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| | Author | Messages | |
imwithstupid
Posts:21
 | | 07/20/2007 9:53 PM |
 Alert | I havent read through all of the posts in the tech section because i havent had time, so if this has already been covered, i apologize.
but my questions are this:
my homebuilder told me that i will have quest. and i have heard of orbitel as well.
i was just wondering what the online experience here has been for most people? i have heard and read some bad things about connectivity. i am coming from a cox cable connection, and they are the fastest, and easiest to deal with ISP's i have had so far.
so what can i expect upon moving here, and what are my best options for connectivity?
I have a decent machine(amd 1.8 ghz, motorola surfboard modem, etc), and am used to being fast.
i have heard good and bad about both, and alot of bad about one in particular. just wondering what you users think?
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| | twostep23
Posts:1689
| | 07/20/2007 10:01 PM |
Alert | | We've got Qwest and haven't had any problems. | |
Senior Member
Posts: 4625
Joined: Feb 2006 | |
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| | cptpizza
Posts:73
| | 07/20/2007 11:19 PM |
Alert | I had cox for nearly 7 years before moving here. I loved it.
I originally started out with Maricopa Broadband. For people who have my HOA by the groin area, they sure had a slow and horrible connection at the time. Their bogus website was claiming I was getting 3Mbps downloads, but more reputable websites told the truth, it was barely faster than my last dialup connection. It got better near the time I switched to Qwest, but the damage had been done.
Qwest isn't bad, but I have my complaints.
1. I like usenet groups. Qwest DSL with MSN Premium as far as I can tell does not offer access to these groups.
2. I setup my machine for remote access when I am out of the house, in case I need to get in and send someone a file or something. Qwest resets my IP address semi-frequently which causes me not to be able to connect until I have the new IP address information. This is frustrating when I have work to do or am expecting to access my machine. Cox changed 1 time in 7 years (other than the times I moved).
That being said, of the two I have dealth with, Qwest is Hand's down more reliable, faster than what I had (although Maricopa Broadband is offering up to 7 Mbps or something like that. It has gone down a couple of times, but typically is up within a matter of minutes.
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| | Jason
Posts:3378
| | 07/20/2007 11:46 PM |
Alert | For newsgroups: Is there something you need that Google Groups doesn't have?
For remote access: Have you tried DynDNS? | |
Joined: Jul 2005 | |
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| | bendover
Posts:54
| | 07/21/2007 10:31 AM |
Alert | | I have lived here in Maricopa for nearly 3 years now. We live in the Province community and I have had very good service from Orbitel. Whenever there is a problem I have called and they are aware and are very accurate in their repair time estimates. Now complaints on speed either. I have done some streaming video and have had great success both up and down. Orbitel also has some wifi hotspots around town that are available. | | | |
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| | Tjtellez9
Posts:228
| | 07/22/2007 8:42 AM |
Alert | depending on where you live you may only have available to you either maricopa broadband or orbitelcom plus qwest.
TO point out some of the differences:
1. MBB and Orbitel are cable internet not ADSL like qwest may offer. If Qwest does NOT offer adsl their cable interent is only UP TO 1.5 mbps even though they rate it as a three mbps.
2. MBB has a package allowing UP TO 9mbps and offers more HD channels in a digital package then Orbitel currently. SO if HD is something you need fgor you televiosion thats one thing to consider.
3. Lets talk a BIT about networks. MBB has a fiber deep network. THIs means they dont piggyback on anyones lines. They use their own lines and nobody elses. I have been using them now for over a year and have only ONCE xperienced an outage longer that 20 minutes.
4. Orbitelcom IF it is available in your area provides a comporable service. One thing they DO have that MBB does NOT have YET is broadband phone service. THough the service is not the highest quality due to its line piggybacking its still available.
