6 megabit AT&T DSL for $27.99

[Elixer]

Originally posted by: yukichigai
I'll reiterate this point again and again and again until people get it: being further away from the Central Office doesn't necessarily mean your speed goes down. Back in the old old OLD days of DSL that was true, but now most telcoms that offer DSL service deploy Remote Terminals capable of being DSL endpoints at various locations throughout their coverage area. These are almost always linked up to the CO via fiberoptic (and a lot of it) so the speed you get at X feet from an RTS will almost always be the same as the speed you get X feet from the CO. (give or take a millisecond of latency)

Besides, AT&T will only give you 6M DSL if you are within a certain number of feet of the CO or an RTS, (6,000-something according to the article) unless you get an override from the engineering department. (They have to come out and run some tests to verify that you're capable of getting the speed) 90% of the time if they let you sign up for 6M down (that's maximum 6M down, by the way) you'll get something in the 4.5~6M down range.

For those of you worried about the cost of the phone line, look into Federal Universal Phone Line service (cheap pricing if you make under 12k a year, e.g. college students) or a metered line. (Usually $5/mo + taxes, then a ~$0.20/min charge per call, which can easily be avoided by never plugging in a phone)

Finally, someone posted some decent info.

Last time they had this "deal" in my area, they told me "up to" 6Mb. As I questioned on, they said it can vary from 1.5Mb to 6Mb depending on line conditions, and distance from CO. Read the fine print, and you will see where they talk about this. Take a look at the possible fees they talk about for sending a line tech over.

As far as I am concerned, we need more competiton in phone/cable tv/HSI/ and so on.. so bring em on!

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: yukichigai
I'll reiterate this point again and again and again until people get it: being further away from the Central Office doesn't necessarily mean your speed goes down. Back in the old old OLD days of DSL that was true, but now most telcoms that offer DSL service deploy Remote Terminals capable of being DSL endpoints at various locations throughout their coverage area. These are almost always linked up to the CO via fiberoptic (and a lot of it) so the speed you get at X feet from an RTS will almost always be the same as the speed you get X feet from the CO. (give or take a millisecond of latency)

Besides, AT&T will only give you 6M DSL if you are within a certain number of feet of the CO or an RTS, (6,000-something according to the article) unless you get an override from the engineering department. (They have to come out and run some tests to verify that you're capable of getting the speed) 90% of the time if they let you sign up for 6M down (that's maximum 6M down, by the way) you'll get something in the 4.5~6M down range.

For those of you worried about the cost of the phone line, look into Federal Universal Phone Line service (cheap pricing if you make under 12k a year, e.g. college students) or a metered line. (Usually $5/mo + taxes, then a ~$0.20/min charge per call, which can easily be avoided by never plugging in a phone)

what is this Federal Universal Phone Line service?

 

[uhohs]

this is the expert plus package right?
anyone know where the online link to signup is?
i'm paying ~45 for this right now.

 

[Carazariah]

Actually each state is different.

Some states require SBC/AT&T to offer Naked DSL (DSL w/o a phone line), like California for example. You will need to go to SBC/AT&T's site for DSL offers to see what is available in your area.

(most of the deal prices $12.99 for 1.5 down for 1 year etc. .etc do require a phone line)

C

 

[Athena]

I wonder how they are going to handle this for existing customers. Will we be able to upgrade from the Pro service for that price? Our $24.99 contract expires in 37 days and they won't let us renew at the current promotional price of $17.99. Will they let us upgrade for $3/month more?

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Athena
I wonder how they are going to handle this for existing customers. Will we be able to upgrade from the Pro service for that price? Our $24.99 contract expires in 37 days and they won't let us renew at the current promotional price of $17.99. Will they let us upgrade for $3/month more?

Yep, you can upgrade. I just did. Takes 5-7 days to go through, and you have to be under 7000ft from your telco CO/RT.

BTW- you need to be under 12000ft for 3.0 service, and under 15000ft for 1.5mb. Over 18000ft you get squat

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: ebaycj

Originally posted by: 13Gigatons

Sadly the 6 megabit is a sync speed so you will only get 5.2 megabit download speed but comcast isn't really producing 8 megabits downloads either since they oversell their network.

WRONG. I have comcast gold plan (8mbit/1mbit). I ALWAYS get between 7.9 and 8.5 megabits down and 0.95 - 1.0 megabits up with them, these are actual download speeds. Sometimes I need multiple connections to saturate my full bandwidth (i.e. the other end is the bottleneck). I have never seen these speeds dwindle, and have been on the high-speed plan since they began offering it (1 year +). NOTE that it is very dependent on having a new modem. My speeds were ~4 mbit/0.6mbit on an old RCA DCT215, upgraded the modem to a Motorola SB5120, and BAM! 8mbit/1mbit every time.

This 'overselling the network' crap from DSL fanbois is getting old..

Other than that, nice price...

Maybe you live somewhere weird, but I have 6mbit Comcast, and I get around 5500kbps on DSLreports. Back when it was 4mbit or 3mbit, I would always shoot over (like 4mbit, I was getting close to 5).

I always thoguht Comcast never oversold and even though I'm from a rich@$$ neighbrhood where EVERYONE had Comcast simply because DSL was out of range (substation was ~2 miles away). I was amazed, but when they upgraded to 6mbit, I never met those numbers. However, I don't really care because 5mbit is fast enough for me. Also, I hate DSL because it dies on me half hte time, and 3mbit is pathetic. But still, don't tell me Comcast doesn't oversell because they do.

I go with whatever service is most worth it, and in this case it is Comcast even though they don't hit 6mbit.

