Chapter 11 For Excite@Home 141
n8twj writes: "According to this story at CNET News, Excite@Home, the leading provider of broadband Internet access, said Friday it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sell its high-speed network to AT&T for $307 million in cash."
jgbrown adds: "@Home files for Chapter 11, they are going to sell their assets to AT&T unless they get a higher offer. Here is a Yahoo News link." An Anonymous Coward adds a link to a story at cnnfn.com." Just like Loki and Exodus, this doesn't mean that Excite@Home has dropped off the face of the earth -- it does mean that are seeking legal protection from creditors in an attempt to reorganize.
How with this affect Canadian customers? (Score:1, Interesting)
Letter From Rogers to it's customers (Score:3, Interesting)
To: All Rogers @Home high speed Internet customers
A couple of weeks ago we made a commitment to keep you updated on any
developments regarding Excite @Home in the U.S.
Yesterday Excite @Home announced that it has agreed to sell its high-speed
Internet access assets to AT&T, pending court approval. We are very pleased
with this announcement as Rogers has worked well with AT&T in the past and
continues to do so. As you may know, AT&T is one of the largest
communications companies in the world.
At the same time, Excite filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of
the United States Bankruptcy Code. This action allows Excite to remain in
control of its business and provides it with protection from creditors
pending completion of the sale.
Please be assured that our commitment to you remains to provide you with
the best high speed Internet service.
We will continue to update you on a regular basis so that you remain
informed.
Alek Krstajic
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Rogers @Home
Re:Letter From Rogers to it's customers (Score:1)
Well.. (Score:3, Informative)
@home doesn't own the cable network; they own the servers, chiefly the email infrastructure and web space.
So shaw.ca has it's own mail servers.. and is encouraging users to switch over voluntarily (before they all get their mail cut off when @home goes down the toilet).
Internet service won't go out. You'll still continue the same way as ever.
Re:Well.. (Score:1)
Re:How with this affect Canadian customers? (Score:1)
This fall should see the removal of dependence on @Home email addresses also.
Mass mailing last night (Score:5, Informative)
To: All Rogers @Home high speed Internet customers
A couple of weeks ago we made a commitment to keep you updated on any
developments regarding Excite @Home in the U.S.
Yesterday Excite @Home announced that it has agreed to sell its high-speed
Internet access assets to AT&T, pending court approval. We are very pleased
with this announcement as Rogers has worked well with AT&T in the past and
continues to do so. As you may know, AT&T is one of the largest
communications companies in the world.
At the same time, Excite filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of
the United States Bankruptcy Code. This action allows Excite to remain in
control of its business and provides it with protection from creditors
pending completion of the sale.
Please be assured that our commitment to you remains to provide you with
the best high speed Internet service.
We will continue to update you on a regular basis so that you remain
informed.
Alek Krstajic
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Rogers @Home
Re:Mass mailing last night (Score:2)
I guess (I hope) that not much would change for us if AT&T really does just siphon off @Home's infrastructure assets. I wonder if other cable operator's @Home customers will have it as easy?
Re:Mass mailing last night (Score:2, Informative)
AT&T never did the stupid 'let someone else run your network' trick, they knew it was a sham.
Not necessarily a sham (Score:2, Insightful)
Believe me, if @Home could run their own network, they would have.
Re:Mass mailing last night (Score:2)
Re:Mass mailing last night (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Mass mailing last night (Score:1)
Second, what do you mean TCI had swapped our market with MediaOne? I never remember having TCI for a cable provider, and I've had cable (Internet) since Continental Cablevision merged with US West the cable company.
Re:Mass mailing last night (Score:2)
>what do you mean TCI had swapped our market
Just that. TCI and Media One made a deal where they ended up trading [google.com] some markets. Shortly after, TCI was bought by AT&T.
>I never remember having TCI for a cable provider,
Well, your experience proably vastly differs depending on what city you live in as this deal did not affect every market. But, as a matter of fact, we were never officially switched to TCI. It all happened in such rapid succession that we became AT&T Broadband customers directly from MediaOne without ever seeing TCI.
@Home Canada / Rogers@Home (Score:1)
But wasn't AT&T selling off the broadband arm? Does this add to that seperate entity, or would this put AT&T back in the broadband game?