5. Speeds offered : Qwest up to 3mbps down 39.95 Orbitel up to 6 mbps down 39.95 MBB up to 9 mbps down 39.95.
As you have your own motorola surfboard you can use that with all three if you use the cable qwest service. ANy more questions feel free to ask away here. | | | |
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|  | Jason
Posts:3378
| | 07/22/2007 1:42 PM |
Alert | | Qwest's availability depends on the area you are in. Some get ADSL and some get VDSL. In ADSL areas, Qwest has 7Mbps down/896 kbps up for $35 per month. No where though can you use a cable modem with Qwest. | |
Joined: Jul 2005 | |
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| | Tjtellez9
Posts:228
| | 07/23/2007 8:29 AM |
Alert | | you are correct about not being able to use the modem with qwest. I mistated. | | | |
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| | Colgate
Posts:629
| | 07/26/2007 8:44 PM |
Alert | | I started with Qwest and had sooooo many issues with getting connectivity! Cable TV was fine! I wish Cox were out here. I called and they told me due to the reservation they could not bring Cox to the Copa. They did tell me they are working on it! I inquired with Orbitel and they don't service South of the Trax, how stupid is that! I ended up with Broadband and they have been fine other than they are very pricey!!! | |
Live every day as if it were your last and smile! | |
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| | Tjtellez9
Posts:228
| | 07/27/2007 8:20 AM |
Alert | | Maricopa Broadband is not pricey....if you compare to a company like Cox, they are WAY below. | | | |
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| | Sinbad
Posts:3046
| | 07/27/2007 8:32 AM |
Alert | we use Quest... We came from COX...
Sometimes Quest can be a little slow... | |
Just doing it one day at a time. Change is good and it should be looked upon as an improvment! not a problem.
______________________________________
***************************************
San Diego Super Chargers! GO!!!
Joined old forum March 2006
Post count: 3068 + these | |
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| | Colgate
Posts:629
| | 07/28/2007 5:43 PM |
Alert | <div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Tjtellez9 on 07/27/2007 8:20 AM
Maricopa Broadband is not pricey....if you compare to a company like Cox, they are WAY below. </div>
I have not compared since they don't come out here to the Copa yet. I have just heard really good things about Cox is all. However, comparing MBB to Qwest they are higher for the same package. I guess you get what you pay for in my opinion!
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Live every day as if it were your last and smile! | |
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| | caveman
Posts:1088
| | 07/29/2007 10:39 AM |
Alert | <div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Tjtellez9 on 07/22/2007 8:42 AM
depending on where you live you may only have available to you either maricopa broadband or orbitelcom plus qwest.
TO point out some of the differences:
1. MBB and Orbitel are cable internet not ADSL like qwest may offer. If Qwest does NOT offer adsl their cable interent is only UP TO 1.5 mbps even though they rate it as a three mbps.
2. MBB has a package allowing UP TO 9mbps and offers more HD channels in a digital package then Orbitel currently. SO if HD is something you need fgor you televiosion thats one thing to consider.
3. Lets talk a BIT about networks. MBB has a fiber deep network. THIs means they dont piggyback on anyones lines. They use their own lines and nobody elses. I have been using them now for over a year and have only ONCE xperienced an outage longer that 20 minutes.
4. Orbitelcom IF it is available in your area provides a comporable service. One thing they DO have that MBB does NOT have YET is broadband phone service. THough the service is not the highest quality due to its line piggybacking its still available.
5. Speeds offered : Qwest up to 3mbps down 39.95 Orbitel up to 6 mbps down 39.95 MBB up to 9 mbps down 39.95.
As you have your own motorola surfboard you can use that with all three if you use the cable qwest service. ANy more questions feel free to ask away here.</div>
I have a question. I used to live in an area that had Cox 9mbps down and I was always able to pull things down at that speed. With Maricopa Broadband I am lucky to get over 6mbps, why is that? Do you work at MBB? | | | |
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| | Tjtellez9
Posts:228
| | 07/29/2007 12:44 PM |
Alert | Depends on how you are connected to the network. Are you usign a router or a direct modem connection. I can guarantee you with regards to speed tests youa re running ate each minuite you could get a different speed. I am using a wireless router with my computer set 75 feet from the router and still average a 7.5 to 8 mbps speed. Of course I have my firewalls turned off and am using WEP encryption rather than our friend Jasons favorite WPA which DOES slow down the network.
I have lived in MAricopa since 2003 and have used all three, started with orbitel, hated my connectivity options there and paid way to much. I think I recieved credits for an almost three month period of service for terrible signal strength and technicians saying nothing was wrong. AFter moving to alterra I initially switched to MBB, at first ai had some issues with the speed, so I cancelled. Turns out it was my crappy router. while cancelled with MBB I switched to Qwest. They advertised a guaranteed 3mbps to me and I never got better than 1.5. They ended up creditng me back for all four months of service wiht them. Then I went back to MBB after getting a better router. Since then I have been completely happy.
I was responsible for the land survey woprk done on 75% of Maricopa including subdivisions of palo brea, glenwilde, tortosa, alterra, maricopa meadows and the villages. This is how I am aware of the different networks and as I am a geek it pays for me to know.
