this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2024
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[–] ATDA@lemmy.world 8 points 19 hours ago

I have spectrum or 500kbs DSL. That's it. That's such a a blatant lie anyone that has Internet will confirm.

[–] LordCrom@lemmy.world 9 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

We have 1 choice or nothing. If my ham sandwich suddenly provided bandwidth, id drop my isp in a heartbeat

[–] emptiestplace@lemmy.ml 1 points 19 hours ago

This is stupid, but I thought I'd opened the discussion for this post, and trying to make sense of your comment within that context was interesting.

[–] COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 2 points 17 hours ago

Unfortunately the next administration will likely agree with the ISPs on this. To an extent T-Mobile and Verizon 5G home internet has genuinely shaken up the industry. As long as low latency isn't a requirement of yours they're quite good. For me they offer higher upload speeds than my local ISP monopoly with similar download speeds.

[–] CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world 1 points 18 hours ago

Well, that is true for me in Canada with Teksavvy.

[–] seaQueue@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago

Stares in local duopoly

[–] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Fuck that shit. I switched to Starlink while flipping them off. Going back? Not even once

[–] Joelk111@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

The same issue is true with starlink though. So many in rural areas, and even some not-so-rural areas, have starlink as their only real option now. I love what starlink has done for rural internet access, as someone who had dial up (yes, not even DSL) up until 2018 when I moved. However, it's still a monopoly, and that's concerning. Starlink can essentially charge whatever they want for their service and have a market for their product. That's sorta scary to me.

[–] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

I literally couldn't care less when it is actually cheaper and infinitely better than any option we have here.

Who knows, maybe the other companies will think on the money they lose not being useful to customers and provide a better product, but for now, up to the point that is convenient to me as a customer, Starlink is fucking awesome 😎

[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 34 points 1 day ago

Hahahahahaha.

Fuck. It's so fake it makes me feel sick, I hate large corporations, especially ones with monopolies. It's disgusting.

[–] dogface47@lemmy.world 0 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Honestly, I can't even complain about my cable ISP. It's super stable. I have multiple game consoles, streaming devices in every room, and connected phones and/or tablets for every member of the family. And I'm in a VERY rural part of PA. Service Electric Cablevision, first cable company in the US. It's not WY level rural, but seriously. I don't know how much more I should expect. I can count on one hand with fingers left over if I wanted to count the number of times i had to call for tech support over the last 10 years.

[–] nroth@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not in NYC. Spectrum is my only option and they are flaky as hell

[–] zer0squar3d@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Pretzilla@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I'm sure the new orange flavored head will get right on it

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

shoutout to Andrews & Arnold, best ISP in the uk. I called to stop using them because I was leaving the country forever and they were like "good, what else do you want?" MFs gave zero shits and gave great high speed service.

https://www.aa.net.uk/

[–] notthebees@reddthat.com 68 points 2 days ago
[–] lickmygiggle@lemmy.world 75 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"excellent customer service" is a really weird to state "monopolistic practices"

[–] credo@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago

It’s a good way to say, “customer service that blocks the exit,” though!

[–] hig13@lemmy.world 37 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I work for an ISP, we have 10 second to 3 minutes hold times before you're speaking to a real rep, we have had downtime 5 times since I started working for them 4 years ago for maintenance (upgrading hardware to support larger bandwidth in different areas), we sell 1Gbps symmetrical speeds with unlimited data for $50/mo, we have 50k customers (in a specific area) and 5 customer service reps. Customer service quality is definitely important, but providing a service with minimal issues and great prices, that's why the ISP I work for can get away with such a minimum amount of representatives and continue to get a 4.7 star rating on Google as an ISP.

It's fun working for a company like this because you get to see how 50k customers paying for 1Gbps only use 70-85Gbps at any given time on average lol, people think they need a lot of bandwidth when in reality they just need a better router for their local network's bandwidth. WiFi hasn't been a great tech so far honestly, Wi-Fi 6 made a lot of improvements, maybe with WiFi7/8 that changes though. Big name consumer routers like Netgear have been dropping the ball with quality for years, but they still rake in the cash because at one point they made really great hardware.

I've learned a lot about networking because of this job, and it's given me a really great perspective of how awful Comcast/Xfinity/spectrum and CenturyLink/QuantumFiber really are, how much they try to get in the pockets of the people who make the decisions for infrastructure in our cities, there were so many hate ads against the ISP I work for during an election season all paid for by Comcast and CenturyLink.

Anyways, customer service is great, but quality of service is much more important. Having both is a win all around.

[–] RxBrad@infosec.pub 30 points 2 days ago (3 children)

1Gbps symmetrical speeds with unlimited data for $50/mo

God I wish I lived in the 2% or so of the geographic U.S. that had access to service like this. It's $116/mo here for Comcast's 1000/150Mbps service, capped at 1.2TB. Costs an extra $30 to remove that cap.

[–] dan@upvote.au 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I don't mean to make you feel bad but in my area in the USA I get 10Gbps symmetric for $40/month, through an ISP that has awesome support, provides a /56 IPv6 range to each customer, lets you use your own router, and is publicly pro net neutrality.

