Sonic.net

Hi,
I'm looking to ordering the Fusion bonded-pair DSL for my home at 94040 in Mountainview. I'm looking forward to replace my Comcast broadband.

Here are some questions:
- The bonded-pair Fusion service is offered as a Business account, are there problems ordering this for a residential home? I understand the installation and activation costs are higher.
- I've had ATT "U-verse" broadband previous to Comcast, at this house. ATT called everything Uverse at that time, but I think it was just a DSL service, not fiber. I had the 6/1 service at that time.
The ATT DSL service connected to an old demarc box on the exterior of the house, with a NID label on it.
Here's a picture:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40865704/IMAG0210.jpg
For the bonded-pair fusion service, does it require a new demarc box? I'm hoping it does, because it is an opportunity for me to relocate the "thru wall" wire, to a more preferrable location. I just need it about 15' away from this original position, on the same wall. That "thru wall" wire seem to be the very old POTS phone line from the previous owner of the house. While I understand the Fusion tech will not be responsible for the new "thru wall" wire, I want to put in a new wire, with the hope to minimize losses. The DSL modem will connect immediately on the interior side of the "thru wall".
- If I downgrade to a single line Fusion DSL service, are there any significant changes required? I envision it will just be changing out to the single line modem. In that case, does the installation and activation charges for the downgraded service apply?
- And of course, the speed question. The location check puts me at ~7000' from the CO. A neighbor with single line Sonic gets ~6mbps. So I'm hoping for ~12mbps with this bonded-pair service. Is this a reasonable assessment?

I'm tired of playing the promo rate game with ATT and Comcast. Lately, Comcast's cancellation dept does not even try for retention anymore.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

I see two phone drops in the photo. One is the single-pair drop cable going to the old abandoned lighting arrester (there's no inside wire (IW) attached). The second drop is a 2-pair drop going to the newer 2-pair NID on the right.

When you order bonded service, Sonic will order two pair from AT&T, who will most likely want to use the existing NID to terminate the lines. You can have them move the NID at that time, but may hit you with a service charge for that.

I would let them use the existing NID, but have the Sonic install tech replace the existing IW with CAT5 for a home run to the modem. That existing IW is the old 4-wire (not twisted pair) wire, which isn't good for bonded service.

To answer the speed question, yes, two line service is typically double the speed of single line.

Regarding downgrades, we do not have a change process from single to dual or dual to single, so if you wanted to switch from one to the other, you'd simply order the other, the once it was installed, disconnect the old service.

You should give the service a try, I think you'll love the company and team here, and will enjoy working with us.

Is there an equipment rental fee for the business bonded line account?
I don't see it on the website, whereas I see it for the residential account.

Thanks

No, not at this time. But, new Pace equipment is in the testing stages right now for that product. That new gear brings some new features, and will be integrated into our management platform. In case you are curious, you can look up the unit, it's the 5168NV model.

The pace unit looks nice. Do you have a timeline of when that may be available? Will there be upgrades for existing customers? (another words, should I wait to sign up for service?)

The Gigabit switch and Wireless-N will allow one less device to be hooked up.

Yes, the 5168NV is a very cool unit. It's a bit of a Swiss Army Knife, with "universal", UDSL (all flavors of DSL up to VDSL2), Gigabit LAN, high-power 802.11N with both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, a Gigabit WAN port (for when fiber replaces DSL!) and two managed VoIP ports.

No need to wait to buy service though - when the Pace unit becomes available for the two line, bonded broadband service, any existing Fusion two line customers will be able to opt in. Expect a higher rental fee than the current single line 4111N unit though.