Breezeline

[nightrider]

After trying to make some account revisions on line, I have determined that Breezeline customer service is atrocious. It is next to impossible to reach a person to talk to and if you are lucky enough to do so, the language barrier is too great to accomplish anything meaningful. Has anyone had any luck contacting a local office of theirs? They must have local service personnel operating out of somewhere.

[MeredithMan]

Originally Posted by nightrider

After trying to make some account revisions on line, I have determined that Breezeline customer service is atrocious. It is next to impossible to reach a person to talk to and if you are lucky enough to do so, the language barrier is too great to accomplish anything meaningful. Has anyone had any luck contacting a local office of theirs? They must have local service personnel operating out of somewhere.

Amazingly, I had a decent experience with their customer support people back in Jan or Feb. After a power outage, they had to re-set my IP address on my modem/router, and I actually spoke to a local NH cust support tech, who was very helpful. I believe that I Google searched "Breezeline Belmont", as that's where their office used to be, (I think it's closed now), but I definitely dialed a NH number and after yelling "operator" numerous times to the chatbot, I was connected to the live person.

[jeffk]

I have to say, I recently cancelled a Breezeline contract because we had to switch to fiber for higher upload speeds. The call went through almost immediately and was completed VERY quickly. All went smoothly.

This surprised me because a couple years ago I had done a similar swithover and had to be on hold for almost 2 hours and then had the salesperson work up a REQUIRED counteroffer that I had NO intention of taking. The process was finally completed and went through OK but it was a long drawn out ordeal.

So, even though I switched to fiber for performance reasons, I recently found their customer service MUCH more streamlined.

If you want to talk about a mess, the Fidium service access is ridiculous. They send you a passcode to your cell phone, sometimes MULTIPLE times during a call. You start with an AI to determine the purpose of your call. I give the likelihood of the AI being able to help you at 50/50 and I used the phrase "talk to a representative" repeatedly to finally get to a person. Then, I had a fix made to a downed system that lasted 15 minutes. I have had TWO of their routers fail within 6 months, which I find incredulous. They are friendly and helpful people but their AI interface and their equipment are marginal and frustrating. I love the network when it is up and running and am saving BIG BUCKS but they REALLY need to get reliable routers and an AI front end system that works better.

[gokart-mozart]

Two questions:

1) Does their fiber that's in your house connect to a normal router in the regular way (Cat 5/6 ethernet) or do you have to use special equipment that they provide?

2) Do they provide an email service or do you have to use an outside ISP?

Thanks.

[Loub52]

It took 4 hours of wait time on the phone over the course of 3 weeks altogether with time spent waiting on hold before I was able to reach a person to cancel breezeline internet service.

I cancelled to transition to NH Electric Co-op fiber service, which has worked out well.

[jeffk]

Originally Posted by gokart-mozart

Two questions:

1) Does their fiber that's in your house connect to a normal router in the regular way (Cat 5/6 ethernet) or do you have to use special equipment that they provide?

2) Do they provide an email service or do you have to use an outside ISP?

Thanks.

1. Like cable connects to a modem, fiber connects to an ONT (Optical Network Terminator) that Fidium provides. Then an ethernet cable connects to a router. You can use your own router but if you use theirs, they can do more diagnostics remotely if you have problems. Further, like for other providers, they have a list of routers they recommend to best work with Fidium. If you go off that list, I don't know how much of a problem you might have. Any router configuration and issues are your problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, the decision is still out on Fidium's router. When it works, it works well.

I did lose connection to an older WiFI thermostat when I went to the Fidium router. That's a common problem with tech, especially as everything becomes WiFi connected (thermostat, appliances (stove, microwave ("scan-to-cook"), refrigerator, dishwasher, washer & dryer), air conditioner, weather station, medical devices, plus phones, computers, and entertainment components (my DirecTV, Roku, and surround speakers use WiFi))). Will your 15 year old refrigerator remain connected when you upgrade your router. Do you care?

2. No email service. NH Broadband doesn't either. Cable companies provided connection and CONTENT and SERVICES including email. Fiber companies are focused on the CONNECTION and allowing purchase of content and services from the large array available on the internet. That model allows competition that allows consumers to keep their costs down and tailor their selections to most closely meet their needs. It also allows the fiber companies to have a very clear mission, to provide the internet pipe to your home and not have to worry about the highly varied content mix that customers want.

