I Hate SBC Yahoo Already

SBC Yahoo is really our only competition here in Toledo, OH. I work for a local cable internet company. I've heard that SBC Yahoo DSL has got nothing on us.

Wow! Well-said, Chris.
And you might have “better control” of your bandwidth, but cable simply offers MORE bandwidth. I'll never go DSL.

You speak the truth, my (newly found) friend. I could go on and on about how their new alliance with SBC (Anakin and Palpatine, anyone???) is phucked up. I'm in the midwest (Kansas City) and, like you, it's either them or cable, and after you get past all their lack of customer service, the DSL isn't bad… but man, their customer (dis)service blows.

Told ya… Welcome to SoCal.

SBC rocks. I don't know about you but their service is decent and so are there price.

we have SBC yahoo at the gallery and it rules, but I know we're the exception. setting it up was a nightmare but it's been cool ever since. HOWEVER, I have friends who have been told they could get DSL on 5 different occations, set up the account, got the modem and everything, only to be told when the installations kept failing, “oh, I guess it's not in your area yet”.

yeah, sbc does make it difficult, but i got it working without installing any of their software or their lame adapter..
then a year ago they did that yahoo addon. i finally told them to stop sending me that crap, and they actually did.
xp is pretty quick with the setup, but the built in xp firewall delays your getting online, so disable it.. i'm sure you already know that.

i had gone with earthlink dls a few years back and had NOTHING but problems. the connections were shit, customer service was sub-par… i've got charter cable now and i couldn't be happier.
if you want results from sbc, tell them that you're moving to cable and they'll not only flip your switch on, they'll give you a better deal. a friend of mine did that. $20 a month for dsl ain't bad.

I've basically got screwed by SBC in the same way when we first moved to the valley. Now we have Comcast, who I hate just about as equally. I'm looking into Speakeasy, because of glowing testimonials.

I had SBC when they first started up DLS, before they got into bed with Yahoo, and my parents are currently using SBC/Yahoo. They are complete morons! I'm not even going to go into the horror stories with their customer service folks. I'm using a cable modem and am getting tons better bandwidth than my parents. Plus the customer support people at Charter are much easier to work with.

Seriously, SBC can suck my balls! They called me up saying that DSL was available to me. I sign up, get their modem in the mail, and then immediately get a call from their tech saying my neighborhood never could get DSL. They did this same exact scenerio to me again one year later. Like an idiot, I gave them a second chance. Those jerkwads can bite my yellow ass.

Got ya chris… LETS ALL CHANT… NO AOHell… NO AOHell… NO AOHell… NO AOHell… NO AOHell… NO AOHell… NO AOHell…

i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO… i dont YAHOO…

NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink… NO earthlink…

NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero… NO netzero…

It's unfortunate you guys don't have third party DSL resellers. They lit a fire under Bell Canada's ass up here and it's been a more consumer-friendly environment since. I'm with a third part DSL reseller that's specializes in geek users (i.e. no closed ports, servers permitted).

What's really cool is when they tell you the 2Wire device they sent you is not working properly, so THEY foot the bill to send a technician out to look at it and the problem is because the SBC people don't know how to configure the 2Wire device because “they're new devices and the support is done through 2Wire”. Yeah, lots of fun. I have to admit, though, I've had very little problems since then.

Woo. Somebody's hot. 20 bucks says you get a phone call from some flesh presser asking you to retract your statement, or offering you 3 free months or something pointlessly after the fact.
Thier bed… amen.

Chris–
I work for a cable company–probably not one that's local to you–but knowing how the infrastructure of both systems work, I'd very strongly choose cable over DSL. If you have any questions about that, drop me a line–I'm more than happy to talk to you about it. No guarantees as to the quality of service in your area, but I know that personally DSL was nightmares for me when we had it.

Once again I'll say, I just moved to the San Fernando Valley too. I called Time Warner and had Road Runner hooked up and running two days after I arrived.
I had DSL via Earthlink and then Cable via Road Runner in Ohio before I moved. I will stick with Cable over DSL anyday.