The President's Analyst (Score:3, Interesting)
AT&T is thinking about selling it's broadband access to AOL, and this deal is likely just intended to sweeten the pot. Imagine, AOL as the one true broadband provider/movie studio/tv news outlet/browser company/music label? Yep, time to start a dialup ISP in MY area
Re:The President's Analyst (Score:2, Funny)
Given all of the Sci-Fi movies where robots and computers take over the world (Terminator, Matrix, etc...) maybe having Microsoft as an OS Monopoly and AOL as the sole connectivity provider would be a really good way to keep the Robots in check.
Them: "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO..." [Network lag][BSOD]
Us: Quick, someone shut that thing off, it's annoying me.
dial up to what? (Score:1)
Re:dial up to what? (Score:1)
MS Junk? Cool, I have to get it. I've been using lots of other junk, but if MS is entering the field, clearly I should dump the other junk and wait for an announcement of a beta for this new junk!
Oh thank Go (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Oh thank Go (Score:2, Informative)
Scary to think this, but it could still end up in the hands of AOL Time Warner through its acqusition of the rest of its cable customers.
Its actually more likely that comcast would be more successful as AOL is under heavy scrutiny for the moment. Not that AOL couldn't do it...the new regime at the FCC is more open to industry consolidation.
Re:Oh thank Go (Score:1)
Re:I could care less... (Score:1)
> horrible - it is when AOL changes it to a
> horrible state, that it will become unbearable.
I was a Compuserve user back in the old pre-AOL days. It was "kinder and gentler" version of usenet, including *TEXT-BASED* interface. I eventually dumped Compuserve. It was becoming too AOL-ized for me. If I wanted AOL, I would've joined AOL in the first place, dammit. If things haven't changed for 4 years, it looks like AOL may have learned a lesson or two.
I have a feeling that... (Score:4, Interesting)
AT&T, the company that U.S. government broke into pieces due to antitrust, is gaining back gradually its monopoly position. Looking at the telecom market in the U.S., the breakup was not particularly effective and comparing to the mobile cellular phone technology of NTT's DoCoMo or of Europe, the U.S. technology in this area sucks.
The Internet phenomenon that was led by the U.S. was due to the invention of HTTP and web browser and the router and backbone explosion was simply a knee-jerk reaction to the growth of WWW -proving that the telecom market has not been very healthly.
This brings us the question: what is the best remedy for MS if breakup might not be successful?
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:2)
At least their service is decent (from what I can tell). They are fair w/what they give, and they are fair in giving support.
I am sort of upset about them selling it off, I was about to buy Excite@Home stock (since it was like
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:1, Interesting)
Perhaps your experiences are isolated but I will continue to explain.
Average Hold Time: 600 to 800 seconds. So you are wrong.
That is a problem w/any network not just AT&T Broadband. Customer Service cannot do anything to stop this problem. It is called NETWORK TRAFFIC. It happens no matter where you are.
You are wrong again. Billing is listed item by item and any explanations are easy to give. If the bill says you owe $180 you probably do. There are very few mistakes made in that area. You probably got an install package, missed a bill, and god knows what else.
You go ahead and switch. You are going to find the exact problems + some. Including: 1. your ISP and Telco do not speak together so you are always only getting half the service. 2. Hold times are longer b/c you have to wait for Telco and ISP. 3. Telco blames ISP, ISP blames Telco (run-around) 4. slow speeds. 768/128 sucks compared to the BW from cable. 5. ping responses are always fucking bad.
That's fine, switch all you like. 50 million homes are connected to AT&T broadband. It is a decent service for the cost. Where the hell else are you going to get the bw that you do from there for that cost?
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:2)
Disclaimer: I do not use AT&T broadband.
So, most people have to tolerate more than 10 minutes of music to get a reply? Brilliant service!
There are very few mistakes in that area doesn't mean there are none. It is irritating to find that companies tech support being in such an "arrogant" mode by considering that the customer is ALWAYS WRONG. It seems to me that the exception handling of your company are ill-defined.
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:1)
last three times i called i was on hold for an hour.
[i]You are wrong again. Billing is listed item by item and any explanations are easy to give. If the bill says you owe $180 you probably do. There are very few mistakes made in that area. You probably got an install package, missed a bill, and god knows what else. [/i]
okay, i'll explain. our bill for august came to around fifty bucks as usual, with no previous balance. we paid in full. september's bill comes around, and there's $180 in the previous blanace box, with no explanation of how this got there. even if at&t didn't get the check from august before the bill went out, that wouldn't explain why there's 180 bucks of balance where there was fifty total from the previous month. and none of this explains why the billing department told us "we don't have access" to a list of charges.