[gokart-mozart]

That's the information I needed!

When I built my house in 2002, the cable run from the pole to the house was put underground and it terminates at a traditional modem (which I own).

Obviously, I am not digging up the yard to run fiber from the pole outside to the house. And I assume that the Optical Network Terminator is an inside thing, or, if it were on the pole, using 24 year old cable to run the 60 feet to the house is either a) impossible; or b) would degrade the speed advantage of fiber so as to make it worthless.

I've tried calling Fidium to address this, but of course any human that a customer can access over a phone line knows nothing about the tech, and when I asked the guys stringing fiber to my pole a few weeks ago they said, basically,
"No idea - call Fidium".

[jeffk]

My cable also ran through an underground pipe. I also had a dedicated phone line and was converting to VOIP so no longer needed that line. They pulled the phone line and replaced it with the fiber. If you don't need the cable, you could replace it with the fiber. It is also possible that you might have a spare underground run that the fiber could be put through. I originally had one but used it for something else.

Yes, the ONT is inside, right next to the router. The fiber comes into the house and all the way to the ONT.

I understand that the people that answer the phones will NOT know what is possible at your site. If you really want to upgrade, you could schedule it and tell them it will depend on whether the technicians can do the underground install. On the day of the installation, they will do an evaluation of what is possible. (That's what they did for me. I am also 600 feet back from the road and the main fiber connection, 450' in the air and 150' underground, and they ran the fiber all the way. There was no extra charge for my long run or the underground work.) If they cannot do it, you will know and you pay nothing for their time.

Another thing to be aware of, they don't run fiber though interior walls. For my install they came into the basement, ran it through to underneath the room where the ONT would be, and drilled small hole next to the baseboard for the fiber. It comes up behind a desk that the ONT is on. I assume if they were going to a second floor, they would have to run outside to the second floor but I don't know that for sure. I suppose they could run through a first floor closet. The installers will talk all this through with you before starting and keep you updated with their progress.

Another factoid, if you get 1+ Gbps service, they don't monthly charge you for the router.

[jeffk]

Another bit of info. If you get VOIP, there is a phone jack that comes off the ONT and I ran a phone line from the ONT to my wireless phone base station. Then I have 2 other wireless hand units.

When I switched, 18 months ago, from Breezeline (internet & TV) & landline phone to Fidium+VOIP & DirecTV streaming, I was saving $1860 a year. Over 20 years, that's enough to buy a new car!

[nj2nh]

Give up. Just cancel it. We cancelled two years ago and switched to TDS. No issues since. No outages. No need to call customer service. No problems at all.

Breezeline was awful to deal with even for the cancellation. They mailed a box for the router to an empty house after promising not to do that. They were beyond awful. Do not try to work with them. Just give up.


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[map]

I couldn’t get through in the phone so I tried Facebook Messenger. Our promo code was up and I wanted to negotiate a better price. I got an immediate response. Told them what XFINITY was offering and I got a great deal locked in for 3 years.

[MeredithMan]

So we have finally cut the cable. Decided to go with NHEC for internet. 2GB service for $59/mo, then it goes to $79/mo, then to final price of $99/mo. Also signed up for YouTube TV, which after the promo period, will be $89/mo. The new configuration is a lot faster and significantly cheaper than the $300 for Breezeline 500MB internet and their Basic+ TV.

Cancelling Breezeline was fairly simple. They did try their sales pitch to get me to stay, but after several attempts, they acquiesced and sent me the mailing label to send their gear back.

One hiccup on the NHEC install was that the guys did not pair the internet extender with the modem/router, so I was getting minimal service on the 2nd floor. That was not discovered until I called Customer Support and they determined that remotely. They walked me through it over the phone and did apologize profusely that their techs didn't do that. A couple weeks in and all is going well.

[tummyman]

Meredith Man....and if you have a house in another place, you can link YouTube TV and toss out the other provider as well, saving big $$$$$'s

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by tummyman

Meredith Man....and if you have a house in another place, you can link YouTube TV and toss out the other provider as well, saving big $$$$$'s

We use YT TV at home and on Welch Island, same account and same recordings. You just have to have at least moderately high speed internet available.

