🚀 go-pugleaf

Charles,

I know you asked last week for a show of posts from customers using ADB and
whether they like it or not.  Count this as one response to that.

I'm not trying to be coy, but "like it or not" can't really tell the story.
Some thoughts and data follow:
- ADB, or as it has just been renamed: AT&T Wireless Digital Broadband
(AWDB), is a truly frustrating organization to deal with.  But from what I
hear and read on many newsgroups, many telecom companies and broadband
carriers can be too.
- You'll recall that the AWDB service is a local phone service, with the
"high speed data" as an option.  You can't get the HSD without taking the
phone service, at least in DFW.
- Both the phone service and the data service have had their good times and
their bad times.
- The phone service has hit some real quality problems in the last few
weeks.  It had previously been real solid for several months.  Since both
the phone and the data are digital TCP/IP over the wireless link, everything
is run by software.  There's no such thing as POTS with this phone service.
I think software testing & quality control really got away from them in the
last few weeks as they tried to fix a couple of problems and ended up
introducing many more.
- Other than an intermittent but debilitating data throughput problem over
the last 6 weeks or so, the data service has performed pretty well and been
pretty reliable for several months.
- I run an automatic test every 30 minutes of download performance from a
server on the AWDB network, just a couple hops away from my PC.  The data
link is nominally 512 kbps down & 128 kbps up.  Since March 1 my automatic
download tests show: Average - 467 kbps, Maximum - 665 kbps, Minimum - 162
kbps.  Uploads generally run about 80 kbps.
- The cost of the phone service is similar to SWBell.  The 512/128 HSD
service is a pretty good deal at $34.95/mo, including the ISP.
- I'm in far North Dallas, near Hillcrest & Campbell.

Bottom line, broadband access is like a drug.  Once you've had semi-decent
broadband, you can't conceive of going back to dial-up.  As long as AWDB is
my only broadband option, Yes I'm keeping it.  When DSL or cable modem
service shows up (which might be right about now for DSL, per the posts from
my neighbors "RRR" and "al" in a thread just up from this one), I'll
consider it seriously.  But I won't be in a hurry to jump.

HTH,
Milo Brown

"Charles" <qrjne1@nveznvy.arg> wrote in message
news:914ACE27ADE7C513.6BD712FE9474E46C.104BA6D93727FA80@lp.airnews.net...
> On Mon, 05 Mar 2001 03:48:38 GMT, Frank St. Claire <fstclair@airmail.net>
> wrote:
>
> >I am happy for you and your three neighbors.  You obviously are not on
> >Tower 165 in Dallas.
>
> Perhaps it is a Dallas thing with its explosive growth. I'm here in
> Southwest Fort Worth and apparently it is working well for my neighbor. I
> also checked out that guy with the ADB web page who appears to be having a
> decent time with it. I think he is in south Fort Worth. Maybe Fort Worth's
> slower economy has some rewards after all.
>
>