Fusion price increase and fiber expansion

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
597 posts Page 54 of 60
by pockyken007 » Thu May 18, 2017 11:00 am
soniclurker wrote:
pockyken007 wrote:
soniclurker wrote:
Not trying to turn you away from Sonic, but I am a firm believer on having enough bandwidth for your needs.

VPN is an option, or you can run sonic (for privacy) + comcast (for streaming/updating/downloading) =p.

No worries it would be really heard to turn me away from sonic ( unless you can somehow deliver more than 1 gig fiber :P ) but even then I am barely able to use maybe 250 mbps out of 1 gig pipe and that is on the heavy upload / download day :P
Haha yah. I don't even max out my 240 down anymore. I tell everyone in my household do w/e the hell the want now.

Only thing is apple products will max out the upload =[ stupid apple...

interesting are they ( apple ) that upload heavy or is it all the syncs / backups etc ?
by soniclurker » Thu May 18, 2017 1:48 pm
pockyken007 wrote:
soniclurker wrote:
pockyken007 wrote:

No worries it would be really heard to turn me away from sonic ( unless you can somehow deliver more than 1 gig fiber :P ) but even then I am barely able to use maybe 250 mbps out of 1 gig pipe and that is on the heavy upload / download day :P
Haha yah. I don't even max out my 240 down anymore. I tell everyone in my household do w/e the hell the want now.

Only thing is apple products will max out the upload =[ stupid apple...

interesting are they ( apple ) that upload heavy or is it all the syncs / backups etc ?
Yah they are all syncs and backups through icloud and updates on the macbooks.
by pockyken007 » Thu May 18, 2017 5:45 pm
soniclurker wrote:
pockyken007 wrote:
soniclurker wrote:
Haha yah. I don't even max out my 240 down anymore. I tell everyone in my household do w/e the hell the want now.

Only thing is apple products will max out the upload =[ stupid apple...

interesting are they ( apple ) that upload heavy or is it all the syncs / backups etc ?
Yah they are all syncs and backups through icloud and updates on the macbooks.

ugh that would saturate the upload fast ... I remember when I was on DSL and I had to upload something big .... bye bye connection .
by lhmeyer » Sat May 20, 2017 2:51 pm
Regarding upload saturation affecting download speed: all you have to do is set up the upload cap on your router to about 90-95% of the actual upload limit of your connection. For example; if your upload speed is 1 Mbit then set it to 900 Kbits on the router. That should usually take care of the problem.
by foax zilch » Thu May 25, 2017 1:47 pm
soniclurker wrote:
fallenturtle wrote:
jiapengjiang wrote:I am paying almost $70 a month for internet, i mean I don't even need a home phone line but thanks to Sonic's bundle policy, which i have to pay for $10+ for a phone line i barely used.
I was okay for that but now $70 for 15M, if it is fiber, than fine. BUT NO.
this is just ridiculous, I am getting Comcast installed this week, then say good bye to sonic...
Maybe when they have fiber in my neighborhood and their price goes down, I could rejoin, but I really don't see that happens in at least couple years.
Have fun for those who stick with sonic, the fibers users will be thankful for you.
Eh, as bitter as I am about all this I'd still rather be stuck in the slow lane with Sonic then be with Comcast.
I've been with Comcast for ~2 months now and couldn't be happier. Surprised it took me 5 years to jump off the Sonic wagon.

I was paying ~$80 for bonded dsl which yielded ~17down/~2up which increased to ~$90 after the $10 rate hike.

Now I am paying $50 for 240down/12up.
I dropped Sonic at the end of the year because of the price increase (I had 5Mbps service). Reluctantly went with Comcast. Now after 5 months I too can say "what took me so long". I elected 25Mbps for $40/month. This week they upgraded my service to 55Mbps for no charge. I have had zero outages (fingers crossed). 1TB data limit is no issue for me. If you are worried about privacy get a cheap VPN: I found 3 years of Private Internet Access VPN for $50 on stack social. If Sonic offered gigabit in my area I'd love to support them but after paying Sonic $60/month for many years for a slow connection I'm happy with the change.
by bonzo » Mon May 29, 2017 8:25 pm
As of today (5/29/17) pricing for new customers is now $30/month with a 12-month contract, while existing customers pay $50/month. I suspect you are not losing money on new customers, and so are making $20 extra from your existing customers. Sonic.net is a great company, but it's starting to feel like you are taking advantage of the fact that people would rather support anyone that is not Comcast or AT&T. I accepted the $10 increase a few months ago figuring that your costs were increasing, and I am willing to subsidize others getting fiber installed on the off-chance that my neighborhood may someday benefit too (although probably never will), but now seeing that you are giving new customers a $240 discount just feels like a slap in the face. You really need to come up with a more equitable pricing strategy our you will start losing your loyal customer base and their $20 extra per month! Here's an idea Dane, why not allow your existing customers to sign up for a 12-month contract to get the same pricing as new customers?
by kieths » Mon May 29, 2017 11:38 pm
Hi Dane,
I've been with Sonic for several years now, prompted by the hope of 'soon' having fiber in Fremont. I've encouraged others to adopt, and I've watched as Sonic improved some international calling coverage, and rolled out fiber elsewhere, with no glimpse of hope yet for Fremont.

