AT&T@home:I Would Rather Have My Dial Up
Written: Dec 28 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: You Don't Have Busy Signals
Cons: Erratic Response Times Online, Limited Service Area
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| sweetcece's Full Review: AT&T@home |
On and off for the past three months, I've been using the AT&T@home service at my father's home from his personal computer. After having used this service now consistently during my time that I have visitted here, I can honestly say that I would have rather had my Prodigy dial-up number rather than the "fast" cable modem service that I've seen during this time.
AT&T@home is an Internet Service Provider where you can use the existing cable technology for your cable television to have Internet access. This is a great wave of service that is spreading all over the world. However, there's a difference in what the service is supposed to do and what it actually does.
I've found through my personal experience that AT&T@home is MUCH slower than my dial-up service provider in many way. The response time is very inconsistent from being extremely prompt and quick which pleases me, to being unbearably slow with a response time lower than a 33.6 modem. I've noticed this most distinctly when trying to access a web site that I use when I am out of town to check my Prodigy mail called Mailstart (http://www.mailstart.com).
Having used, Mailstart for years, I am very familar with the time required for an adequate response. However, when using AT&T@home with this particular web site, I experience a time out message as well as other errors which do not occur when I am using an ISBN connection or a dial-up. Reading the email is the same, very slow.
At first, I thought it was must Mailstart, but I have found that Epinions also responds very slowly compared to ISBN or dial-up connections, so I am assuming that AT&T@home is the cause for this problem.
After speaking to my son who is at his father's home in this same local area, I've found that this problem is something that is not just isolated to this one computer. He also has problems with erratic response time when using AT&T@home as well.
Realizing that cable service is usually restricted to certain areas by local regulations, this may be the only option available for many residents. However, I have very strong feelings that if you want to try out AT&T@home that you do it on a trial basis so that you can see how this service works for you. Frequently most services offer free installation and a couple of months of service and I would highly recommend this type of installation before devoting your entire hopes on AT&T@home. You may find as I have, that even having quick response time periodically is not worth the erratic service that I've experienced and you may want to explore other options.
Options With AT&T@home include the following:
(Taken from @home web site)
· Unlimited lightning-speed cable Internet access
· Seven e-mail accounts
· Newsgroup access
· Chat room access
· Specialized local content
· 10 MB of WebSpace per e-mail account, which allows you to upload a personal Web site
· Customer Care 24 hours a day, seven days a week
· The AT&T@Home Assistant (A tool that can notify you when mail arrives, as well as update you on news headlines, stock quotes and other information - all with the browser window closed)
· Popular Internet tools including RealPlayer, Shockwave and QuickTime
· A Network Diagnostic tool for troubleshooting
· Easy-to-use, customizable Excite for AT&T@Home browser
Minimum System Requirements:
· Windows 95/98/ME - Pentium 133 or higher with 32MB of RAM, 150MB of free hard drive space and a CD-ROM drive 4X or higher.
· Windows NT 4.0 - Pentium 133 or higher with 64MB of RAM, 150MB of free hard drive space and a CD-ROM drive 4X or higher.
· Windows 2000 - Pentium 133 or higher with 64MB of RAM, 150MB of free hard drive space and a CD-ROM drive 4X or higher.
· Macintosh Systems - Power PC 601 or higher with 32MB of RAM, 56MB of free hard drive space, Mac OS 8.5 or higher and a CD-ROM drive 4X or higher.
Recommended:
No
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sweetcece
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