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Review by furrygenesis 
UPDATED: 6 days ago
member for 143 days, 12 visits, last login: 2 days ago
 Meadville,Crawford,PA
 $45 per month
 "Fast when it works."
 "Extremely inconsistent performance. Repeated service calls required for the same issue."
 "If you're in an area that offers an alternative, choose something else."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Biggest single complaint is that I cannot ever get consistent service from this DSL. I've been dealing with repeated issues where my ping suddenly and inexplicably spikes into the 300 to 800 ms range. I've had three technician visits to resolve this issue, and none of them have been able to do anything other than replace flat phone cables with category five cables, which did absolutely nothing to resolve the issue.
In addition, despite their claims to the contrary, Windstream now has the greater majority of the customer service is now in India, which means people who are reading scripts and are impossible to understand. Not to mention, they are argumentative and believe all their customers are idiots and don't know what they're talking about. I'm trying to reach someone and it's taken me five calls just to get through.
This company cannot even manage their own corporate, internal phone system, and should not be trusted to run an actual external phone network. I strongly recommend looking elsewhere for service, because you're not going to have any sort of positive experience with Windstream.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Windstream |
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 Review by coldmoon
UPDATED: 16 days ago
member for 7.8 years, 882 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Broadway,Lee,NC
$80 per month (12 month contract)
 about 10 days
 AllTel
"Beats Satellite with a big stick"
"Over priced, excessive long distance charges, no competition in my area"
"Bottom line? If you can get another service provider, do so and don't look back!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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Tech Support:
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(ratings below consensus)
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Completely overpriced for the service they deliver. Marketing will tell you that switching to one of their bundles (3MB line with phone STARTS at 59.99 USD!) will save you money. Don't believe a word they say as you will be paying 4 times the amount for International calls (yes, this is the "discount").
Bottom line? If you can get another service provider, do so and don't look back!
Followup comments:  
Icon
Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Crockett, TX
 ·Windstream
·CenturyLink
| International LD isn't free I take it you didn't realize that "Unlimited Long Distance" means domestic long distance only? Otherwise, $60/month for 3/768 DSL, Long Distance, and all calling features is a good deal. Are you having problems with your internet also, or is the rant just about the International long distance? | |
| |
coldmoon
Premium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC
·Windstream
| Re: International LD isn't free quote:
I take it you didn't realize that "Unlimited Long Distance" means domestic long distance only?...
Hi Icon,
It is not that this was a mystery as I also have an international calling plan which is expected to have charges. The issue was that marketing presented a different "description" of what the bundle was supposed to cost.
Before the change to the Internet/phone bundle I had separate DSL and local land line service from Windstream with long distance provided by Sprint. This was costing (minus the Sprint LD service) ~$94/month without any long distance phone charges.
When cold called by marketing, I was pitched a bundle of internet and phone (local & Long distance services) for ~$60/month with unlimited LD in the US. This is a great deal I said to myself as I had the potential of seeing a large discount on what I have been paying for several years now.
Note: I fully expected that international calls would be an additional charge as well as the taxes for those calls plus the usual international cell phone connection fees (when appropriate).
When I got my bill this month, I was surprised to see that my actual bill had increased marginally rather than seeing the substantial savings I was anticipating due to the inclusion of fees and service charges that the marketeer had intimated were included in the $59.95 bundle price.
quote:
...Are you having problems with your internet also...?
The internet service has been solid without too many interruptions and I have always been satisfied with the physical service itself; where I have had issues overall is with the excessive cost of that service as compared to other areas in the Windstream network.
quote:
...or is the rant just about the International long distance?
There is no rant to what I wrote other than the fact that the service has always been overpriced for the speed available. The problem this review cycle is that I feel I was mislead by the marketing department. Whether this was due to lack of proper training for the marketeers or on purpose by omission is irrelevant as it still leads to a dissatisfied, long-term customer.
