When I heard that SBC was offering their basic DSL Express service for a mere $19.95 per month ($40 less than I was paying for cable), I cancelled my expensive Cox Cable high-speed connection and switched. I knew that I wouldn't be getting the 3.0+ Mbps connection that I was used to getting through my cable internet service, though SBC assured me that I would receive at least a 1.5 megabit connection since I lived only 3,000 linear feet from their CO. I felt that a 1.5 Mbit connection was more than adequate for shopping online, doing business, downloading pictures, etc. So, was switching from a cable service to DSL the best idea?

Note : I used SBC Yahoo Express and Cox high-speed internet while living in California. SBC Yahoo DSL, as far as I know, is not yet available in North Carolina and many states back east. Also, SBC offers two DSL plans; SBC Yahoo Express 385 Kbps- 1.5 Mbps download and SBC Yahoo Pro 1.5 Mbps- 3 Mbps download. Currently, SBC offers their Express DSL plan for $14.95 per month and tehir Pro plan for $29.95 per month.

What you get :

When you order a yearly subscription of SBC Yahoo DSL, a week or so later you will receive a small box containing a free 5100 SpeedStream DSL modem (a $100 value), all the necessary wires and filters, and an installation CD which is necessary to set-up your SBC Yahoo DSL. If you have more than one computer in your home, you have the option of ordering the wireless home networking kit ($50 after instant rebate). Yahoo doesn’t charge a thing for most of its software/hardware (you will be billed a one time charge of $12.95 for shipping and handling) so long as you commit to their service for a full year. Canceling earlier than a year will result in a $200 cancellation fee that will be attached to your phone bill.

System requirements for PC:

-266 MHz processor speed

- At least 64 MB ram

- 125 MB free hard drive space

- CD ROM

- Win/98/ME/2000/XP

- Ethernet Port

Installation :

Installing your SBC Yahoo hardware and software is a breeze, it takes roughly 5-10 minutes to completely get everything set-up for internet use. This simple task requires you to plug-in a few cords and insert the one-time installation CD. I highly suggest avoiding the option of having an SBC tech do the job for you. Why? Because SBC charges you a massive 150 bucks to have someone come to your house to install/set-up your SBC DSL equipment; 150 dollars for 5 minutes of work is absolutely ridiculous.

Connection Speeds: SBC Yahoo Express

Even though I was accustomed to a 2.0-3.0 megabit connection using Cox Cable High Speed Internet, SBC Yahoo didn't seem that much slower; at least during the first week. For the first week I could download a 1MB file in about 8 seconds. Fast forward a month or so after installation and that decent 1.2 megabit connection (I never connected at a full 1.5 megabits as Yahoo claimed I would) quickly turned into connection speeds at an average 250 kbps (according to multiple speed-tests). The slowest connection speed I can recall when using SBC Yahoo DSL was around 65 kbps; which was dangerously close to what I would get when connection to the internet using AOL's slow 56K dial-up service.

I can live with relatively slow connections, but most of the time the SpeedStream 5100 modem that SBC Yahoo provides just wouldn't allow my computer to connect to the internet at all. I would spend upwards of 30 minutes "power cycling the model" (turning it off and on) just so I could connect to the internet. I never had any od these problems when I was using Cox’s high-speed internet. Since I get AOL services for free, I would find myself just connecting my phone line to my computer’s 56K modem so I could check my mail before I was late for work. Naturally I called SBC many times, but they always had the same advice; "power cycle the modem." That phrase will forever echo in my head. When I asked about a replacement modem I was provided a new SpeedStream 5100 (free), but experienced the same connectivity problems.

My gripes don't end there; although SBC provides you with filters, which are supposed to remove static from existing phone lines, they simply didn’t work. I never could carry on a conversation while I was on the internet without interference coming through over the phone; luckily I had two phone lines. If you only have a single phone line, I highly suggest either getting another one or going with a cable internet service. Cox cable or Comcast cable never caused any troubles with any of my household appliances.

Services:

SBC likes to boast on their internet commercials that you get free pop-up blocker, virus protection, and free spyware/firewall. This is all great and dandy, however all of the services SBC offers as a "perk" can be downloaded for free at most legitimate freeware sites or even software company sites. For example, SBC Yahoo boasts that it offers a free firewall, but when you go to download their free firewall it's by Zone Labs which doesn't charge a thing for their firewall, even if you were using some off-the-wall dial-up or cable service.

The SBC Yahoo user home page is probably the only positive with this service, which isn’t saying much because it is also a negative. To explain, the home page offers weather reports, news, newscasts, videos, and so much more; all good right? Unfortunately, watching pre recorded newscasts, getting live weather reports, etc. is a rarity with SBC Yahoo due to the fact that connection speeds are so slow.

As you might have expected, SBC Yahoo comes with Yahoo messenger (a free service no matter what service you use). If you have SBC Yahoo already installed, a new Yahoo will be created, which is supposed to be better, but I never noticed a difference other than a different Yahoo Messenger logo on my desktop. SBC Yahoo allows you to make up 7 different accounts, however only one account can be used at a time.

Customer Service:

When I ordered SBC Yahoo, their customer service was excellent. Nice people, who seemed eager to sell me the $19.95 Express plan or the $29.95 Pro Plan. When I started to have problems with my service, however, everything changed. The Tech support seems to be situated on another planet, as it is quite the opposite when it comes to helping customers. As I have mentioned, I always got the same advice "power cycle the modem." after hearing this a few dozen times I was ready to through my hands up. In order to get any kind of real customer service you have to call a long distance number that, if I recall correctly, was 90 cents per minute!

Billing:

Unlike most Dial-up services, you don't need to have a credit card or bank account to have SBC Yahoo DSL. Every month you will be billed along with your SBC phone bill.

Final Thoughts :

If you are looking for a good DSL service I highly suggest looking elsewhere. SBC Yahoo offers horrible customer service, is much slower than both Cox and Comcast high-speed internet services, is unreliable, and offers features that can be had for free at almost any freeware site.


Thanks for reading!

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 19.95
Version Number or Year: SBC Yahoo DSL Express, SpeedStream 5100