Poll: (Poll) U.S. Internet Providers

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

There's a lot of other reasons why I've been opposed to the idea of always-online consoles that don't even work unless you're connected, but this one recently popped into my head and refused to leave.

See, I'm currently working for a popular Cable/Internet provider in the U.S. which I shouldn't name. While there's generally a diversity of calls, one of the things I found flabbergasting is the sheer number of problems related to outages we get calls for, particularly Internet service since more often than not there's nothing we can do about it except send a rep out to see what happened to the modem and router.

I'm told this is due to the sheer volume of customers we handle- over twenty million across numerous States, but I did some math of my own. On average each day I'll get at least five calls due to the Internet failing that power cycling the modem/router and the other methods we're taught will not fix. Multiply by the number of agents active in my center at one time- say 40. Multiply by the number of centers- six that I know of.

That's 1200 people losing their Internet connection every single day. 8400 per week, and 33600 per month with my provider alone! More often than not, we can't get someone out to fix it until the day after the call. We're not a particularly bad provider either- I hear similar stories from other customer about all of our competitors being the same. An Internet connection that doesn't break down every now and again seems like a rarity rather than the rule, and yet designers have agreed to have this potentially unstable service for a lot of people be the lifeline for all gaming-related activity they provide, even if it's not an MMO or online multiplayer.

So how often would you say your Internet craps out when you're playing a game, and if it doesn't, what do you think your secret is? Is it just the brand of modem or what?

EDIT: Just remembered that I only work 1/3 of each day, so multiply all my previous estimates by 3.

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

I actually...don't ever seem to have a problem. Maybe it's the area I live in or something, but my internet only fails maybe...once a month, if that?
Speeds are adequate as well, though it's obvious they could be way better, however I generally have 20-30 ping at all times in any given game.
The wireless router they provided sucks though, but that's to be expected I guess.
I don't know, Comcast (my provider) generally doesn't give me any problems. Even their customer service is passable most of the time.
I think the only times the internet actually "fails" is when they mess up my bill payments (yes, THEY mess it up), but that happens quite rarely.
Now another nearby provider, Century Link, they are pathetic. Half the speeds of Comcast at around the same prices, terrible service, and it fails quite frequently. Using the internet at my girlfriends place is a disaster with them, but she doesn't pay that bill so she's stuck with whatever the person who does uses.

 

[DefunctTheory]

CenturyLink, a couple times a week.

I can't get too pissy though, it's End of the Line service. The fact I have 'High Speed' internet at all is a damn miracle.

 

[MysticSlayer]

If lucky, Comcast and AT&T only fail once a week when not sleeping. Chances are, though, that it will fail multiple times throughout the week, possibly at least once a day.

Verizon is much better in terms of stability. It's also faster than both Comcast or AT&T. Unfortunately, it's availability is limited. You should also keep up with the bills and payments. I'm not sure if it is corruption or incompetence, but Verizon has (or had) a nasty habit of charging you twice because they don't think the payment went through. At the very least, they've always been very cooperative when the issue is brought up, which is something I can't say for either Comcast or AT&T, especially Comcast.

 

[FalloutJack]

I don't play anything that NEEDS a net connection, aprt from sometimes an MMO. I would say that connection fails there would be about the same as server failures on that route.

 

[Saelune]

I have FiOS (Verizon). It works. Its not cheap but it works which is probably why. When people talk about internet problems, I get confused cause it took a long time to realize that I'm lucky when it comes to this...and I don't live in the middle of nowhere.

If my internet goes out, its usually cause a massive hurricane named Sandy.

 

[Elfgore]

Time Warner Cable user here. Long time outage, about once. Went about six hours with no connection. Other than the occasional five minute dip, no real issues.

 

[renegade7]

The American ISP experience can best be summarized as ten pounds of shit stuffed in a five pound bag and forced through the 128 kbps connection you get despite paying $150 a month for 50 mbps, all the while knowing that your ISP is making money not only off of your subscription fees but also off the marketing data it collects about you and sells to advertisers.

The only industry lobby group that spends more time and money lobbying than the ISPs is the one operated by Northrop Grumman. Currently, the majority of their lobbying efforts are invested in desperate attempts to prevent the existence of any sort of competition whatsoever (for instance, lobbying to prevent local governments from installing optical fiber infrastructure, even when that infrastructure would be leased to private companies) and to be allowed to censor the internet in order to be in a position to strong-arm you out of even more money.

Comcast here. On most days I routinely get lag spikes in excess of 1000 ms on an hourly basis.