Atlantic Broadband already screwing us over

Bird Dog

Bird Dog
PREMO Member
If you click Atlantic Broadband’s ad here on SOMD Forums it states site not ready.

Bad omen...
 
Just lost cable TV service and when I called and pressed all the right buttons the recording said call back between 8 and 11. I had 24/7 tech support from Metrocast. Grr.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
Why nit just get umlimited data on your phone and use LTE? Hell of a lot better/faster than satellite.
again, read the fine print. It's unlimited, but after say 10GB they throttle your service.
BUT, for an even larger monthly charge, they will up that line.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
Has anyone who used Metrocast done anything like trade in equipment or change to one of ABB's plans?
 

stgislander

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Has anyone who used Metrocast done anything like trade in equipment or change to one of ABB's plans?

We traded in our modem. No issues with the actual trade in. Took some work out on the pole to get the signal levels correct, but so far so good.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
Has anyone who used Metrocast done anything like trade in equipment or change to one of ABB's plans?

I'm confused, ABB just took over Metrocast, the network hasn't changed.
Was the metrocrap equipment that bad?

I'm done with them all, I think I'll go back to 4800 baud dial-up
 
I've been watching an outfit called ViaSat, waiting for it to become available here. Looking forward to getting rid of the DSL and associated land line (can't cancel land line without canceling DSL, Verizon policy).

www.viasatspecials.com/

If you enter a zip code from Virginia, you can get an idea on plans and rates.

Not sure what you mean by "associated" land line. Do you have a separate land line and a dedicated DSL line? We got rid of our VZ land line about 6 months ago but kept DSL. Just got rid of DSL last week.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
Not sure what you mean by "associated" land line. Do you have a separate land line and a dedicated DSL line? We got rid of our VZ land line about 6 months ago but kept DSL. Just got rid of DSL last week.

DSL is carried on the same wires as your phone.
Verizon provides a noise filter for any telephones on the line.
Services are billed separately but the phone service portion is minimal compared to the Internet.
We use to have Directv on Verizon which gave us the "Triple Play" discount, but when AT&T took over Directv our discount was gone.
Verizon gave us some temporary price cut.
So when I pull the plug on DSL, I'll cut the landline too.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
We traded in our modem. No issues with the actual trade in. Took some work out on the pole to get the signal levels correct, but so far so good.

Was there - improvement?

The bundle packages promise 100 Mbps - or *more*.
Metrocast, on a *good* day, might have delivered HALF that.

I'm also curious that a NEW customer might be offered a different set of equipment - with a different set of costs associated with them.
Right now - moving to ABB from Metrocast might as well be invisible, because apart from a different website - where the bill paying section is exactly the same except with different graphics (it actually has kept the same cookies for billing, so I know not MUCH has changed) - I'm still paying for everything under the exact same model as under Metrocast.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
Was there - improvement?

The bundle packages promise 100 Mbps - or *more*.
Metrocast, on a *good* day, might have delivered HALF that.

I'm also curious that a NEW customer might be offered a different set of equipment - with a different set of costs associated with them.
Right now - moving to ABB from Metrocast might as well be invisible, because apart from a different website - where the bill paying section is exactly the same except with different graphics (it actually has kept the same cookies for billing, so I know not MUCH has changed) - I'm still paying for everything under the exact same model as under Metrocast.

My guess is that it's just all just bovine bowl movement.

How can ABB promise more than Metrocast could deliver when they haven't added more wire (or fibre) let alone updated the rest of the infrastructure?
ABB is really nothing more than a name change, same way as Metrocast pasted a new logo over Gans (GNP) who pasted over Western Shore or pasted over... what, St. Mary's Cable.

New company comes in an promise better than the company they bought out, but they haven't been around long enough to change a light bulb let alone overhaul the network infrastructure.
Copper can only carry so much data and the more users you add, the less bandwidth each user has available. I look at Wildewood, where new homes are sprouting like weeds.
They extend the existing pipe, but I don't see an entire new trunk being laid in.
It's a ponzi scheme, seems somebody will get better service while others get their service cut.
They treat us like they have a monopoly and we are a bunch of dunces.

Oh wait, they don't have any viable competition, they are a monopoly AND PT Barnum was correct, there is a sucker born every day.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
AND PT Barnum was correct, there is a sucker born every day.

Minor historical nit - Barnum didn't say that -

The short version is, David Hannum was one of many people who helped bring the Cardiff Giant to the public
(after it was made and changed hands a few times).
It was an utter fraud - but people believed it was real, so they paid money to see it.
Barnum KNEW it was a fake, so he made his OWN fake (after being refused trying to buy it) and said Hannum's was a fake.
People went to Barnum's fake instead, leading Hannum to make the famous quip "there's a sucker born ever minute".

Later he tried to sue Barnum - but it's kind of hard to make a case when your OWN giant is *also* a fraud.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
Minor historical nit - Barnum didn't say that -

The short version is, David Hannum should be credited with famous quip "there's a sucker born ever minute".
Thank you, I stand better informed. I still think it's an appropriate quote in the case of St. Mary's County and cable service.
 