A price jump of $10 is quite an increase. But as it seems perhaps a way to increase the roll out of fiber, so I'll pay it. But hearing that SF's many districts and other areas are receiving attention in the fiber rollout does nothing for me here in Fremont. Offers to bundle in satellite TV is directly opposite my goal. I intentionally dropped cable. I already get over 85 channels free from the air, plus streaming (though only if nobody else is online at the time ...).

I just did a speed test with a sample 100 mb file, and the rates I currently get are an average of 1.55Mb/s down (max 2.83Mb/s). Sure, I know you offer (premium) ways of increasing my monthly bill to raise my download speed. But that's not fiber, and it IS more expensive for me, the consumer. But with speeds like this, what do I tell the family when one's Youtube streaming is causing another's inability to send out an important email? When will fiber come to Fremont? I just don't want to be kept in the dark on the plan. Am I paying, and waiting in hopes for something that will never arrive in Fremont?
by miken » Tue May 30, 2017 12:41 pm
kieths wrote:Hi Dane,
I've been with Sonic for several years now, prompted by the hope of 'soon' having fiber in Fremont. I've encouraged others to adopt, and I've watched as Sonic improved some international calling coverage, and rolled out fiber elsewhere, with no glimpse of hope yet for Fremont.

A price jump of $10 is quite an increase. But as it seems perhaps a way to increase the roll out of fiber, so I'll pay it. But hearing that SF's many districts and other areas are receiving attention in the fiber rollout does nothing for me here in Fremont. Offers to bundle in satellite TV is directly opposite my goal. I intentionally dropped cable. I already get over 85 channels free from the air, plus streaming (though only if nobody else is online at the time ...).

I just did a speed test with a sample 100 mb file, and the rates I currently get are an average of 1.55Mb/s down (max 2.83Mb/s). Sure, I know you offer (premium) ways of increasing my monthly bill to raise my download speed. But that's not fiber, and it IS more expensive for me, the consumer. But with speeds like this, what do I tell the family when one's Youtube streaming is causing another's inability to send out an important email? When will fiber come to Fremont? I just don't want to be kept in the dark on the plan. Am I paying, and waiting in hopes for something that will never arrive in Fremont?
I took a look at your account and it looks like we do have FTTN service available in your area. That would be 20Mbp/s download and would be about $6.50 more a month (as it requires a modem rental). Depending on level of usage, for an additional $20 or so there is FTTN X2 which would be 50Mbp/s download.
Mike N.
Development Trainer
Sonic
by ccarter84 » Sat Jun 03, 2017 12:02 pm
Not gonna lie, 3 months later and this still sticks in my craw -- both for the way it was done, the ongoing advertising of $40/month on your trucks, and the seemingly collective shrug when I called customer service, reinforced by the posts of management.

The "communication" of this rate raise consisted solely of slapping it at the front of an e-billing receipt that few people read

From my 12/27 e-mail --- Sonic.net: Receipt for automatic payment

"Sonic's mission is to deliver fast, uncapped and unlimited service
for a fair price, with the ultimate goal of delivering Gigabit
service over Sonic fiber. Since its launch in 2010, Fusion
broadband and phone service's price has remained the same even
though we've invested in new features and added value. However,
we've found it necessary to increase the price by $10.00 to
$10.05 a month for renewals starting in February. This increase
will support our continued growth, ongoing fiber construction
projects and over 350 local employees."


From my 1/27 e-mail receipt

"A friendly reminder that as stated on your previous billing
receipt, your monthly price increase for Sonic service begins
this month. Thank you for supporting our mission of faster, more
affordable internet access for all."


Now you're doing 12-month teaser rates of $30 bucks a month for my same building? Not cool guys.

The mandatory equipment rental is another tactic that's a little off-putting -- I get the cost-savings on trouble-shooting, but being forced to rent a circa 2012 modem -- has cost me $250 bucks so far. Sure, the "free" replacement guarantee is some comfort, but not when they're going for $20 on eBay.

You guys are lucky I hate Comcast with such a passion because they screwed my family over multiple times.
I hope the current strategy to fuel expansion while slowly turning the screws on existing customers pays off -- it definitely has for the big boys in the industry.
by kieths » Sun Jun 04, 2017 12:26 pm
Hi Mike,

I appreciate your taking a look. From what I've seen, it seems the FTTN option not only has an increase in monthly out of pocket cost (I own the current DSL modem, which I bought from Sonic, so no monthly rental), but the FTTN appears to not offer the current fixed IP (not confirmed, but per some forums). I can overlook losing the stability of a POTS (copper) line, and would be willing to invest in a larger UPS as a backup. But losing a fixed IP would be problematic.

If you could confirm a fixed IP for an estimated 20 Mbps (much better than my max 2.83 Mbps) with only a $6.50/mo increase (for FTTN model rental), I would consider this option, pending Sonic's rolling out gigabit fiber to the Fremont market.
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