I have SBC in my apartment and its annoying. Comcast at home and it's great.

 

[cvrefugee]

Originally posted by: BooGiMaN
is this the same speed as the what used to be SBC's DSL Expert+ package?

Sort of. The Expert Plus package is 6016/608 sync, this new one is 6016/768. I have the grandfathered Expert Plus package and I plan to be re-rated on Monday for this new $27.99/month deal.

 

[mikeford]

Time Warner sent me an email just a week or so ago, double speed 8 mbps for $10 a month more than regular, but I am not that much of a bandwidth hound.

FIOS seems to be TOTALLY stalled as Verrizon lobbies to get a Fed or State by State law through instead of negotiation with each city for effectively a cable franchise. I think their tactic is to just install in enough places to annoy the rest of us sufficiently so we complain and help them pass the laws they want.

 

[rugby]

I called today and upgraded from my Pro (3.0Mbps/512Kbps) line to this. Total phone call time was just over 4 minutes.

I can get both ATT DSL & Comcast and I chose ATT DSL because I can run whatever servers I want on their line without violating any TOS. Can't do that with Comcast. Comcast in my area is great, but it's too much money. For the same price as Comcast (Only HSI) I get a ATT POTS line with unlimited local calling and a few features AND Elite Plus (6.0Mbps/768Kbps) DSL.

 

[Satyrist]

Originally posted by: rugby
I called today and upgraded from my Pro (3.0Mbps/512Kbps) line to this. Total phone call time was just over 4 minutes.

I can get both ATT DSL & Comcast and I chose ATT DSL because I can run whatever servers I want on their line without violating any TOS. Can't do that with Comcast. Comcast in my area is great, but it's too much money. For the same price as Comcast (Only HSI) I get a ATT POTS line with unlimited local calling and a few features AND Elite Plus (6.0Mbps/768Kbps) DSL.

Does one need to have any extra bundled features with the active line itself (Long Distance, Callwaiting, Voicemail, etc) in order to qualify for this deal?

It's happened in the past, is the reason I ask.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Satyrist

Originally posted by: rugby
I called today and upgraded from my Pro (3.0Mbps/512Kbps) line to this. Total phone call time was just over 4 minutes.

I can get both ATT DSL & Comcast and I chose ATT DSL because I can run whatever servers I want on their line without violating any TOS. Can't do that with Comcast. Comcast in my area is great, but it's too much money. For the same price as Comcast (Only HSI) I get a ATT POTS line with unlimited local calling and a few features AND Elite Plus (6.0Mbps/768Kbps) DSL.

Does one need to have any extra bundled features with the active line itself (Long Distance, Callwaiting, Voicemail, etc) in order to qualify for this deal?

It's happened in the past, is the reason I ask.

Nope. Just need basic phone service.

 

[Jtrav]

HAY GUYS I HAVE 100MEG CONNECTION FROM MY CABLE CO ITS SO FAST I HAVE TO USE A SPECIAL NETWORK CARD SBC SUCKS LOL


I had the 6meg package back when it was $45 and it was nice. I'd get about 5 meg and download around 620k/s max. For $30 its a steal.

 

[kindest]

been running the 6meg package from sbc for about a year now... love it..
wouldnt have it any other way.

 

[dhkkim]

anyone heard of vdsl?

hope sbc brings VDSL.

vdsl gets upto 100mbps.

 

[jmunjr]

I've been holding out for time travel since November 5th...

Originally posted by: Maybelline
Holding out for FIOS... Since I live in N. Texas, I'm hoping it won't be long. Though dumping my cable company has appealed to me on several occasions.

 

[chinkgai]

called, they denied me the deal.

said i had to get caller ID and two other features to get the price of 29.99

otherwise its 41.99 or something

price of caller ID plus two other features would be 11.99 -_-

he said i gotta wait till monday and try to do it online

 

[AMDBOY]

I'm gonna check it out. Any links handy? Adelphia has been bending me over for $59.95 a mo. for UP TO 6Mbs. I don't get anywhere near that, more like 3-4Mbs. Everytime I call & complain, they always run some bs check on the line & tell me about all the recent upgrades to the system. I don't see any improvements. We like to game, but with everything going up(gas , ins, etc.) I'm tired of being reamed.tia

 

[xyyz]

when will they offer this on their website? so far, it shows the 12-month 6mb service at around $50 per month.

 

[Svnla]

Whaaaaaaa, why can't BellSouth offer something similar?

I just checked BellSouth's website and here are what they have:
256Kbps = $24.95
1.5Mbps = $32.95
3Mbps =$37.95
6Mbps = $46.95

So envy with SBC/ATT deals.

 

[rugby]

Originally posted by: xyyz
when will they offer this on their website? so far, it shows the 12-month 6mb service at around $50 per month.

Monday is what I heard.

 

[Traveler]

It seems to be faster and cheaper. But it doesn't taste well if other telephone plan is a must-need. Otherwise is a higher cost.

Currently I'm running on drive-through 3Mbps DSL for about $38/month.

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: Maybelline
Holding out for FIOS... Since I live in N. Texas, I'm hoping it won't be long. Though dumping my cable company has appealed to me on several occasions.

My FIOS service is both slower and more expensive than this deal.

 

[leonc]

I'm actually just over 20000 feet and I can still get the basic (1.5m down/128K up)
from SBC/Yahoo DSL (now ATT). I can't upgrade and they say they had to install
fiber to the home or fiber to the curb -- I never saw them dig up anything, but
I get it at well over 18,000 ft. from the CO.

 

[aboothman]

freaking sweet....been waiting on this for years. Thanks dudes!!