BTW, we still have high speed internet at home via Breezeline which is now $52/month.

Alan

[MeredithMan]

Originally Posted by tummyman

Meredith Man....and if you have a house in another place, you can link YouTube TV and toss out the other provider as well, saving big $$$$$'s

Yes sir, thanks for that. That is Part II of our "Internet/Cable TV Modernization Plan". We have Xfinity in Bedford, which we are generally happy with, except for their pricing on the Basic+ TV service. The plan is to cut Xfinity down to just internet, and then do the YTV thing again.

I forgot to add in my first post that my TV's in Meredith are 12+ yrs old, so I had to make a Walmart run to get some Roku units, as that was a lot less $$ and hassle than buying new tv's.

[Winilyme]

Gotta ask. Just what does one do that requires 2GB of speed? We have a 100MB Breezeline plan that works fine for several computers and streaming on a latest tech TV. Even with many more devices operating (mostly phones) when we have company, we’ve never had an issue.

[WinterHarborGuy]

I live in Wolfeboro since 2020. Due to some agreement our select board did with Breezeline, we have not had a choice to switch to any cable or fiber service. Ergo, I can only use Breezeline until recently. Yes, I could do Dish or Starlink, but no thanks.

Anyway, I was paying, with all fees, $151 a month for one 1 gig on Breezeline.

I switched to Fidium last week for two gig at 70 bucks a month all fees included. So I’m a 1 week in and no hiccups and very fast service.

Breezeline would drop four to eight times a day… but I’ve had no issues so far with Fidium.

I went into the post office today with my prepaid label to drop off my breezeline equipment, and the person in the post office said “Breezeline?”

I chuckled and agreed. She said it’s been a tidal wave of returns. Then she said “do you want a tracking receipt”and I said “no”…and she said “let me give you one, I wouldn’t trust them”.

[MeredithMan]

Originally Posted by Winilyme

Gotta ask. Just what does one do that requires 2GB of speed? We have a 100MB Breezeline plan that works fine for several computers and streaming on a latest tech TV. Even with many more devices operating (mostly phones) when we have company, we’ve never had an issue.

Well, both the wife and I still work full-time and both do a lot of presentations over Zoom or MS Teams. Can't tell you how many times our screens have frozen up on Breezeline internet and we have looked less than stellar in front of customers.

Second, I view it like horsepower in a boat or your car...more is better...better to have more than you need and not always use it, than be underpowered and not be able to get out of a jam when you need to.

[jeffk]

Originally Posted by Winilyme

Gotta ask. Just what does one do that requires 2GB of speed? ...

Maybe not 2 Gigs but if you go with 1 Gig, Fidium doesn't charge you rent for their router, saving $120 a year.

Also, with computers, more capacity than you need means, generally, things run more smoothly. If you think you might need a terabyte of disk storage, buy 2 terabytes. Going from 1G to 2G on Fidium cost an extra $180 a year. If you are working from home with video conferencing, easily worth it.

Also consider that your usage allowance on the fiber is a small portion of its total capacity. When there are problems on the line (unpredictably), your throughput drops, perhaps to a point where it affects your operations. If you have twice the capacity to begin with, it takes longer for any performance degradation to have an actual impact on your usage. If you are a casual user, maybe that doesn't matter to you.

[gokart-mozart]

I work from home after hours. Breezline has been out at my location on and off for days. The call center (if you ever get through) would probably work better if I spoke Hindi.

I'm ready to switch. But I have a complex partly MESH WiFi partly wired home network.

I hvaen't yet found how to talk to Fidium about compatibility. I sure don't want to replace my hardware that I paid for with something I have to rent from Fidium.

Any ideas?

[nightrider]

We were just approached by a fidium salesman to have fidium installed at our Wolfeboro home. Has this happened to anyone else. The deal sounds good. Any comments?

[jeffk]

I have had Fidium for a couple years now and it has been good and far more affordable. Remember that Fidium is simply a big pipe. You have to get other services to pump content through it. I replaced Breezeline channel content with DirecTV streaming which has been great but there are lots of choices for content. I also got their VIOP phone service, dropping a land line, same number, saved $$$. Overall, with Fidium+VOIP and DirecTV I saved almost $2000 a year.

