Question: Reliability of Ameritech DSL near Chicago

[RSMemphis]

Someone I know has had some troubling issues with Ameritech DSL in the Chicago area lately. Basically, the DSL modem will try looking for a connection, and only after hours it will find it. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes it doesn't.
What irks me the most is that the tech support typically talks the user through creating a new profile (for PPPoE), and by the time they are done, somehow the modem got the connection again, and then it magically works.

I am now wondering if it's just the DSL modem that is faulty/incompatible, or if there is more to it. Did anyone notice a DSL outage today at 2/3 pm central?

Thanks!

 

[Novgrod]

I had ameritech dsl for about eighteen months in chicago (hyde park) and it was often sporadic, but more often it would be on for a week then off for a couple hours--at a couple points it was off for a day-plus. Never did it have problems daily though.

 

[RSMemphis]

Hmm, thanks for the opinion. That could be what I am looking for...

So, an additional question now - any experiences with AT&T DSL in that area? Is it better at all?

 

[RSMemphis]

bump... Any more opinions?

 

[MacBaine]

I had it for about 6 months about a year ago. We had Earthlink first, but it had lots of problems, so we decided to try Ameritech. Ameritech was by far the worst of the two. It was out for a majority of the day, and their tech support was worthless. they kept blaming Covad, and vice versa. We finally dropped them and got a complete refund for the 6 months, and stuck with Earthlink. Now Earthlink works just fine, hasn't dropped out once in the last 6-8 months or so. BTW, I am in Lake Zurich, a little N of Chicago.

Edit: Your problem is most likely something with their routers. We eventually found out that there was a faulty router in the Chicago area which was causing massive drop outs, and once they fixed it, Earthlink hasn't dropped out once.

 

[RGN]

I've only seen that the biggest problem is new installs. I've seen problems like the line isn't provisioned or there is simply a line problem. After the line problems are taken care of you need to activate it, then the billing people have no idea why you would be calling, as they have no record of you. The usual install is about a week longer than what they tell you up front.

No matter what company you go with, they would be leasing Ameritech/SBC's copper anyway. Ameritech/SBC has been know to not play nice with these little providers.

I had one poor lady call me to say that Amertich/SBC had turned off her DSL for no reason. One day it didn't work, she called them and they couldn't figure out why there was a disconnect order. She canceled and went with ATTBI's cable modem service. ATTBI is something that has worked wel for me, its been fast and stable. But its limited area is a problem.

 

[RSMemphis]

Thanks everyone. That's what I feared.