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Best Buy Acquires SpeakEasy
spazimodo writes "From the announcement e-mail from Speakeasy CEO Bruce Chatterley: 'I am pleased to announce that Speakeasy has been acquired by Best Buy, an innovative and growing Fortune 100 company and the top consumer electronics retailer in North America. This is a significant milestone for our company as our new relationship will help us realize our goals of becoming the No. 1 provider of voice and data solutions to small businesses. It is important to note that though Speakeasy will now be a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy, we will continue to operate as a standalone, independent operating division with headquarters in Seattle.' As a longtime Speakeasy customer, it's too bad to see their business moving in this direction. Back in the day when I called up their support with a problem, and mentioned I was using an OpenBSD box as a firewall/gateway the response was: 'cool!' — slightly different from the response Comcast or Verizon would give. I can't imagine they'll be able to maintain that independence, and there's no way I'm paying a premium for Internet service to Best Buy."
A common refrain we hear from the former and current Geek Squad employees we've been talking to is that Geek Squad used to be awesome. Robert Stephens built up an award-winning company with a reputation for being the best in the business. Then he sold it to Best Buy and they turned it to garbage.
Well that kinda sucks. I'm already saddened by the fact that I can't get Speakeasy at my current home. It was always worth the extra money for their service, and static IPs. Now I have to live with the fact that by the time I move to another house, Speakeasy will probably suck as badly as SBC. :(
Nothing to see here
I had always lived in perpetual hope that Speakeasy would be offered in my area. To tell you the truth, it was rather draining, always being excited to check their coverage map. Now I can go back to deciding between the Cable Monopoly and the Phone Monopoly, like nature intended.
All good things must come to an end.
Noooooooo!
Hello Blue Shirt morons.
:(
I was a happy Speakeasy customer for about a year. Then I moved out of the country, and
had to cancel my account. I'm wondering what happens now, since Best Buy now has
access to my information
I realize that nothing has changed yet regarding Speakeasy. But are there any other ISPs that don't suck?
quandary, not quandry.
I have used speakeasy's broadband speed tester a lot. What are they going to do next? How many square inches of plasma screen you get per 1000$? displayed using their distinctive dsl speedometer animation?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
it means I quit getting pestered about buying AOL's "service" every time I run in to BB for anything.
Granted, I only shop there if I can't wait 3-5 days for shipping, but its still damned annoying.
rest in peace speakeasy, a halfway decent provider of DSL and VOIP services. are there any other naked pair (no landline phone service required) providers out there?
Let's think about this for a moment:
ISP for geeks now owned by a company that is beholden to "big media" interests.
I'm sure this will end well....
I felt like I had been punched when I saw the email this morning.
silly to feel like that over an ISP, but dang, speakeasy was awesome, and best buy--well...not so much a fan. Like their stores, but that's about it.
I specifically chose Speakeasy for my DSL because of how open they are with customer usage patterns and configurations. Like the submitter, I call up and say I have a Linux box as my gateway and they love it. They don't cap bandwidth, block ports, etc. I'm sure they'll claim "nothing will change" but I cannot imagine Best Buy leaving this alone... They'll require Vista for connections or something silly like that (for "security reasons").
Sigh. Time to start shopping around for small DSL providers again.
--- witty signature
Please tell me this is an early April Fools.
Please?
I hope they hold it together, but if they don't, there's Sonic.net which is like Speakeasy without the marketing budget.
--Pat
A few years back, at the time I signed up for Speakeasy DSL, they were the only decent ISP who would serve me. Verizon said I was too far from the CO (mechanized loopback test said 17000 feet) and they weren't eager to build new infrastructure in a zip where the median age of residents is 60-something. Comcast didn't have the capacity in my neighborhood development, although their flyer route drivers didn't seem to know that. Speakeasy said "sure" and I got 1.2 Mbps down and the line was clean. I have 2 static IPs, one on a FC5 box and one shared on a wireless router amongst 2 (and sometimes more) Windows boxes, and all for $42 a month. I was on the verge of getting rid of my Verizon POTS, even though it would push up the DSL cost $15. But the main reason I stayed with Speakeasy was the cheap static IPs, no complaints about what services I run, and knowledgeable tech support. I swore I would never ever give Comcast another dime of my money for any service, and I really don't care for Verizon support. But if Speakeasy goes the way of Geek Squad, or in any way resembles Best Buy customer service practices, I might just give up completely.
Anybody know any other independent ISPs left who might not treat home techies like criminals for running something besides Windows?
As a long time customer of Speakeasy I will be switching ISPs as soon as I can find a suitable replacement company. The only reason I can think of for this move is that the founders of Speakeasy wanted to cash out. This move certainly is not in the best interest of their customers. Did Best Buy acquire Speakeasy only for their organization? I can't imagine that they would think they could retain Speakeasys customers.
For those in areas where it's possible, I'd strongly suggest dropping Speakeasy and switching to DSLExtreme. That's who I use, and much like Speakeasy they offer free static IPs and no restrictions on the usage of your line.
I knew the day would one day come, Infact I thought it would have happened sooner. ........?
BUT I NEVER thought BestBuy
I still hold alot of fond memories from Speakeasy and the fact that Bestbuy is thier sugerdaddy isnt going to
make me love the EZ any less.
User B. or be squared,
-Kupoking-
really is to sell out to big business.
I knew this would happen eventually. I've been with Speakeasy since 2001 for my DSL service and I've only been as satisfied with one other ISP in the past. The problem with the previous ISP is that they got bought out by another larger ISP who basically screwed all of the old customers. For example, with mail, they "merged" the two domains. They took all of the accounts from my ISP (including my own e-mail account of five years) and basically dumped any duplicates. I used to be eno@isp1.example and they dumped my account so that eno@isp2.example could continue to use that address. They said that user had the address long before I did. This is only true if they eliminate the original domain that my account existed in. So after that, I bought my own domain and started hosting my own mail. Never again will that happen.
But now, I'm not sure what to think. Best Buy is absolutely notorious for screwing their customers and messing up everything they do as a business as long as it's in their favor. I have a feeling that my legacy account with Speakeasy (containing a static IP) will probably be one of the first things to be dumped once they start making changes. Speakeasy doesn't currently offer quite the same thing that I have now for the same low price that they once did, but since I'm legacy it works out in my favor. Of course from Best Buy's corporate policies I will probably be seen as a "bad customer" and get fired. Here's to Best Buy: Fuck you assholes.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
Here was the text of the e-mail I received:
Dear Speakeasy Members,
Today is an historic and exciting day for Speakeasy.
I am pleased to announce that Speakeasy has been acquired by Best Buy, an innovative and growing Fortune 100 company and the top consumer electronics retailer in North America. This is a significant milestone for our company as our new relationship will help us realize our goals of becoming the No. 1 provider of voice and data solutions to small businesses. It is important to note that though Speakeasy will now be a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy, we will continue to operate as a standalone, independent operating division with headquarters in Seattle.