(snip fud)
[i]4. slow speeds. 768/128 sucks compared to the BW from cable.[/i]
i'd kill for that kind of speed. i've never seen dl speeds above 150k, and i average 50.
[i]5. ping responses are always fucking bad. [/i]
when i was in korea, my net access was through a 56k modem. even then, i could play unreal tourney on servers in the states with better ping times than what we tend to get. and keep in mind these pings are for
(fwiw, i'm in sacramento.)
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:1)
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:2, Insightful)
The problem, as I see it, isn't that the breakup was ineffective, but that later Congresses decided to render it ineffective. They decided to make the market less competitive (or at least to allow for noncompetitive behavior) at a time when more competitive action was actually needed. Nominally, the system was opened up a bit. But as we've seen with the demise of so many dsl providers (for instance), it wasn't really very open. These crazy mergers are making it less open.
I think a MS breakup would be a good thing. I'm not sure that there' a solid legal case for it; in fact, I think the legal case is probably quite bogus. But I think that from a consumer's point of view it would be a good thing. If that doesn't happen, the next best thing would be to require that all file formats be nonproprietary and publicly odcumented. That goes for everyone, not just MS. In fact, that would probably be even more beneficial to consumers than a breakup, since it would force actual competitive behavior.
Just the opposite, really (Score:3, Informative)
If the old AT&T monopoly exists in any form today, it is in the shape of Southwestern Bell (SBC). AT&T proper bears no resemblence to its 1970 shape.
With that in mind, AT&T actually had the best strategy of any of the data communication companies: build a full portfolio of services (voice, data, cable, mobile), with as much global component as the hyper-nationalism over telecomm allows (can you say DT?), and offer it to home and business customers in a bundle.
But as soon as the stock price dropped a bit, Armstrong panic'd and started selling pieces. Now there is no player on the field who even comes close to being able to offer that bundle.
sPh
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:1)
If your statements are true, then a breakup of MS is not very desirable. Yeah, this beast sometimes deserves a spank, but making it go bankrupt will be harmful to consumers and breaks the "ecological balance" (you kill one and another even worse monster will come up eventually).
Excite@Home has a bad name. Anyone who is too Excited@Home cannot live for very long...
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:2, Insightful)
I've never been convinced that the breakup is responsible for any of AT&T's termoil. They've had plenty of time to "get over it" and any failure to do so since then has just been bad business execution.
Re:I have a feeling that... (Score:1)
Just MNSHO..
Do you think AT&T would continue to block port (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Do you think AT&T would continue to block p (Score:1)
Re:Do you think AT&T would continue to block p (Score:1)
I hate that #### port block!
Re:Do you think AT&T would continue to block p (Score:2)
One interesting aspect of all this is that if you live in an area where incoming ports are blocked by AT&T, and your AT&T TOS doesn't explicitly prohibit personal servers, then how can AT&T justify blocking these ports?
Re:Do you think AT&T would continue to block p (Score:1)
Cringely Right Again (Score:5, Interesting)
Remind me to buy stock in Cringely if he ever IPOs.
Re:Cringely Right Again (Score:1)
I think that if you were to go back and look at all of Cringeley's predictions, you'd find that he actually has a pretty poor track record.
This is too confusing (Score:5, Funny)
I Have @Home service, But I pay my bill to AT&T @Home. My cable TV is Comcast, but I pay my bill to ATT Cable. When I call for service, A Media One truck pulls up.
I am beginning to think all of these cable companies are a smokescreen for Microsoft.
Re:This is too confusing (Score:1)
Fate of @Home (Score:4, Interesting)
- Sell it off. Yahoo!, MSN or AOL could buy Excite to gain customers, Viacom or Disney could buy it to gain a (better) web presence, but chances are no one would pay enough to make it worth the effort for AT&T.
- Turn it into an AT&T Broadband-only network. Essentially, AT&T could take the current http://home.excite.com/ page, turn that into http://www.attathome.com/, merge the user databases, and ditch the rest of Excite (so you'd have to be a paying customer to use it). This is probably more likely, but if AT&T's planning on selling off Broadband anyway, it may only take time away from negotiations with another cable company.
- Don't do anything yet. AT&T would pretty much make an Excite@Home group inside AT&T Broadband, and not merge the services at all, instead spending effort on negotiations with Comcast. Then, once Comcast and AT&T Broadband merge, it's Comcast's problem.