I was gonna get sbc dial up.
They told me it would have local numbers but, when I installed the software there was no local numbers!
I was mad!
I went elsewhere.

SBC is the biggest bunch of Yahoos around. Pun very much intended.
I used to work for a 3rd party DSL provider and anyone in the industry knows that you lease the lines from the local telco.
They don't know shit.
WE knew more than they did about even how their own system worked.
SBC should've just stuck with providing plain old telephone service and let everyone else do the DSL.

Let me just say this.
SBC sucks so very, very bad that I'm paying more, I mean like $20 bucks a month more with http://www.dslextreme.com
I was a SBC DSL customer for over 2 years and had more problems then you can count. Including one time when they wiped out my account, charged me (and then paid me back) for all new setup charges. When this was going on they said that they were talking to a “secrect department” to fix it. Yikes!
Although my new ISP buys from SBC I don't have to deal with freakin SBC and thats all that counts!

For what it's worth… when Chris says a program or service is good, I check it out. When he says it's shit, I avoid it. End of story.

I have SBC yahoo. I had the same problem as you with the activation date being one day and then having them tell me its actually 2-6 weeks after that date. I was so pissed, i yelled at them over the phone, then the 'tech' guy tried telling me all this BS that only a newb would believe. To make a long story short I got my connection turned on a week before they were going to. Those fudgers! I've had no problems with the actual service and internet connection. It works as intended. Their software had a big (negative) impact in speed, tis gone. Ok i'm goin away now. *goes away*

AOL Broadband?
lol i know im going to get shitlisted for that one, but i like em alot. a close friend has SBC DSL and they've screwed her over many times. Ive had to go over to her house several times to get her back online. i like AOL alot because it is the most idiot proof anything can get. plus i am the only computer savvy person in the family and they dont pay well enough for me to fix all thier PCs.

We just got Verizon DSL hooked up in our home last week. The modem install package was here 2 days early & a few hours later we got the e-mail saying we could install. We had no problems with the intsall & are loving not having dail-up anymore. We live just outside of Los Angeles, CA. So far so good, we'll see if that keeps up:)

Chris, I'd reconsider the cable modem thing, the network management hardware/software has greatly improved, I think you will really be happy with it and the much larger bandwidth.

Cable service in my area is great. I had the cable company install everything for me. They were offering $1 installs, so it was worth it. They also ran about 50' of new wire to replace older stuff, all for $1. I am very happy with charter.
Also, when I want to upgrade/downgrade my account, it takes about 5 min to do. And there are no contracts or anything. I love cable!

I had some of the same reservations when getting the SBC/Yahoo DSL service, namely installing all that software. I am in the Ameritech portion of the SBC network, and after talking with some tech support people (I got like, a 3/5 ratio of good ones, which is good in my experience) I was told that it isn't necessary to install the software, and a tech happily set me up with no software needed!
The only thing I ran into in the beginning was problems because I didn't put a filter on one of my phones. Don't forget to do that! You see, although it may seem as though the filters protect voice communications from DSL interference, the reverse is also true. Even if you aren't talking on the phone, if you have even one phone unfiltered, it will mess everything up. I discovered that from their uberhelpful help site, http://help.sbcglobal.net/.
I am totally happy with my DSL service, and it is much better than the cable service I used to have from Adelphia, where I encountered nightmares which are indescribable.
I'd give SBC/Yahoo another chance, and honestly, if the only major problem is waiting till the 28th, trust me, it is worth it.
In closing, I'd remind you that the software isn't needed. Just call until you get a tech that knows how to do a manual connection – ask for it point blank, and you will recieve.

Dude… What's wrong with cable? It's less expensive than DSL (at least in my area) and I've had a really great experience with it. The downtime in minimal, and I've never had the legendary bandwidth problems that the anti-cable biggots scream about. I've never had my bandwidth suddenly go down the tubes because the kid next door was downloading 1500MB movies… Oh wait… I am the kid downloading 1500MB movies. Nevermind.

Yea im with him, whats wrong with cable based broadband? be happy, atleast its not satelite.

