Please split phone service from fiber

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
62 posts Page 4 of 7
by Guest » Thu Jun 30, 2016 3:43 pm
As much as I like Sonic, there are much better deals for gigabit fiber @ $60/mo in the world.
by kieran » Thu Jun 30, 2016 4:18 pm
kieran wrote: As I understand it, the FTTN product that Sonic offers is re-sold AT&T FTTN service, and Sonic's contract with AT&T for re-selling this service requires that they bundle the phone with it. OK, fine, that stinks but it's understandable. However, the fiber service is Sonic's own product from soup to nuts. There's no reason to bundle anything with it at all.
I just checked DSLExtreme (another re-seller of AT&T u-verse products) to see their pricing for FTTN to my house. For $37.95/month I can get the same 12mbps FTTN service as Sonic offers, but *without* the phone service. Phone is an option ($10 extra/mo) but it's not a forced bundle.

After paying for the ATA rental and phone line taxes, the Sonic product is not competitive with DSLExtreme sans phone. If you WANT phone, the Sonic is the better deal. If you don't DSLExtreme is the better deal.

That said, I haven't checked their policies on data caps, etc.

Hmmm....
by phr » Thu Jun 30, 2016 11:27 pm
I use my fusion landline some and don't mind having it, but I could do without it if it saved some cash. I have zero interest in Dish TV. Really much more eager to get fiber instead of the 6mbps or so Fusion DSL that's available here.
by FusionSF » Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:28 am
Another vote for the option to un-bundle phone service from fiber! I have no plans to ever have a landline again :)
by Taw123 » Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:10 pm
I will add another voice to the choir. As a network engineer myself living here in SF that has signed up for Fiber once you finish the Richmond and pull on the east side of 19th, I too would like to see you remove the mandate for voice services.

I understand the reasons posted by Dane and agree with many of them in general. Unfortunately many of your early adopters (in this geographic area) don’t match standard national or even in many cases regional demographics. I strongly suspect that many (though not all) or you early adopters are technically sophisticated. Perhaps not fellow engineers, but they are likely to be more technical and analytic then statistical norm. It’s the intersection of type of product you are supplying (Gig Fiber), product awareness, and local market demographics. Unfortunately this particular customer base has a slightly different set of expectations, and desired features from the “mass market” product (i.e. the 80% customer case if I use the old 80/20 rule) that you are offering.

For this customer segment many, including myself, would like to OPT OUT of any voice services for a clean IP only data link. I have no need for a voice line from anyone, though I am sure there many others who appreciate your call blocking and ease/simplicity of service.

Likewise another feature that comes up consistently in the forums is Static IP assignment. I currently have a static block of 125 addresses (all assigned to my own managed domain). I could can get by with less say about 75 if I needed to but I do still need to be able to get a static block assignment on Sonic’s fiber. Again is something that is certainly not the norm but many of the your technically sophisticated early adopters have asked for static IP assignment. It certainly makes it less efficient/convenient for you in general but as Dane or any other network engineer will tell you there are legitimate reasons for a person wanting this, niche feature as an OPTION for the service and to be honest is not the technically difficult to implement in general (though I of course don’t know the specifics of how you have implemented your current solution). There have been many posts asking for this in other threads.

Sorry for the long post so let me try to sum this up putting on my form Product Manager hat (I was a Product Manager at Apple for nearly 10 years). Sonic Fiber as currently defined is a GREAT product and SHOULD be the standard product offering. You should however be able to request three custom options.
  1. Data only (no voice services)
  2. Static IP assignment (up to 5 IPs)
  3. Static IP assignment custom (larger blocks of IP address as custom/special request)
They do not have to be promoted. Again customers who need/want these services will/are asking for them you just need to be able to accommodate the request through your order process.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and thanks for all your efforts to raise the bar from both a technical and user experience perspective. Both are noticed and appreciated. Keep up the good work and if you have any questions or would like further data please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at: double-u eee y eee R at me dot com.

Tom
by limitz » Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:34 pm
I support this thread about splitting voice service.