I think that AT&T will try for about a month to sell Excite, and if they're unsuccessful, they'll just wait until the merger.Re:Fate of @Home (Score:1)
Hmm.. (Score:1)
Re:Hmm.. (Score:1)
The last skuttlebut i heard was that att no longer wanted to sell their assets
comcast is *btw* the #2 cable company
[*sigh* im sure glad i left that place a year or so ago
does this mean (Score:1)
Were are AT&T, resistance is futile. (Score:2, Insightful)
We are AT&T, we will add your technological destictiveness to our own, while purchasing your pipes and customer base at pennys of the initial cost. Lower your shields, resistance is futile.
If there is any cable providers besides AT&T, AOL, and Adelphia in 2 years I'll be amazed.
Re:Were are AT&T, resistance is futile. (Score:1)
Something we sent out about a month ago... (Score:3, Informative)
Dear Shaw@Home customers:
Shaw is committed to providing its customers with the most reliable and secure high-speed Internet service available. Three years ago, we partnered with the @Home Corporation out of Redwood City, California to provide our customers with a full multimedia high-speed Internet experience. Since then, we have recognized that in order to maintain our highest quality standard, we require full control of our network.
Shaw has invested over $330 million into our high-speed cable Internet network. Over the last year, customers have been enjoying many services such as domain hosting, high performance network, secure connections, broadband content, and 24 hour customer service all on our own Internet infrastructure. Now, with the recent launch of our new Internet Data Centre, Shaw@Home customers now have a full suite of services, including email and web space available to them; all on Shaw`s very own Internet network.
Fortunately, our proactive actions came at a time when confidence in the service that the @Home Corporation in the U.S. was providing, was diminishing. But, because of the network construction we have completed, the current financial issues that the @Home Corporation are facing will have no impact to the quality of service we provide our customers. Shaw is confident that, the major shareholders of @Home Corp will maintain all e-mail and web space services without impacting its 3.7 million customers across North America.
Bottom line, all current customers who have @home.com email addresses and webspace, (managed by @Home Corp. in the U.S.), can currently maintain these existing addresses as well as choose an @shaw.ca. We will be contacting all current Shaw@Home customers, encouraging to transition over to the @shaw.ca email and webspace. To register for your new email and webspace accounts go to http://support.shaw.ca
Shaw will continue to meet its customers` demand for the Shaw@Home high-speed Internet service. We are committed to providing the fastest, most reliable and easiest-to use service via a content portal to access the best video and audio content available on the web.
We thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Peter Bissonnette
President, Shaw Communications Inc.
Possibly beneficial (Score:1, Troll)
AT&T makes a lot of mistakes, but their WorldNet service was pretty solid when I had dialup. My only other concern is the tie-in my cable provider (Comcast) might now have to AT&T. SpongeBob Squarepants over the phone, anyone?
Re:Possibly beneficial (Score:1)
If only LaBrea could be ported to run *on* a firewall and protect all unopen ports as opposed to just unused IP addresses. Unless of course you run an http server at home, then that's just the cost of running a web server. Block port 80, and move your server to ssl on 443.
And SpongeBob is the *man*
And Verizon's monopolistic practices reign. (Score:3, Interesting)
But I had been planning to switch to Comcast @Home if/when my office begins paying for my connection because supposedly we'll be getting the 2Mbit business connection. At this rate, Comcast will own everything cable-based with the exception of Time-Warner and Cablevision (and other West-coast based cable companies I may not know about).
Guess I might just ask to have my ADSL kicked up to business SDSL...
Transition experience? Bad QOS? (Score:4, Interesting)
One of the first things to go is the quality of service to the customer. Technical foul-ups as things are transitioned, either technically, or between different groups of people.
I have to say that @Home really didn't add much to my Internet experience that, say, Roadrunner, or Media One would have provided. (The Excite merger really didn't see any major benefits for @Home customers.)
While I'm not worried that I'll be completely shut off, I am worried about the quality of service going forward. It is a legitimate concern. But I don't (yet) have enough motiviation to switch to some other form (DSL, etc) of high speed communications.
Here's hoping that @Home/ATT/Whoever doesn't drop the ball.
What a bunch of fucking cowards (Score:1)
Searched pages from slashdot.org for scary OR scared OR frightening . Results 1 - 10 of about 4,150. Search took 0.07 seconds
That's 4,150 stories, with scared, scary, or frightening occuring multiple times in multiple posts on the same page.
What a bunch of fucking cowards, grow a backbone already.
