Netcom has no 800 number for support !!!?
SB
Hi All !
Netcom online communications services does not seem to have a 1-800
number for tech support (24x7) !
I just bought their Netcomplete software for W95 and I am getting a
"WSA error: disconnected " while registration. I am not able to
register.
They have a (408) phone number (which has lengthy messages so I
guess I better watch my long distance bill ). Oh they also have an
email help line but how do I send email if Im not connected to the
'net in the first place ? ! duh !! And on top of that they
have a signup fee !!
I finally sent them email from a friend's account and I got a reply
after about 24 hrs and they say having an 800 number is cost
prohibitive to them !! I dont know what they do with the hefty non
refundable $25 signup they charge !! I cant think of a single
national company that does not have an 800 number ! Heck,
the corner deli store in front of my apartment has an 800 number !
Does anyone know a better ISP which is available nationwide ? I am
also looking for the following additional features :
*) PPP/SLIP connection
*) Unlimited usage for a flat fee per month
*) Toll free tech support line (800 number with no hidden costs)
*) local dial up access in most major cities in US
*) reasonably good connection : AOL and MSN are busy most of the time.
*) POP mail - I need this so that I dont need special purpose
proprietory software to dial in and retrieve my email. With POP
mail, I can just use a pop client and simply retrieve my email
from my remote server.
*) The last desirable feature would be to have a unix shell account
which is also a SLIP/PPP account. In Netcom shell accounts and
SLIP/PPP accounts are separate. Currently winternet in Minneapolis
offers this but they are local and not nationwide.
*) subscribe to all internet newsgroups. (no censoring)
*) I should be able to create not just simple home pages
but also cgi scripts using perl, shell etc in my account
I would appreciate any replies. Thanks.
--
SB
FireFly
bal...@cs.umn.edu (SB) wrote:
Consider MIndspring... www.mindspring.com seems to fit your
requirements. Generally good depending on the POPs available in your
area. The lease a lot of PSI POPs--- the down side. Mindspring POPs
are said to be much more dependable/reliable.
|
|
|
----
--->- Firefly -<---
My tables don't link!
William Bailer
On Wed, 23 Jul 1997, FireFly wrote:
>--->- Firefly -<---
I crossed Mindspring off of my list because they are expensive.
The best that I have found are:
Brigadoon $18 may have become a little too popular
Micronet $20 very competent
Concentric
Network $20 very big
They all have ppp and shell accounts (at least by telnet), 800, national
access, etc. Concentric Network has the distinction of having dial-up
shell access, nationally (same numbers also used for ppp).
And if I remember correctly, there are NO initial setup fees for any of
these.
The Concentric 800 tech people are very good, but you usually have to
wait 20 minutes on hold. Micronet 800 is quick, I don't know about
Brigadoon.
I scrounged all of the isp lists, and this is all that I could find that
are not crippled in some way.
Does anyone know of any other national ISP's in this class? ESPECIALLY
one with DIAL-UP shell access?
Bill Bailer
\\\ William Bailer wba...@cris.com
\\\ Rochester, NY, USA phone: 716-473-9556
\\\ Acoustics, piano technology, music theory, JSBach.
Frank St. Claire
In article <5r1enb$s...@epx.cis.umn.edu>, bal...@cs.umn.edu says...
>
> Hi All !
> Netcom online communications services does not seem to have a 1-800
> number for tech support (24x7) !
>
> I just bought their Netcomplete software for W95 and I am getting a
> "WSA error: disconnected " while registration. I am not able to
> register.
>
> They have a (408) phone number (which has lengthy messages so I
> guess I better watch my long distance bill ). Oh they also have an
> email help line but how do I send email if Im not connected to the
> 'net in the first place ? ! duh !! And on top of that they
> have a signup fee !!