According to my recent bill Voice service tacks on a additional $12.50 + fees/taxes.
Voice Federal Subscriber Line Charge Fee - 6.50 6.50
STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice Federal Universal Service Fund Fee - 1.80 1.80
STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice California Lifeline Telephone Service 0.53 0.53
Surcharge - STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice California Deaf and Disabled Telecom 0.05 0.05
Program Surcharge - STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice California High Cost Fund-A Surcharge 0.03 0.03
- STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice California Teleconnect Fund Surcharge 0.10 0.10
- STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice California Advanced Services Fund 0.04 0.04
Surcharge - STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice California 911 Emergency Surcharge - 0.07 0.07
STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice San Francisco Access Line Fee - 3.17 3.17
STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice California Public Utility Commission 0.02 0.02
User Fee - STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
FaxLine Service 6284445774 0.00 0.00
Voice FCC Interstate Telecom Service 0.03 0.03
Provider Fee - STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Property Tax Allotment Surcharge - 0.17 0.17
STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Voice Regulatory Recovery Surcharge - 0.43 0.43
STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Fusion Fiber Phone Service - - 0.00 0.00
STI-0163954-0/PAIR200
Fusion Fiber - 1 Gbps - STI-0163954-0 40.00 40.00
Fusion Fiber Information - STI-0163954-0 - 0.00 0.00
Data $27.50 Voice $12.50
by Guest » Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:48 pm
I currently have a "grandfathered" internet connection from Global Capacity (which used to be Megapath, which in turn used to be Covad), which is riding on my AT&T POTS ("plain, old telephone service") landline. I want to switch to Sonic Fusion X2 so badly, but I simply CANNOT give up the reliability of my POTS landline from AT&T. I, too, do NOT want VoIP bundled with X2, should I ever decide to switch. I realize that I live in "earthquake country" ('Original Daly City', bordering San Francisco, near the start of the 14-Mission MUNI line into San Francisco). Back in the 1989 earthquake, my household had absolutely NO OTHER WAY to keep in contact with close family and friends (all of whom are scattered throughout the greater Bay Area), other than the POTS landline. Knowing that VoIP can actually go down in such emergencies, it is not very reassuring. So I really would want to retain the peace-of-mind that POTS provides.

If there was any way I could switch out of Global Capacity (ie. quitting their service, while leaving my AT&T POTS landline UNTOUCHED)... then get X2 with its own line (or..... lines) installed at my house, that would be ideal. Does anyone know if this is an option? Dane?
by miken » Wed Aug 17, 2016 2:22 pm
Guest wrote:I currently have a "grandfathered" internet connection from Global Capacity (which used to be Megapath, which in turn used to be Covad), which is riding on my AT&T POTS ("plain, old telephone service") landline. I want to switch to Sonic Fusion X2 so badly, but I simply CANNOT give up the reliability of my POTS landline from AT&T. I, too, do NOT want VoIP bundled with X2, should I ever decide to switch. I realize that I live in "earthquake country" ('Original Daly City', bordering San Francisco, near the start of the 14-Mission MUNI line into San Francisco). Back in the 1989 earthquake, my household had absolutely NO OTHER WAY to keep in contact with close family and friends (all of whom are scattered throughout the greater Bay Area), other than the POTS landline. Knowing that VoIP can actually go down in such emergencies, it is not very reassuring. So I really would want to retain the peace-of-mind that POTS provides.
If your modem, the phone adapter we provide and your landline phone are connected to a small battery backup you will be able to make calls during a power outage. Battery backups can be fairly inexpensive, but it depends on how long you want to be able to run those devices.
Mike N.
Development Trainer
Sonic
by dane » Wed Aug 17, 2016 3:58 pm
...also, for Fusion, the bundled phone service is POTS. It's VoIP with Fusion FTTN.
Dane Jasper
Sonic
by Guest » Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:02 pm
Thank you miken and dane.

New question for you though: if I get Fusion and have my AT&T POTS number ported to Sonic.... and decide later on that it's not for me (for whatever reason), can my original POTS phone # be ported back to AT&T? Or will I completely lose that number in the process (of leaving Sonic)?

And just so I can be certain that I'm not confusing things in my mind, would it be possible to have a completely new Fusion X2 line installed at my house, without touching the AT&T POTS line, essentially having both VoIP AND POTS. As it is right now, I don't particularly trust the old copper wiring in my home and the last time I had a Megapath (now Global Capacity) tech come over to service my flaky ADSL connection (lineshare with my AT&T POTS landline), he was kind of shocked to see that I don't have anything that looked like a modern "NID box". I didn't know what else to say to him other than my house was built in the 1930's or 40's and everything inside is pretty much stock, except for the water heater. :\ So, concerning my "NID box" (or lack there-of), will that be a limiting factor in my ability to successfully get and use either Fusion or Fusion X2? Will a Sonic technician be able to set up my connection for me if it really is that bad? Or will it be an AT&T tech?

Sorry if my situation is complex... but it is what it is. I tried to get U-verse back in 2010 (just internet... no TV, no voice), but it was simply a NIGHTMARE. That is why i am still with Global Capacity (since 2004, when it was still Covad).
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