Guess what, if life scares you that much, go back to bed. There's worse to come, and if CD copy protection or a broadband company filing for chapter 11 is so terrifying, I shudder to think of how much of your monthly budget is going to be spent on Depends diapers as you grow up and get a bigger taste of the 'real world'.
Re:What a bunch of fucking cowards (Score:1)
Even if AOL does the buying, it may not be awful. (Score:3, Interesting)
All AOL application/users jokes aside (and believe me, I find the current AOL consumer offer loathesome!), it may not be so bad. AOL has some incredibly smart people running a pretty impressive network. A financially stable company running a solid network? Sounds pretty good to me, even if it is Steve Case running the show. As long as I don't have to use that AWFUL AOL client, and change the way I use my Internet connection, I'll probably not mind.
Hey - look at it this way - the tech support personnel can't get any worse! Ever talk to an @home tech that's less than 3rd level? Wouldn't know a subnet mask from ldap server.
Re:jcostom IS ON THE AOL PAYROLL (Score:2)
Re:Even if AOL does the buying, it may not be awfu (Score:1)
Braodcast adress..
I said, hey oh yeah right dumb me. Forgot.
And they said: Which is weird cos I dont know what they are broadcasting.
The other guy said.. Oh yeah, they are in the TV buisiness, that must be what.
the guy who did not know what they were broadcasting told me he was working on his CCNA.
Strange terms? (Score:3, Funny)
...preferably in non-sequential unmarked bills.
Will This Halt Expansion? (Score:1)
@home deal falls through (Score:5, Funny)
@home: "Hello, can I have your at home account name please?"
comcast: "Er, actually I work for Comcast and I would like to buy your company, and I need to speak to your CEO about a deal"
@home: "Oh, can I have your primary email address then please?"
comcast: "No, you don't understand, I called earlier and left a message for your CEO to call me back."
@home: "Ok, I see the problem then. Could you unplug your cable modem for 30 seconds please?"
comcast: "What? No, I need to speak..."
@home: "I'm sorry that won't be possible, nobody here has telephones. You need to unplug your cable modem."
@comcast: "You don't understand, if I don't speak to your CEO, you could lose your job."
@home: "I'm sorry, my SEE-EE-OH doesn't have a telephone. Could you reboot your PC now please?"
@comcast: "Oh for heavens sake, you'll be the first against the wall"
@home: "Oh there's a problem with your wall, we'll send a technician round then. Thank you for calling @home."
Later on, the disgruntled employee complained about @home's recruitment policy. "At the interview, they said all I needed to be able to do was to pick up the phone and to speak English. Technical ability was never a requirement. They never did trust me - I was never allowed to see the secret document that showed how to transfer calls to people that fix problems. What is a cable modem anyway?"
Re:@home deal falls through (Score:1)
not true! (Score:2)
I get all my news from one source
Apple's Default Web Page (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Apple's Default Web Page (Score:1)
Oh God, ANYONE but AT&T! (Score:2)
AT&T WorldNet, who offered me "unlimited" internet access for ~ $20 per month, and then complained that their network was overtaxed when I used it as per our agreement. A couple months before I finally went to cable, they switched from ~$20/month for unlimited, to ~$20/month for x hours, and then ridiculous additional charges for going over x. Fuck AT&T.
They ought to change their advertisting slogan to "AT&T. We have altered the deal. Pray we do not alter if further."
I'm glad.. (Score:2)
The service isn't always the most stable (more crappy line to my house related than anything, I think), but I like the way they run the business, allowing me to do as I please with the bandwidth they provide. Having your own mail server and web server to do anything you want with is wonderful.
This would be cool (Score:1)
That way when MS/MPAA/RIAA come calling there will be a corporation with backbone/cajones and actually *protect* its users and *uphold* its/our right...be worth billions. Oh, and as far as a legal team get the FSF (defenders of 2600 et al?) and lobby, lobby, lobby for *intelligent* laws.
Moose.
"We are talking about the nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind."
Re:This would be cool (Score:1)
Too late. You lobby *BEFORE* laws are passed, not after. You kill them in sub-committee. Failing that you kill them in committee. Failing that you amend the hell out of them in the full assembly. Failing that you amend them the best you can in conference. After that, it's too expensive and too futile to be worthwhile in most cases.
You snooze, you lose.
No good broadband in my neck of the woods... (Score:2, Interesting)
1.) Verizon is my ILEC out here. Verizon gave me only 384/128 dialup over a 768/128 "Bronze" ADSL connection when I had Flashcom service. Flashcom would point fingers at Verizon, Verizon would point fingers at Flashcom. Nothing got resolved. Eventually I quit in disgust.
