Sonic + AT&T fiber - anyone having success?

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
26 posts Page 1 of 3
by stevenkasapi » Fri Nov 16, 2018 6:28 pm
I noticed the a few weeks ago that Sonic now provides 1GB service through AT&T fiber at my address, so I ordered it, despite the 2x price of their in-network fiber.

Alas, AT&T never showed up for the install. I eventually called Sonic service (3 times) and they were friendly but had no clue what AT&T was doing, so I cancelled the order, assuming that if the two companies couldn't even manage to install the service, things would only go downhill from there. I got the sense that whenever something went wrong Sonic would blame AT&T and AT&T would be MIA.

I'm no fan of Comcast (my current provider) but at least they managed to install service.

Is anyone having a good experience with Sonic service over AT&T fiber? Was I just unlucky, or is the Sonic/AT&T relationship as fraught as my experience?

Any feedback welcome!
by Larns576 » Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:04 pm
Story sounds oddly familiar! I've read similar experiences from other Sonic users as well.

Completely different experience if you order fiber direct from ATT tho. They confirm the day of the install, text if they run late, and the tech will personally call before arriving.
by evilrage » Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:17 pm
I had AT&T out yesterday to install fiber for Sonic - it was a new line to my house, which just recently popped up as available for gigabit. Initially the AT&T guy said it was going to be difficult, may involve contractors to trench the line up, etc etc, but first he called someone else from AT&T who specialized in outdoor runs. That guy was able to run the line using existing underground conduit, though it took a few hours to get service situated.

The first guy came back the next day, set up the fiber box and modem, and it's all working. I talked to the first guy a little bit - it seemed like he didn't know a lot about what he was doing - he used punch down female jacks for all the ethernet runs for example, because he didn't know how to tip using a male connector. So I've got short cables on both ends that I'm going to end up removing after I tip the ethernet properly. All in all, it's hooked up and working, and he measured the speed coming from the box at ~998 Mbps.
by jessieandrob » Sun Nov 18, 2018 8:50 am
we had a good experience with Sonic's resold AT&T offering. we were scheduled for an install with an At&T tech, and he came right as scheduled.

would rather have Sonic's customer service and support. every experience I've had dealing with AT&T directly has been terrible. I've had to call them for support before, and I had to go through three levels of outsourced call centers before getting any solution.

typical megacorp, their call centers are based in the Philippines or India, where AT&T can more easily get away with paying folks there terrible salaries. and since the support isn't local to CA, they completely miss or can't acknowledge a lot of support issues.

I've been able to speak with a live support person in the US almost every time I call Sonic. and the support results are massively better, because they are local and know conditions on the ground.
by Clu42 » Mon Nov 19, 2018 2:38 pm
Yeah, I would jump at the opportunity to get Sonic via AT&T Fiber in Vallejo, instead of directly dealing with AT&T. For one thing. AT&T has a 1 TB data cap, sonic doesn't. And as a matter of principle, I'm against both AT$T and Comca$t for spending millions, heavily lobbying Congress and the FCC to kill Net Neutrality. That's totally anti-consumer, and also borders on censorship, since they can not only throttle the sites you got to, but outright ban them, at their discretion.
by Larns576 » Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:13 pm
To reduce the chances of ATT no shows, I recommend booking your install appointment to the very first appointment of the day, usually 8am. That way they cant be behind schedule and skip you, which I suspect is what happens.
by chirano » Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:59 pm
Sonic is an in unenviable position where it has to rely on AT&T to follow through on its commitments, but AT&T doesn't really care if it makes Sonic look bad by dragging its feet.

For high-speed internet, I have two choices: Spectrum or AT&T's service, from either AT&T directly or from a reseller like Sonic. I just haven't been satisfied with cable, even though it offers higher speeds, for a variety of reasons, one of which is the cable industry's sleazy business tactics. If I have to get AT&T's service, I'd rather get it through Sonic, even though it's costing me a bit more, to avoid AT&T's sleazy business tactics. (It also help that at the time I switched to Sonic, I was looking to go back to Dish.)
by bobrk » Sat Nov 24, 2018 3:33 pm
Yeah, I got it a month ago and even though the AT&T guy showed up at the end of the install window, he was professional and did a good great job. We have 2-3ms ping and the full 1Gbps speed, limited only by our internal routers and WiFi.
by bmah » Tue Nov 27, 2018 2:20 pm
For those of you who have had success I have a few questions. Note this is specifically for the case of AT&T fiber service resold by Sonic:

1. Do you need 120V AC power for the ONT and is it typically located indoors, or does it have to be where the telephone wiring comes into the house (MPOE)? When the AT&T tech comes for the install, can you suggest where in your house you'd like the ONT and fiber termination to be? (I have in mind a wiring panel with UPS power and a bunch of CAT5 punchdowns, but it requires running fiber through a crawlspace.)

2. Is it feasible to replace the AT&T-provided router with your own? (I'm running a pfSense box behind an AT&T provided Pace router on their FTTN service resold by Sonic. This arrangement is suboptimal but works, I'm not sure how well it'll perform with the higher data rates on fiber.)

My install is scheduled for this Thursday afternoon. I'll report back with my experiences.

Thanks,

Bruce.
by jonathan.yuen » Wed Nov 28, 2018 6:14 pm
I just had Sonic (via AT&T Fiber) installed last week. The AT&T installer came on time and was pretty quick (2 hour install?). It seems to be working pretty good so far.

1. The ONT was installed inside the house. The tech brought the fiber line from the pole in our backyard to the back of our house. I asked the tech whether he could install in a front office, so he brought the fiber drop along the side of the house (tacked it to the wall near the roof). He then drilled a hole from the office wall outside and brought the fiber cable inside. He then mounted the ONT to the inner wall of the office. The ONT has a little wall wart for power.

2. I have a Netgear R7800 router working behind the BGW-210 in IP passthrough mode. It seems to be working fine but I'm not a network expert. (Speed tests are 900+ up/down)
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