I signed up with ATT Uverse Internet Service and want to rid myself of them as soon as I can. Due to rebates, etc. I've been stuck with them until they are finished crediting my account. I have a split line with the telephone since I don't have cable. My service is wireless (when it works).  Any suggestions for a good, basic and inexpensive internet service (Other than AT&T)? Their sales pitch was very misleading and I have had to spend hours on the phone with them over incorrect billing.

^ Let me know when you find an alternative. I'm kicking AT&T to the curb for the same reason (it's reliable, but my bill keeps inexplicably going up)

Ugh, don't remind me. I choose not to think about it....Service is fine but the $$$ just so my wife can watch the Real Housewives....

 

Ugh, don't remind me. I choose not to think about it....Service is fine but the $$$ just soI can watch the Real Housewives....

 

 

I corrected that for you!  I know you're "Juicy Joes" number one fan!  You prostitution whore!

^ we are married, what is mine is her's and what is her's is her's too...

 

Back on topic, I get just as frustrated trying to find a cheaper alternative, usually by the time I figure out the real price it's not worth switching...

 

 

WOW Cable is the way to go if it's offered in your area.  Call them up and plead with them to expand into the city proper.

I had Cincinnati Bell's DSL and the service was absolutely terrible. I paid $29.99 for their upgraded tier for speeds, and was barely pushing 2 MBPs during peak, so watching movies or playing online games was a pain. I went back to Time Warner Cable and went with their Broadband Extreme (thinking of Wideband soon) and could not be happier. I always have the lowest ping in the game, and my movies stream within seconds at the highest resolution. Customer service has been good and the billing is straightforward.

I have had nothing but headaches with Time Warner.  I dropped them 6 years ago because I was lucky if I had working internet service more than 1 day a week, and their rates kept going up and up and up.

 

Then, recently, I helped my sister-in-law set up cable and internet at her apartment, and it was a huge hassle.  I got a different price each time I called.  Some deals were internet only and some were phone only, and often times the deals were for internet only or cable only.  To get the best deal, after hours on the phone multiple times, dealing with many people who didn't have a clue how their pricing works, and getting quotes ranging from $39 to $69 for basic cable only, we had to order cable first over and then after it was installed add internet online after the cable was installed.  For some reason adding internet was a special, but not ordering new internet service.  As a housewarming gift, we paid her installation fee and first month.  The morning the installer was supposed to come, he said their system was down so he couldn't verify we had prepaid and she would need a check ready for the installation fee.  I told her not to pay, and he refused to come.  She had to reschedule.  A week later, they finally come install, then for her first month, they charge her the half the installation fee and the full first month.  We call and complain and they tell me they quoted me the wrong installation fee on the phone and that I never paid for the first month (her cable-only service was supposed to be $39.99/mo plus about $5 in taxes and fees, installation about $25, I had paid $70).  She never got it taken care of and ended up just paying the bill, hoping it'd just be OK after that.  She waits to add internet to make sure everything is going to be alright.  Next month, her bill is $68.  She calls and complains and they tell her that's just what the price is.  So, no, she won't be adding internet and likely will be dropping cable and looking elsewhere for service.

 

Personally, I never had any luck with AT&T either.  Their service was hit or miss, and even at its best was very slow (about 1.2 MBps even though I was paying for 3 MBps).

 

WOW has been great.  I always get the quoted speed AT MINIMUM (which is unheard of, every other company I have seen has gotten NEAR the quoted speed at best) and the bundle price was unbeatable (and only went up $5 after the first year introductory offer).  Also, the customer service is unbelievable.  Very hepful people, and a human actually answers when you call them.

They don't have WOW where I live. I will say our Time Warner cable, which is a cable modem, has been 100% flawless. We have never had a problem getting on, never had any equipment problems and have never needed service.

I really had no problem w/ Time warner at the time I switched. AT&T just had a better bundled rate, and had some neat add on services like multiview that seemed pretty cool. A year + later, and I haven't had a bill with the same amount on it yet. I've reduced my service to less than what it was when I signed up, and I'm paying significantly more, with no satisfactory explanation on their end as to why. Their customer service related to billing is atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. They're only open until 7pm, and you are on hold for a minimum of 45 minutes each time you call. A minimum. One time I called and they picked up right at 7pm, I started to explain my situation, and they hung up on me! When I called back, they were closed for the night. My blood is boiling just thinking about it.

 

On the upside, their internet speed has been very good (enough to stream Netflix without an issue), and the technical service people for the most part are helpful. I've just really had it with paying what I have to in order to get these services.