>
> I finally sent them email from a friend's account and I got a reply
> after about 24 hrs and they say having an 800 number is cost
> prohibitive to them !! I dont know what they do with the hefty non
> refundable $25 signup they charge !! I cant think of a single
> national company that does not have an 800 number ! Heck,
> the corner deli store in front of my apartment has an 800 number !
>
> also looking for the following additional features :
>
> *) PPP/SLIP connection
> *) Unlimited usage for a flat fee per month
> *) Toll free tech support line (800 number with no hidden costs)
> *) local dial up access in most major cities in US
> *) reasonably good connection : AOL and MSN are busy most of the time.
> *) POP mail - I need this so that I dont need special purpose
> proprietory software to dial in and retrieve my email. With POP
> mail, I can just use a pop client and simply retrieve my email
> from my remote server.
> *) The last desirable feature would be to have a unix shell account
> which is also a SLIP/PPP account. In Netcom shell accounts and
> SLIP/PPP accounts are separate. Currently winternet in Minneapolis
> offers this but they are local and not nationwide.
> *) subscribe to all internet newsgroups. (no censoring)
> *) I should be able to create not just simple home pages
> but also cgi scripts using perl, shell etc in my account
>
> I would appreciate any replies. Thanks.
>
> --
> SB
>
>
>
>
was non-existent. As to National's I don't know a good one. But test
out their customer support before subscribing.
P.S. Good luck terminating Netcom. It took me months before they would
process my termination of service.
Block Tax
ple...@ask.me (FireFly) wrote:
>bal...@cs.umn.edu (SB) wrote:
>Consider MIndspring... www.mindspring.com seems to fit your
>requirements. Generally good depending on the POPs available in your
>area. The lease a lot of PSI POPs--- the down side. Mindspring POPs
>are said to be much more dependable/reliable.
>--->- Firefly -<---
>My tables don't link!
According to cnet.com reviews of ISP users, Netcom is the lowest rated
national ISP. Mindspring.com is the 4th highest rated national ISP,
but higher rated ones are really small regionals or only national with
800 service. Mindspring , a PC World best buy, has hundreds of local
numbers.
Barry
fstc...@airmail.net (Frank St. Claire) wrote:
>ANYBODY is better than Netcom. I was with them 5 years and their support
Agreed. I too was with Netcom.
>was non-existent. As to National's I don't know a good one. But test
I don't think it ever existed.
>P.S. Good luck terminating Netcom. It took me months before they would
>process my termination of service.
I don't know about that. I terminated and they killed the account just fine.
They didn't continue to bill be or anything like that.
... What's Happening, dudes? --Holly.
BY SENDING UNSOLICITED, COMMERCIAL, SPAM EMAIL TO THIS ADDRESS, YOU
HEREBY AGREE TO RECEIVE UP TO 20 MEGABYTES OF RANDOM CORE DUMP INFORMATION.
Current Domains that will be killed at the server are... cyberpromo.com,
1stfamily.com, regulus.net, geocities.com.
(DNRC) Btb...@bigfoot.com
[Posted with Agent 1.5. For info, email agent...@forteinc.com.]
John Bianco
FireFly <ple...@ask.me> wrote in article
<33d55813...@news3.ibm.net>...
:
Mindspring is currently working on getting its own POPs in NYC and
California, but otherwise, outside of the southeast, stay away from
Mindspring, because PSInet POPs are piss poor IMO. Another good choice is
IBM.NET, though since they rolled out X2, many IBMnet POPs have been
haveing capacity problem, and the toll free 800 back-up number is on
activated for the most extereme of situations.