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Which isp is this? We nameshame, let's honorname too.

[–] dan@upvote.au 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Sonic

There's practically an unwritten rule among tech-savvy people in the San Francisco Bay Area (and some surrounding cities): If Sonic is available in your area, you must use them. Non tech-savvy people like them too, since their pricing is great and their support is actually useful. Nearly my entire street uses them, at least the people that don't still use cable TV.

[–] hig13@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Seriously, I'm in Utah so this isn't a thing out there, but thank you, I'm going to share this, and maybe, hopefully, we will become Sonic's competition some day <3 this ISP looks like the whole entire package and what I dream the ISP I am currently with becomes one day.

We offer everything Sonic does, Internet up to 10Gbps symmetrical ($200/mo which is competitive in it market), VoIP, TV, WiFi router rentals, but it's different than how Sonic is doing it. I wrote out a bunch of stuff, but afterwards I decided I may have started to reveal too much and it may become too easy to understand who I work for and my position... Long story short, you're a lucky bunch out there, Sonic seems fantastic and thank you for sharing this with me/the community.

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[–] g1ya777@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In Algeria no one switches because there's only one ISP.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 25 points 2 days ago

Customers must be very happy!

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 134 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Are ISPs transitioning to comedy now?

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago

They've always been a joke

[–] AlphaOmega@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

I live where there's 1 isp and 10 mobile/satellite providers

[–] ExtravagantEnzyme@lemm.ee 88 points 2 days ago

Ya, and the reason I've never been in a car accident is cause I'm a fantastic driver, not because I've never owned a car...

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 43 points 2 days ago (1 children)

USTelecom, which represents telcos such as AT&T and Verizon, said that "the competitive broadband marketplace leaves providers of broadband and other communications services no choice but to provide their customers with not only high-quality broadband, but also high-quality customer service."

That's so much bullshit in so little space that I'm surprised it didn't become a black hole.

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[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm contractually obligated to take it in the ass from the only ISP in town.

[–] bokherif@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago

NO it's because of the excellent customer service

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 46 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Welp, the gig is up. After all of these years we've been publicly pretending otherwise... these companies have finally seen through our charade. We no longer need to excitedly whisper to eachother in basements and bars, and other locals in the shadows, tales of how our local Internet service providers always go above and beyond for each and every one of us. Now they know we think of them not only as a part of our family, but also as one of our children, as kin, and with more esteem than our elders. Truly we are a blessed people. The future is bright my brothers, we can now rejoice openly in the sun the ISPs shine down unto us.

[–] Charger8232@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

ISPs are generally all equally as bad (except for Spectrum. They're probably the worst.). I stay with my ISP because they've never once complained about any of the torrenting I've done.

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[–] x00z@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The only reason I take their customer service up my ass is because it always sucks no matter what ISP I use.

[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago

The only reason I do it is because I have no other choice. For me it's either suffering with Comcast or using extremely shitty DSL (which is too slow for me to do my job properly). I live in a suburban area, but for some reason, my neighborhood has only one high speed option. And I know there are plenty of other people all over the country in the same predicament.

[–] makyo@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

All infrastructure should be owned by the government

[–] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 days ago

Or at least community cooperatives. Having no voice or say in how your fixed infrastructure is operated is asking to be exploited

My ISP's customer service is spectacular. It's literally THE reason I've stuck with my ISP the entire time I've lived here. Well, that and the fact that they're the only option.

[–] PhoreTwunny@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

I was lucky enough to have options after I moved a few years ago, and went with the smaller semi-local isp that offers better speeds for better prices, and no bullshit. The customer service is actually pretty good too. I hope more people get options like that, it felt so good to leave the big guys.

[–] angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com 22 points 2 days ago

I audibly laughed.

[–] andallthat@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

if you want to listen to 35 minutes of annoying music, press 1. If you want to get insulted personally by an operator stay on the line

[–] CodexArcanum@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Every 5 minutes, at max volume:

YOUR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO US. ALL AVAILABLE OPERATORS ARE HELPING OTHER CUSTOMERS. PLEASE STAY ON THE LINE.

2 minutes later:

DID YOU KNOW IS WORKING TO SAVE CUSTOMERS LIKE YOU MONEY? UPGRADE YOUR PLAN TO ULTIMATE TODAY AND SAVE! YOU CAN ADD BASIC CABLE TO YOUR INTERNET PLAN FOR FREE FOR 3 MONTHS. MAKE ANY SOUND AT ALL TO LEAVE THE SUPPORT QUEUE AND SPEAK WITH A NEW ACCOUNT SPECIALIST RIGHT AWAY.

returns to playing compressed elevator music through an old can

[–] dan@upvote.au 7 points 1 day ago

And "we are experiencing higher than average call volumes. Please continue to hold". Every single time you call. That's not how averages work!

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[–] darklamer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago

Most of the ISPs operating in my city's fiber network are reasonably good and the one I've chosen is honestly good, so from my personal point-of-view, that headline seems perfectly relatable.

[–] MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

The reason I haven't switched is because I have no real alternatives. I could try a wireless service, but it would likely be a downgrade as signal is not the greatest in my area.

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