Speakeasy will be an important part of the Best Buy For Business service that delivers simple, reliable, and affordable technology solutions to small businesses. Speakeasy's array of broadband voice, data and managed services offerings will be the focal point of the Best Buy For Business communications solutions. This agreement is a major step forward for our company. While our business remains strong, our relationship with Best Buy provides us with additional resources and brand recognition, while opening new sales channels which will dramatically accelerate our growth.
Best Buy, like Speakeasy, is known for its high level of customer service. Our reputation as a trusted provider of voice and data services with stellar customer service will not change. Our values are similar too -- Best Buy shares our customer passion, respect for individuals, and drive to do the right thing while achieving results. All aspects of your service will continue to be managed by Speakeasy and the excellent service and support you expect will continue uninterrupted.
Best Regards,
Bruce Chatterley
President & CEO, Speakeasy, Inc.
GENERAL INFORMATION
What are Best Buy and Speakeasy announcing today?
Best Buy has agreed to acquire Speakeasy, a privately-held voice and data solutions company based in Seattle, WA. Speakeasy will be aligned under the Best Buy For Business (BBFB) unit, enhancing Best Buy's technology portfolio and ability to help small businesses improve their productivity and cut costs.
Why is Best Buy purchasing Speakeasy?
Speakeasy is a highly regarded voice and data services provider with national coverage whose values align well with those of Best Buy. Best Buy is seeking to accelerate the growth of Best Buy For Business (BBFB) by providing core communications solutions for small businesses. Speakeasy's array of products offer a simple, understandable value proposition to small business owners, and gives BBFB the opportunity to build and maintain a regular, recurring relationship with customers.
Who is Best Buy? Where are they located?
Best Buy Co., Inc (NYSE: BBY) is one of the nation?s leading retailers of technology and entertainment products and services. Their mission is to give customers great experiences - whether they are shopping for consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software and appliances, or using those products and related-services in their homes or offices. Best Buy's corporate campus is located in Richfield, Minnesota and it operates over 1,150 stores across the U.S., Canada, and China.
Why would a retailer buy a technology company?
One of Speakeasy's core product offerings is Voice over IP (VoIP), which is becoming a popular choice for small businesses who seek efficient and cost-effective telecommunications services. Best Buy For Business' mission is to deliver simple, reliable, and affordable technology solutions to small businesses. A product offering such as VoIP, which has immediate compelling appeal to most SBs based on cost savings and simplicity, is an attractive value proposition that allows Best Buy to round out its
If they've got Best Buy, they'll make them suck more, but they'll get more penetration. More broadband choice would be great, and even a degraded Speakeasy has to be better than Comcast or Verizon.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
I'm more interested to hear that BB has run out of growth opportunities on the floor of their stores.
I would also hazard a guess and say their status as a subsidiary that can run itself is wholly temporary. The few mega-corporations I've dealt with all have terrible sicknesses "not invented here" and "better managed by corporate" that comes with the appearance of success.
As long as they do stunts like this and keep killing their acquisitions, BB will die the slow death so many other retailers have before them.
Anyone invested in Worst Buy http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BBY&t=5y should get out now.
Got Trader Joe's? friendwich.com RSS feeds work now!
With line sharing becoming difficult after last year's UNE-P decision, combined with a new corporate overlord, Speakeasy's already premium prices are probably going to go above what most of their residential users will bear. It probably makes sense from a business perspective, but for the residential users, I can only think that it's going to cause a loud sucking sound coming from the phone line.
It's a little early to jump the gun that this will ruin Speakeasy... yah yah we all saw what "happened" with Geeksquad but it was garbage to begin with. Speakeasy is a good company and with it running as an independent operation it should be fine.
Regards, Ryan McAdams
Speakeasy CEO Bruce Chatterley = lady Chatterley's lover?
wonder what they will name this?
"BestSpeak?"
"BuyEasy?"
"SpeakEasy Highspeed Broadband DSL Internet Service presented by Best Buy"
I have visions of non stop best buy pop ups when you sign on. gahhhh.
Does DSLExtreme offer anything similar to Speakeasy's "Onelink"?
When I got the email this morning it was like a hand jumped out of the screen and punched me in the face. Yes, definitely silly to feel this way about an ISP, but like may others here, I feel that Speakeasy as be so great to me.
The cost is a little more and the speed is a little slower but the quality has been excellent. They are always up, my IP is static, ports are not blocked, and the support is excellent. I've been with them for almost 10 years now, and when I had Comcast Cable Modem that my work paid for, I found out how often comcast was either down or having problems, and Speakeasy was always my standby.
I can always schedule my upgrades and maintenance from home because I know my connection will be up. One time when it went down at 3:00 am, I called and they re-provisioned my line on the spot and I was back and working by 3:15.
I will not do business with Best Buy. There are too many shady business practices, too many anecdotes of bad experiences, and they're becoming bigger and bigger. The whole POINT of doing business with speakeasy was that they were a local, independent company with the kind of values that one could do business with with a clear conscience.
I will be calling to cancel m speakeasy service as soon as possible.
I'm going to seriously consider leaving. I don't want to stick around and watch them go down the drain just like every other cool company that gets bought out. I guess it could be worse... like Symantec or Computer Associates, but still... Best Buy? WTF does an ISP have in common with a retail giant?
I'm really kind of sick of this buy-out -> toilet trend. I just got burned pretty bad by it last year when EMC bought Dantz/Retrospect. Retrospect used to be a pretty solid product. Now it is a steaming pile of crap and I look like an ass for recommending it at my new employer.
Whta is it with buyouts and mergers? Is it just the chaos of trying to merge very different ways of doing things? Or are the parent companies really just that bad? I can't think of a single buyout that has done anything but destroy a good brand. Maybe Cisco/Linksys wasn't so bad? I dunno.
-matthew
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
I have several clients using Speakeasy (many lines, in many states, over 5 years), and their support is now very poor despite the premium they charge. I hope/assume it's just a lack of resources. You can always get someone on the phone who is polite and professional, but their universal response to problems is, 1) It's the customer's fault, and, if you can disproves that, 2) There's nothing we can do.
For example, one client has a T1 with and SLA from Speakeasy. If it goes down, their website says automatic monitoring will notify a support engineer who will open a ticket. If you ask the engineers, they insist that there is no automatic notification, and they are unaware of the problem unless the customer calls them. Again, that's on a T1 with an SLA.