FireFly
"John Bianco" <rft...@ibm.net> wrote:
|: |Hi All !
|: |Netcom online communications services does not seem to have a 1-800
|: |number for tech support (24x7) !
|: |
|: |I just bought their Netcomplete software for W95 and I am getting a
|: |"WSA error: disconnected " while registration. I am not able to
|: |register.
|: |
///snipped for brevity///|: |
|: |Does anyone know a better ISP which is available nationwide ? I am
|: |also looking for the following additional features :
|: |
|: | *) PPP/SLIP connection
|: | *) Unlimited usage for a flat fee per month
|: | *) Toll free tech support line (800 number with no hidden costs)
|: | *) local dial up access in most major cities in US
|: | *) reasonably good connection : AOL and MSN are busy most of the time.
|: | *) POP mail - I need this so that I dont need special purpose
|: | proprietory software to dial in and retrieve my email. With POP
|: | mail, I can just use a pop client and simply retrieve my email
|: | from my remote server.
|: | *) The last desirable feature would be to have a unix shell account
|: | which is also a SLIP/PPP account. In Netcom shell accounts and
|: | SLIP/PPP accounts are separate. Currently winternet in Minneapolis
|: | offers this but they are local and not nationwide.
|: | *) subscribe to all internet newsgroups. (no censoring)
|: | *) I should be able to create not just simple home pages
|: | but also cgi scripts using perl, shell etc in my account
|: |
|: |I would appreciate any replies. Thanks.
|: |
|: |--
|: | SB
|:
|: Consider MIndspring... www.mindspring.com seems to fit your
|: requirements. Generally good depending on the POPs available in your
|: area. The lease a lot of PSI POPs--- the down side. Mindspring POPs
|: are said to be much more dependable/reliable. ////FIREFLY///
|:
|
| Mindspring is currently working on getting its own POPs in NYC and
|California, but otherwise, outside of the southeast, stay away from
|Mindspring, because PSInet POPs are piss poor IMO. Another good choice is
|IBM.NET, though since they rolled out X2, many IBMnet POPs have been
|haveing capacity problem, and the toll free 800 back-up number is on
|activated for the most extereme of situations.
|
Emphatically NO WAY on IBM.NET. Unfortunately, IBM.net (ADVANTIS) has
significant uncorrected problems in email and newsgroups. Promised
fixes are rolled back because it mucks up something else or promises
remain just promises. If you can tolerate split messages sometimes,
i.e. a single message comes in two parts (one with the header and the
other without) and daily news problems, IBM is not so bad. I can not
understand how IBM can treat its customers as "beta" testers on its
standard software. BTW, the split email without the header is the one
with content. A slight change of heart on my part concerning IBM--
but GEEZ. <sigh> --FF--
----
John Bianco
: |
: | Mindspring is currently working on getting its own POPs in NYC and
: |California, but otherwise, outside of the southeast, stay away from
: |Mindspring, because PSInet POPs are piss poor IMO. Another good choice
is
: |IBM.NET, though since they rolled out X2, many IBMnet POPs have been
: |haveing capacity problem, and the toll free 800 back-up number is on
: |activated for the most extereme of situations.
: |
: Emphatically NO WAY on IBM.NET. Unfortunately, IBM.net (ADVANTIS) has
: significant uncorrected problems in email and newsgroups. Promised
: fixes are rolled back because it mucks up something else or promises
: remain just promises. If you can tolerate split messages sometimes,
: i.e. a single message comes in two parts (one with the header and the
: other without) and daily news problems, IBM is not so bad. I can not
: understand how IBM can treat its customers as "beta" testers on its
: standard software. BTW, the split email without the header is the one
: with content. A slight change of heart on my part concerning IBM--
: but GEEZ. <sigh> --FF--
: ----
First of all Advantis is basically gone, its all IBM Global Network now.
As for IBM.NET news, its retention rates have been excellent since the news
server fixes in April, and with new news peering agreements, IBM.NETs news
feed has gotten way better, almost as good as AT&T IMO. Articles are sent
out and recived quickly now. As for daily news problems, give IBM.NET a
break, they have 3 news servers after all, and except for a problem two
weeks ago, when two were down, the news has been reliable for the last
thrree months. The split mail problem is either being worked on, or is
fixed by now, I myslef has not gotten a split mail in a while.