Kind regards
Mike
--
Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
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Icon
Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Crockett, TX | Re: International LD isn't free Hi Mike, thanks for the clarification. I have sent you a PM. | |
| 
Windstream
join:2009-03-31
Twinsburg, OH
2 edits | We are here to help! coldmoon - I apologize if you felt the savings from our calling plans were not what you were advised they would be. When you mention four times the amount for international calls I compared the rates for Windstream against TimeWarner cable (for the NC area) and found them to be very competitive. You can make this same analysis with the rate plans listed below, both of which can be found from the respective companies websites.
We do not require that you use Windstream for International calls. If there is anything we can do to assist you please let us know.
International Rates
Windstream International Rates - »www.windstream.com/residential/i···bers.pdf
TimeWarner Cable International Rates - »www.timewarnercable.com/Carolina···stChar=0
BP
--
We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com | |
| |
coldmoon
Premium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC
·Windstream
| Re: We are here to help! Hi BP,
thanks for the reply.
quote:
...When you mention four times the amount for international calls I compared the rates for Windstream against TimeWarner cable (for the NC area) and found them to be very competitive.
TW is not available here. The service I had for LD was Sprint which charges only 8 cents/minute (landline - landline) to the country I call frequently. Windstream charges 17 cents/minute for the same service; calls to cell phones are 26 cents/minute where Sprint charges only 17.
As I call both LL and Cell phones in that country, the charges (on average) are almost 4 times what I was paying with Sprint. As I telecommute, this is excessive and will lead to my not using Winstream for international calling as I can call using my Sprint Cell account for less when needed...
This is not very competitive...
Kind regards
Mike
--
Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
| | |
Windstream
join:2009-03-31
Twinsburg, OH
1 edit | Re: We are here to help! Have you tried checking out Vonage rates for International calls?
BP
--
We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com | |
| | | |
coldmoon
Premium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC | Re: We are here to help! No I haven't but will check into it. Skype is also an alternative but the call quality is usually a crap shoot...
--
Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
| | | | |
Windstream
join:2009-03-31
Twinsburg, OH
| Re: We are here to help! I have used Vonage personally and never really experienced any issues with the call quality. It might be a good solution for you. I have not used Skype myself so I cannot comment on it.
BP
--
We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com | |
| | | |
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Review by Sinjon
Posted: 22 days ago
member for 36 days, 4 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Trion,Chattooga,GA
Contract price not specified.
"Reliable connection. Uptime 99.8%"
"Advertised @6mb/s down; 2mb/s down is actual"
"My only option, so it has to be. :/"
| Pre Sales information:
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Scared to downgrade to 3mb/s plan -- afraid my transfers would get slower than the 2mb/s I currently have.
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 Review by Tails
UPDATED: 23 days ago
member for 2.1 years, 505 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Sanford,Lee,NC
Contract price not specified.
AllTel
"It works. All of the time. Low latency all of the time."
"Speed fluctuates from time to time. Wipro, but Wipro is gone now!"
"A good provider, but wish I had something faster."
| Pre Sales information:
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UPDATE 11/04/09-- Seems like a lot of packet loss has plagued my connection now, going on two weeks. Promise after promise of getting in touch with me, fixing the issue within 48 hours, and actually doing something about the issue; don't get me wrong, I get the advertised speed, but I use voip, and play online games that require a low latency connection. I haven't had ANY problems for two years now, and all of a sudden this crops up. I'm sorely disappointed due to the lack of communication among tech support and level 1 support, so two stars come off here.
I will admit that the tech on this site is very helpful, but he's one out of a many tech support people over at Windstream that could actually get things semi-right.
Two stars come off for value of money, in regards to the reliability of the connection. Same for services.
I wish I had an alternative.
UPDATE 08/20/09-- Still going strong. Switched to a 4200 Speedstream modem. Still running the WRT54G wireless router, but changed the firmware to Tomato 1.25. The connection works, get about 80% of my advertised speed. No complaints thus far. Just wish they would run the fiber to the switch already!
