Okay, SuddenLink, we need to talk.
I’m gonna keep it real with you – your home internet service is stable…most of the time. Your business services are somewhat better (because they have to be to not get sued), and that’s about where any praise that I have for your company dies a tragic, self-imposed death.
Some of you might recall that back in 2017, I wrote this article about SuddenLink having some problems with residential internet speeds, but in my case it was because of a technician that had connected a second router into my router without making sure they wouldn’t cause problems. That problem seemed to be resolved by removing the second router.
At least, that’s what I felt at the time after the speed tests that I ran showed a bit of improvement, and the stability of my network was just better. But as it turns out, the overall speed problems were not resolved.
I’m paying MORE for SuddenLink now than before, and it’s STILL just as slow.
After SuddenLink was purchased by Altice, their service took a spectacular nose dive. They removed the 50Mb package, and made the 100Mb package the standard. They also removed the 50Mb price tier, forcing everyone who is stuck with their service to have to hand over more money. Not to mention, there are more devices on most home networks now, so generally you’re going to need more bandwidth. What does that mean? More money for SuddenLink!
Here is a screenshot of my SuddenLink account to show what level of service we are currently paying for. This runs about $125 per month.
Now, you could say that for most people who aren’t heavy video gamers, 400Mbps isn’t too bad. But here are some of the speed tests that I’ve ran just to see how close we are getting to the speeds that we are being charged for.
As you can see, 20.22 Mbps isn’t anywhere close to 400Mbps. But it could just be a fluke, so I tried a different speed test. This time, I used SuddenLink’s speed test tool that can be found in the customer portal.
Okay, that’s EVEN WORSE. Paying for 400 Mbps and only getting 12.9 Mbps isn’t just a little bit of a problem…it’s a massive freaking problem.
Troubleshooting SuddenLink’s Hitron Router
Still, when you come from an IT background, you know a few tricks. I decided to log into the router (that we are paying $10/month for) because there are some embedded troubleshooting tools that you can use…theoretically…to troubleshoot connection issues. I’m still using the Hitron router that definitely should have paid for itself a few times over by now, considering how long I’ve had it. If you have one of these, you can also log in to it. Default router settings will let you surf to 192.168.0.1 in your browser. The embedded tools can be found by clicking on Admin, then going to the Diagnostics tab.
And that’s where things get even more stupid.
Suddenlink’s Hitron Router UI Crashes
Whenever I actually try to use the embedded ping or traceroute tools in the router, the user interface of the router crashes. It will still stay connected, so that’s a plus, but I can’t log back into the router until it reboots…and there’s no way to get into the router to reboot it (no https, no SSH, no Telnet…nothing). You have to either manually power cycle the router, or you have to wait until it does a maintenance reboot on its own.
So not only does the 400Mbps service that we pay $125/month for NOT deliver anywhere near 400Mbps (or even the 50Mbps package that they don’t offer anymore), if you can believe it, it gets even worse.
Wait…what? Yes. It’s worse than just crappy speeds.
Part two is coming soon.
Let us know in the comments how your SuddenLink experience is going so far (and check the box to make sure you’re on the mailing list to get updates when I post part two)!
Relevant Links
- SuddenLink – Slow Speed, Bad Service, and Creepy Sales Tactics – Part 2
- My SuddenLink Internet Connection is Slow…and I Feel Like I’m Being Ripped Off
- ARRIS SURFboard SBG10 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem & AC1600 Dual Band Wi-Fi Router (Amazon)
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