Just try any other ISP, and you will find one problem or another,
Mindspring is excellent, but PSI isPSI.net, slow. But I bet even Mindspring
has news problems one time or another.
I guess you want perfection, and sadly for $19.95 a month that is not
possible, for a national ISP, IBM.NET is about the best there is. I hope
you like Mindspring, I know Booty did not.
FireFly
"John Bianco" <rft...@ibm.net> wrote:
/////lots of snipping but still long/////
|: |
|: Emphatically NO WAY on IBM.NET. Unfortunately, IBM.net (ADVANTIS) has
|: significant uncorrected problems in email and newsgroups. Promised
|: fixes are rolled back because it mucks up something else or promises
|: remain just promises. If you can tolerate split messages sometimes,
|: i.e. a single message comes in two parts (one with the header and the
|: other without) and daily news problems, IBM is not so bad. I can not
|: understand how IBM can treat its customers as "beta" testers on its
|: standard software. BTW, the split email without the header is the one
|: with content. A slight change of heart on my part concerning IBM--
|: but GEEZ. <sigh> --FF--
|: ----
|
|
| First of all Advantis is basically gone, its all IBM Global Network now.
|As for IBM.NET news, its retention rates have been excellent since the news
|server fixes in April, and with new news peering agreements, IBM.NETs news
|feed has gotten way better, almost as good as AT&T IMO. Articles are sent
|out and recived quickly now. As for daily news problems, give IBM.NET a
|break, they have 3 news servers after all, and except for a problem two
|weeks ago, when two were down, the news has been reliable for the last
|thrree months.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN-- yes they have 3 servers-- first one is down,
then another. They put a fix on it-- then they pull the fix off.
Reliability--no way. Even the most ardent supporters in IBM
newsgroups know that the newsgroup problems are day-to-day happenings.
If you kept switching servers several times a day you could read most
of the available posts. Can't tell how many times I have had to
reload newsgroups, etc. Most IPs I have been with were far more
reliable in terms of reliable newsgroups.
|The split mail problem is either being worked on, or is
|fixed by now, I myslef has not gotten a split mail in a while.
What do you mean give them break-- the split mail problem was always
there, at least since April-- it has gotten worse with some changes.
IBM promised a fix a week or so ago. After the fix, they took the fix
off because of problems. (BTW-- they didn't bother to revise their
"Whats New" to show that they took the fix off.) My biggest complaint
is their arrogance indicated by the IBM attitude of take it or leave
it-- this is what we have and we know best and we don't need to keep
the users informed. One exception is the News Administrators aren't
too bad-- but probably overwhelmed.
I'm still getting split mail (mostly from sprynet) -- 2 or 3 of about
30 emails today. NO other IP/isp (Netcom, mindspring, pipeline, aol,
erols, et al.) has had such a problem and for so long. Geez-- how
many broken promises do you want? How can you tout them to anyone at
this point?
Also, it looks like the backup 800 numbers will be a thing of the
past for most IBM users. The help desk said so but no one could get
IBM to admit it in the newsgroups.
Lost email-- IBM told everyone no mail was lost in the last snafu a
day or so ago. WRONG-- they finally admitted instances in which mail
could have been lost.
IBM network status page-- worthless, it seldom changes regardless of
the various servers that are down, split email, fixes pulled off, etc.
You really want to tout IBM to someone-- Damn-- I wouldn't buy a used
car from you. Just kidd'n, I know we differ on IBM-- but my
experiences say IBM is a loser compared to other IPs--- how long can
you wait for the fixes?
| Just try any other ISP, and you will find one problem or another,
|Mindspring is excellent, but PSI isPSI.net, slow. But I bet even Mindspring
|has news problems one time or another.
| I guess you want perfection, and sadly for $19.95 a month that is not
|possible, for a national ISP, IBM.NET is about the best there is. I hope
|you like Mindspring, I know Booty did not.
|
We do agree on PSI POPs-- unreliable. However, I have heard that new
mindspring POPs were established in the last few days in several
California and in Colorado areas. I didn't like mindspring because of
the PSI POPs-- but the service was generally good and they didn't have
email or news problems of significance. Lordy-- I complained because
of a few busy signals-- Mindspring, I suppose, could be forgiven for
a few problems because it more than doubled in the last year from a
regional IP to a National IP when it absorbed the Pipeline users and
inherited the need to lease PSI equipment.