Had Windstream for quite a while now. Subscribed to their broadband when it was first available (because we were tired of dial up and using two lines for gaming, and nothing else was available), which was around 2000-2001. We are running 3072/384 speed profile on a speedstream 5200 modem and a linksys WRT54G (custom firmware- dd-wrt)(cost with phone bundle is around $60 a month), but wish they would upgrade our area to fiber so we can get 6 megs. Install was good, but the order wasn't so great. I remember we canceled at one time, and then we resubscribed for 3 meg, but was put on 1.5 meg.
We paid for 3.0 meg while on a 1.5 meg profile, so I called in. Didn't get it fixed the first time due to the person telling me it would take 3 business days. Called in again (sales line) because I was tired of talking to Wipro. Got the issue fixed within minutes! Another issue I have is them telling us that they would fiber feed our switch, but it hasn't happened yet. Have been told several stories, and all of them are false. I plan to call soon on the status of the upgrade.
Overall, great service though. It's been a REALLY long time since the last outage (I'm thinking 6+ months).
Normally, I don't give any service 5 stars because nothing is perfect, and we haven't had another choice of ISP other than Windstream. I gave Pre-sales 2 out of 5 stars because they told me that we had 6 meg available a while back, but the techs have tested the lines and told us that the switch we are on is not fiber fed. Install co-ordination gets 3 out of 5 stars because of the issue with being put on a 1.5 meg speed profile, when we were paying for 3.0 megs. Tech support has 4 out of 5 stars due to the fact that Wipro isn't not employed by Windstream anymore, and the local techs have been very helpful in getting problems fixed.
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Review by djacks01
Posted: 29 days ago
member for 310 days, 27 visits, last login: 20 days ago
Milledgeville,Baldwin,GA
Contract price not specified.
"At least it is available"
"Inconsistent"
"Waiting for Clear so I can compare"
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I have lived in this rural location for 15 years. Have had Alltel/Windstream for most of that time. The service has never been great but considering my options (none) I can't complain too much. Clear is available about two miles away. They say that the service will expand but so far I have been very unimpressed with their front end.
This morning I changed my Windstream account from 3Mbps to 6 and dropped the land line (Windstreak). It should be on by tomorrow and I will post results again. Paying for 3Mbps I have never moved data faster than 1800kbps. Will see what paying for 6 gets me.
Thanks much much for dslreports.
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Review by foxsnipr
UPDATED: 31 days ago
member for 1.2 years, 45 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Waco,York,NE
$34 per month
about 30 days
"Tech support on these forums"
"Lots of talk and empty promises, connections drop, usually provide 1/2 speed promised"
"If there was another provider I would have switched a long time ago"
| Pre Sales information:
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I've had service for several years now, everytime they upgrade they promise more DL speed, never UL speed. I signed up for 6mb DL and still am waiting and using 1.5mb. They keep promising but they still haven't made good on anything. They provide a router a Speedstream 4200, no one installs it, they mail it to you with instructions (thankfully I know how to plug it in). Tech support is sketchy, best to call late nights and get someone who knows what is going on, but is not able to do anything about it. day time all you get is promises and the usual 'it's not their fault'. Tonight I was at dial up speeds and tech support wasn't able to do anything. Getting a tech to come out is impossible, I've requested one and they find some excuse around it. Maybe they don't have anyone that actually works in the field on their stuff.
DL & UL 12 hours later have gone from good back to worse, in between dial up and 1mb. It appears that at certain times of the day is when these problems arise. You don't suppose Windstream needs upgrades or something?
See added comments
10-28-2009 The forum Tech Support is awesome! They were able to get things up and running, no problems. Thanks guys!
Followup comments: rlaw34776
join:2005-01-17
Redwater, TX
| You do not get what you pay for I have has valor/Windstream for years now and if there was any other dsl provider in my area I would switch in a minute.