If I call them, they start by trying to pin the blame on us. If I can prove it's not us, they try a few quick diagnostics and, if those don't help, they say 'I don't know what's wrong -- that's all I can tell you'. If a DSL line is malfunctioning, they say, every time, 'you are too far from the CO for that level of service; we can give you a slower service'. Of course, the third time they say it about the same line (after we've lowered the speed twice), it's a little implausible, and when I point out that we've been paying for that service based on their previous recommendation, they don't care. The bottom line is, they take no responsibility for meeting their obligations, not in spirit and not even the letter of them.
I've been planning to find another vendor for awhile. Speakeasy long had an excellent reputation for service; I'm guessing they are constrained by a lack of resources. Maybe Best Buy's deeper pockets will help with that.
I had Speakeasy DSL for a few years and it was great. Then I moved and had no other option except Comcast cablemodem. It's been ok, but I liked having a static IP.
I were still with Speakeasy I'd keep it, but keep my eyes open for when the nigh inevitable happens.
I have recommended Speakeasy to many colleagues and friends because of my high level of respect for the technicians who have personally helped me on several occasions.
I can only say that my experience with Best Buy has been the polar opposite. I wholeheartedly disagree with the PR statement that Best Buy is "known for its high level of customer service." I know that I am not alone in this dissatisfaction based on numerous articles I have read on slashdot, news.com, and other online sources.
In fact, I consider Best Buy only when making purchases for commodity items, where I expect no advice and no customer service from the sales agent.
I'll be moving shortly and cancelling my Speakeasy account. I had originally planned on getting Speakeasy after the move; however all of that changed this morning. From looking at the other /. posts, I suppose I'll look into Sonic.net and DSLExtreme now.
Bummer...
Well, i've been a speakeasy customer since 1999. I've weathered less than steller performance(been on "safemode" for 2yrs), and payed more $$ FOR A LOCAL SERVICE PROVIDER. That has now ended. I will be shopping for a new provider, rather than succum to the BS that is "bestbuy".
Goodbye my sweet friend, it's been fun. I hope you remember me in the great lowest common denominator world out there...
Christ, the thought of going ComCast puts ice in my veins, but i refuse to pay 2x the cost for this bs.
I was considering them, now I know they'll suck.
Back in the day when I called up their support with a problem, and mentioned I was using an OpenBSD box as a firewall/gateway the response was: 'cool!'
Actually, would you believe that last night a comcast rep came to my door. They'd had some problems the last 6 months in my community, so he went door to door giving us all a rate cut, free digital and a free movie channel to compensate. I hadn't any problems, but hey - free.
We talked for a bit, he asked what kind of computer I had. I told him I'd set up a linux router/vpn gateway, and he said "cool". I mentioned that the tuner in my new HDTV was already picking up OnDemand feeds, and he didn't believe me, so I showed him a skinimax flick on 87.3 which was being rewound to show the same nipple over and over. He laughed, and said "cool" again, and mentioned that it'll probably be a long while before they get around to encrypting those feeds.
I still think comcast sucks a fat nut. Just because some rep said "cool" doesn't mean they are.
Speakeasy's policies won't be so fast and loose in the future. Best Buy sucks.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I recommended Speakeasy to all my clients, and just about everyone I knew, because I had amazing service from them. Best Buy I've never had anything but shitty service from. As of a few minutes ago, I'm recommending everyone I know steer very clear, and all my clients who are currently using Speakeasy to be prepared for when things start collapsing.
...Best Buy, being a large Fortune 100 corporation, will able to afford to make Speakeasy's rates more competetive, right?
I mean, they will be competing with SBC's $15/month DSL, after all.
I've had a shell account with Speakeasy for about a decade now. All of my multiple addresses filter there. As long as that still works, I'll stay there rather than switch everything over again.
I might be the only person in world who still uses Pine for email, but I prefer that to web based solutions, let alone something like Outlook...
I've been a customer of Speakeasy's for about 4 years now, and I love them. The emailed announcement hit me like a slap in the face.
They have been a fantastic ISP compared to Comcast, who they replaced. I have static IPs, I can run servers, and I get advance notice of planned downtime for maintenance when it will affect my service. I think I've only experienced three unplanned outages since I've been their customer, and the longest was maybe 6 hours. When I've needed to call about outages, their support people have been friendly and recognize that I know what I'm doing, and don't force me to go through the script anyway. The topper was this weekend, though-- I submitted a couple tickets for changes to my service at 11:30pm Eastern on this past Saturday, and both were taken care of before the email confirmation that the ticket had been created hit my inbox, less than 10 minutes later.
I really, really hope Best Buy doesn't ruin Speakeasy like they ruined Geek Squad, because my only other options are Comcast and Verizon.
~Philly
Just yesterday I was looking for new internet service and went to SpeakEasy first. They're expensive but they offer great service for the price.
Now I expect the service will be gone but the prices will stay. So thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to look elsewhere.
I got an email about it from them this morning. I'm depressed. Speakeasy is no where near the cheapest where I live, but I've hung on to them tenaciously partly because of the service, but mostly because of the extremely liberal terms of service. I pay extra so that I can have a static IP, run whatever servers I want, and generally actually use my connection.
If Best Buy changes this, and decides to act like the big idiot telecom companies like Comcast, I've got no reason to pay extra. I'll just take that package deal that Comcast keeps bugging me about.
The cake is a pie
Nice sentiments, but there are some questions that arise...
It is important to note that though Speakeasy will now be a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy, we will continue to operate as a standalone, independent operating division with headquarters in Seattle.
Ok, but for how long? More often than not, mergers or acquisitions end up with the old management getting replaced over a period of time by new management, who often want to make their mark... often to the detriment of customers and/or employees.
A product offering such as VoIP, which has immediate compelling appeal to most SBs based on cost savings and simplicity, is an attractive value proposition that allows Best Buy to round out its solutions menu for small businesses.
In light of the recent enjoinder against Vonage, will BestBuy find itself in a similar situation with SpeakEasy's VOIP tech? If so, will this dilute SpeakEasy's value to BestBuy? And what could the consequences be?
I just hope this turns out well for the SpeakEasy employees, and customers who decide to stick with them (for the near-term anyway).
Science never settles, never rests.
I also live within a mile of the Best Buy HQ. I have speakeasy (which is really just redistributed covad). IMHO the CO's in Richfield need to be upgraded and/or there needs to be more CO's added to the area. Pretty much the entire town was built in 1950 and as you can imagine a lot of infrastructure is just as old. Maybe BestBuy's money and Speakeasy's telephone company connections will cause upgrades in the immediate area. Though doubtful as there are low income apartment housing across the street from Best Buy...
There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
I agree this really sucks. Though I don't have Speakeasy, I've heard nothing but glowing praise from people who do have them, and I'm sad to see a good competitor go down the toilet.
This raises the question as to whether there are any reasonable alternatives to Speakeasy left? Some ISP which will allow one to run servers, is reasonably honest (no false bandwidth throttling claims) and a cluefull tech support based in the U.S.. Or reasonably close on these.
