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Tag: DSL

  • T-Mobile Expanding Home Internet to Help AT&T DSL Customers

    T-Mobile Expanding Home Internet to Help AT&T DSL Customers

    T-Mobile has announced it is expanding its home internet to 450 markets in an effort to offer service to customers “left high‑and‑dry by AT&T.”

    AT&T made headlines when it announced it was shuttering its DSL service. While the company said it would continue to offer service to existing customers for the time being, it is no longer taking new customers and considers DSL a legacy technology to be phased out.

    T-Mobile started offering wireless home internet in 2019, and has been slowly expanding its service. Following AT&T’s announcement, however, T-Mobile has kicked its expansion plan into high gear.

    “We can’t stand idly by while AT&T leaves potentially millions with fewer home Internet options at a time when our connection to the Internet is so vital — for work, remote school, connection with family and friends. That’s why we’re undertaking this massive expansion,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “The Carriers and the Cableopoly have consistently over-promised and under-delivered when it comes to broadband access. Thanks to our merger with Sprint, we can end this and give millions in underserved communities more choices and competition for high-speed home broadband.”

    The company’s service is $50 a month and, unlike many standard internet providers, has no equipment leases. The $50 also includes taxes and fees, much like T-Mobile’s phone plans. The service has no data caps, no two-year contracts and no “introductory prices” that rapidly expand once the introductory period is over.

    It’s a safe bet those terms will make it a hit with customers who are tired of traditional internet options.

  • AT&T Shuttering Its DSL Service

    AT&T Shuttering Its DSL Service

    AT&T has announced it is shuttering its DSL service, in a move that may leave hundreds of thousands without reliable internet access.

    AT&T has been increasingly moving away from DSL toward faster fiber connections. Unfortunately, according to a report, less than 30 percent of households in its market area are covered by the company’s fiber service. To make matters worse, according to Ars Technica, the company has previously said its fiber rollout is largely done, leaving little hope the remaining 70 percent of customers will receive the upgrade.

    As a result of the current situation, DSL remains an important type of broadband connection for millions of Americans, as it relies on copper phone lines for transmission. Despite its important, however, USA Today is reporting the company stopped taking new customers as of October 1.

    “We’re beginning to phase out outdated services like DSL and new orders for the service will no longer be supported after October 1,” read a corporate statement USA Today gained access to. “Current DSL customers will be able to continue their existing service or where possible upgrade to our 100% fiber network.”

    While the company says existing customers will be able to continuing using the service, it remains to be seen if that means indefinitely or just until AT&T moves on to the next phase of its DSL shutdown.

  • Verizon Gives Extra 15GB High-Speed Data to Customers

    Verizon Gives Extra 15GB High-Speed Data to Customers

    Verizon has announced several measures to assist individuals impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, including providing customers an additional 15GB of data.

    Depending on the type of plan a customer has, the data will be added to their plan in different ways. Postpaid customers with unlimited data will see the 15GB 4G LTE added to their hotspot data. For prepaid customers, and postpaid customers with finite data plans, the 15GB will be added to their standard data. Jetpack plans will also see the 15GB added to their standard data.

    According to Verizon, the data will be added to plans from March 25 to April 30. The data will be added automatically and not require any action on the part of customers.

    “We understand the hardships that many of our customers are facing, and we’re doing our part to ensure they have broadband internet connectivity during this unprecedented time,” said Ronan Dunne, CEO Verizon Consumer Group. “With so many Americans working and learning remotely from home, having access to reliable and affordable internet is more important than ever before.

    “While more than half of our wireless customer base is on an unlimited data plan, including all of our Fios and DSL broadband internet customers, we recognize there are many who may need additional connectivity during these trying times,” Ronan added. “We’re here for you and we’ll make sure you have what you need to stay connected.”

  • Verizon Sued For False Internet Speed Claims

    Verizon Sued For False Internet Speed Claims

    Have you ever been disappointed in a piece of technology or service after being convinced by a company salesperson that it is the way to go? I think most of us have. Typically we can return the item or cancel the service, but this isn’t always as easy as it sounds, and sometimes it can get messy if you signed a contract or weren’t explained a return policy correctly.

    A Los Angeles woman is suing Verizon for false claims regarding the speed of their DSL service. Patricia Allen claims she was duked into a plan upgrade that promised more speed (1.5 Mb/sec.), but when it came time to perform her connection barely reached half the speed.

    She tried to dispute her charges and was told by a Verizon technician that she simply lived too far from the source to ever receive the connection speed they advertise with the product. In fact, she was advised to downgrade as her lines can only accept a speed up to 768k /second.

    About three months ago, Cablevision Systems Corporation also filed a lawsuit against Verizon regarding DSL speeds. In this case Verizon was attacking the cable network provider for advertising false claims about the speed of their service.

    The irony of this lawsuit is that the FCC actually reports that Cablevision is consistently broadcasting at 90% of their advertised speed during peak usage hours and even higher during non-peak hours. So, essentially Verizon is accusing Cablevision, in their advertising campaign, of doing what Verizon actually does; promising higher DSL speeds than they can actually deliver.

    I don’t really know what to think about these antics from Verizon. Sometimes the big corporate machine is just full of BS. Possibly I am wrong, but it sounds like Verizon is being hypocritical in their ad campaigns and dishonest in dealing with their customers. Not good!

  • Usage Cap And Overage Fees Coming for AT&T DSL and U-Verse Internet

    Usage Cap And Overage Fees Coming for AT&T DSL and U-Verse Internet

    News is beginning to circulate that AT&T will implement a 150GB monthly cap on landline DSL, as well as a 250GB cap on subscribers to U-Verse beginning on May 2.

    Will this affect you and your Internet usage? Let us know your thoughts.

    DSLReports has learned that AT&T users will start receiving notices, about the change to the terms of service, sometime between March 18 and March 31. AT&T customers who exceed their usage cap will be charged a fee of $10 for every 50GB. (It should be noted is that the AT&T U-Verse TV Service WON’T count towards the GB cap).

    Engadget has an interesting statement from AT&T…

    “We are committed to providing a great experience for all of our Internet customers. Less than 2 percent of our Internet customers could be impacted by this approach – those who are using a disproportionate amount of bandwidth. We will communicate early and often with these customers so they are well aware of their options before they incur any additional usage charges.

    The top 2 percent of residential subscribers uses about 20 percent of the bandwidth on our network. Just one of these high-traffic users can utilize the same amount of data capacity as 19 typical households. Lopsided usage patterns can cause congestion at certain points in the network, which can slow Internet speeds and interfere with other customers’ access to and use of the network. Our new plan addresses another concern: customers strongly believe that only those who use the most bandwidth should pay more than those who don’t use as much. That’s exactly what this does – and again, 98% of our customers will not be impacted by this.”

    What are your thoughts on AT&T’s cap? Tell us what you think.