Sonic fiber in San Francisco

[mazieres]

I think we just forgot it. Oops. Engineering is looking at this and a few other spots we overlooked now.

Thanks for the response, Dane. Can you let me know definitively whether you guys will loop back at some point in the near future and wire my street? I can already get Wave Gigabit service at my house. While I would rather stick with Sonic, I hope you can understand that no matter how great Sonic is by other metrics, if my choice is between 40 Mbps at Sonic or 1000 Mbps at Wave, I'm obviously going to change ISPs.

[dane]

I think we just forgot it. Oops. Engineering is looking at this and a few other spots we overlooked now.

Thanks for the response, Dane. Can you let me know definitively whether you guys will loop back at some point in the near future and wire my street? I can already get Wave Gigabit service at my house. While I would rather stick with Sonic, I hope you can understand that no matter how great Sonic is by other metrics, if my choice is between 40 Mbps at Sonic or 1000 Mbps at Wave, I'm obviously going to change ISPs.

It's in engineering for review now, but we won't know for a while if the poles are viable. So I'm sorry I can't promise one way or the other, but would encourage you to stick with us for a while to see.

[mazieres]

It's in engineering for review now, but we won't know for a while if the poles are viable. So I'm sorry I can't promise one way or the other, but would encourage you to stick with us for a while to see.

How long is a while? I would give Sonic a couple of months to get me gigabit service, but I don't want this to drag out indefinitely because that's just extending the pain. I'm willing to bet that my utility poles are not overloaded. If the only thing standing between me and gigabit is the unknown condition of my utility poles, I'll stick it out. Otherwise, if I'm going to end up switching anyway, I might as well get gigabit now.

Making this more pressing is the fact that Wave's promotional pricing ends August 30, so I need to reach a decision in the next few days. If it's more than utility poles standing between me and Sonic gigabit, then I guess another ISP better meets my needs at this point. I will greatly appreciate your candor in making this clear, rather than stringing me along for several more months with false hopes of fiber that never materialize. I would also consider returning to Sonic as soon as gigabit is available. Everything other than speed has been good for years as a Sonic customer, and I will continue to speak well of Sonic and recommend Sonic so long as we part ways now. However, two more months of revenue will not be worth the good will you squander if you encourage me to stick with Sonic and don't either get me fiber or identify concrete utility pole problems.

Thanks.

[pockyken007]

It's in engineering for review now, but we won't know for a while if the poles are viable. So I'm sorry I can't promise one way or the other, but would encourage you to stick with us for a while to see.

How long is a while? I would give Sonic a couple of months to get me gigabit service, but I don't want this to drag out indefinitely because that's just extending the pain. I'm willing to bet that my utility poles are not overloaded. If the only thing standing between me and gigabit is the unknown condition of my utility poles, I'll stick it out. Otherwise, if I'm going to end up switching anyway, I might as well get gigabit now.

Making this more pressing is the fact that Wave's promotional pricing ends August 30, so I need to reach a decision in the next few days. If it's more than utility poles standing between me and Sonic gigabit, then I guess another ISP better meets my needs at this point. I will greatly appreciate your candor in making this clear, rather than stringing me along for several more months with false hopes of fiber that never materialize. I would also consider returning to Sonic as soon as gigabit is available. Everything other than speed has been good for years as a Sonic customer, and I will continue to speak well of Sonic and recommend Sonic so long as we part ways now. However, two more months of revenue will not be worth the good will you squander if you encourage me to stick with Sonic and don't either get me fiber or identify concrete utility pole problems.

Thanks.

I don't think you are going to get an ETA on the forums ( I would try calling CS and inquiring but I assume the answer you get would be the same ) . Dane said many times they will not give people an ETA on anything because they don't want to over-promise and under-deliver ( which is smart from business stand point ) .

[dane]

It's in engineering for review now, but we won't know for a while if the poles are viable. So I'm sorry I can't promise one way or the other, but would encourage you to stick with us for a while to see.

How long is a while? I would give Sonic a couple of months to get me gigabit service, but I don't want this to drag out indefinitely because that's just extending the pain. I'm willing to bet that my utility poles are not overloaded. If the only thing standing between me and gigabit is the unknown condition of my utility poles, I'll stick it out. Otherwise, if I'm going to end up switching anyway, I might as well get gigabit now.

Making this more pressing is the fact that Wave's promotional pricing ends August 30, so I need to reach a decision in the next few days. If it's more than utility poles standing between me and Sonic gigabit, then I guess another ISP better meets my needs at this point. I will greatly appreciate your candor in making this clear, rather than stringing me along for several more months with false hopes of fiber that never materialize. I would also consider returning to Sonic as soon as gigabit is available. Everything other than speed has been good for years as a Sonic customer, and I will continue to speak well of Sonic and recommend Sonic so long as we part ways now. However, two more months of revenue will not be worth the good will you squander if you encourage me to stick with Sonic and don't either get me fiber or identify concrete utility pole problems.

Thanks.

Your street is into the engineering queue now, but this doesn't yet give us certainty - they've got to pull records from PG&E on the status of the poles, then visit and measure each of them ourselves, then submit for attachment, wait for approval, schedule the construction, splicing, etc. End-to-end, it's typically a six to nine month process. And it takes 2-3 months before we will know if it is viable.

I certainly don't want to string you along, but I can't say at this point what the outcome will be - except to say that it won't be a couple months, it'd be six to nine, if it is viable.

[phnfong]

Hi Dane:
please do not forget these two blocks: 2500 & 2600 of 25th Ave, cross Street is Vicente. Overload telephone pole at the end of 2500 block.
Peter Fong

[dane]

Hi Dane:
please do not forget these two blocks: 2500 & 2600 of 25th Ave, cross Street is Vicente. Overload telephone pole at the end of 2500 block.
Peter Fong

My recollection is that there is a failed pole on 25th Ave, so we'd have to wait until that was replaced or reinforced before we could consider construction there.

[mazieres]

Your street is into the engineering queue now, but this doesn't yet give us certainty - they've got to pull records from PG&E on the status of the poles, then visit and measure each of them ourselves, then submit for attachment, wait for approval, schedule the construction, splicing, etc. End-to-end, it's typically a six to nine month process. And it takes 2-3 months before we will know if it is viable.

I certainly don't want to string you along, but I can't say at this point what the outcome will be - except to say that it won't be a couple months, it'd be six to nine, if it is viable.

So as expected, there is no issue with my utility poles. I watched Wave string a brand-new cable from Van Ness Ave. (where Sonic has fiber) to my house this morning to deliver their gigabit service to my house. Why was Wave able to use these utility poles literally the morning after I ordered service, while Sonic needs 9 months to string a fiber 100 feet from a building that already has it?

Anyway, I'm sad to cancel my Sonic service. I'll certainly miss my 8 static IP addresses, the fax service, the phone service, and the generally non-patronizing attitude of your support staff--all of which were worth way more to me than the $30/month I'll be saving on wave. I look forward to switching back in 6-9 months as soon as you can bring fiber to my street.

[Misson Dweller]

Hi Dane,

I see that you guys have a permit (17TOC-3453) for 18th street in the Mission. I'm on 18th between Valencia and Dorland across from the Woman's building. Any rough sense of when Sonic Fiber will be available there?

Cheers,
MD

[bkyu47]

I'm a bit confused about the "availability" results. I'm in the Castro (Sanchez St between 15th and 16th) but apparently no gigabit coming to my location, because the availability check does not have a pre-order option. So there are blocks in the Castro/mission area that will be skipped?

JTO