WireSPEED? Hey, Thats false advertising!!!
Written: Oct 16 '02 (Updated Oct 16 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Can be fast! Easy to install.
Cons: Needs to be far from computer, lamps, anything... Many problems.
The Bottom Line: Well, a mixture of a bad service, annoying modem, and little patience makes for a really terrible experience. In two words, IT SUCKS!
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| diswiz's Full Review: Westell WireSpeed 36R517 |
The Westell Wirespeed is the average free modem that Pacific Bell DSL provides to new consumers using their internet services. I'd have to say that this little white piece of you know what has made me furious over and over again.
The fact is that the modem disconnects at least 5 times a day. For those of you who might think this is not a big problem, imagine this. Downloading music... GONE Playing a video... GONE! Or writing a review... GONE... Over and over again!!! I can't stand it; read on to see more reasons.
The Issues
Oh, and there are quite a few. Lets start with the small stuff.
1. First, the modem will not connect if it is within three feet of a computer, lamp, or basically anything electronic. The cable they provide only goes 5 feet, so you can imagine the problem I have had with that.
2. When it is not connecting, the modem does the MOST ANNOYING thing I think I have ever encountered with a computer. It blinks fast, then slow, then fast, then slow... After 5 minutes of this, I'm about ready to throw the darn thing out the window. You see, blinking fast is supposed to mean that its about to be connected, and blinking slow means there is no hope. Every time it blinks fast, AHA!!! It's connecting! Then, to my dismaying surprise, those fast hopeful blinks become slow again. Who ever came up with this blinking fast/slow signal needs to get fired, cause I almost have... at my gun that is... (that was my useless attempt at humor, excuse me!)
3. It seems to have a knack for disconnecting at the worst, and I mean worst, possible times. Without notice, it will start blinking fast/slow again, just adding to anger I'm gaining due to the slow speeds (see below).
4. During some periods, it is so very slow. Ive done broadband tests, and have recieved results from 20kbps to 2kbps... What about the 1 meg. per second thing? Isn't that what I, as a consumer, should be getting... Oh well!
5. It gets hot! This can be a big problem because it seems to do even worse when its above the "required" tempeture. I live in the bay area, it doesn't get that hot here...
6. IT SUCKS!!! Thats about it, really.
I should note this. I have friends who have the same PACBELL DSL and have no problems... However, they have different modems. Something is fishy here, yet customer support keeps saying that the modem has nothing to do with it. Hummmm... The houses are even farther than mine is from the station center that gives off the signal... So that isn't the problem.
Overall
Well, the above problems should tell you what I think of this worthless product. Now, to be fair, I equally blame Pacific Bell DSL for their bad service and terrible customer support. Today, I took a big step and signed up for ATT Cable and I hope that works better. It won't be hard, seeing as this one sucked so bad. As for the actual Westell modem, when the other ATT modem arrives, I plan to have a ritual and burn it... Burn bad memories, bad times... Burn, oh burn worthless junk...
Thanks for reading, comments appreciated.
Chris Eckert (c) 2002
*:Recieved free with one year contract.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): Free*
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Epinions.com ID:
diswiz
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Member: Chris
Location: California
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Chris resides in California and is an actor. You can count on him!
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