When it works it is slow. I have called the dsl hot line / tech support countless times and get the same ole song and dance. | |
| foxsnipr
join:2008-08-17
·Windstream
| Windstream Tech's on forums Windstream Tech contacted me, worked on it the same day and got me up to close speeds advertised. Upload is something that needs to be increased, but I am not holding my breath there. The tech guys on the forums really take action, which is far more than I can say for the tech help desk ppl. Hopefully, the speeds stay up there and it is not a fluke (yeah I'm a pessimist, but I do have a small amount of optimism in me ) | |
|
Windstream
join:2009-03-31
Twinsburg, OH
1 edit | We are here to help! If you are experiencing any continuing issues please let us know. We definitely want your experience to be a positive one!
You can email or PM us and we would be happy to help.
--
We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com | |
| foxsnipr
join:2008-08-17
·Windstream
|  Update
Speeds are consistent 6mb DL 768 UL - advertised
hitting Chicago with a ping usually around 35ms, +/- 3ms
Outstanding work guys! | |
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 Review by lacibaci
UPDATED: 32 days ago
member for 9.6 years, 3887 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Export,Westmoreland,PA
$40 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
AllTel
"Servers allowed, no ports blocked, rock solid 6000/768 speed"
"Good value for the money"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings match consensus)
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This is my third broadband provider. After 'beta testing' Bell Atlantic/Verizon DSL and inconsistent cable service I signed with Alltel DSL. Advertised speed (tier 1) is 768/128 for $35 for the first 12 months and $49 after. The ordering and setup could not be smoother. Modem (SpeedStream 5200) arrived when they said it would and line was also turned on time. I even got a phone call from an Alltel technician to make sure everything was OK.
Update (3/24/2004)
Well, it's been a couple of months and the connection is rock stable. Alltel recently upgraded their tier1 to 1500/128 so it is a better value for the money. Called tech support a couple of times (DNS problems) and in all cases the wait was under 10 minutes. The techs were helpful and admitted that there was a problem right away. Try that with Adelphia!
Update (11/22/2004)
Recent upload upgrade (to 384) makes it very competitive. In addition, I was able to lock the monthly rate at $34.95 for another year. The best ISP I've had so far. Still rock stable.
Update (7/18/2006)
Upgraded to 3000/384 package for $29.95 which makes it an excellent value. One wish: naked DSL so I could ditch the local phone. Other than that the service is very reliable.
Update (12/25/2007)
Still rock solid. I wish they would upped the upload though.
Update (1/10/2008)
Big thumbs down for implementing DNS redirection. Also, forget what I said above about good technical support. It's been outsourced to India and you know what that means. Non-English speaking people reading of scrips.
Update (1/14/2008)
The DNS redirection issue has been resolved and WS now offers clean DNS servers:
nsvip05.windstream.net 166.102.165.32
nsvip06.windstream.net 207.91.5.32
The (1st level) support is still horrendous but if you manage to get transferred to the level 2, they usually know their stuff. On a positive note - the connection (and speed) is still very stable.
Update (7/22/2008)
Got Windstreamgram in mail to upgrade to 12Mbps service. My first reply got lost somewhere in marketing blackhole. I called and upgraded by phone with no problems. When I received new modem (SS4200) I called again for instructions to switch it to bridge mode. It took about half an hour with support in India to discover that they didn't know how. Called the same evening - got somebody in US and in 2 minutes I was surfing... Overall, the service is still great (sans the Indian support)
Update (2/9/2009)
Still working pretty good. I did noticed though that the reliability went down a little. Not a big deal if you're surfing but if you have VOIP it gets annoying. I may have to downgrade to 6M...
Update (2/16/2009)
Reliability of 12000/768 package went down so much that I had to downgrade to 6Mbps tier. I wish WS had 6000/768 tier...
Update (10/27/2009)
My wishes came true and Windstream increased upload to 768kbps.