One area in which Mindspring excels over IBM (or did): Mindspring
kept its users informed of the status of its network. Regional
managers posted problems in each of their internal newsgroups--
usually the problems was corrected before anyone noticed. They
weren't perfect, but they were moving in the right direction. IBM
acts like microsoft-- gets the user to be the beta tester without
telling them. :)
Mindspring also had groups functioning similiar to quality circles
that made recommendations for change; I heard they paid for
recommendations in some cases. IBM has been told time and time again
that it needs to keep its users informed; it has done no good.
Even Erols beats IBM, IMO, and Erols is far less expensive. They made
some equipment buys that weren't as good as they were told. I haven't
heard too much bad about them lately.
Internationally, I don't think anyone can touch IBM--but most don't
need an international IP. Most could satisfy their needs with a local
or regional IP.
William Bailer
On 1 Aug 1997, John Bianco wrote:
>
>
>: |
>: | Mindspring is currently working on getting its own POPs in NYC and
>: |California, but otherwise, outside of the southeast, stay away from
>: |Mindspring, because PSInet POPs are piss poor IMO. Another good choice
>is
>: |IBM.NET, though since they rolled out X2, many IBMnet POPs have been
>: |haveing capacity problem, and the toll free 800 back-up number is on
>: |activated for the most extereme of situations.
>: |
>: Emphatically NO WAY on IBM.NET. Unfortunately, IBM.net (ADVANTIS) has
>: significant uncorrected problems in email and newsgroups. Promised
>: fixes are rolled back because it mucks up something else or promises
>: remain just promises. If you can tolerate split messages sometimes,
>: i.e. a single message comes in two parts (one with the header and the
>: other without) and daily news problems, IBM is not so bad. I can not
>: understand how IBM can treat its customers as "beta" testers on its
>: standard software. BTW, the split email without the header is the one
>: with content. A slight change of heart on my part concerning IBM--
>: but GEEZ. <sigh> --FF--
>: ----
>
>
> First of all Advantis is basically gone, its all IBM Global Network now.
>As for IBM.NET news, its retention rates have been excellent since the news
>server fixes in April, and with new news peering agreements, IBM.NETs news
>feed has gotten way better, almost as good as AT&T IMO. Articles are sent
>out and recived quickly now. As for daily news problems, give IBM.NET a
>break, they have 3 news servers after all, and except for a problem two
>weeks ago, when two were down, the news has been reliable for the last
>thrree months. The split mail problem is either being worked on, or is
>fixed by now, I myslef has not gotten a split mail in a while.
> Just try any other ISP, and you will find one problem or another,
>Mindspring is excellent, but PSI isPSI.net, slow. But I bet even Mindspring
>has news problems one time or another.
> I guess you want perfection, and sadly for $19.95 a month that is not
>possible, for a national ISP, IBM.NET is about the best there is. I hope
>you like Mindspring, I know Booty did not.
>
Here in Rochester NY PSI-NET connections are the fastest I have seen.
As for comparing IBM-NET and Mindspring, keep in mind:
IBM has no user web pages, Mindspring does.
IBM has no form of shell account. Mindspring gives you a shell account
that you can telnet to from any internet connected terminal or computer,
which is for me a GREAT advantage.
