint with the FCC and BBB. That should stunt AT&T's local engineering department to realize your able to get service.

Cross post to http://www.dslreports.com/, this is there specialty.

If worse comes to worse, you'll have to go cellular hotspot, but let's not go there.
Can you prove this deadline? I've never heard of this. Also, psc, what is this?

And no, I'll live in the dark (like I have for the past 3 years) before I ever consider a hotspot or satellite internet. (Fyi I'm posting via phone)

Edit: it appears this shutdown is only for Sprint. The two companies in question here are small, private, no-name companies. Sorry I should have clarified this before

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
...
Cross post to http://www.dslreports.com/, this is there specialty.
...


Yep, those guys know how to force the issue and get it to the local AT&T engineers desk.

Edit: Also you can PM AT&T reps on their community forum, they are supposed to be very effective in getting stuff like this done.

I'm assuming you are talking U-Verse internet?

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
...
Cross post to http://www.dslreports.com/, this is there specialty.
...

Yep, those guys know how to force the issue and get it to the local AT&T engineers desk.
So what exactly should I do? Just post a rant and watch what happens? Something more specific? I'm all ears

Yes, between <6Mbps and U-Verse, the latter sounds incredible (even though I am already well aware their customer service sucks)

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: tony1679
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
...
Cross post to http://www.dslreports.com/, this is there specialty.
...

Yep, those guys know how to force the issue and get it to the local AT&T engineers desk.
So what exactly should I do? Just post a rant and watch what happens? Something more specific? I'm all ears

Yes, between div>


Start here:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/uverse

There are already a couple of post that are on point for your issue and what you do from there and why they may be saying that you can't get it depends. If you don't have any AT&T service in your house it may be that your address simply is not built into the system or is built incorrectly...

See: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r29877229-Uverse-saying-I-can-t-get-internet

I've had AT&T for a long time and they do quite a lot of irritating things, but mostly the customer service is pretty good once you get past marketing and billing... in other words, once you get the service the technical help if you need it is solid.

 

[tony1679]

Right, there is no current service in the house. They would have to run lines. But we are talking about 72 feet, not 3/4 of a mile...

Edit: Wow it's scary how familar that link sounds. I've already done so much of that, but there are key things I have not.... Huge thanks for the link

 

[John_K]

I have found that filing FCC complaints against phone companies works wonders!

John

 

[Sierra048]

Keeping in mind that it's been thirteen years since I retired from one of the largest telecommunication companies, and unless things have really changed, a call to your state PSC might get it done. I was a manager for my last fifteen years and dealt with this situation all the time. A tricky, difficult, expensive solution to providing a customer service, following the normal path could drag on literally forever (costs of manpower, material, logistics etc...). Once we got the complaint forwarded to us via a PSC complaint, things miraculously became easier to overcome and barriers were breached rather quickly. It was almost like I was given an open checkbook to solve the problem. PSC complaints were a measured matrix for us and was big factor in rate increase requests controlled by the PSC. Again, assuming things haven't changed much, are you in the AT&T franchise area? If so, they have no choice but to provide you the service, assuming it's available. If you are on the border of two different franchises, and fall within the non AT&T franchise, and it's not cost effective for the other company, due to distance to their closest facilities and having the AT&T facilities right there, the two franchises could create an out of franchise agreement whereby AT&T would be allowed to provide you service. I've been in areas where on one side of the street was one company, walk across the street (literally fifteen feet) and have a different company providing service. Transition from one company to another has to happen somewhere. Don't give up, especially with a serving Ped/node 70' away. Good luck.

 

[Donald]

Just because fiber lines are running through your property does not mean they are for residential use.

I have a natural gas pipeline maybe 2 miles from my house. But its a pipeline going some place else. No natural gas for me.

 

[tony1679]

Sierra048 - Thanks for this input. I will keep this in mind and try to find answers to the questions you have posted. But one thing I hope someone answers: what is a PSC? Sorry for the dumb question, but I'm collecting as much firepower as I possibly can.

Edit: Public Service Commission?!?

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Just because fiber lines are running through your property does not mean they are for residential use.

I have a natural gas pipeline maybe 2 miles from my house. But its a pipeline going some place else. No natural gas for me.
While I do agree, this has been verified by AT&T to serve 2 subdivisions that are less than a 1/4 mile from me. This line is for residential use, and even serves neighborhoods out in the sticks. I live on a dead end street of about 15 houses. We were basically skipped.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: tony1679
Sierra048 - Thanks for this input. I will keep this in mind and try to find answers to the questions you have posted. But one thing I hope someone answcers: what is a PSC? Sorry for the dumb question, but I'm collecting as much firepower as I possibly can.

Edit: Public Service Commission?!?
I would guess yes, we call them PUCO here in OH, they help deal with regulated monopoly utilities.

 

[JustinH]

So there is no cable internet near you?

No ATT uverse, or similar fiber provider?

So I had a friend who had this deal called clear. It was very slow and he got rid of it.

Can you get a dsl connection? Even that may be better than clear.

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
So there is no cable internet near you?

No ATT uverse, or similar fiber provider?

So I had a friend who had this deal called clear. It was very slow and he got rid of it.

Can you get a dsl connection? Even that may be better than clear.
No, nothing is currently connected to my street or house. I can't even get dsl. My ONLY options are these two WiMax companies, or to convince AT&T to connect their line to my house.

One of the key reasons for getting this is for gaming (PS4), therefore dsl, hotspots, and satellite are laughable.

 

[JustinH]

I would take a look at the hughesnet satellite offerings also. Their speeds have increased somewhat to dsl levels.

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I would take a look at the hughesnet satellite offerings also. Their speeds have increased somewhat to dsl levels.
Sorry, but there is no way in he!! I would EVER consider sloozenet, the latency is rediculous, as well as the price. Don't even get me started on their data limits. And sloozenet is only UP TO 1Mpbs. ONE!

No thanks. I'll live without internet for the rest of my life before that nonsense.

 

[Sierra048]

Given my before mentioned background, I'll be interested in your outcome. Please post any updates and hopefully solutions to you problem.