Live in Utah? You really need to see this.
by Dreamer · in General Discussion · 12/02/2005 (9:16 am) · 10 replies
Hey everyone from Utah.
I have a confession to make, I've been holding out on something important.
We now have the ability to get Fiber directly into the home.
More so in Utah County than Salt Lake county, but hey even Payson is getting in on the action now!
The coolest part though is the cost, for less than what I was paying to Comcast for thier top tier internet which is something like 8MBs theoretically but was usually more like 1-2 on a good day, you can now have a stable bi-directional 15MB/s connection.
I have been evaluating it for the last month or so, and figured that I would let everyone know that I am extremely pleased with the service.
Here is the link.
Utopia Metronet
One more note, I asked specifically if they had any policies either for or against running a server of any kind on this.
Thier answer, as long as it's not Porn or Warez, they have no problems with servers, including web, game and IRC!
Pretty cool huh?
FYI you have a choice of service providers on this network, I went with MStar Metro, since they offer, TV, Phone and Internet. Thus far I am extremely pleased. Customer service hold times suck, but when you do a get a person, they are local (With most companies call centers are in India, most of the rest are in Orem, in this case I only seem to get folks in Orem ;), and they seem happy to help, while not the most knowledgable people in the world, at least they try.
Anyways, check it out and let me know what you think.
I have a confession to make, I've been holding out on something important.
We now have the ability to get Fiber directly into the home.
More so in Utah County than Salt Lake county, but hey even Payson is getting in on the action now!
The coolest part though is the cost, for less than what I was paying to Comcast for thier top tier internet which is something like 8MBs theoretically but was usually more like 1-2 on a good day, you can now have a stable bi-directional 15MB/s connection.
I have been evaluating it for the last month or so, and figured that I would let everyone know that I am extremely pleased with the service.
Here is the link.
Utopia Metronet
One more note, I asked specifically if they had any policies either for or against running a server of any kind on this.
Thier answer, as long as it's not Porn or Warez, they have no problems with servers, including web, game and IRC!
Pretty cool huh?
FYI you have a choice of service providers on this network, I went with MStar Metro, since they offer, TV, Phone and Internet. Thus far I am extremely pleased. Customer service hold times suck, but when you do a get a person, they are local (With most companies call centers are in India, most of the rest are in Orem, in this case I only seem to get folks in Orem ;), and they seem happy to help, while not the most knowledgable people in the world, at least they try.
Anyways, check it out and let me know what you think.
#2
My service provider MStar has plans starting at $35 for 8 MB/s, however they are more expensive than the other service providers on the network if all you want is internet. As I said they are the only ones who provide a combo package with everything.
My package which includes the following.
Top Tier TV package with On Demand services, HBO, CineMax, ShowTime, local channels, regular and digital cable fare, one free PPV movie or event each month etc.
Phone service with unlimited local & long distance, voice mail, caller id, callwaiting, 3way calling etc, etc.
15 MBs Bi-Directional Internet connection, with static IP
Runs $135 per month.
Almost forgot, the Fiber capacity is currently up to 150Mbs (more if they had better equipment) and one Service Provider is currently working to offer that, XMission I think it is.
12/02/2005 (9:41 am)
Well, that all depends on your service provider.My service provider MStar has plans starting at $35 for 8 MB/s, however they are more expensive than the other service providers on the network if all you want is internet. As I said they are the only ones who provide a combo package with everything.
My package which includes the following.
Top Tier TV package with On Demand services, HBO, CineMax, ShowTime, local channels, regular and digital cable fare, one free PPV movie or event each month etc.
Phone service with unlimited local & long distance, voice mail, caller id, callwaiting, 3way calling etc, etc.
15 MBs Bi-Directional Internet connection, with static IP
Runs $135 per month.
Almost forgot, the Fiber capacity is currently up to 150Mbs (more if they had better equipment) and one Service Provider is currently working to offer that, XMission I think it is.
#4
12/02/2005 (9:45 am)
Hehe...I am still on dial up...56K...and strange sounds when connecting the net. There should be law against dialup connections ;) 
#5
I can technically get up to 100Mbit in the network I'm hooked up to but there's no providers with more than 10 at the moment. 10 works just fine though as it actually IS 10 and not sortof 10 when you're lucky. =)
12/02/2005 (9:53 am)
Yeah, I can get phone/tv too, but that doesn't really interest me. My phone bill is already pretty low (and I don't really want my phone to go down at the same time as my internet so in that case I'm okay with relying on crappy phone lines =) and tv I have no time for anyway. But okay, thanks. Sounds like it's about the same cost as for me then, it's a great deal in either case.I can technically get up to 100Mbit in the network I'm hooked up to but there's no providers with more than 10 at the moment. 10 works just fine though as it actually IS 10 and not sortof 10 when you're lucky. =)
#6
But Utah is trying to be some kind of a technology haven nowadays - which is a good thing. If only we could get Senator Hatch out of office!