I've had SBC DSL for the past two years with no problems. Before that, I had cable. Set-up was a cinch for both services. The difference is one of technology. Cable could be faster at times, but there was no consistency. Once the rest of my street was wired with cable modems, I was better off using dial-up since everything slowed to a crawl from 7pm to 2am. Customer service blew, too, so I switched to DSL and things got better: consistent speeds above a meg and much cooler services with yahoo (free consumer reports, games on demand among others). And now, DSL is the best buy in town – $30 a month!

I feel your pain

When I switched to SBC Yahoo I too got my modem early. I simply had to call and ask and they initialized my account 8 days early, no problem. Call again.

You're in LA right? It's a shame, but if you moved south, you could have Cox cable modems, and trust me…good stuff there. Then again, I'm biased…I work for Cox in Omaha. :-) But wow….I'll never go DSL in place of other broadband. I'd even consider dial-up (maybe only for a short time) over DSL. I'm not sure what you mean about reliability though…get a cable provider that offers digital phone service…then the FCC regulates a 99.999% uptime of the network….make for some pretty reliable network.

After reading other comments here, it looks like it all depends on the cable provider as far as how good it is. If you're basing them off of Mediacom, don't. Mediacom is the most half assed company I've ever sub-contracted for. After doing installations for Cox, and then doing Mediacom, I felt like I was cheating the customer or something because of how low Mediacom's SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is. Not all providers are crappy….but cable is the way to go IMO.

Though it doesn't happen often, it's reading things like this that make me glad to be a bellsouth customer. Though I've had a few knockdown drag outs with their techs over the last three or four years, the service as a whole is outstanding. Cable isn't an option here for broadband yet, so i had DSL by default. Couldn't pay me to switch now, unless it's to something even faster.

I had SBC DSL once I will never use it again. Heck I will not even use SBC for anything. Unfortunately there is not to much choice around here.

Chris,
Have you tried plugging the modem in and checking for sync? Customer service at SBC is notoriusly bad, however their data is not updated and refreshed often enough. You may have sync already.
I know that you will use XP's PPPoE dialer or RasPPPoE if needed or you probably selected a static IP.
Come over to http://www.broadbandreports.com and enter the PacBell SBC forum, the techs there can address your problems and move up the connection date if need be. No I do not work for SBC, I had nothing but problems with Earthlink and no problems with SBC.

I was going to say a few things, but momma said, “When you ain't got nuthin' nice to say…” I'm sorry you feel the way you do about your due date. We've got some great techs that would be happy to help you in any way at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/ilec,pcb ……….. toaster2k ……… Beach boy ……….. CCCMTech ……….. They are top-notch, very knowledgeable techs that go the extra mile and then some. And, you don't have to wait on hold…

Heres the skinny with DSL service. It doesnt matter who your service provider is. What matters is who owns the phone lines. If it's PacBell, Verizon,or Sprint that own the hardware, your DSL provider must place a call to these Trolls and ask them to “flip the switch”. Thats why they need time to do that. In my case Verizon ,which is on a work slowdown, won't “flip the switch” until they feel like doing it. T-Mobile will have to wait till their HotSpot till next week according to Big V which sucks royally to WiFi users. So its not SBC's fault for taking so long, its the guys that own the phone lines. hmmmkay?

Bravo- I have Yahoo SBC and I am stuck too. What to do? Another DSL comes to columbus, Ohio and I'll pay extra to change.

DSL Sucks period no matter who it is from!! Go with cable, you should know that???? If i could not get Cable I would just dial up..

I use Verizon DSL here in Reading, PA and have never had a problem with them. As for the wait time. Well, do they not attach a device at the “other” end of your phone line? Verizon owns the switching office so is “there”, yet it takes time to get the equipment attached to the opposite end of your phone line. As for cable, this sounds like the Microsoft vs. everyone else. The cable guy that installed our cable said do NOT get internet service from them. He said the system is already becoming overloaded and is very slow and downtime is terrible.
So I guess to each his own?