AT&T is horrible, had it for almost a year and had nothing but problems with it due to poor billing and internet service. I'm suprised my computer lasted for that long because it would frustate me to the point where I wanted to give the screen a one/two punch lol. We just switched to Time Warner last week and its been pleasently good, no problems yet and hope that continues. Plus we're paying significantly less about 60$+ with having are net and phone service along with our cable to TW. I wouldn't advise AT&T to anyone :-D

Their customer service related to billing is atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. They're only open until 7pm, and you are on hold for a minimum of 45 minutes each time you call. A minimum. One time I called and they picked up right at 7pm, I started to explain my situation, and they hung up on me! When I called back, they were closed for the night. My blood is boiling just thinking about it.

 

I think that's fair, actually. Maybe they could be courteous about it, but I get infuriated when someone calls at 4:45 PM (15 minutes before the official close of the day) and wants to stand on the line for 30 minutes talking about some big project they want done or why something isn't working. If the line closes at 7 PM, then don't call at 6:55 PM and expect to get decent service - you will almost always get a) it's the end of the day message, or b) call back tomorrow.

Their customer service related to billing is atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. They're only open until 7pm, and you are on hold for a minimum of 45 minutes each time you call. A minimum. One time I called and they picked up right at 7pm, I started to explain my situation, and they hung up on me! When I called back, they were closed for the night. My blood is boiling just thinking about it.

 

I think that's fair, actually. Maybe they could be courteous about it, but I get infuriated when someone calls at 4:45 PM (15 minutes before the official close of the day) and wants to stand on the line for 30 minutes talking about some big project they want done or why something isn't working. If the line closes at 7 PM, then don't call at 6:55 PM and expect to get decent service - you will almost always get a) it's the end of the day message, or b) call back tomorrow.

 

I don't have a horse in this race, but I totally disagree.  Just because a call center, stops receive calls at X time, that does not mean that the staff ours end at that same time.  That's bad customer service and the consumer should not be put on the defensive.

Their customer service related to billing is atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. They're only open until 7pm, and you are on hold for a minimum of 45 minutes each time you call. A minimum. One time I called and they picked up right at 7pm, I started to explain my situation, and they hung up on me! When I called back, they were closed for the night. My blood is boiling just thinking about it.

 

I think that's fair, actually. Maybe they could be courteous about it, but I get infuriated when someone calls at 4:45 PM (15 minutes before the official close of the day) and wants to stand on the line for 30 minutes talking about some big project they want done or why something isn't working. If the line closes at 7 PM, then don't call at 6:55 PM and expect to get decent service - you will almost always get a) it's the end of the day message, or b) call back tomorrow.

 

2 things I'd point out 1) I wasn't aware of a 7pm cutoff, not that it should have really been an issue since I had called at 6:15!

2) I didn't get a message indicating the offices were closed. I got a person who took my call, then HUNG UP ON ME because she didn't want to deal with the problem. After I had been on hold for 45 minutes.

 

None of that is anything I would consider 'fair' or even close to a satisfactory experience.

Ugh, don't remind me. I choose not to think about it....Service is fine but the $$$ just soI can watch the Real Housewives....

 

 

I live in the city and TWC is worse. Get an air card for  Internet and watch Hulu+

 

I corrected that for you!  I know you're "Juicy Joes" number one fan!  You prostitution whore!

Ugh, don't remind me. I choose not to think about it....Service is fine but the $$$ just so my wife can watch the Real Housewives....

 

I noticed that Cincinnati Bell's FiOptics service is now available at my house in Northside. I have no reason to switch since the tiers are priced almost exactly like TWC's RoadRunner service, but I do wonder how the real-world performance compares between the two.

Cincinnati Bell's FiOptics is terrific. I've had it for 3 years now at $78 a month for basic cable (no converter, HDR box) and 20Mbps. I just have to call once a year to get the current package discount (usually 20Mbps for the price of 10Mbps).

 

Let's visit this topic again, unfortunately.

 

Looking for an internet service provider in the CLE proper.

 

Does anyone know of any alternatives to AT&T U-Verse internet? They talked me into changing my original internet service I had with them and was satisfied with, and sold me on an upgrade of which they said I would be saving money. Yes, I fell for it and now I'm paying the price. Well actually I not paying for the additional fees they tacked on above and beyond what I was told would be my monthly bill, and I am tired of going round and round with them about their deceptive practices and tactics. Now their sending me past due notices with late fees of which I refuse to pay.

 

I am not interested in satellite, so Dish and  DirectTV are out, but can people comment of TWC, WOW, or some other IPS that I, or others do not know about. Help please.