12/02/2005 (10:14 am)
I'm in Riverton --- it was a nightmare just getting DSL to our new house. But Utah is trying to be some kind of a technology haven nowadays - which is a good thing. If only we could get Senator Hatch out of office!
#7
12/02/2005 (10:18 am)
@Jay, you're in the coverage area, Riverton should be completely built out by now. Might want to give them a call. I switched from DSL to Comcast because it was cheaper. I switched from Comcast to Utopia, because again it's cheaper. Found out in the process it's also much, much better. ;) Anyways just a thought. 
#9
We DID go with them at one point, in our old house. It was very nice. We bought the modem for $130 or something, figuring we'd have it for a while and it would be cheaper long-term to buy it than rent it.
Then when we disconnected, they said, "Oh, give us your rented modem back."
We said, "No, we bought the modem outright when we installed."
They checked their notes and said, "Oh, so you did, right. Nevermind."
We tried to get Comcast back in our area, but they couldn't find their butt with both hands. Let alone our address. There was a special deal with AT&T, which we tried to get, but they were even WORSE (Transferred us back & forth between India and someplace where the CS people had southern accents for a total of about TWELVE HOURS!!! I'm not kidding. It was six hours in a single stretch! I didn't believe my wife when I tried to get through with them, and they played ping-pong with me between continents for TWO HOURS - way past my lunch break. I was amazed).
ANYWAY, apparently Comcast owed us for a month and a half of service we pre-paid for (just service, no rental fee, mind you). They couldn't find us to send our check. THEN they decided that we STILL owed them a rented modem for some reason. Since it cost more than they owed us, making it something they wanted to RECEIVE instead of pay out, they amazingly managed to contact us.
I called them, was on the phone for a half-hour before the customer service lady figured it out. She checked the notes, and said, "Oh, yeah, I see that now. I'll add another note."
So we're good. Until a month later. We get ANOTHER bill from Comcast. Still claiming we owe them $69. My wife calls. Straightens it out. For the third time.
All good? Nope. This week we get another bill. This time with an ominous "DISCONNECTION NOTICE." NO KIDDING! We were disconnected nearly TWO YEARS AGO!!!!!
Bleah.
So I won't go back to Comcast. Satellite TV is cheaper, better, and has much better service. And while cable modems rule, those guys got spit-for-brains.
So I'll happily check out an alternative :)
12/02/2005 (11:39 am)
I have nothing good to say about Comcast right now.We DID go with them at one point, in our old house. It was very nice. We bought the modem for $130 or something, figuring we'd have it for a while and it would be cheaper long-term to buy it than rent it.
Then when we disconnected, they said, "Oh, give us your rented modem back."
We said, "No, we bought the modem outright when we installed."
They checked their notes and said, "Oh, so you did, right. Nevermind."
We tried to get Comcast back in our area, but they couldn't find their butt with both hands. Let alone our address. There was a special deal with AT&T, which we tried to get, but they were even WORSE (Transferred us back & forth between India and someplace where the CS people had southern accents for a total of about TWELVE HOURS!!! I'm not kidding. It was six hours in a single stretch! I didn't believe my wife when I tried to get through with them, and they played ping-pong with me between continents for TWO HOURS - way past my lunch break. I was amazed).
ANYWAY, apparently Comcast owed us for a month and a half of service we pre-paid for (just service, no rental fee, mind you). They couldn't find us to send our check. THEN they decided that we STILL owed them a rented modem for some reason. Since it cost more than they owed us, making it something they wanted to RECEIVE instead of pay out, they amazingly managed to contact us.
I called them, was on the phone for a half-hour before the customer service lady figured it out. She checked the notes, and said, "Oh, yeah, I see that now. I'll add another note."
So we're good. Until a month later. We get ANOTHER bill from Comcast. Still claiming we owe them $69. My wife calls. Straightens it out. For the third time.
All good? Nope. This week we get another bill. This time with an ominous "DISCONNECTION NOTICE." NO KIDDING! We were disconnected nearly TWO YEARS AGO!!!!!
Bleah.
So I won't go back to Comcast. Satellite TV is cheaper, better, and has much better service. And while cable modems rule, those guys got spit-for-brains.
So I'll happily check out an alternative :)
#10
iProvo the movie
It's pretty neat actually.
12/02/2005 (12:44 pm)
Here is an interesting link for folks in Provo (although I think it applies to all Utopia service areas).iProvo the movie
It's pretty neat actually.
Torque Owner Magnus Blikstad
I would never willingly go back to cable or dsl, it's just SO much more stable and reliable with a REAL connection that don't rely on crappy phone lines or similar.