I've got SBC Yahoo DSL and I'll tell yah why.. TimeWarner Cable fried my PC by not grounding it ANYWHERE.. the terminus was their modem and my PC .. they refused to pay for the repair (estimated $400) and spent more than that proving they weren't responsible despite the flaming (smoking actually) modem. I got SBC DSL and I have never had a problem at all.. I got my modem 1 day prior to the “flip on” date and I installed it myself with no problems at all. The service has been great.. of course this is in Ohio – your experience may (and certainly seems to) vary.

SBC sucks, but it's cheap. Here's my horror story from last month:
Chicago. I'm moving out of my apartment, my roommate's staying, but the phone line and DSL are in my name. I call SBC, tell them the only thing I need to switch is THE NAME on my bill. Nothing else. They say they've just changed their policy, and that they have to CANCEL my service, SIGN UP my roommate, and that they, for some reason, have to turn off our service for 2 weeks. I'm pissed, but fine, I don't have any other choice.
Two weeks go by, I call to ask why my DSL isn't back up. Long story short, I spent about 10 hours on the phone with them over a four day period, was told 5 times that someone would look into this and call me right back; that “you're too far from a phone router to get DSL” (after I'd already had it for a year), and that there was some hold on my account . I had to go back and forth between the tech support people, the billing people, and the people that actually “flip the switch.” (Also, there are different people for *new* customers to flip the switch and renewing customers to flip the switch.) I got to the point where I would instanly ask to “speak with the manager” the instant I started speaking with someone. Learned my lesson, too–I'll never call a tech support line again without getting badge numbers and names.
SBC: Possibly the worst-run company I've ever seen. They dropped the Ameritech name because before they merged, *Ameritech* was the worst-run company I've ever seen.

It could be worse, where I was living at at the the time. The Best place in town to get cable modem was charter and DSL was still years away from being a competiter. If I could have I would have started my own ISP

Well Mr Chris sir … lol jk… i got COX n well besides the downage every once n a wile to mess up that hudge iso u got downloading it aint that bad. but it aint great. I'd say give me somthing better but there isnt anything better avialable to me. Cox aint bad, ainit great but they'll get worse as more members sign in. speeds will slow down, my support twords them will stop. As it is i cna upload a whole 30 KBYTE … may i say anything else?

I,too was appalled when first saw Yahoo advts and banners. Call to install support with a few choice comments, brought the advice to go to “Add/Remove” and uninstall everything containing the name “Yahoo”. Seemed drastic, but I did it, and have been perfectly happy with sbcyahoo ever since.

As a consultant I have had the pleasure of working with SBC on several install of SBC Yahoo DSL, as it only recently became available in our area.
There is a website that you can get your username and password without all the bloatware that they cram down your throat BUT, they refuse to give out that location and I have to continue to load all the software to get the user logged in and then slowly remove all the crud.
Having said all that, once all the stuff is removed… The service works quite well and has been a godsend to this deserted part of the digital world…
One side note, beware of getting a static IP, NO ONE at SBC has a clue as to how to implement it..!!! It took me two weeks before I could find that all that was needed was to add a simple line to the login to accomplish this and it came form someone outside SBC… If only SBC would realize that there those of us out here that want to spread their product if they would make it easier for all…!

I have to say that I'm not in love with either cable or DSL, but DSL is more tolerable. I lived on the corner of two major streets in a middleclass St. Louis suburb. Most of my neighbors are elderly widows and don't have cable.
I originally had my Cable Modem through Charter. It took them 4 weeks to attempt to install the actual cable to my side of the street. When they only sent one man, he couldn't do it because it required two and a truck to run the cable. The next weekend was labor day, so no work was done. The week after that, they ran the cable to my side of the street, but didn't do the inside wiring, that had to be done by another guy that came a week later. But he couldn't do the cable modem installation. That required two other guys three weeks later, but both of them were allergic to cats and so I ended up typing in the numbers that would finally turn my cable modem on.
Only 3 months from ordering to working, no problem in this fast paced society.
The final straw was when they capped the lines for 40k/s. I switched to SBC and get 200k/s.
Though I've had to fight tooth-and-claw to NOT get the Yahoo! “upgrade”.

