Worth getting Sonic at 16,000 ft?

[Adam Adler]

Next month I am moving to a new house in Belmont, CA, and I am trying to find an Internet service provider. I currently have AT&T but they do not offer Internet access at the new house. I really hate Comcast and would like to find an alternative. I recently came across Sonic and love the price, however my house would be 15,956 wire feet from the local serving office. I was told I should be able to get access, however my speed could be quite slow (0.5-2 MB down?).

My question is, given that I do not have any alternatives other than Comcast for Internet, is it worth trying out Sonic even though I am so far from a local serving office?

Thanks in advance for your help!
-Adam

[thulsa_doom]

With that much copper between our DSLAM and the premises, 16,000 feet is really a gamble. If you're looking to do media streaming (Netflix/Hulu/what-have-you) you're very likely to end up frustrated with a Fusion circuit at that distance.

[dane]

As John notes, it all depends upon your usage and needs. If you are a casual Internet user, and if you value having a land line included, it may be a good value. If you are a heavy Internet user, speed at that distance is likely to be inadequate, and you'd be stuck buying from Cable.

[Adam Adler]

Thank you John and Dane for the quick and honest responses; I really appreciate it.

Adam

[digitalbitstream]

Someone (guess it will be me) should point you to this post:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r269108 ... ance-chart

[Bob]

I just called Sonic.net support to ask what speeds to expect at 11,000 feet.
I was told "Fusion service is up to 20 Megabit second", and that line quality is also a factor.
Comparing to the graph, I would rather have heard that no one gets better than 8 Mbps at that distance, and the average is about 3 Mbps.

[digitalbitstream]

I've experienced this weakness also, with some sonic support staff not really clued into the distance/speed thing. It's a training issue I assume. Dane?