Please spare me from suggesting either the Phone Companies or the Cable Companies.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker.
I moved recently. They were #1 with a bullet for my choice of ISP.
Thank Ghod I waited a month to order DSL service from them. Gnah! That would have been like buying a delicious bag of candy and opening it at home to find out it was in fact fermented goat's milk and cabbage.
Unfortunately, that leaves me with no real alternatives for data providers (Only AT&T & Verizon).
I'll have to have business class network lines run to my apartment!
A very large number of speakeasy's customers are provisioned on covad's backbone, and covad is primarily responsible for the quality of service speakeasy has provided. So we can just cut out the middleman and sub to the source.
http://www.covad.com/services_dsl_chooser.shtml
Well, maybe this will be a good excuse to switch to a cheaper service - I've been paying through the nose for huge up speeds, mostly because "any day now" I'll get back into EVE or work from home more (turns out you have to leave work and go home before you can work from home).
I wonder what the TOS for the FiOS service is... given that it's Verizon, can't be too encouraging.
sic transit gloria mundi
Jebus folks. This was just announced. There's no indication that SE will be as crappy as BB. Sure, BB sucks. We all know it and like someone said, there's little reason to go unless you can't wait the five days for delivery. But the little guy being bought doesn't necessarily guarantee it (in this case obviously SE) will suck ass. I haven't seen anything definite about the static IPs (the No. 2 reason I went with them) nor anything about who will do support (the No. 1 reason I went with them) and if that will change the current setup. Give it a chance to shake out prefer writing the obit.
Bark less. Wag more.
I just got off the phone with someone in the corporate office in Seattle and I for one am willing to wait it out.
He explained it quite clearly to me, without doublespeak or marketing crap.
Speakeasy will be a wholly owned subsidiary of BestBuy. All the staff is staying in Seattle, all the tech support will still be in Seattle.
SPEAKEASY WILL STILL BE OPERATING THEIR NETWORK, IT WILL NOT BE MANAGED BY ANYONE FROM BESTBUY.
It basically came down to this
1. BestBuy needed an ISP that didn't suck to offer their business customers when they offer to "outfit" a business. For BestBuy (regardless of how malicious they may be), offering a business customer they want to keep as a long term client Comcast or Verizon or ATT or god forbid AOL isn't a winning strategy. So they want to be able to offer SpeakEasy and have it be quick, efficient, and "standard" if you will. They want Speakeasy to be their standard offer.
2. Speakeasy wants a shitload of working capital. BestBuy can give them this. Now, I think it's kind of like accepting blood money, but I'm not the one that has to take care of the accounting.
It's not like we're going to have blueshirts running the network or those yellow-shirt mafia answering the phones.
The e-mail hit me like a punch in the face too.
Also, just so folks know, no one at Speakeasy is "cashing out". Well, at least not the "out" part.
The executive/management people are all staying. Bruce Chatterly will be reporting to a VP at BestBuy, not sure which. the internal structure of Speakeasy is remaining as is.
Also, to point out a big difference. Geek Squad was brought "in house". Speakeasy is NOT being brought "in house" (thank god..)
Thanks to those who pointed out SonicDSL and DSLExtreme as alternatives, I hope I won't need them.
I'm gonna give speakeasy a chance. They've been a fabulous ISP and they deserve the chance.
Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little.
Seriously, one time I called Theo DeRaadt (who is by all accounts a super-nice guy) at home for support, and he told me to FUCK OFF! Can you believe it?
He was busy patching security holes... in your mom.
for speakeasy customers:. mpl
https://www.speakeasy.net/myspeak/customer_survey
lol - everything I've heard of OpenBSD's PF (packet filter) suggests that it's a capable and versatile firewall - you're one of the few people I've ever heard of badmouth it. Try traffic shaping with Windows firewall (we're talking about Windows OOTB firewall, not free download-able solutions). I'll take OpenBSD (pf), FreeBSD (ipfw), or Linux (ipchains) long before I'd ever touch Windows firewall for any practical uses, thank you.
Seriously, why are you calling this guy at home, anyway? You never know the situation the guy was in at the time - I mean, maybe he was about to get shagged for the first time in months and you happened to call just then. I'd tell you to F**K OFF too - hell, I'd tell my MOM to f**k off in that situation and she'd probably drive 30 miles just to wash my mouth out with soap.
Oooooooooookay...
Read my blog.
"This is a significant milestone for our company as our new relationship will help us realize our goals of becoming the No. 1 provider of voice and data solutions to small businesses filthy rich."
FTFY.
I don't shop at the "best buy". I had been considering utilizing speakeasy.net. Does it still have the slashdot brand?
i chard_Schulze.php people
I just can't give my dime to these http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/R
I'm thoroughly saddened to read this news. I like, many informed Americans, consider Best Buy to be one of the worst places to shop. Their customer service is atrocious, their practices are without a doubt morally and ethically corrupt and in some states illegal. Having accomplished this deal I am sure you have done your due diligence and it therefore grieves me that you would continue to engage in business efforts with such a corporation.
I have stricken Speakeasy as an intended provider from our rollout and we will search for another which is more suitable to a higher standard of ethics and personable morals.
Please ensure Mr. Bruce Chatterley reads this. Good money is good to have, good customers far better.
Sincerely,
David
(Blu3 - having to log in to every website is entirely annoying)
For a time, I was conflicted about moving to FIOS because I was leaving a company with such great customer service and support for a hulking monolith simply to get more bandwidth. (Much, MUCH more bandwidth: 5/20 instead of .25/1.5!) But now that they've sold out to Best Buy, I have zero regrets. I wonder how long until the eliminate all the things that made Speakeasy so good? Static IP's, reverse DNS, responsive customer support, encouraged servers and reselling bandwidth, etc.
[ home ]
Best Buy Acquires Speakeasy - CEO News
Dear Speakeasy Members,
Today is an historic and exciting day for Speakeasy.
I am pleased to announce that Speakeasy has been acquired by Best Buy, an innovative and growing Fortune 100 company and the top consumer electronics retailer in North America. This is a significant milestone for our company as our new relationship will help us realize our goals of becoming the No. 1 provider of voice and data solutions to small businesses. It is important to note that though Speakeasy will now be a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy, we will continue to operate as a standalone, independent operating division with headquarters in Seattle.
Speakeasy will be an important part of the Best Buy For Business service that delivers simple, reliable, and affordable technology solutions to small businesses. Speakeasy's array of broadband voice, data and managed services offerings will be the focal point of the Best Buy For Business communications solutions.
This agreement is a major step forward for our company. While our business remains strong, our relationship with Best Buy provides us with additional resources and brand recognition, while opening new sales channels which will dramatically accelerate our growth.
