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Old 11-04-2013, 10:16 PM
 
4 posts, read 4,412 times
Reputation: 10

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It's incredible. The building we are moving into ONLY has Cincinnati Bell & Direct TV services. No other choices. I will be there for a year, and the only way I could get Direct TVs service was by signing a 2 year agreement.

Now on to Cincinnati Bell - I haven't really processed the weeks events trying to become a CB customer. Worst customer experience ever. And for crappy service. Apparently the building only has zoomtown: ZoomTown High-Speed Internet provides tup to 5Mbps download speed and up to 768Kbps upload speed. woohoo uugh.

HELP! Are there any options for me? Are there wireless choices? We are leaving TWC where used anywhere from 35 - 60 GBs of data per month. I work from home - or at least I did. Looks like that might not be possible. Will zoomtown basic even run netflix on my smart tv?

I'm hoping there is some service that doesn't have to be hard wired. - Sad Laura.
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Old 11-05-2013, 07:31 AM
 
404 posts, read 823,357 times
Reputation: 465
I am truly sorry. I went through this recently in a rental. Zoomtown basic never worked even up to 5mbs. I had them come out to reprovision me twice and they moved me to a new DSLAM and I still didn't even get 5. It was not enough to run Netflix or Hulu on my tv while someone else used the internet. We ended up using our cellular hotspots until we moved, it was brutal. I would reconsider living there.
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Old 11-05-2013, 07:32 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati
3,336 posts, read 6,917,246 times
Reputation: 2084
Cincinnati Bell DSL is absolutely pathetic. It is a wonder they have any customers. The only other choice is time warner. If your building doesn't have that, you are most likely out of luck. I didn't realize there were parts of Cincinnati without TWC access.
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Old 11-05-2013, 09:18 AM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,719,261 times
Reputation: 1954
Quote:
Originally Posted by progmac View Post
Cincinnati Bell DSL is absolutely pathetic. It is a wonder they have any customers. The only other choice is time warner. If your building doesn't have that, you are most likely out of luck. I didn't realize there were parts of Cincinnati without TWC access.
Not quite sure what you are comparing. DSL is transmitted over ordinary telephone lines, never designed to go high speed. Of course DSL based internet access is going to be on the slow side.

But the latest CB service is a fiber optics cable based service. This is certainly not DSL. I won't say it is blazing fast, because it isn't. I think some timess people become confused about what level of service they are talking about, which I fully apprecuate. The providers are experts at mumbo-jumbo.

Since TWC is a hardwired sevice, building management must agree to have them install their wires. It is in the interest of a provider like TWC to pre-wire an entire building for their service. Of course then the building management must agree they will be the sole provider. This is simple business.

If you feel constrained by this, perhaps you did not inquire far enough before you signed a lease.
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Old 11-05-2013, 01:46 PM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,719,261 times
Reputation: 1954
OP ...

Even though Direct TV is a satellite based TV service, once the signal is received by the antenna it is routed through hardwired cables within the building. I can understand a building management wanting some degree of control over who is running cables and where in their building. Same goes for internet access such as CB Fioptics service. Inside the building it is a wire based service.

I would expect in a multi-unit building either provider would have something more sophisticated than just a single point of service contact. That is, I would not expect separate feeder wires for each individual service in the building. This type of service obviously costs more money and is why I expect a building management would desire only one provider.

Have you inquired as to a pure wireless provider which does not have to run physical wires into the building? One which comes to mind would be Verizon. I have no personal experience with this, but expect with the way communications are developing we must be close to when a wireless provider can supply everything we want in a bundled package.

At the same time I keep hearing that broadcast TV is still the dominant method of TV reception in the country, the only difference being people had to replace their old analog antennas with digital antennas. Just blows my mind. I haven't had an antenna connected to a TV in well over 30 years.
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Old 11-05-2013, 09:36 PM
 
4 posts, read 4,412 times
Reputation: 10
I wasn't smart enough to ask about this before we signed the lease. I naively assumed that slow wireless was a thing of the past. Silly girl. Everyone in the building - 56 families - and everyone I've met complains. Cincinnati Bell fioptics isn't available in the building yet - and nothing seems to be on the horizon. It's amazing as it's a pretty nice building. As of today - a week into trying to set up the accout with Cincinnati Bell, I'm still not sure I have an account or an appointment. I am completely amazed at how terrible they are, and I haven't started. I would be boring myself to go into the countless phone attempts and idiots I've dealt with. Looks like I'll have to gt an office. I've been working out of my home for years.

I called Verizon, because I am a customer. They do have a little box - a 4G hotspot, but the data plan is the same as a phone. I've been a Time Warner customer for years and so I looked back at our home internet data usage over the past few months. We use between 35 and 60 gbs a month. At $5 a gigabit, this would get expensive, and I'm not sure my reception would be that much better than the zoomtown.

Just sad. I was hoping there was a service I just didn't know about. Thanks for your responses.
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Old 11-06-2013, 09:33 AM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,719,261 times
Reputation: 1954
OP ...

Sounds like you and the other 56 families need to get together and pressure the building management to provide a better internet access.

One thing I don't quite understand. Unless there is a separate dish antenna installed on the outside of the building for each unit, a real mess, for Direct TV there has to be a centralized antenna and then a hardwired cable from to the individual units. If the building is already wired for cable TV, then I would pressure the management to consider a contract with such as TWC who can deliver everything, cable TV, internet, and phone over the same cable.
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Old 11-06-2013, 06:46 PM
 
Location: Toledo
3,860 posts, read 8,432,110 times
Reputation: 3732
Don't have much to add but only that you have my sympathy OP.

I like the idea of you and your neighbors working together to pressure the property owners in giving more options.

Good luck!
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Old 11-07-2013, 04:28 PM
 
Location: Kennedy Heights, Ohio. USA
3,860 posts, read 3,105,560 times
Reputation: 2272
You should be able to get Dish network because Congress made it illegal for landlords to restrict direct to home satellite dishes. Dish network also offers internet bundled with their TV service. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-r...n-devices-rule. This rule also applies to satellite internet so you should be able to get HughesNet internet service which might be better than Dish Network's internet

Last edited by Coseau; 11-07-2013 at 04:39 PM..
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Old 11-07-2013, 09:23 PM
 
4 posts, read 4,412 times
Reputation: 10
Im only a renter. The "management" says they are working on it. The head of facilities, an architect who lives here was complaining about the service - to me! He says there are going to be "meetings" to get it changed, but the fioptics isn't available on this street yet. No idea about direct tv - but it doesn't seem to be an option. Apparently we are only allowed their tv access and Cincinnati Bell for internet. Period.

I'm on it now. Moved in yesterday. Has to upload a file this afternoon - 345 MB - it took 1 hr and 34 minutes - but it worked. Woo hoo.

As renters, we clearly have no power here. There was a sign posted in the elevator yesterday - I tried not to take it as a welcoming gesture. It annouced an owners meeting about an amendment to limit the number of "renters" (can you hear the scorn?) in the building. I do understand as the banks don't want to give loans to buyers in building that are more than a certain % rented. It's an interesting transition after owning a great home for 30 years in an affluent suburb. Life at the bottom of the totem pole.
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