Wow I feel superior now. I live in Santa Monica. I have DSL through Verizon. It took them 3 days after I signed up to get me the modem. I installed it myself. In the last 2.5 years I have had maybe two down periods of at most an hour total.

What a mixed bag here. We need consistancy. I liked the Canadian's cmments about more competition.

I couldn't disagree with the original post more. I've been using SBC DSL for more than a year. It was easy to set up and install and I was on the air within a short period of time. There've been no outages and the speed is excellent. I'm in Illinois if that makes a difference, but I'm a very happy user and the monthly charge of $29.95 is as low as it gets anywhere that I know of.
Murray

Sucks to be you. I received my self install kit 2 weeks before my turn on date. I hooked it up anyways, the dsl light came on so I called SBC. I was hooked up in half an hour. Plus I was able to setup my account info over the phone and not install the crappy software that comes with it!! I guess I received the bonus pack then.

Thank you Chris and Bless You,
At least your voice was heard. I have just had the most harrowing experience with SBC. If you make these folks mad, they will bust you hard. I'm online now, although their installer wouldn't install. Just so happens, I've been doing this since '93 helped a lot; I was able to do it myself. The terms of the sale changed in mid-stream; the reply was 'We're sorry that you were told that, but now you have been told otherwise and you now have the opportunity to cancel if you choose. If you would like I can have the legal department contact you and explain this to you.'
Talk about audacity. But not to worry, Grande Communications is coming in. You are so right; these people are going to lose their shirts. They pissed off the wrong guy this time, I have a lot of free time; I only work 8 days a month. HeHeHe. I'm also a member of Harris Polls. HeHeHeHeHe.

I keep hearing about this supposed bandwidth issue with cable internet, and yet in over 2 years, I have never once had a problem. I don't know, maybe it's just me … but I don't think it really happens.

I had a similar experience with Verizon DSL here in NY. Called for the service and promptly received the kit. It took another week to receive the service! Now the install process… with my Linksys router being PPPoE aware, I figured I could just put in my name and password and BING! I'm off. But noooooo..I had to install 100+MB of Verizon crap plus MSN (ACK!) to activate the account AND it wouldn't detect and internet connection through the router.. SO.. I disconnect the router, activate the account, uninstall the software then reconnect and configure the router. Since then I've had excellent service, WITHOUT the software bloat and I still have access to all my account services through the WEB. What a pain.

I have had both DSL and Cable at various times, and have settled on cable mainly because it seems never to crash and gives me routine transfer rates of 1750KB when DSL was routinele 650KB.

I hate my SBC Yahoo DSL! I have had nothing but problems. From getting disconnected frequently, to screwed up bills and finally them accidentally deleteing my account and having to restart everything (which took them DAYS!?!?!) Sadly I signed up for the 1-year at $29.95 (althought I have been charged $59 some months, and $39 on others and had to call multiple times for billing adjustments that take 3 months to show on the bill???) and have been stuck since the contract buy-out is $200 and I'm not made of money. I plan on switching to something more reliable where the billing people can actually count in Sept. when the contract ends!
I live in Cleveland, Ohio.
::::deep breath::::: I could gripe more but I'll restrain myself.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-08-01&res=l

I hate sbc dsl to
they said we could get there service then we tryed to install and aparently we couldent so we canceled our order and sent back the modems , and they still tryed to stick us for $150 instalation charge on our next 2 bills, wtf?!!
we installed ourselves we wernt able to get the stupid dsl to far from there hub ? we sent back the modems , so what the heck do they think they are billing us for?

