Yet Another Bad Codetel Story

slas7713

Member
Aug 9, 2004
275
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We've had flash at our small hotel just outside of Cabrera through codetel for about a year now and had their 768 speed package. I was regularly checking the speeds and we were getting around 630-680 kbps, which is acceptable for us. A friend of ours tried to get connected last month and was told they couldn't connect him because their bandwidth was saturated. About two weeks ago our speed dropped to 200 kbps or below. Around the same time we had a few people in the neighborhood get connected to flash because they "knew" the right people. So now we get 200 kbps or below daily and our clients aren't too happy about the poor service we now have. After calling codetel daily a not too friendly rep finally came out, unfortunately I happened to be gone that day, and told us we had 500 kbps, a lie, and that they didn't support 768 any more. We continue to call daily but it looks like we're screwed. Any suggestions????

SL
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
First to make absolutely sure that it isn't codetel, unplug all of the phone line (with filters of course) and remove the filter from the dsl connection. Then go to Speed Test - dslreports.com and test your download and upload speeds on at least two different servers. The speed should be 80% of what the advertised speed is, for 768 the speed should be over 600.

Once you have established the speed is slow, contact Codetel again by calling customer service and explain to them the speed you are getting onl dslreports.com. The techs are familiar with this website. They should then keep you on the line and adjust your speed in the central office, as they have done with me on more than one occasion. If not they should send a technician to the hotel to check it it. If you don't think they are helping you the way they should ask for a supervisor. In the even there is a possible communication problem have someone translate.

As far as I know there is only one customer service telephone, and it is true that the techs frequently make mistakes and are misinformed at times to boot, yet nonetheless, they have fixed my speed when it was slow.

As far as there not being 768 anymore, that is what I have:

Codetel
 
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slas7713

Member
Aug 9, 2004
275
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Tried It

Thanks Chip, I have an IT background and have done quite a bit of network design and development so I know that part of the equation. We are 200 or under and continue to call codetel customer support daily. Like I said, they now say they don't support 768 even though they sold it to us and we've had it a year.

SL
 

NotLurking

Bronze
Jul 21, 2003
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Sto Dgo Este
Thanks Chip, I have an IT background and have done quite a bit of network design and development so I know that part of the equation. We are 200 or under and continue to call codetel customer support daily. Like I said, they now say they don't support 768 even though they sold it to us and we've had it a year.

SL
Can you please post a speed test from Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test or from http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1 ?

Thanks
NotLurking
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
Thanks Chip, I have an IT background and have done quite a bit of network design and development so I know that part of the equation. We are 200 or under and continue to call codetel customer support daily. Like I said, they now say they don't support 768 even though they sold it to us and we've had it a year.

SL

I just got off the phone with Codetel for businesses 809-220-1212 and they told me of some of the plans they had available for businesses and according to them Plan Basico 2 has 768 dl and 128 ul. I don't know how they can market a plan and not offer tech support, I think there must be a communication problem then and not just an uninformed Codetel technician as you guys have called numerous times.
 

ExtremeR

Silver
Mar 22, 2006
3,078
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Codetel is being run like INESPRE (bad managed state institution) since Slim took over. It's a shame since they have the majority of the telecommunications infrastructure in the country limiting the competition against them.

When Codetel was Verizon my only complain against them was the price but everything else worked flawlessly.
 

slas7713

Member
Aug 9, 2004
275
13
18
Funny

I just got off the phone with Codetel for businesses 809-220-1212 and they told me of some of the plans they had available for businesses and according to them Plan Basico 2 has 768 dl and 128 ul. I don't know how they can market a plan and not offer tech support, I think there must be a communication problem then and not just an uninformed Codetel technician as you guys have called numerous times.

Chip, what's even funnier is that we had just spoke with codetel about upgrading to their 1.5 package doubling our bandwidth. Codetel said no problem but when the tech came he said, "Oh, we don't support that here either." We're still working on them and will continue to call and see what happens.

Thanks for the offline replies also. We'll try and few of them too.
 

slas7713

Member
Aug 9, 2004
275
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Today

Well today we have a slight improvement in our speed. I've ran three checks and received 321, 347, 407 download speeds. Upload is consistent between 250-350. This still is far below what we had but half of what we had is better than the third we've been getting. We once again called codetel and once again went through the hoops of disconnecting reconnecting and changing phone and cat5 cables so they could, once again, confirm it wasn't on our end. They, once again, said they would contact the local terminal building and address it with them. I'm hoping they don't send out the same tech but if they do I plan to be here this time. I'll update as I know.