Bill Bailer
FireFly
b...@mindspring.net (Bob McNamara) wrote:
|On Sun, 3 Aug 1997 00:52:36 -0400, William Bailer <Wba...@cris.com>
|wrote:
|>Here in Rochester NY PSI-NET connections are the fastest I have seen.
|>As for comparing IBM-NET and Mindspring, keep in mind:
|>
|>IBM has no user web pages, Mindspring does.
|>IBM has no form of shell account. Mindspring gives you a shell account
|>that you can telnet to from any internet connected terminal or computer,
|>which is for me a GREAT advantage.
|
|I think you may have erred Bill. We do not, and never have, offered
|shell accounts to users.
|
|Some folks have learned to manipulate POP mail via telnet, which is
|perfectly okay, but we provide no home shell accounts.
|
|
|Bob
|
|
|- - - - - - - - - - - - -
|Bob McNamara b...@mindspring.net
|Sales Manager, MindSpring Business
|MindSpring Enterprises Inc. - Direct to the Internet
|NetGuide "Peoples Choice" Best ISP, CNet Top 3,PC World 'Best Buy'.
|1430 W. Peachtree Atlanta, GA 30309 (404) 815 0770 x 2205
|http://www.mindspring.com
|"A ship is safe in the harbor, but that is not why ships are built"
Say Bob,
Any comment on those POPs many are complaining about???? I think he
may have erred about those speedy PSI POPs in NY, too. :)
I hear ya all are discussing SPAM and UUnet, etc. I hear you had a
lot of excellent reasons for the actions or lack of action. A lot of
emotion involved--- but lets hope reason prevails.
I guess I'll miss your birthday this year! And Peggy, I guess is
gone.
Bob McNamara
Bob McNamara
On Mon, 04 Aug 1997 23:10:43 GMT, ple...@ask.me (FireFly) wrote:
>Say Bob,
>
>Any comment on those POPs many are complaining about???? I think he
>may have erred about those speedy PSI POPs in NY, too. :)
Actually while PSi hasn't turned out to be as robust as we'd have
liked, I think our way of reacting to it has done us well.
There are two remedies either already in place, or in implementation
now, that should resolve the majority of those issues.
First, in the major markets of Metro NYC and the State of California
we are in the process of building our own X2 compatible POP sites.
This will allow us to bring the same level of network quality those
here in our home region, the South East, have come to expect, to those
areas. Between the two areas they encompass the overwhelming majority
of 'bad' PSI cities. The current target, which we hope to beat, is
October 1st for these access points.
For the others we began rolling out access through a third network,
Gridnet, within the last month or so. Initial results have been quite
positive, and the people at Gridnet have proven to be exceptionally
responsive to any 'surprises' we've discovered along the way. Look for
most areas outside the ones I mentioned above to have this solution in
the reasonable future.
Between the two I'd imagine any remaining 'hotspots' will be the
exception, which will allow us to focus more intense responsiveness to
those areas ... overall bringing everyone currently affected out of
the 'PSI blues'.
It's been quite a learning experience for us, one we're more than
willing to talk about.
On a side note, for those in those affected areas who may be using
other carriers. In an attempt to avoid aggravating a bad situation
we've had a policy for a long time now of refusing to accept new
subscribers in areas with demonstrated access problems. Unfortunately
others who share these dialups, Earthlink, Delphi, Brigadoon, WebTV
and a host of others, have not taken this stance. The end result
having been the problems, even after upgrades were done, did not go
away. We expect the direction we're moving will let us be much more
proactive, and not subject to the obvious lack of concern for the end
user those companies have demonstrated.
>I hear ya all are discussing SPAM and UUnet, etc. I hear you had a
>lot of excellent reasons for the actions or lack of action. A lot of
>emotion involved--- but lets hope reason prevails.
Reason will always prevail <g>. A healthy discussion ensures decisions
are made on logic, and in the best interest of the net itself, rather
than the heated emotions of the moment.
>I guess I'll miss your birthday this year! And Peggy, I guess is
>gone.
Unfortunately true. Although still very active in the main user group
in that region.