Why I am no longer a Mindspring/Earthlink customer
Written: Sep 07 '01
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Pros: It USED to be fast, reliable, affordable, etc.
Cons: It is now the opposite of all of the above
The Bottom Line: A year ago, I was touting Mindspring the best ISP ever; today I would not wish that frustration on anyone.
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| MizJezebel's Full Review: Mindspring |
When I signed on as a Mindspring customer three years ago, they were still Mindspring and not yet bought out by Earthlink. They were new and the radio ads I heard were offering free set-up and I, having just moved to the Bay Area and looking for a new ISP. At that time I didn't know about anything other than AOL and Prodigy and the like and wasn't too keen on them, so I went for it.
After I installed the software I did have some problems at first, but tech support was easily accessible and very helpful. I also liked the fact that I got three mailboxes (email addresses) and could set up automatic payments with my credit card. The price was a little on the higher side ($20 a month), but I never complained.
My only complaint for awhile was that I couldn't check my mail without being at home and dialing in and downloading my messages. But eventually, Mindspring also offered web-based email, so I was able to check my mail while at school and while traveling. This too was a plus.
So the years went on without anything particularly unusual happening. I had very good reliable connections and service, and this didn;t change when Mindspring merged with Earthlink.
Until this year.
Earthlink now offers DSL and has been pushing its service like crazy. I got emails offering me deals as an existing customer on a pretty regular basis, about as often as I got snail mail promotions for it. Sure I'd love it, but I can't afford $50 a month, so I stuck with the dial-up.
But then I noticed something. I was having all sorts of problems with the dial-up, which I later heard from other Mindspring/Earthlink customers were not only my problem. I would dial in and nothing would happen. No connection made, or no data transfer if it was made. Consistent dropped connections, so much that I'd keep dialing in over and over again and get dropped every five minutes. Much, much slower speeds - where as I used to get as high as 48k connections, it was maxing out at 31k and sometimes as low as only 29k.
This was highly annoying, and although I thought it could have been the number I was dialing in to (San Francisco), I discovered that it was the same case once I moved to Alameda. So I called tech support, something I hadn't had to do in years. They told me to change some settings on my computer, and that didn't work. I called back and the next guy said, "Oh, they told you the wrong thing. Do this." Didn't work. I called back and they said it was my modem driver, that my supposedly ancient and outdated modem (three years old) was the problem and this would keep happening until I got a new one. Oh really? Then why do I have the exact same problems on my brand new laptop with a brand new modem? According to Earthlink tech support, I have too long a phone line and too many interruptions in it (I have one line plugged into another, then the wall) and that's why. It couldn't have ANYTHING to do with your service, now could it?
I just found it a really interesting coincidence that when they were really pushing DSL, the dial-up service went sharply downhill.
And then they raised the price. True, two dollars more a month isn't a lot, but it was the last straw. You're offering me crappy service, telling me it's my fault, and then raising the price? No thank you.
I signed up with another service that had me connected in ten minutes for only $15 a month. And so far, no problems. Guess my faulty modem only acts us with Mindspring, eh?
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 19.95/month
Version Number or Year: 3.01 I think (1998)
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Epinions.com ID:
MizJezebel
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Member: Ruby Tuesday
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 5 members
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