I think they're all about the same degrees of terrible service. I have TWC because it's really one of my only choices. I almost switched to uverse and when I called TWC about their offer to give them a chance to beat it, they were able to explain to me how the fine print actually meant i would be getting slower internet (mine is slow enough, thanks) and with data caps, so I decided to stay.

 

I find the best way is to just bundle the services. It's a big bill all together for cable, internet and land line (I keep a land line for emergencies only; I have a small child), but it's much less hassle for me than trying 40 different combinations of work-arounds like Roku and crap. It's about 40 each for the internet and cable and a small amount for the phone, and then tax and stuff on top of it.

I am happy with Cox Communications, but it isn't available in all communities.

Does anyone know why Fioptics is not available in parts of Over-the-Rhine and Downtown, but is available all over the suburbs?

^Because it requires a huge infrastructure investment, so it's been rolling out to areas where they expect the highest number of customers.  The schedule was probably laid out a long time ago, when OTR wasn't yet the hot market that it's becoming.  Also, as with most companies in Cincinnati, there is probably a huge bias toward the suburbs in play.  Newport just got Fioptics a few months ago, so I would assume OTR will be soon.

I believe FiOptics actually started out as a utility run by the City of Lebanon. When Cincinnati bell bought it from Lebanon a few years ago, they started expanding it south towards Cincinnati.

 

I think Cincinnati Bell's website is sometimes wrong when it comes to availability. For the past several years I have been tweeting at their customer support account, asking why FiOptics was not available on Main Street in OTR. Finally, earlier this year, they responded and we had an email exchange, where they informed me that it was actually available at my address. Those online checker tools can't deal with older urban areas where a single building might have more than one street address, and the apartment numbers might be tied to a different street address in their internal system.

^agreed.  I called and actually talked with a commercial service representative at Cincinnati Bell and if we commit to certain usages over the next 3 years, they will bring FiOptics to our building.  Looks like we will have it next month.

After harassing Cincinnati Bell on Twitter for a few years about getting FiOptics in OTR, they finally told me that it was available at my address. However the installer came out today and determined that there is no way for me to get the service up to my unit. Unfortunately, when this building was renovated, they did not think ahead and install CAT-5 cable up to each unit. So in order for anyone here to get FiOptics, we'd need to run that at our own expense first.

After harassing Cincinnati Bell on Twitter for a few years about getting FiOptics in OTR, they finally told me that it was available at my address. However the installer came out today and determined that there is no way for me to get the service up to my unit. Unfortunately, when this building was renovated, they did not think ahead and install CAT-5 cable up to each unit. So in order for anyone here to get FiOptics, we'd need to run that at our own expense first.

 

Ugh, I hope that's not an issue with our unit.  We just found out a few weeks ago that we're within a ninety day window to finally get FiOptics.  If we'd have to rewire our whole building I'm thinking we'd go with Time Warner as much as that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

^ Sticking with them wouldn't be too bad. In order to stay competitive with fiber, they are rolling out higher speeds (upgrading existing plans substantially without raising the cost). I got a mailer about it this summer but have yet to see the increase at my house. Supposedly, it is coming some time soon:

 

http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/enjoy/better-twc/internet.html

I've been decently happy with my Fioptics plan. I originally got 20 Mbps service when I moved into my condo which was $45/month. When that plan finished I upgraded to 50 Mpbs service for $65/month. The speed is significantly faster but they never updated my monthly pricing. I'm curious as to why but I'm sure as hell not going to bring it to their attention.

 

If you have the option I've heard everyone who has switched from Time Warner as being happy with that switch.

I just got a notice that Cinci Bell will be adding a $7.99 monthly fee for modem rental.  I called and talked to some guy from India who said there is no way to avoid the fee, even if I buy a modem.

^ You should probably call Cincy Bell and talk with someone else. It if pretty common for people to buy their own modems to avoid renting one from their ISP. Of course Cincy Bell isn't going to be supportive of it but if you Google it, you can probably find post from other people that have done the same.

Or just call and threaten to cancel. They'll remove that fee in a heartbeat. Every case of "we're raising your rates for X" case in the past I've talked to someone and they've waived the fee increase. Most ISP are more interested in just keeping you a customer than nickel and diming you since they're already making such a vast profit off each customer.

Ask nicely and politely to speak with a manager.  I got out of my Fioptics rental fee by explaining that I have my own wireless router, that I'm not even using the one that the installer insisted that I needed, and that everything was working just fine.  They were able to waive the fee for me for a year, and told me that I just need to call again in another year to get it waived again.  Of course, this was for a router, not a modem, but I've found that even most IT people use the terms interchangeably now that there are so many varieties of modems, routers, switches, and hubs out there.