DIRECTV Broadband Shuts Down 464
Phroggy writes "Effective today (Friday the 13th), DIRECTV Broadband is officially out of business. The company will remain partially operational for the next 60 to 90 days, and we will work to transition our roughly 160,000 customers to another provider. Details are still sketchy. So, anybody gonna be hiring in the Portland area in a couple months?" There's a press release about the shutdown.
How sudden? (Score:3, Interesting)
It was the name that did it! (Score:5, Interesting)
Making the Tech job market harder? (Score:3, Interesting)
What does this bode for folks in nearby cities (like Seattle, for example) who are currently battling an already shitty tech market?
-Unemployed in Seattle
Just posted this myself... (Score:4, Interesting)
I JUST signed up with DTV DSL, and my gateway was in the mail as of yesterday. I'm really pissed, but at the same time I really feel for those hundreds of folks that came to work just to find out they didn't have jobs anymore.
I am a bit pissed that not a single email has been sent out about this. Apparently people are just finding out via forums, and now
Thanks, and good luck to those who were laid off.
The high price tag of theft (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Sad, but necessary (Score:5, Interesting)
This was not the problem. The main problem was having to do business with ILECs, which are monopolies that compete against us. A secondary problem was some not-so-bright management decisions, and not being able to offer value-added services (and collect additional revenue) because the main database system was designed by morons.
It is sad that we will no longer be able to get satellite TV here because a few people using DSL had to ruin it for everyone else by getting greedy.
Huh? DirecTV Broadband has nothing to do with DirecTV satelite.
Why can't people just take what they need, instead of running off with everything that isn't nailed down?
Because they're offered unlimited service.
Recommended New ISP? (Score:2, Interesting)
Funny, last night I was talking to my family about which ISP we should switch to, because my DirecTV DSL was down for about 90 mins, and once it was back up (past 11 pm PST) we went to DSL Reports. I looked at good backbones, Level(3) and SBC look good.
I'm lookin at PacBell DSL By SBC.
Does anyone have any good alternative for aDSL with a Static IP? (We are a family with a Linksys router and several switches)
Re:It was the name that did it! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:DSL? (Score:3, Interesting)
It was about that same time that (IIRC) Rhythms went under. Anyway, I remember I had something like 30 days to find another DSL provider because Telocity (now DirecTV) would no longer run on my Rhythms line. Too bad -- because it was SDSL 1500/1500. Pretty nice speed actually.
Anyway, I ended up going to Speakeasy and haven't had a problem. I pay twice as much, though -- almost 100 bucks a month.
*shrug*
So it goes.
Re:Well... (Score:5, Interesting)
What issues? In general, the service rocked - static IP, standard Ethernet with DHCP (with USB also available, bleh), easy setup (if you don't like the installer or don't run Windows, just point your browser to http://10.5.1.2/ and enter your phone number, and the gateway configures itself with all your settings).
Their Modem/fake router (Score:4, Interesting)
The funny thing is.. there is a sticker on it and it still says Telocity.com on it.
Re:How sudden? (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, it was VERY sudden. Rumors and speculation was sort of going around this week (directors disappearing for off-site meetings, hmmm...) but before this morning, nobody had any idea it would happen like this. The marketing department is gone now, of course, but wouldn't have pulled the ads before today (if they have yet).
I would start a class action lawsuit (Score:4, Interesting)
Why is it ok for them to charge us to cancel but they can stop providing service at a moments notice and not be liable.
Kind of a double standard.
And yes I know it's probably written somewhere in the contacts that they are not liable.. blah blah blah. It's simply unfair to the consumer.
Re:Doesn't look good for anyone (Score:2, Interesting)
The word on the street I keep hearing is that's it's very difficult for companies to make profits off broadband. I really don't know why this is the case, broadband really isn't THAT unpopular. Are investors too impatient on a return on their investments? Do a lot of these companies just have a poor business model? Are these companies just badly managed? Or is this just a natural weeding of bad companies in an industry that's still fairly young?
I'd be willing to bet on the latter. Seems like this same thing happened in the early commercial dialup ISP era, but no one heard about it because the companies affected were much smaller.
too bad (Score:4, Interesting)
$50/month with a static IP address. Hughes spent some money when they bought Telocity. When I first got the service (Telocity days) there were a lot of dropped packets and a few problems but it was better than nothing. Over the last year, it has been great. Never goes down, fast transfers.
I guess I need to go find a new provider now. Good luck finding a static IP for $50/month. At least I write off the service as a business expense so Uncle Sam takes part of the hit as well. Serves them right for their dipshit telecom policies.