Best Buy, like Speakeasy, is known for its high level of customer service. Our reputation as a trusted provider of voice and data services with stellar customer service will not change. Our values are similar too -- Best Buy shares our customer passion, respect for individuals, and drive to do the right thing while achieving results. All aspects of your service will continue to be managed by Speakeasy and the excellent service and support you expect will continue uninterrupted.
Best Regards,
Bruce Chatterley
President & CEO, Speakeasy, Inc.
GENERAL INFORMATION
What are Best Buy and Speakeasy announcing today?
Best Buy has agreed to acquire Speakeasy, a privately-held voice and data solutions company based in Seattle, WA. Speakeasy will be aligned under the Best Buy For Business (BBFB) unit, enhancing Best Buy's technology portfolio and ability to help small businesses improve their productivity and cut costs.
Why is Best Buy purchasing Speakeasy?
Speakeasy is a highly regarded voice and data services provider with national coverage whose values align well with those of Best Buy. Best Buy is seeking to accelerate the growth of Best Buy For Business (BBFB) by providing core communications solutions for small businesses. Speakeasy's array of products offer a simple, understandable value proposition to small business owners, and gives BBFB the opportunity to build and maintain a regular, recurring relationship with customers.
Who is Best Buy? Where are they located?
Best Buy Co., Inc (NYSE: BBY) is one of the nation?s leading retailers of technology and entertainment products and services. Their mission is to give customers great experiences - whether they are shopping for consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software and appliances, or using those products and related-services in their homes or offices.
Best Buy's corporate campus is located in Richfield, Minnesota and it operates over 1,150 stores across the U.S., Canada, and China.
Why would a retailer buy a technology company?
One of Speakeasy's core product offerings is Voice over IP (VoIP), which is becoming a popular choice for small businesses who seek efficient and cost-effective telecommunications services. Best Buy For Business' mission is to deliver simple, reliable, and affordable technology solutions to small businesses. A product offering such as VoIP, which has immediate compelling appeal to most SBs based on cost savings and simplicity, is an attractive value proposition that allows Best Buy to round out its solutions menu for small businesses.
What is Best Buy for Business
Just because you are not paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you.
If you did, there's this little option called "chargeback"
Moreover, if you don't have verbal (record) or written assent to the so-called contract, it'll be dumped. Basically what Visa does is get both parties on the phone and ask the salesperson to play back the part where they indicated a contract or non-refundable item. Nothing said, nothing written = no contract, and your money usually comes back to you.
Why would I shop there when I have NewEgg?
I'm not entirely sure that the big ISPs are as bad as some around here claim them to be. I have had Cox for years now and AT&T (now Comcast) where I used to live (back in 2000 or so) and I had no problems using a Linux box as the gateway.
I have never had trouble getting information about default gateways or routes or DNS servers or anything of the sort. With most modern Cable ISPs everything is DHCP anyway. DSL is similar although a lot of them use that PPPoE crap.
As far as installation goes, about a year ago when I moved into my apartment I had Cox install a line for cable. Once I saw the installer was done hooking up the line outside and was coming back in I went ahead and hooked up the modem and got it going on my Linux gateway. By the time he got up the stairs (third floor apartment) I was already on the internet. He was quite pleased since he didn't have to configure anything on the machine except hook it up.
I've been on the other side too. Back in 2000 or so I worked for an AT&T subcontractor. Most installs were Windows or whatever but in one case their kid and one of his friends had already gotten a Linux box ready to go. I gave them the information, they got it routing and knowing that obviously the paying customer wants their PC to work I made sure that the internet was working from the PC through the NAT router. The parents signed the paperwork and I took off. Easiest install I ever did.
If you are willing to take responsibility for making your router work then I don't think any of the big ISPs have any problems. However, I will say that a friend of the family called comcast and they gave her a bunch of bullshit about needing to disconnect her router and what not which she did but then of course her wireless laptop wouldn't work. So I had to give her the lowdown on resetting the router (Linksys seem to be notorious for this) and to please call me instead of Comcast if that doesn't work. The only real problem I have with this is that the Comcast tech could've saved himself 10 minutes of having her rearrange everything just by having her power cycle the modem and the router.
My experience with Cox on the other hand has always been that if you tell them you have a router then the first thing they will do is have you power cycle the modem and the router. Saves them time.
The bottom line is to not ascribe any malice to the big ISPs. They are a business and are just trying to keep their costs down. Their agreements clearly state they won't support your router. However, the smarter ones figure out that sometimes supporting the router a little bit (i.e. tell user to power cycle it) is cheaper and so they put that in their tech support scripts. Only if that doesn't work will they move on to having you directly connect the computer. From a troubleshooting perspective this makes perfect sense. Remove as many variables as you can.
How soon before Speakeasy becomes a walking joke, con artists, and destroyer of customer machines, like Geek Squad did after being bought out by Best Buy?
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
Well, I've had a Speakeasy DSL line for over seven years, about as long as anyone could be. Through most of that time, their support's been great. As have been their policies on static IPs, port blocking, running servers, line sharing, and "alternative" OSs - most of the things I care about in an ISP.
//tsg//
But the company's also changed over the past few years (the "Bruce Chatterly" era, way past the time when Mike, Tyler, and a bunch of Burners ran the show). They've become much more money-hungry and prone to corporate foot-shooting at the top levels. The real sleazy move last year was that they timed a stealth fee increase (doubling the bogus "regulatory recovery fee") to kick in exactly at the same time that the Federal USF fee expired. Users who didn't watch carefully saw their monthly charge go down slightly (under a buck) and thought life was good - when in fact it should have dropped $2-3 or more. When some of the customers who were awake complained, we only got marketroid doublespeak and obfuscation.
I'm prepared to wait this latest change of scenery out for now - but my skepticism quotient just got shifted one bit to the left. We'll see.
This thread made me think of something: why are no ISPs in the USA offering bonded DSL services? You know, for when one DSL line won't do, but going to T1 is too much? Anyone know of anyone offering this?
So, anyone have any recommendations (or expectations?) for residential fiber in San Francisco?
I'm not going to stick with Speakeasy any longer as soon as fiber is available now. I was always willing to keep with the little guy and all that... but now that the little guy funnels money to the Big Guy, i can't really claim any sort of advantage in doing it. I'll support whatever Big Guy will offer me a bit fatty fiber to the home style pipe.
I'm in San Francisco, surely this kind of thing is freakin possible. Anyone know anything at all?
>...there's Sonic.net which is like Speakeasy without the marketing budget.
I never thought of it that way, but I can vouch for Sonic.
Only needed tech support on initial setup-- they were quite helpful
over the phone. But after that there's been no need to get tech support.
I am also a current Speakeasy customer. I'm also a Seattle native, so I'm biased towards local biz. I wanted to point out Drizzle (http://www.drizzle.com/). I have no affiliation with them and have never used their service, but someone else pointed me at their website this morning and they look and seem reasonable. http://www.dslreports.com/ is a great resource for finding a new ISP as well.
