Testimony for VQ (long)
I'm among ViewQwest's first residential fiber customers. Probably also one of their most demanding.
As an early adopter of new technology, I'm constantly wanting the newest, the best, the fastest. And I get annoyed when technology fails to live up to my expectations.
I've gone through most of the major ISPs before the fiber era. I've been on 15Mbps Singnet ADSL, 100Mbps Maxonline Ultimate, 100Mbps M1, and 100Mbps NTT i-net Super.
NTT was the best of the lot, and the most responsive. Speed was fast, but hampered by being on StarHub's cable network. And they actually replied to emails whenever I had problems. The service wasn't very personal, but it worked.
Compare that with the red, green and orange ISPs, where if at any time you encountered a slow connection, there would be no means of communicating that at all. And if you do manage to get through to the hotlines, you'd simply get a generic troubleshooting tip to "plug computer directly to modem" and "reboot". Essentially, it was everybody else's fault but theirs.
With that in mind, I'd just like to put on record that the latest fiber RSPs have come as a breath of fresh air. I chose Viewqwest because of their track record of having served the enterprise market for many years. And due to that experience, I dare say their customer service is second to none.
I've never encountered a company that was so responsive to a customer's every whim and fancy. They have taken the trouble to actually know me personally and by name, and have so far reacted swiftly to all my complaints and needs. With Viewqwest, it's not about passing the buck or making excuses, but learning how they can prevent from making the same mistake.
If you're looking for the cheapest, look elsewhere. But for the price that I pay, I get peace of mind, a rock solid Internet connection at the fastest speeds around, and customer care that's legendary.
There's another new RSP around that's selling themselves as "great for gamers". The marketing strategy has worked pretty well and price is reasonable too. Definitely worth considering. But they are new, and nowhere as tested yet as Viewqwest. They don't offer niceties like 24/7 tech support either.
Going forward, competition for customers will likely be tough. Perhaps other big boys like NTT will enter the market. But I fully expect Viewqwest to do everything in their means to keep me through innovation and exacting standards.
All I can say is, good riddance to bad ISPs, and thanks Viewqwest for saving us from the dark ages of lousy Internet!