My family and I have recently moved into the Pacific theater and after using numerous ISPs in the U.S., we've become used to paying a flat rate with unlimited hours. I was shocked when I found that AT&T charges more than an ISP in the U.S. while offering quite a bit less than any CONUS ISP.
I know you've stated that you "do not anticipate that any ISP could offer any significant improvement in service, pricing, or increased access." I'm not happy with the service that is being offered to us. Why? Because, based on the software I run on my computer, NetMedic, AT&T's server continues to crash and bog. Netmedic scrutinizes an ISP connect and analyzes everything about it. It shows very slow connections whenever I connect to the internet. That, or I continually get booted offline.
We pay approximately $30/month for 90 hours that may or may not be enough for some people under ordinary circumstances (if we were back in the U.S. receiving typical service). Under the circumstances I've seen since moving to Japan, we pay TOO much for the quality of service we receive. I pay $30/month for laggy connections. Maybe if I were able to finish some of my downloads and surfing without lag or having to reconnect, I wouldn't be running upon the 90 hour limit on the 20th of each month. 90 hours a month is nothing when the connection is so laggy that you can barely browse. This surely needs to be fixed. Only so much blame can be placed on noisy phone lines hampering connection speed. I would even consider paying more than $30/month if AT&T offered unlimited hours.
At the moment, I'm considering a local japanese ISP. The tolls will hurt me, and I may have to work extra hours at work to get the service that's lacking in AT&T, but I cannot see any other way of getting decent service since AT&T won't improve their service and pricing.
Also, there is no AT&T Jens web pages pages to go to on the web. That means we have to totally rely on phone support or going to the local shop and asking our questions there. The lady at the local shop doesn't seem to know the answers to questions. Additionally, I'm aware that AT&T supports 56K modems, but we continually only get 28.8kbps connects and I have a 56K modem.
After hearing this, do you truly think that AT&T is doing a good job at providing internet access? I think that if there were more choices of ISPs here in Japan for the military, AT&T would HAVE to offer more than what they are right now. They have no competition to help move them in an improving direction.
I'm guessing I'll be with AT&T for only a few months longer if they don't change for the better. I've already done some searching and found some decent ISPs. While I'll be paying for toll calls, I'll be happier in the long run. I want better service than what I'm paying for.
Sincerely,
Ron Sinclair
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Last Updated on 4/7/99
By Ron Sinclair
Email: sinclair@zma.attmil.ne.jp