Just because you are not paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you.
Damnit, I was planning on getting DSL from speakeasy after I move. What am I supposed to do now?
Way back whem, my buddy Mike and I heard about this Speakeasy place that was going to start up an Internet cafe in Belltown. They had not yet opened up for business, so we went around back to the alley and knocked on the door. Nearby we could hear Mark Arm from Mudhoney practicing on guitar somewhere. The door opened and we met the owners, the Apgars. They were totally cool and really knew what they were doing. When the cafe opened, we used to go there all the time. They had a bunch of machines for public use. They had coffee, beer, food, live music, and it was a perfect place to hang. They realized that they weren't utilizing all of the T1 that they were paying gobs of money for, so they decided to sell some dialup accounts. This is the beginning of the Speakeasy that the rest of you know. Soon after, the cafe burned down in a terrible accident that also consumed a favorite pool hall, the 2-11 Club. By then, the dialup business had really taken off, and they never bothered to reopen the cafe. The Apgars sold out at some point to the current management.
Best Buy. Sheesh. I hardly ever go in there, when I do, I realize that the Target next door has much better prices and much friendlier folks, and I shake my head and walk out. Speakeasy has died, and now its zombie corpse will haunt us. It just goes to show you that everything good will eventually turn to crap.
There's no conflict between shopping at Best Buy for products and not wanting to use them for services. With a product, you just do your own research, go in and buy the thing, don't buy the extended warranty, and your contact with them is over. With a service, you have to deal with them continuously.
Back around 1997 or 1998 they had CD's (usually by the check-outs) for Best Buy's ISP which was called expresslane or theonramp.net, as I recall.
Then one day the company just disappeared without any warning and we had no connection.
Everyone is complaining about what will happen to Speakeasy service, who cares?
I don't want to give my money to best buy. They could leave the company alone completely and I will still cancel my account.
The SpeakEasy Cafe led me to: A great many friends, and even 4 close ones, including my girlfriend (whom I met at the FreeBSD meetings that gathered there,) ... which led to our daughter, who now turns 6. We're a happy family, and we've always felt good about paying SpeakEasy.
:( So sad. Mike Apgar, send us an email!
...
SpeakEasy service is out of this world. They never balk that I run Linux & FreeBSD. Whenever we've had problems, it's been our end, but their staff has been responsive and friendly. Their level-1 staff are *very* knowledgeable. Network administrators I know love to recount stories of Speakeasy awesomeness.
First the cafe burns down, and now this.
If SpeakEasy service degrades in the slightest, I don't see how we can justify the extra expense. We're paying for SpeakEasy: the freedom to run Linux & FreeBSD, the freedom to occasionally host some (ahem) questionable material, the freedom to run weird configurations, their excellent service, their crazy smart staff,
If any of that goes away, I just don't see the point.
What ISP can we switch to?
Sigh. Jaded comments run rampant, but I too find my innards all in a twist.
One of Speakeasy's best policies is their encouragement to share your bandwidth via WiFi if you see fit. I do exactly that in South Philly with Speakeasy's OneLink on an extremely stable 6.0/768 with 3 statics, and provide free WiFi for anyone within reach of my externally mounted antenna. There's about 10ish regulars and who knows how many transients, so while it's not massive, chats have begun with others in the area around providing more unified coverage. I'm stoked to provide this to the area, and consider it a community utility to be spread and promoted for those with the skills and means.
Almost all other ISP's policies threaten you with hell and damnation for doing this, but Speakeasy's policy enables community through sharing. There's no easier way to bridge the last mile in the digital divide than throwing a bit of RF out your front window and carving off a bit of your bandwidth(know what you're doing), and that wouldn't be possible without the support of ISP's who Grok like Speakeasy.
I challenge the Big Box store to keep that policy alive. However, the jaded comments above weigh upon me and I suspect the eventual worst. I suspect the lawyers in Minnesota are far more an*l than Seattle. Sure they have the flannel in the closet, but for totally different reasons. And I suspect they're not as willing to let their junk hang out in the progressive wind. Happened at Netcom... first they lose the quality support crew, then they lose the shells, then they lose the women...
Signed,
Freaked out in Philly
it's iptables since kernel v 2.4.x iirc
Sonic.net does sound promising... But they work with SBC/AT&T only :P. Unfortunately we are Qwest territory out here so no go.
That was one of the good things about Speakeasy, they went through Covad and Newedge so you could get it almost anywhere.
I completely understand your concerns, as this is a huge surprise to me as well! While Speakeasy is now owned by Best Buy, it's important to note that we will continue to operate as a stand alone, independant operation with our headquarters in Seattle. We will not be integrating with Best Buy stores, Geek Squad, Magnolia Hi-Fi or any other Best Buy subsidiary.
Because we won't be integrating, there will be no change or interruption to your existing service or level of customer support as all aspects of your service will continue to be managed by Speakeasy.
Best regards,
**** *******
I wonder if they will hassle their ISP customers with extended warranties ? "Get the service plan for only 49.99 MORE per month, it's a bargain at any price! If your internet doesn't work right, just bring it back to the store and after 5-6 visits and a lot of berating, we might actually give you a new internet!"
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Dude, can I come live with you? That's gotta be one awesome house where it's a 30 mile drive from the living room to the basement...
I'm a current Speakeasy customer and I'm now shopping for new ISPs. The thing is, Best Buy wouldn't be making this acquisition for no reason. They have some larger hair-brained scheme in mind I'm quite sure. I don't know what it is, but I have no care to find out.
I *just* ordered Speakeasy DSL for my new apartment. God dammit, now what the fuck do I do?
I guess I'll stick with it for now...it's the least expensive option I have that gives me a static IP, and certainly the most geek friendly ("Want to run a web server? No problem." whereas Verizon blocks port 80 unless you shell out for a business account).
God dammit.
I guess I might end up with a use for speakeasysucks.org after all. Think of the complaints that will be coming!
(Actually, I originally got it because my DSL was down for seven(!) weeks and they'd done very little to get it back up. I got the domain and called and asked them to change the email address on my account. When I told them the domain they asked why I had picked it, and I finally illicited a decent response to my problem.
The problem was, actually, equipment at the ILEC that had been fried in a lightning storm. Once they found it and replaced the card everything magically worked. Nonetheless, I was a little disenchanted with how long it took Speakeasy to resolve the problem. I only stayed because of the geek-friendly policies.)
This is a Bad Thing, no question, but I'm glad it happened now. I live in a place "served" by a municipal cable company (anyone ever meet a government corporation that didn't suck?) and pay more money for half the bandwidth and fewer services than I did where I used to live (Roadrunner there, they were very good). I was thinking of going to DSL and Speakeasy was a candidate, but they're off the list now.