SL
 
Feb 7, 2007
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Test speed on codetel.net.do at 3AM in the morning. Unplug all other computers AND phone lines.

Also try going to http://10.0.0.1 and see what your
- synchronization speed is
- your SNR
- Your attenuation

I am on 768 plan and I am quite far from CO (about 3.5 km) and have 928 kbps synchronization speed and regularly get 850-870 kbps, even though my Attenuation is quite high (in the 60's) and sometimes SNr is low (below 10) but virtually no issues
 

slas7713

Member
Aug 9, 2004
275
13
18
Same old same old

Speeds back down in the low 200's and below. Codetel promised some form of resolution by Friday but we never heard from any techs or anyone else. Looks like another trip to Nagua to discuss with higher up personnel. This didn't seem to work last time because I believe the guys at the control center in Cabrera are the ones who are robbing ours to give to someone else. Of course those others are offering more under the table. It's always sad when you feel the need to bribe to get what you should be getting anyway.
 

Ladybird

Bronze
Dec 15, 2003
1,768
24
38
dreamteamdownloads1.com
On my speedtest it shows no server in the DR, it used to show SD, now its showing nearest as PR, but I am with "Concast", their service is dreadful. We were changing to Codetel as all the other businesses and private folk we have spoken to have said their signals are great now with Codetel with all their new plans. I think it must depend on the area you are in.
 

stormy

New member
Nov 12, 2004
12
0
0
Many bad Codetel Stories

Just to throw my experiences regarding Codetel problems into the discussions... we live in a community between Cabarete and Sosua and have had a dsl connection for several years. Beginning 6 months ago, we noticed a significant slowdown in our dsl speed around 5:00-5:30 p.m. each day and in the past 3 months, we are totally losing our connection each evening from between 5:00-5:30 and 10:00 p.m. Of course I have to spend 20-30 minutes on the telephone with the Codetel rep going through his scripted routine to show him that in fact we really don't have any service and that once again Codetel is cutting us off and allocating our bandwidth to someone else. We suspect a bank or other type of institution is doing a lot of batch processing work during those hours. We used to hear "that is not possible from the reps", but lately we are being asked "who or what do we suspect is requiring the additional bandwith" so perhaps that is a sort of twisted type of progress. We have threatened to cancel our service, etc. etc. ad nauseum. I have a notebook devoted solely to reclamation numbers (as if they would do us any good). I am glad there is a thread regarding this problem as it helps to understand that it could be a very broad problem and one we need to figure out how to get the company to address. Good luck to us all on that point.
 

slas7713

Member
Aug 9, 2004
275
13
18
Resolution?

Well the codetel representative just left. He finally admitted to robbing the bandwidth from us to give to others they had hooked up. He once again tried to justify it by saying they now only offer the 384 package to everyone in our area. He said until there is an equipment upgrade in Cabrera that would be the only package available.

I pointed out how it was strange that when they downgraded us we never received notification and our bill was never adjusted for the downgrade. Also strange was/is how the main office in Nagua still acts like they know nothing about the bandwidth situation. The rep is now suggesting we get a dedicate T1. Thanks for the advice!

Anyway, we will continue to call and complain. Thanks for the offline number a DR1 user gave us to try. We will also be following up with calls and emails in an effort to get a usable bandwidth, or at least what we had.

I'm still open to any new suggestions.

SL
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
Well the codetel representative just left. He finally admitted to robbing the bandwidth from us to give to others they had hooked up. He once again tried to justify it by saying they now only offer the 384 package to everyone in our area. He said until there is an equipment upgrade in Cabrera that would be the only package available.

I pointed out how it was strange that when they downgraded us we never received notification and our bill was never adjusted for the downgrade. Also strange was/is how the main office in Nagua still acts like they know nothing about the bandwidth situation. The rep is now suggesting we get a dedicate T1. Thanks for the advice!

Anyway, we will continue to call and complain. Thanks for the offline number a DR1 user gave us to try. We will also be following up with calls and emails in an effort to get a usable bandwidth, or at least what we had.

I'm still open to any new suggestions.

SL

Oh my you learn something new every day! Sometimes the amount of disinterest and lack of accountability I see boggles the mind. Que sin verguenza!
 

slas7713

Member
Aug 9, 2004
275
13
18
Update

Just an update. Thanks to a DR1 user sending us a number offline we were put in contact with a high ranking codetel office. They appear receptive and last week we sent a long detailed email of the issues and abuses at hand. We haven't heard anything yet or seen our speeds improve but we're holding out hope. Until then we struggle daily with our low speed service. I tried to update a few web pages through FTP this morning and it felt like I was on dial up again. Oh how I don't miss those days.

SL