Was there - improvement?

The bundle packages promise 100 Mbps - or *more*.
Metrocast, on a *good* day, might have delivered HALF that.

I'm also curious that a NEW customer might be offered a different set of equipment - with a different set of costs associated with them.
Right now - moving to ABB from Metrocast might as well be invisible, because apart from a different website - where the bill paying section is exactly the same except with different graphics (it actually has kept the same cookies for billing, so I know not MUCH has changed) - I'm still paying for everything under the exact same model as under Metrocast.

After giving it a lot of thought, we finally pulled the DSL line and signed on with ABB for cable internet. I bought our modem and routers at Best Buy instead of using ABB's equipment. I also upped our subscription cable TV service. After all was said and done, I'm paying almost $100 less per month than what I was paying for the Verizon DSL and the lower cable TV package. So far, no complaints. I check my internet speed every now and then by going to the URL speedtest.net and the download is usually between 75 & 100 and the upload between 5 & 6 Mbps. Only Verizon service we have now are our cell phones. Of course when I cancelled my DSL, Verizon wanted to know why I was cancelling their service. I told her because their price was way to much. She said if I would stay with them, they could lower my monthly cost. I told her they could have lowered my monthly cost years ago but never bothered to do anything except continue to increase it. She wanted to know if I ever asked them to lower it and I told her it wasn't as if Verizon didn't know they were constantly upping the price! They still send me e-mails wanting me to switch back.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
You wonder why you have to "ask" them to cut you a deal when you've been a customer for 20 years or more. Then when you pull your business they get all like, "what can I do to make it better?"
I would have told them to get me FIOS or get out of my way.
We aren't getting FIOS down here because Verizon doesn't think there's enough business to be bothered.
When people start pulling their landlines maybe they'll wake up.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
We've been experiencing lack of feed from On Demand now, and it's getting worse. Anyone else?
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
We've been experiencing lack of feed from On Demand now, and it's getting worse. Anyone else?

Directv?

What we have experience since AT&T took over is that when you try to watch anything on the movie or On-Demand channels it loads over the internet connection.
Which for us ends up taking a long time and in the end it fails (but it shows up as a success) When we go to watch the show, it's not 2 hours, it's more like 6 minutes.

BTW, All the stories of why we don't have access to FiOS. Per a Verizon employee, Verizon would love to provide FiOS to people, particularly the current DSL customers but the socialists in Leonardtown are blocking it. They want Verizon to wire the entire county and Verizon says it can't afford to do that unless it has the customers signed up.
Further, some of the new homes are pre-wired for FiOS. At least on the 235 corridor side of the county.

I have read the cable franchise contract - it was posted on the web. My recollection is that the franchise that ABB now holds is not exclusive. Neither is the Comcast franchise (I think that's who is in the Charlottehall area. There were at least 2 contracts online.
 

glhs837

Power with Control
We aren't getting FIOS down here because Verizon doesn't think there's enough business to be bothered.
When people start pulling their landlines maybe they'll wake up.

What kills me is that they took the state and federal money to lay a fiber backbone all the way down to Ridge, but us plebes cant get on it.....
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
Directv?.

No. Atlantic Broadband. Looking back I realize the thread went off topic.

ABB is *bragging* about 200Mbps. Haven't seen ANYTHING close to that, AND I am getting daily drops in Internet, for a few minutes at a time.

Recently, On Demand has issued error messages saying, sorry, can't get it now.
Just wondering if this is typical.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
No. Atlantic Broadband. Looking back I realize the thread went off topic.

ABB is *bragging* about 200Mbps. Haven't seen ANYTHING close to that, AND I am getting daily drops in Internet, for a few minutes at a time.

Recently, On Demand has issued error messages saying, sorry, can't get it now.
Just wondering if this is typical.

what time of the day?

I know that unlimited on most networks isn't really "UNLIMITED". They throttle you down after you reach a certain limit.
Ethernet is 10/100/1000 rated, getting copper into the gigabit range on coax??????
With twisted pair it takes twice as many wires to carry gigabit
 

awpitt

Main Streeter
Directv?

What we have experience since AT&T took over is that when you try to watch anything on the movie or On-Demand channels it loads over the internet connection.
Which for us ends up taking a long time and in the end it fails (but it shows up as a success) When we go to watch the show, it's not 2 hours, it's more like 6 minutes.

BTW, All the stories of why we don't have access to FiOS. Per a Verizon employee, Verizon would love to provide FiOS to people, particularly the current DSL customers but the socialists in Leonardtown are blocking it. They want Verizon to wire the entire county and Verizon says it can't afford to do that unless it has the customers signed up.
Further, some of the new homes are pre-wired for FiOS. At least on the 235 corridor side of the county.

I have read the cable franchise contract - it was posted on the web. My recollection is that the franchise that ABB now holds is not exclusive. Neither is the Comcast franchise (I think that's who is in the Charlottehall area. There were at least 2 contracts online.

How are the "socialists" in Leonardtown blocking FIOS? I do know that at least one development, in Lexington Park has FIOS. The new set of townhouses being built off of Peg Road. So it is there.
 
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