2.) Adelphia@Home is the cable modem option out here. They actually had a hella deal for a while...free for 3 months, 1/2 price for 6 months, then 25% off for the next 3 months. However, I never got a straight answer about the infrastructure they are using in my neighborhood. Is it DOCSIS or is it old-school cable modem? What's the policy on adding nodes? The sales droids lied to me all the way down the line as far as what they were giving me. "DOCSIS? Sure! It's top-of-the-line infrastructure out your way!" Then when the cable guy came over to install it, I asked him what was going on. "Oh, this isn't DOCSIS. You're getting the old style setup...we won't be using DOCSIS in this neighborhood for at least six months." I told him thank you, no, and that's where that stands.
And what about other options? Satellite? Too expensive, Windows 95/98 only, latency is sucky. Ad-hoc 802.11b networks? Not enough geeks live here, security stinks on ice, Internet access questionable.
So here I sit with v90 dialup for the forseeable future. I don't live in some podunk town where you can throw a rock from end to end. I live in the Greater Los Angeles area. Thanks, ILECs, for killing all the DSL CLECs. Thank you, Los Angeles City Council, for not allowing competition for cable access. Thank you, assholes...I have to suck the Internet through a straw while other friends of mine have a big pipe. Fsck y'all.
Re:No good broadband in my neck of the woods... (Score:1)
You had the ability to get cable. You just had to use their modem for awhile. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see an issue.
DOCSIS vs. older cable infrastructure (Score:1)
Then, on their own, they magically upgrade the whole neighborhood to DOCSIS equipment and they swapped out the G.I. hunk-o-junk with a little, plastic Toshiba modem that looked like a traditional modem. Never once had a glitch after that.
Don't know if it was poor implementation and maintenance of the original junk or that General Instruments simply lost their minds when they built their version of the junk, but it was a night and day difference between old and DOCSIS in my experience of 1 year.
Then, due to changes in my personal and business life I moved away from there, but I sure do miss that Internet access. Now I'm stuck with Telocity's (oh, I mean DirectTV's) sometimes-always-on Net service. It works great until I try to use it, then the connection stalls and I have to unplug the phone line and plug it back in to reset it. All the time. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Re:DOCSIS vs. older cable infrastructure (Score:1)
Each market is different. Sounds to me, though, like it was poor implementation of the GI equipment (keep in mind GI also makes the majority of your cable boxes, and the GI/Motorola Surfboard series of cable modems).
Re:No good broadband in my neck of the woods... (Score:1)
Have you ever seen those "Web hog!" commercials that SBC Communications runs?
DOCSIS partially eliminates the problems of sharing bandwidth over an entire neighborhood by the way it doles out the bandwidth. Old-school cable is not as intelligent and you wind up with the slowdowns. DOCSIS also has security measures in the spec...Old-school cable is notoriously insecure.
Your sexist comments are upsetting, to say the least. Would you have said the same thing to a guy who was objecting to the lack of modern cable-modem equipment in his neighborhood? Doubtful.
Re:No good broadband in my neck of the woods... (Score:1)
I wasn't paying attention to your login. I stopped looking at usernames here over 2 years ago, when "Linus Torvalds" posted here more often than Anonymous Coward.
My comment was more a dig at the average idiot I take calls from, who DO purchase modems based on color. I had a customer throw a fit because we didn't offer any sort of translucent modem to match their iMac.
Don't forget Loki (Score:1, Offtopic)
Don't forget to buy a Loki game [lokigames.com] this month.
Front loading bankruptcy disclaimers for VA Linux (Score:1, Troll)
In other words the reason we're appending this disclaimer to the end of 80% of our articles is so you don't dump your $1.05 VALinux stock when the bankruptcy article is about VALinux.
I'd expect not just the bankruptcy articles but all the conspiracy announcements about colleges taking over the world by suppressing individual freedom and 1000s of new handhelds for displaying calendars to soon end with "Bankruptcy doesn't mean closing of business".
In fact instead of appending the disclaimer to every article why not just put it in fine print on the bottom of valinux.com and get it overwith.
mergers (Score:2)
@Home customer service indicates why they're ch.11 (Score:1)
Here in sunnyvale, my bandwidth is comprable to a 56k modem! Seriously. After I sent them traceroutes to al the DNS servers, all the gateways, and several big sites they still insisted that i unplug my linux box and run their little whack=ass tool...
