OLE@csli.stanford.edu (Ole J. Jacobsen) (06/12/89)
Which LD carrier is the best? I have found that calling the East Coast from the West Coast almost universially gives you a clear digital circuit when the call is placed via SPRINT, and almost universally gives you a cruddy circuit when placed via AT&T. I believe this has to do with capacity, since John Covert almost always gets great circuits when he calls me via AT&T in the other direction. At the moment, the improvement in quality is good enough reason for me to stick with SPRINT for our company lines, but as soon as AT&T expands their capacity I am willing to reconsider. I think it is perfectly reasonable for someone to express their opinion on any LD carrier on this forum, and I wish the people who represent such companies and read this list would be a little less sensitive and patriotic to their company whenever anything negative comes up. Ole "Make it as ubiquitous as dialtone!"
john@decwrl.dec.com (John Higdon) (06/20/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0202m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>, jimmy%denwa.uucp (Jim Gottlieb) writes: > In article <telecom-v09i0197m01@vector.dallas.tx.us> OLE@csli.stanford.edu > (Ole J. Jacobsen) writes: > > >Which LD carrier is the best? I have found that calling the East Coast > >from the West Coast almost universially gives you a clear digital circuit > >when the call is placed via SPRINT, and almost universally gives you a > >cruddy circuit when placed via AT&T. > I agree. I get tired of hearing all the AT&T employees on here who buy > the company line about their LD being best. I must say that AT&T's > digital connections are superb, even surpassing Sprint's, but they are > still all too rare. Oh, really. I just made test calls to every out-of-the-way place I could think of on AT&T and every single one of them was carried digitally. Even a call to Washington state, the last hold out of analog connections for AT&T was digital. Or how about St. Marys, KS? Or Thistle, UT? All digital. > Let me say that I appreciate the level of service offered by AT&T, and > this is especially obvious after having to deal with Sprint. We also > use nothing but AT&T computers here (even though AT&T doesn't make > them) because of the great service we get from them. Just had a modem problem with calls to St. Marys. A call to AT&T service reached a live person in seconds. My complaint was taken and I was promptly called back by someone in "network". I told him that my Trailblazer was having consistent difficulty establishing contact with another like unit and then he promised to get back to me. Within a couple of minutes my Trailblazer answered what sounded like a "wrong number" (no modem at the other end). Later that day, Alan in "network" called to tell me that the modem levels looked good at each end, so they were going to turn down the trunks between San Jose and St. Marys and test them. He told me that the alternate circuits would probably be OK to use in the interim. They were. Today he called to tell me that they had found timing problems in the main circuits that have been repaired and the trunks had been returned to service. Contrast that with Sprint, where you can wait 45 minutes just for someone to answer the phone. Then you talk to someone who takes your complaint and you never hear anything from them again. If you call back to check the progress of your complaint, you first have to re-invent the wheel to get them to acknowledge your first call (AT&T gives you a ticket number when you first call). Then they either tell you it's all fixed when it isn't, or they tell you that they could find no trouble and that it must be your equipment that is to blame. At no time do you speak to anyone knowledgeable. This fact alone tells me what Sprint thinks of its customers. > And I would be willing to pay a little more for that service. But AT&T > LD is not a little more, and they are decidedly inflexible. I always > give them a chance when we are re-evaluating LD service, but because > they won't let us combine all our locations for a quantity discount > (unless we pay a $2500 monthly fee), they are just way too expensive. Too bad. It really is superior. > Not to mention those analog connections... Not any more. -- John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.uucp | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
gene@wb3ffv.ampr.org (Gene R. Trindell) (06/25/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0207m05@vector.dallas.tx.us>, apple!zygot!john@decwrl. dec.com (John Higdon) writes: > In article <telecom-v09i0202m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>, jimmy%denwa.uucp (Jim > Gottlieb) writes: > Oh, really. I just made test calls to every out-of-the-way place I > could think of on AT&T and every single one of them was carried > digitally. Even a call to Washington state, the last hold out of analog > connections for AT&T was digital. Or how about St. Marys, KS? Or > Thistle, UT? All digital. Naive question time: How do you tell if a line is digital or analog ? -- Gene R. Trindell | UUCP: uunet!wa3wbu!gt5000!gene UNISYS | ARPA: gene @ gt5000.uucp 1035 Mumma Rd | Lemoyne, PA 17055 | /* My hovercraft is full of eels. M.P. */
john@decwrl.dec.com (John Higdon) (07/02/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0220m07@vector.dallas.tx.us>, wa3wbu!gt5000!gene@ wb3ffv.ampr.org (Gene R. Trindell) writes: > Naive question time: How do you tell if a line is digital or analog ? Easy. Analog repeaters generate noise known as "hiss". After a couple of hundred miles or so, their presence is quite noticable. Complete absence of noise on the call, therefore, would be a strong indication that on a 1000 mile call, the bulk of the mileage is being covered by digital transmission. No, there are no "noise free" analog circuits in long distance telephony.
jimmy%denwa.uucp@eecs.nwu.edu (Jim Gottlieb) (07/22/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0197m01@vector.dallas.tx.us> OLE@csli.stanford.edu (Ole J. Jacobsen) writes: >Which LD carrier is the best? I have found that calling the East Coast >from the West Coast almost universially gives you a clear digital circuit >when the call is placed via SPRINT, and almost universally gives you a >cruddy circuit when placed via AT&T. I agree. I get tired of hearing all the AT&T employees on here who buy the company line about their LD being best. I must say that AT&T's digital connections are superb, even surpassing Sprint's, but they are still all too rare. Recently, when I mentioned to an AT&T rep that I used Sprint, his (obviously canned) response was, "Oh, you like fiber optics? Well, AT&T _invented_ fiber optics." I explained to him that I didn't care who invented it; I just want a clear, loud connection when making calls. Let me say that I appreciate the level of service offered by AT&T, and this is especially obvious after having to deal with Sprint. We also use nothing but AT&T computers here (even though AT&T doesn't make them) because of the great service we get from them. And I would be willing to pay a little more for that service. But AT&T LD is not a little more, and they are decidedly inflexible. I always give them a chance when we are re-evaluating LD service, but because they won't let us combine all our locations for a quantity discount (unless we pay a $2500 monthly fee), they are just way too expensive. Not to mention those analog connections... -- Jim Gottlieb E-Mail: <jimmy@denwa.uucp> or <jimmy@pic.ucla.edu> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy> V-Mail: (213) 551-7702 Fax: 478-3060 The-Real-Me: 824-5454
amanda@uunet.uu.net (Amanda Walker) (08/02/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0202m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>, jimmy%denwa.uucp@eecs.nwu.edu (Jim Gottlieb) writes: > And I would be willing to pay a little more for that service. But AT&T > LD is not a little more, and they are decidedly inflexible. I agree on the inflexibility point, but AT&T LD rates are still regulated, and every time AT&T proposes a LD rate decrease, MCI, US Sprint, and National Telecom protest it, saying it's "predatory," or "unfair competition." I think that if the market is going to be opened to competition, AT&T should be allowed to compete too. You can't have it both ways... -- Amanda Walker InterCon Systems Corporation -- amanda@intercon.uu.net | ...!uunet!intercon!amanda