Caveman, if you would like I would be more than happy to come to your home and look at your network and see what may be the issue.
Like I stated, cable internet is a "piece of the pie" situation. Meaning the more subscribers online the slower your speeds may be. 6mbps is ALOT faster than any other provider out here even opffers....so If I were you I would be happy with that. | | | |
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| | Jason
Posts:3378
| | 07/29/2007 3:33 PM |
Alert | Of course I have my firewalls turned off and am using WEP encryption rather than our friend Jasons favorite WPA which DOES slow down the network.
WPA and firewalls turned on, I can pull around 40-45 Mbps over my wireless connection. My friend, you need to drop these petty arguments. WPA is not causing someone to not get their 1-9 Mbps down. | |
Joined: Jul 2005 | |
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| | entropy
Posts:27
| | 07/30/2007 7:49 AM |
Alert | Speed issues are almost *always* attributed to poorly tuned TCP stacks, misconfigurations, or bad hardware. TCP windows sized incorrectly, or speed/duplex mismatch are the number 1 culprits aside from bad cabling or hardware. Make sure all NICs and switch ports are set to 100Mbit full duplex (auto sensing can often cause mismatches, so hard code them). There are many TCP Tuning guides out there, just search google to find one specific to your OS.
I've also seen a lot of talk re: WEP vs WPA. I'm using WPA2 AES on all of my wireless devices and I get great throughput; better than when I was using WEP, in fact. WEP has more overhead than WPA, and by design is slower. I believe TKIP encryption is done in software and AES encryption is done in hardware, making AES a little faster. So those of you using WPA TKIP may be seeing a bit of a performance hit. Everybody bagging on Jason for being 'paranoid' is baffling to me. While I'm not necessarily of the mindset that everybody is out to get your and your data, I can't understand why anybody out there would specifically decide not to employ the most effective and efficient wireless encryption method available right now, barring any incompatibility issues of course as there are devices out there that still only support WEP. But even then, most of them do have driver or firmware updates available that will support WPA, you just have to do a little legwork.
Imwithstupid,
Simply put, you just won't see the speeds you are used to coming from cox. I was paying for the premium package with them, and always sustained 12-13mbit/sec downstream with bursts up to 23mbit/sec. I'm using orbitel now in Maricopa, and I get about 4-6mbit down most of the time with usenet/ftp/http. During peak hours I see as little as 3mbit/sec. It's not great, but it's not terrible either considering the options out here. I spoke with somebody at Orbitel the other day who said they would be offering a premium package soon with DL speeds up to 10mbit/sec. Not sure when they plan on offering it, but I'm looking forward to when their network can support this. I'll be one of the first people upgrading! | | | |
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| | Tjtellez9
Posts:228
| | 07/30/2007 8:24 AM |
Alert | WPA and firewalls turned on, I can pull around 40-45 Mbps over my wireless connection. My friend, you need to drop these petty arguments. WPA is not causing someone to not get their 1-9 Mbps down.
Jason, FINALLy you say something stupid. First of all a G connection is capable of UP TO 54 MBPS and the fact that you say you can pull 40-45 MBPS proves that you ARE showing a loss. Secondly, no provider in history is providing that kind of speed yet in the US. LMAO. If it causes a 10-15mbps loss in your wireless connection, think of the loss in your actual connection.
T | | | |
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| | Tjtellez9
Posts:228
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| 07/30/2007 8:27 AM |
Alert | Also, if qwest cannot offer that kind of 10 mbps speed in cable internet neither can Orbitel.
They use the same lines. | | | |
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| | entropy
Posts:27
| | 07/30/2007 8:31 AM |
Alert | TJ,
Actually, Verizon FIOS is offering just that, depending on your area. It's not available in Arizona, but most definitely available in other parts of the US. Most people get around 20mbit/sec, but a friend of mine in VA gets 50mbit down and sustains that frequently as they offer the faster service where he lives.
http://www22.verizon.com/content/consumerfios/faqs/faqs.htm
This is Verizon's FAQ on FIOS (fiber to the curb). Read number 2, How fast is Verizon's FiOS Service? | | | |
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| | entropy
Posts:27
| | 07/30/2007 8:35 AM |
Alert | "Also, if qwest cannot offer that kind of 10 mbps speed in cable internet neither can Orbitel.
They use the same lines."
Really? Since when did Qwest start offering cable based internet? As long as I've been in this business, they've only ever had a DSL product offering. I hope you aren't comparing DSL and cable. | | | |
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