Followup comments: FaRty Pants
join:2006-12-31
Nicholasville, KY | Wow Maybe I should move to PA. | |
| dturner357
join:2002-02-27
Atlanta, GA
| Windstream Service Reliabilty out the window. Service is down for days at a time. You call their support numbers and the hold time is out the roof. I complained about Comcast in the past but this service it the worst I have ever encountered. How many times to you have to turn your modem off and on? | |
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Review by tennmo
UPDATED: 51 days ago
member for 51 days, 2 visits, last login: 47 days ago
Mount Ida,Montgomery,AR
$30 per month
"local technician is great"
"no real communication intra-company about service problems"
"I have no other choice for service, rural area 19k from dslam"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I have had issues with dsl for a long time. The company has just done an upgrade on the
dslam going from AT&T stinger to Adtran. I got a call trying to sell me 3meg service. I told
the young lady I was too far from the company equipment. She said well they have
just upgraded and this new service was available to me. Hey, I didn't know if they had
made real updates to their technology or not. So I bit. The service worked great for about
a week. Then I started losing connection plus slow to no through-put. I had called support
and I know it is hard to know what is going on in every situation. Some CSRs better than
others. They sent out a tech and he lowered my line speed from 3mb to 1.5. Worked for
about a day. But my bill didn't go down. Now I am back to trying to get my service back
to something I can live with, I came across dslreports and thought I might see what others
are experiencing. Doesn't look good for the home team. However I am willing to do what
I can to get better service. Don't have anything against Windstream, just want what they
say they can provide and the service for the money. Wish me Luck, I don.t want to go
back to dialup.
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Review by ExNYer
Posted: 52 days ago
member for 4.2 years, 57 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Monroe,Union,NC
$54 per month
"DL speeds are consistently as advertised."
"UL speeds are usually slower that advertised."
"Reliable service, competitively priced."
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings match consensus)
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Overall I'm happy with Windstream DSL. When I moved here I went with Time Warner Cable initially, for the price they were offering ,and because the old telco(CTC) didn't offer anything faster than 2mbps DL. When my TW contract expired I switched to CTC, because they had installed a remote terminal in my neighborhood and were able to offer faster speeds. Windstream bought CTC and they are my ISP now. I have had no problems. The DL speed is consistent.
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Review by lso1123
UPDATED: 64 days ago
member for 4.6 years, 524 visits, last login: 2 days ago
London,Laurel,KY
$29 per month
AllTel
"easy install. speed ok 1325/324. connectivity steady as of now"
"None as of yet"
"a good alternative to higher cable broadband. good value for 24.95 a month"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I have had Alltel Dsl now for about one month all is well as i write this I recently switched over from Charter Pipeline because of price I thought i might regret this but as for now i am happy with Alltel, they sent modem by Ups and in about 4 days i was up and running speed is OK @ 1250/306 i do miss the 3meg from charter but i can live with it after charter raised the price. As of today i have not been down and connection has been steady. I just read on alltels web site of a 3 meg for 34.95 still cheaper then charter at 40.00 and you don't have to share bandwidth.So if you live in southeastern ky and dsl is there along with cable i suggest dsl that is if your pockets are not lined with gold
April17 2005 Have had a couple of bad days with alltel I couldn't connect to there server said my system had and issue in the dns and was refusing my connection a couple of days later i was back up seems strange that my connection was refused anyway speed still around the same 1200/306 i wont fuss to much anything beats dial up. May 16 2005 Alls well here in SE KY Alltel has been a blessing so far speed has remained consistent and have had only one outage since install. never will go back to dial up maybe cable if prices continue to drop. April 16 2007 Since the switch from Alltel to Windstream no problems actually a little better download speed from 1250 to about 1325 still a great bargain for the lower tier dsl i am satisfied.
Just a update on the Windstream Folks for the last two weeks my DSL connection had been dropping around every 7 minutes or so It was driving me crazy I thought maybe the problem was on my end since this had never happened before always had stable connection hardly any outage but I called Windstream got quick service looked at my line and said must be a bad line tech showed up the next day replaced all my filters with one on box filter ran a new line from box to jack in which modem was on. absolutely great service and have not had any problems since. Kudos to Windstream.
Sept 26 2009 I recently upgraded to the 3 MB service so far connection has been great no drops or problems. Since my last review I have hardly had any problem at all still good service and good customer support and the twitter feed is awesome if you have any questions or need help.
Thanks Windstream
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