Guess what the 3 tabs on that lame app were PING, NSLOOKUP and TRACEROUTE. Un frigging believeable.
Now did this, so they roll a truck out here and he says he can't see a problem. After 3 weeks of escalation guess what they're up to on this thursday?
SEnding another truck! That's right after WEEKS of documentation of problems I'm about to get a second guy out here telling me that he can't find something wrong.
ONly thing worse is Pac Bell.
In any case, their lack of customer service merely presaged their downfall.
Re:@Home customer service indicates why they're ch (Score:1)
My experiences with these @home nimrods makes me think they must be sabotaging themselves for christ sakes.. Its like the keystone cops or car 54 where the hell are you.
first day of attempted install one guy sits on my floor and looks at my backround picture like he had been smoking 10,000 pounds of somthing before coming in the house. The other guy is putzing around with the cable outlet:
where's my screwdriver asks one.
Long pause.
So are you into dogs or what? (refering to the pic on my desktop)
this goes on for an hour.. they say finally:
Aint gonna work, the only way is if they drill a hole in the wall and bring a wire from the moon they tell me.
I call the org. They say, yeah they are fixing it. 10 days and we will have sig strength.
15 days later, two new guys come. promise me it will work NO PROBS. 10 hours later, no block sync. Call @home. CODE RED VIRUS has made it not work. My name is on the computer that says, CODE RED VIRUS in the area, tell him it will be a FEW DAYS.
He tells me to call back.. Better make it 3 or 4 days.
I call back, she is gonna get the supervisor to find out why it is still a "flashing modem" (we are now at 20 days.)
She will email me as soon as she knows.. That would be one week. One week gone, she no email me. I call. They say they can send someone out in 2 weeks..
You get the pic.. sorry for the long drawn out story.
Turns out the guys the first time did not take off TWO data filters on my pole, and installed a bunk filter in the box in my building. % truck rolls and two months to get it installed.
ps. I got two bills for 2 months service for the time the modem never worked.
so why they going out of biz again?
Re:@Home customer service indicates why they're ch (Score:2)
It's all coming together. (Score:1)
So, it has come to this:
Consumer PC's I think its obvious here. Compaq, Dell, Microsoft. All have gobbled up smaller companies, or have significant stake in them (AHEM, Apple..) and are not facing any serious threat.
Internet OK, it's pretty clear that AOL is running the show here, but lots of people like their broadband (even if they use it to access AOL). Enter @Home. Great concept, poor implementation. Seems that all of our little @Homes are being gobbled up by large compaines (in this case AT&T). I hate to say it, but we're all becoming slaves to big telecom (Yeah, yeah I know, Troll).
Government The laws of physics in our tech-universe-explosion. Government says what stays and what goes. Now with the appearance of the SSSCA (sigh), we're leaning toward a AOL-MS planet. ("You've got mail! Enter your 29-digit license key to continue!"). Sickening.
Linux/OSS The distant relative that moves in with Microsft and overstays its welcome. Finally kicked out of the house when caught stealing money, but has stolen enough to buy its own house.
Splash some mercury on the table, and watch it all come together. Model of the tech industry.
anyone but AOL (Score:1)
Please, god, not AOL; how many virgin sacrifices are required to prevent such a calamity?
Max
Kinda sad to see it go (Score:1)
In short, the problem is two fold, there are a lot of people out there who don't think they need broadband, and there also a lot of people that can't get it. Because of that, a upstart company will have a very hard time supporting itself, simply because they do not have enough revenue to allow them to stay afloat until their venture becomes profitable.
We're all in this together, keep your stick on the ice.
Cox Cable San Diego: Letter to Customers (Score:1)
Dear Cox @Home Customer,
On Friday, September 28, 2001, Excite @Home announced that it
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to sell its
high-speed network to AT&T. Excite @Home is Cox's partner in
providing high-speed Internet access service to Cox @Home
customers.
We have no reason to believe that these bankruptcy proceedings
will have a negative effect on your Cox @Home Internet
connection or email service. Chapter 11 allows Excite @Home to
continue its operations while restructuring its business. In many
cases, the restructured business emerges from Chapter 11 stronger
than before and resumes normal operations either independently or
as part of a larger company. In this case, AT&T has announced
that it intends to operate and, after a period of time, take over the
Excite @Home network and continue uninterrupted service for all
@Home customers.