Notes:
If you get their 1 GB service you get the router for free (save $10/mo.)

I have had 2 bad routers replaced. No charge but annoying. Their routers are generally seen to be poor quality? When they work, they work great.

I do have a problem connecting my older wireless thermostat to the network. Not a big issue but I will need to get a newer version of the thermostat to be able to connect.

If power goes out, so does the fiber network - no internet, TV, phone. Once power comes back on, it can take the network a while to stabilize. You can connect but it may be slow.

[jeffk]

Oh, since Wolfeboro has just been set up, you may see some gremlins for a while. They had just set up Center Harbor when I got it installed and it took about 4 months until the occasional connection drops stopped happening. Rebooting usually fixed it but not always. Sometimes I had to wait a bit and reboot again. After that initial period, the connections in CH have been solid except during power outages.

[mcdude]

Breezeline has been going off-line 3-4 times daily lately. So frustratiing. After finally getting through to tech support they told me there was no outage in my area. Then I went for a walk only to find the Breezeline truck down the street. The technician told me that we were definitely off line. One hand dossn't know what the other hand is doing. Thank Goddess xfinity is coming in soon.

[TCC]

We has a guy who said he was representing Fidium come to our door a few weeks ago. He had no identification and no literature he could leave with us. Gave us his pitch and then said that he was from Utah and would be leaving the next day. If we wanted to get this "great deal", we had to sign up for Fidium installation that day.

We sent him packing. He was either a scammer or Fidium had done a truly pathetic job of preparing him for the task.

We have Breezeline for internet and phone (dumped the cable years ago) and have had no problems with them for a long time. It's my understanding that Fidium offers broadband internet and VOIP phone BUT they don't provide email service.

We've had our "metrocast.net" email address for many years. Dozens of people/businesses have it as our contact. Contacting all of them to change our email address would be a huge pain!

[MeredithMan]

Originally Posted by MeredithMan

So we have finally cut the cable. Decided to go with NHEC for internet. 2GB service for $59/mo, then it goes to $79/mo, then to final price of $99/mo. Also signed up for YouTube TV, which after the promo period, will be $89/mo. The new configuration is a lot faster and significantly cheaper than the $300 for Breezeline 500MB internet and their Basic+ TV.

Cancelling Breezeline was fairly simple. They did try their sales pitch to get me to stay, but after several attempts, they acquiesced and sent me the mailing label to send their gear back.

One hiccup on the NHEC install was that the guys did not pair the internet extender with the modem/router, so I was getting minimal service on the 2nd floor. That was not discovered until I called Customer Support and they determined that remotely. They walked me through it over the phone and did apologize profusely that their techs didn't do that. A couple weeks in and all is going well.

So through the month of July, we noticed that the NH Broadband internet would just randomly go out for no reason. Sometimes the outage would be just a few seconds and it would sort itself out; other times, it would require multiple re-boots of the modem router. I began reporting each time it went out to their Cust Support people. It got so bad, I told them I needed someone to come out and check things out. They did send an "Advanced Support Tech" out around mid August. He showed me where the fiber came into the house and then through the wall in the basement inside. At both points, the fiber was kinked and its output was "out of range" on his light meter. He straightened it out at each point and then it was within range. He stated that the fiber is finicky, and if it is kinked or contorted, the signal would definitely be impacted. That was his theory for why it kept dropping. So far, his diagnosis seems to be correct, as it has been working with zero interruptions since.

On the Breezeline front, my final invoice and payment was back on July 21. I received an email confirmation that they received the gear on August 13. Last week, I received a bill for $5.00, that just said "One Time Charge" with no explanation. I called Billing, waited for 40 minutes on hold, and the lady could not explain it, but claimed she couldn't reverse the charge. I asked to speak to the Manager...waited another 10 minutes. The Manager could not explain the charge either, but finally agreed to remove the charge. Total time on the phone with them...59 minutes. Is an hour of my time worth more than $5.00? Yes it is, but I wasn't going let them get away with charging me for absolutely nothing.