I live on the San Francisco peninsula, about half-way between San Francisco and San Jose. I'm 3000 feet from the Pacific Bell ("SBC," my ass) central office, so signal integrity is not a problem.
The provider must offer the following:
The ideal provider will offer at least 10000 Kbits down and 2000 Kbits up. The absolute minimum is 6000 down/768 up. The provider may provision as many lines as necessary (link-layer bonding does not scare me). Monthly rate is negotiable.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Best ISP I've ever had, without question. It's sad they had to sell out to the enemy when the forces of Dubya more or less ruined their business by allowing monopolies exclusive access to our wires. I hope one day they can rise again (w/o best buy...ick).
Speakeasy has been one of the largest corporate supporters of online gaming since I can remember, well before other giant corporations started sponsoring gaming competitions, teams, servers, etc. Correct me if I am wrong, but weren't they one of the CPL's original sponsors? I always felt like other companies followed Speakeasy's lead in order to reach their target consumers to sell their product, whereas Speakeasy realized that their customers were this demographic and they wanted to improve service. Speakeasy has done a stellar job giving back to the online gaming community and I hope more than anything else, that stays the same.
So how long before Best Buy has their own brand of cable/satellite service?
Soon they will sell you* your TV and Computer, sell you the services to have their techs install everything, then supply the internet and TV signals. Its genius. The Complete End to End solution.
*"you" no way means slashdot readers, "you" as in the average consumer.
Im sure the CEO of Best Buy is sitting in a tower cackling and rubbing his hands together.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/76331315/ - This is my pre-sales chat. Later the fucked me over. Cancelled my contract. Explicitly told me I am not allowed to transfer (download) more than 100G/mo. SPECIFICALLY, this is why they cancelled my contract. So -- don't believe all the people who say SpeakEasy is great, they don't have limits, they don't enforce things. They DO. They ABSOLUTELY DO.
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
Fuck Best Buy, and Fuck Speakeasy. They will make excellent bedfellows ... in hell.
Here's my pre-sales chat to SpeakEasy where they specifically said I can download as much as I want, every day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/tags/speakea sy (click on the last one, not the first one)
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
This is how and why the market operates in this way.
A small company builds a fantastic idea into a business. The business becomes profitable/popular. Bigger companies would love to have the abilities of these smaller companies, and thus they buy them up. Then the big company says "We'll leave you alone, you keep doing what you're doing... except you have to abide by these rules/regulations/contracts/etc" and naturally the original idea is lost in translation along the way and they are no longer the best at what they do. Next, another small startup company says "Hey... We can do this better than those people can" and the cycle starts all over again. Who benefits? The small business with the big idea that gets gobbled up by the big businesses. Its the dream of every entrepreneur these days to create something that a larger company will find enticing and get bought out by them. Look at YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, and any other company that has been gobbled up by the big boy's. Its a beautiful thing this free market of ours, but we must do something to ensure that it stays fully operational.
Relocating to San Francisco / Palo Alto... Hire me?
..and I replied. Not that any of the execs will read it or if they do it's not like they will care or try to scuttle the deal. For those of you that actually care, he's what I wrote back to Bruce:
------------------
I'm very sorry to hear this. I was a happy Speakeasy customer for two
years until a move forced me out of your service area. I've never
stopped reccomending Speakeasy to friends and colleages looking for a
top notch DSL provider because of the stellar customer service and
support. I've stopped shopping at Best Buy years ago for much the same
reasons - terrible customer support, uninformed sales staff, draconion
return policies and requirement to push extended warranties on
everything that goes out the door. I've never had a good experience at
Best Buy.
You claim that:
> Speakeasy will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy and will be aligned under the Best
> Buy for Business unit.
>
> Speakeasy will continue to operate independently and our corporate offices, management,
> employees and customer operations will remain in Seattle. Speakeasy's partner sales and
> support team will not change.
Which might be the case for the first year or two but eventually
someone at Best Buy will look at costs and start making cuts. First it
will be reductions in support for your consumer services - some
outsourced call center will handle first line consumer calls because
after all you'll be part of "Best Buy for Business" things will slowly
fall apart - for your users - from there. In a few years I have no
doubt that the Best Buy corporate machine will turn your cool,
innovative little company into another bland, mediocre corporate ISP
that's a hollow shell of it's former self.
I'm very, very sad to hear this horrible news.
Cheers,
Josh
----------
I've been going back to their site every couple months since I moved in November to test if my house was in range for their service again because I enjoyed the service and support so much. I've had no problems with time warner so far but until this morning I just liked being a Speakeasy customer better and would've switched the day a new CO went live and pushed me back into their service cup again. Guess I can take that reminder off my calender now... sigh...
Cheers,
Josh
"Listen: We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different!" - Kurt Vonnegut
It's not uncommon for retailers to post different pricing in store and on their web sites. Here's a couple of other examples:
I was shopping for a DVA->VGA converter, stopped by the local Office Depot to see what they had, and found it in stock for what seemed like a high price ($37.99). I went home and checked pricing on the internet, and it was listed at $26.99 on their web site, for the exact same model. I called and talked to the store manager, who approved the price match, and I picked it up, but they didn't give me the impression this was normal business practice.
Similarly I saw a deal on Walmart's web site, and when I went into the store to find the item, it was regular price. I stood in the customer service line for the normal 10 minutes, reading the "Best Price Guarantee" sign behind the counter, but when I got up there they said they only price match to retail stores. Read: They don't even price match their own web site! They would not budge on the issue.
Is this all wrong? Maybe not.. there are probably some efficiencies in the business model of an internet transaction (aka mail order) that allow reduced pricing over the same branded retail stores. But if we're taking a 35-40% in store markup as the Best Buy or Office Depot examples, or policies as strict as Wal Mart, one has to wonder.
I used to have Speakeasy IDSL. I went with them initially because they were the only ISP that would touch me (I was too far from the CO for DSL, and the clueless cable company only had asymmetric lines back them). But even paying a king's ransom for a terrible line speed, I have to say that Speakeasy had above and beyond the most knowledgeable, helpful staff I ever had the pleasure of working with. The only reason I'm not still with them is that Bellsouth finally put a 'repeater' (wrong word I know, remote switching unit maybe?) and are able to get me 60x the line speed that Speakeasy can. Ironically, it was a Speakeasy tech that told me to ask BS about the switching unit in the first place.
To combine them with Best Buy, who are legendary for their fleet of inept non-technical drooling mouthbreathers, is truly a tragedy. I will hope against hope that Speakeasy weathers the storm and remains a Company That Doesn't Suck, but for some reason this announcement has Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" running through my head.
When do we start losing the right to run our own servers, and when do we start losing support for non-MS systems?