Several months ago, Cox began preparing a strategic plan to
exercise a greater degree of control over many of the components
that make up our high-speed Internet service. The current events
surrounding Excite @Home have accelerated this initiative. The
recent bankruptcy filing by Excite @Home and the announcement
by AT&T of its intentions to acquire Excite @Home's network
assets does not change Cox's plans in any way. In fact, we are
committed to working with both Excite @Home and AT&T to
ensure that service remains reliable and consistently of a high
quality.
We will continue to keep you apprised of any developments that
might affect your service. However, we will continue to take all
steps necessary to continue to provide you with the high level of
service you have come to expect from Cox Communications.
Thank you,
The Cox @Home Team
Here's the mass mailing from comcast: (Score:1)
(Take note: Comcast made no mention about whether or not they will take any responsibility for email and webspace content!)
Dear Comcast @Home Customer,
On Friday, September 28, Excite@Home, the Internet service provider for Comcast @Home, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to allow themthe opportunity to restructure their financial situation with their creditors. As you may know, financial restructuring allows companies that have declared bankruptcy to continue to operate their business successfully.
More than five years ago, Comcast committed to the high-speed Internet business by partnering with Excite@Home, and we continue to be committed to providing high quality, reliable service. We are confident that Excite@Home, whose major shareholders include AT&T, Cox and Comcast, will maintain all e-mail and web space services for our customers.
Comcast will continue providing its customers with the best high-speed Internet service both now and in the future. We are doing everything possible to ensure that the 950,000 customers we will serve by year-end will continue to be served well while Excite@Home restructures its financial situation.
Comcast views high-speed Internet as one of the most important products in our portfolio and we remain committed to this business and to our customers. We thank you for choosing Comcast and look forward to continuing to provide you with the best high-speed Internet service available.
Sincerely,
David Juliano
Sr. Vice President & General Manager
kinda expected (Score:2, Funny)
Their statement to customers (Score:1)
AT&T remains committed to working with Excite@Home's management and the bankruptcy court to provide uninterrupted high-speed cable Internet service to our customers, as well as continuing relationships with other cable companies to ensure seamless service to their customers on the @Home network.
If the asset sale is approved, AT&T also plans to build on the assets it acquires to develop a more robust network while improving and growing our broadband high-speed Internet access business for all cable company subscribers.
Sincerely, AT&T Broadband This sucks - I have no option besides Charter here in the sticks. They are cheaper, but don't promise more than about 2/3 of the bandwidth I enjoy now...
Re:@Home, AT&T, and Comcast (Score:2, Interesting)
It's sad that AT&T's president is running around asking "Please buy this... I'll take anything... Please!!! buy this!!!"
I just wish that the stock-holders of AT&T had some backbone and fired the entire executive branch and replaced them with a group that is interested in making broadband work instead of making a few dollars quickly when things are tight. AT&T broadband is full of the best and brightest Last year we had lots of cash do do the work, this year we recieved 1/5th of that and still preformed the work (Finding no-cost solutions like Linux for example) and next year we expect 0 funding above bare-minimum operating costs... I will still impliment a fax server (linux based)and a document management system (Linux based).. Both of which would have cost $50,000 each if based under windows 2000 (I priced them out with quotes 2 years ago, so those are pretty darn close in actual cost)
Comcast could be a good thing for Broadband. Anyone know if they are hostile to non MS solutions? AT&T has always been open to it and the Computer and Network Acceptable use polocy specifically states that any free or GNU software is fully allowed to get work done in the company.
how about charter?
Re:@Home, AT&T, and Comcast (Score:1)
as long as it's not Disney or Charter. Many of us have linux in place and running well, replacing the Microsoft dependancy while getting kudos from management and doing thing that are impossible under windows. If we get purchased by one of the Microsoft puppets. (Or the Natzi's at Disney... no facial hair? I will be one that will sue the crap out of the company) Have to do with this entire thread? Also what are you saying you can do under Linux that you can't do under Windows? Please provide a couple of examples so us people who can't read your mind can understand where you are coming from.
Re:@Home, AT&T, and Comcast (Score:2, Interesting)
In fact, the one time I had to have a technician to the house to fix a hardware problem (the equipment on the pole was *ancient*) he took one look at my machine and asked "Which distro?"
I'd say that they're pretty friendly to Linux.
Re:@Home, AT&T, and Comcast (Score:1)
Here in (South) Jersey, we have Comcast cable, and they offer @Home. How would that fit into the mix?