Everyone, Chris is soooooo right. If you only would have asked, I would have saved you the trouble.
I spent two and a half weeks trying to get an account set up with them and still even after speaking with the VP all they could tell me was that even though I qualified for service, I couldn't have it because their records indicated a problem with my billing for something that happened four years ago.
Anyone reading this: DO YOURSELF A FAVOR.
“”"”DON'T”"”" EVEN “CONSIDER” SBC AS A POSSIBLE SERVICE PROVIDER. ELIMINATE THEM FROM YOUR OPTIONS COMPLETELY IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
Furthermore, if you have a choice, don't bother with their Voice service either. Go with another service provider if you can!!! I did, and I have never been happier… :D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disgruntled Ex-SBC Wannabe Consumer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Phuckin Piece'O Mutha-F'ers…

No accountability. thats what upsets me the most. If you have a problem, you get routed and rerouted to idiots. each one dumber than the one before. Nothing pisses me off more than having to suffer for someone else's incompetence. If you screw up as a compnay you should be willing to step up and correct the problem and do it with an appology for christ sake!! Instead, I was yelled at by one of these idiots and told that I now had to wait yet ANOTHER week for my DSL to be turned on, all because they didn't complete the order on their end. I HATE SBC and I hope they rot in hell

Yahoo Sbc does suck ass. I subscribed for Yahoo Sbc Dsl service at 1500/128 and trust me, neither down/upload speed's even close. The speed is not stable at all and got disconnected all the time. Whenever it's raining or too hot, you would never be able to go online all day.(For the idiots telling me to look at cables and stuff, knock your head twice and hear that I'm a pure network guy). The people working at customer service are too low and hostile. I wonder how Yahoo Sbc can survive in the bussiness with this low-quality operation.
San Jose, CA.

SBC DSL is a pretty bad product. Especially if you are a business relying on your internet to work when you need it most. DSL is a shared and distance sensitive connection. I work for a company who does provide ecellent service and amazing phone and internet products. I can usually save businesses money and upgrade thier services to a T1 internet line, which is dedicated to them.
Let me know if I can help you out. agarofalo@talk.com

you are tight itried to keep my aol hook up but was told i hade to go throught the phone company’s yahoo which i hate and yes i got the weeks delay too. yahoo is extremely confusing but anyway now i am stuck with two internet providers that i have to pay for in order to use dsl. i too am steering people away from yahoo

I was just wondering if you still have that yahoo dsl install disk

I look forward to hearing from you

JMM

i HATE sbcyahoo too…those bastards neglected to withdraw our payment for services, then tried to bill us for a returned check! what check?? where? we used a debit card, there was never any check!and then they want to bill us for THIER screw up?? how many brain cells does it take to collect a lousy bill from a bank?? we provided the account number and all relevant info, so whats the deal? then without service(which would never been shut off IF they had simply collected the money frm thew bank account where it sat patiently waiting for over a month) for 3 weeks, we call and bitch and FINALLY get something done, but of course we find out that we’ve been charged full price for services NOT rendered during those three weeks…they give us a date that service will be back on, when that day arrives, its not on, so we call and scream at them, only to find that NOONE had any knowledge that our service was supposed to be turned back on….we screamed and hollared and fought till they gave us a whole free month and got our service back on…NOT AT ALL COOL!!! this company is a worthless one, they REALLY dont have thier stuff together!

[...] SBC Yahoo [...]

Since att has taken over sbc yahoo, it takes me an average of 2 hours to reestablish my connection. Some days I never can get online at all, and if I do it is not long before I get tossed offline again. And, what is with the “support personel” ? I’ve been told to unplug the ethernet cable from the pc and the modem and switch the plugs, call yahoo at the cost of $100 and other strange things for a connection that used to to work quite well. I’m ready to look for another provider.

I am with all of you on sbc yahoo, I had problems with the billing over and over so when I kept calling them of course I had to straighten out why I didn’t want a message running across my screen telling me who’s calling (duh, hey it is dsl why don’t I just answer it ) People I didn’t order it, then I had enhanced voice mail (I didn’t order) took three months to take it off but in the meantime I kept getting charged after I cancelled what I didn’t order to begin with.
I am going to dial up, it is better than sbc yahoo.
I will try to go onto a website and it tells me I am not connected to the internet, won’t let me on yet I am on my yahoo.
ATT sucks

Marriott in Agoura Hills, CA offers 240kbit/sec internet and calls it “HIgh Speed”! Note they use SBC, which in a speedtest showed the service to be located in Kansas. SBC and Marriott needs a reality enema.