WHATEVER you do... avoid the FAP!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Well... (Score:3, Interesting)
I'd assume they'll let everyone keep them - they're basically worthless on any other network, and why pay for the return shipping? They're not fake routers, they're real routers - you'll notice you're on your own 4-IP subnet. It's the option to enable NAT that you're interested in, which I won't tell you how to enable. Not that it matters much, but I do still have a job.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Stream :) (Score:2, Interesting)
Plus its amazing how much you learn - I know more about the product (desktop publishing/graphics software) I support then probably most anyone on here.
Also I'm learning a lot about how to deal with diffucult people - a must in almost any job. I've literally made people who were screaming at me apologize for being so rude.
After all this I still want out because it is a very hard job for the pay. In the end though if I was in charge of hiring someone on a help desk I would look for call center (tech support) experience. Especially when you consider the success rate of most support techs here. Personally I can take a cold call - not know anything about the customers system, its quirks etc (I support mac, windows and sometimes unix products) and well over 90% solve there sometimes complex problem.
Re:Sad, but necessary (Score:4, Interesting)
Ahhh, the memories (Score:1, Interesting)
It seems to me that the vast majority of "Broadband" IP's are just contracting with other companies who own the backbone. If you could get DSL from DirectTV where you live, I'm sure someone else can offer DSL at the same location without missing a beat. As for all the "Hah Hah'ers", don't bother considering all the people who will soon be unemployed, because we all know people like you care for no one but yourselves.
Good Luck to those who will be getting their pink slips.
Heard it on /. first... (Score:2, Interesting)
Cyberonic 1500/768 Static IP No Port Blocks (Score:3, Interesting)
Replace DirectTV DSL with Cyberonic (Worldcom/UUNet reseller)...
1500/768, static IP, no port blocking, $40/$50
http://www.cyberonic.com/int_for_home_dsl.shtml [cyberonic.com]
There are consumer reviews of their service here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/ [dslreports.com]
I had Speakeasy for two years, excellent, but pricey. With Cyberonic (dumb name!) I get similar pings to my Speakeasy SDSL, and massive uploads.
Re:It was the name that did it! (Score:5, Interesting)
Incidentally I don't see why you would have to use their software which splits traffic. Basic routing should take care of that, as long as your ISP is not blocking traffic from random routable IP addresses which come from your IP address. Since you are speaking TCP/IP over PPP (in almost every case) on a modem link to an ISP, as long as the machine with the outbound connection is forwarding packets between interfaces (IE, it is a router) you ought to have no problems sending out that traffic.
However if they are blocking traffic from other IPs there is another solution, use a VPN to some asset of the satellite ISP who then relays your requests - this is slow and costs more, and I think doing bidirectional satellite is the only reasonable solution. Sure, you can't play games over it, but only a poorly designed web application will bitch about two seconds of seemingly random lag, which is a common occurence on every home internet link I've ever heard of. If your web app chokes because someone has a 2 second lag time on top of the usual lag one sees on the 'net, your web app is poorly designed.
I was there for the whole ride. (Score:2, Interesting)
So within two years I ran the whole gamut:
No my former roommate, who still lives there, will be going to BellSouth as his ISP. I just went ahead and ordered Bellsouth at my new house anyway, maybe I knew this was coming.
I don't know what you are talking about. (Score:3, Interesting)
F*ck You, DIRECTV... Thank God that AT&T/Comcast will finally be completing their broadband upgrade in my city next month.
You will be sorry. We all know what kind of service you get from the local bell. If it were not for them selling my number to telemarketers, I'd never consider paying them for an unlisted number or any of the other expensive anti-anoyance so many fools feel compeled to purchase. Read their ToS, weep, and know it will get worse as their competitors die off. Ever heard the phrase, "You can't fight the phone company"? You will come to learn what it means. Just try telling the local Bell to fuck off, it might be a federal crime.
Re:Well... (Score:2, Interesting)
Damn. It was the best broadband provider around. (Score:3, Interesting)
Doesn't surprise me at all (Score:3, Interesting)
I have a little horror story of my own about these guys. About 7 months ago, my internet stopped working. I called up DirecTV and ask them why...they say because my credit card had been declined. I say oh right, I forgot to tell you I switched cards...here, have my new card number.
Here is where it got ludicrous
"I'm sorry sir, I can't reactivate your account. You'll have to go through the 4-week provisioning process again."
"What! Why? I already have the equipment."
"Because your account has been cancelled."
"Why?"
"Because its been three months since your card worked."
"So why didn't you notify me, or turn off the service before cancelling my account entirely?"
"I don't know sir."
"So you won't turn my account back on?"
"No."
"Then why should I pay you?"
"Uh..."
I went round and round with them for an hour, with exactly no results. I'm now using Earthlink DSL...and I kind of like PPPoE, even if I don't get a static IP anymore.