These were the two reasons I switched to speakeasy. The other so-called ISPs hereabouts sell only browser service, not internet service, and don't allow customers to run their own web or email servers. They also won't talk to you until you connect a MS Windows box to their modem. Since Best Buy is "business oriented", we can expect that they'll pressure speakeasy to adopt similar restrictions.
And when they do, what recourse do we have?
Maybe we should start talking about a class-action suit to establish that "Internet Service" means IP, not HTTP-only. Service that restrict what ports you can use shouldn't be sold as "Internet Service", but rather something like "Web Service", so you know what you're buying.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
I'll second the recommendation for sonic.net (I have no connections to them, aside from being a happy customer). They're a regional ISP (California, and Arizona?), and so they don't serve everyone (although dial-up might work, but most people probably don't want that). However, if anyone's looking for a new ISP, and they can serve you, you really should check them out.
Also, don't take my word for it. Check out their DSLreports entry. Also, see how they compare to other regional ISPs (at the bottom of this page).
...I love my grammar...
Ahh, the 2-11, with their "No Whistling" policy, and "I'm a Whistler" punishment signs. There has never been another poolhall in the area with the same awesome vibe. *sniff*
The Garage and Jillians just aren't the same (at all). Very sad.
I just opened my Thunderbird window that shows my speakeasy email account. There was a new message from Bruce Chatterley, the speakeasy CEO, talking about the Best Buyout. Above the message was the comment "Thunderbird thinks this message is junk."
It was with great sadness that I reluctantly hit the "This is Not Junk" button. I'm sure that Thunderbird now considers me an idiot, and will never trust my judgement again.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
"This one has a five year warranty."
"It says on the box it has a 90 day warranty."
"I'm sure if something went wrong, you could call them up and they'd replace it."
We went to BestBuy, where the customer service was refreshingly better.
That said, I would not switch to Speakeasy now, despite considering it over the last few months.
In the past few months two of our competitors have been bought by much larger companies. First Microsoft picked up TellMe, and now Best Buy's getting SpeakEasy. We happen to host applications for both Microsoft and Best Buy so I can't help but to wonder how this will impact us.
That sounds *exactly* like my experience with them in 2003. They sent me the DSL kit, I hooked it all up, didn't work, I thought they just hadn't gotten their end activated yet. A couple days later, they call me up and ask how the DSL is working (very thoughtful, actually). I say "Huh? It doesn't work at all." A lot of troubleshooting led to an SBC guy coming out and testing the line at the demarc. He told me "I can sync my meter here, but there's no way an ordinary cable modem would get that signal. You're just too far from the CO."
This was reported back to Speakeasy, which then lead to a week of fingerpointing, denial, and "he said/she said" between Speakeasy and Covad. At the end of that week, I was supposed to get talk to a higher-level support tech. He didn't even bother showing up for the conference call. I called Roadrunner Business Class and said "I want static IP service, how soon can you hook me up?" They said "three days." I then asked a bunch of technical questions, got answers (the right ones), and said "Do it."
I never had a problem with Time Warner/Roadrunner and wish I still lived in their service area.
K & L Gates is the combination of several law firms including Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, co-founded by William H. Gates, Sr, father of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
As a current Speakeasy subscriber, I am very worried about what the changes will be made to both the terms of service and data monitoring/privacy policies. Also, what impact will being owned by a public company have on policies?
If anyone from Speakeasy is able to thoughtfully answer these concerns, I'd like to know the answers. I have to say I am very disappointed in this deal... Best Buy is not a company I like to do business with. The only way that this deal would have been worse is if Speakeasy pimped themselves to Starbucks.
Have to agree, if the Geek Squad going from respectful to an industry joke, and BestBuy itself being known for its cluelessness to customers, this does not bode well for Speakeasy.
Having worked for Speakeasy for three days, must say (and this is just my opinion, based on watching a training class of 10 get whittled down to 0 in five days when they needed two dozen new agents due to overgrowth) that this shouldn't surprise me... the further from the production floor one gets there, the less 'with it' things get.
Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
I worked as a Mac Genius, and the retail managers are mostly clueless about a service/repair business. Those of us with lots of service experience had a terrible time with the retail attitude. Retail management sees the customer who is standing right in front of them as the only one who matters, while a technical business is still dealing with the customer who was in four days ago with a broken computer.
It doesn't help that in most Apple Stores, the Genius Bar is constantly swamped. As much as I liked the job, being out of the pressure cooker is a relief.
Before I had Speakeasy, I had Cyberonic. Originally they were MCI - this caused a big, horrible, unplanned outage while I was out of town that required my intervention and a sudden IP switch. They did not rise to the occasion, but the real problem was MCI stopping service.
Post-MCI, they were Covad.
The phone support wasn't nearly as good as Speakeasy. Not 24-7 even.
But the uptime was actually basically similar (speakeasy's hasn't been perfect, but I didn't know that then), it was actually cheaper, and the ports were all open. The policies were basically the same.
Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
So I JUST posted that message when I remembered: I also have VoIP through Speakeasy. (I did this very specifically because I believed they'd be best able to _rapidly_ transfer my POTS number.) I'm almost definitely going to switch that when my contract is up - the one other feature they said they offered isn't actually true (it doesn't perform upstream QoS itself.)
So if anyone has recommendations for a highly available VoIP provider, I'm all ears.
Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
The last few times I've called Speakeasy with what are obviously arp problems between their routers and my machines, I've talked to tech support people who have no idea what arp is, or how to clear an arp table, or how to fix the basic problem of not retaining a stale arp cache for half a day. I feel like I'm running on a hamster wheel with their customer service.
In addition, it took them six weeks to install DSL in my new apartment, and whenever I asked about how it was going, they implied I was a jackass.
Speakeasy is already dead. Don't mourn it.
Hopefully this will position them to help ward off SBC/Verizon/Comcast in the "Net Neutrality" fight. We need some strong players. Otherwise soon it will be, "Sorry, the E-Bay site is not available to our customers. Click here to visit Comcast Net Auctions instead."
I'll stick with Speakeasy till they give me reason to leave.
I'm a current Speakeasy OneLink DSL customer, which gives me a Covad dry loop since I don't have traditional phone service. This news is probably going to make me switch. Anyone know of an equivalent service from a decent ISP?
I'm a Speakeasy customer, and it would have been nice to hear about this in an email from the company instead of reading it on Reuters.
"If it's real, then it gets more interesting the closer you examine it. If it's not real, just the opposite is true." -
yeah - sorry, I used ipchains for so long before using iptables briefly and then switching to a hardware firewall (Linux based, but no direct CLI interaction) that it popped into my brain first. I'm pretty sure they both had traffic shaping, however. I'm currently using my mac box for that purpose (mainly because it's my oldest and least used machine).
I wish...
;)
I still basically live in the basement, but I have my own now. If I still lived at home, Mom woulda come downstairs and pulled the plug on my servers for wasting electricity, even if she did have a 30 mile long house