Sonic Gigabit FAQ

Net neutrality and AT&T

• Q. If your service comes over any AT&T equipment at any point, AT&T can throttle any part of it that it wants, now that net neutrality is gone, even though Sonic supports net neutrality. Is that true?
  A. No, we have full access to the speeds of your service. The fiber service is not through AT&T's lines, they are 100% Sonic.
• Q. I know that you have stated plans to install your own gigabit fiber optic hardware. But some people have said on the web that you might still be using some AT&T lines for your gigabit service in some places. Is that true?
  A. FTTN is piggybacking off of AT&T's fiber lines, but it is 100% a Sonic service. Fiber is not AT&T at all.
• Q. Will service in my area be entirely on Sonic equipment (i.e., totally free of AT&T)?
  A. For FTTN we use AT&T's equipment, for copper, we use an AT&T branded unit, but it is a Sonic router. For fiber it is also sometimes AT&T branded depending on the modem we roll out with to your area, but it is fully Sonic as well.
• Q. I'm a little confused about the AT&T and net neutrality answers. It sounds as if you're saying that even though some of the signal is transmitted on AT&T hardware, it will be entirely unaffected by any throttling AT&T imposes. I must confess that if a friend asked me about that and I gave them your answer, they would likely say, "How is that possible? If the signal goes through AT&T hardware and AT&T, for example, blocks a certain vendor, such as Netflix, let's say, how can Sonic get around that?" Here's my guess at one possible answer: Some of the hardware does belong to AT&T, but you are merely sending a signal through it, without AT&T getting the opportunity to decide what to throttle; Sonic connects directly to the Internet backbone without going through any place where AT&T can mess with the signal. Is that the idea?
  A. The fiber service is all on our network, but even if it did go through AT&T's network, we lease the use of their lines. Think of renting a storage unit, your storage unit is in the storage company's space, but they don't know what is in your unit. So AT&T can see that traffic for Sonic is traveling over their network, but they can't see what that traffic relates to.

Cost

• Q. How long will the price be $40?
  A. $40 (plus taxes and equipment) is the one year introductory fee for new users, after that it goes up to $50 per month.
• Q. What will the total price be, with taxes, fees, modem rental, and all other charges included?
  A. The service is $40 for the first year, plus taxes at about $12 (the cost changes every month, but no more than a few cents, last time we checked Oakland taxes were $11.07, but I like to round up for worst case. One month you could be paying $11.07, the next might be $11.25, the month after that could be $10.53) and modem rental is $9.50, this is all monthly. You are encouraged to use Sonic equipment -especially for the first month just to make sure there are no bugs going on - but may use your own modem at any time. If you do opt out of the modem rental the promotional deal ends as well.
• Q. Will there be an option to buy my own modem/router to avoid the monthly rental, which I read will be about $10 a month?
  A. Yes, as said above it will opt you out of the modem rental and promo deal though. If you do use your own modem please make sure it is gig capable, we cannot recommend brands though as it sounds like Sonic is endorsing one brand over another.
• Q1. You said, "If you do opt out of the modem rental the promotional deal ends as well." I agree that starting with your modem is a good idea to make sure everything works. (In fact I am still renting your modem for my DSL-style Sonic service after several years.) But, just so I know, exactly what is the promotional deal that would end -- the $40 price for the first year? What would the price be without the promotional deal? More than the $50 + taxes and fees you mentioned? If the price just jumps from $40 to $50, I'd break even after amortizing the modem, since I'd be saving $10 a month modem rental.
  Q2. You said, "$40 (plus taxes and equipment) is the one year introductory fee for new users". Since I have been with Sonic for years, am I a new user? Would I get the introductory fee for a new user, or would I start at $50 per month + the other charges?
  A. (Answer to both questions) As an existing Sonic customer, unfortunately you would not be eligible for any introductory discounts, so returning our equipment on day one would not void any discounts and would save you the $9.50 rental fee, and the cost for the service is $50 (plus taxes and fees).
• Q. I'm currently paying $50 a month, plus taxes and fees, for Fusion Broadband - X1. Since you say I'll be paying $50 a month, plus taxes and fees, for Gigabit, I'll be getting faster service for the same price, won't I? How long is the $50 price good for?
  A: The $50 a month price will stay until the economy dictates that we need to raise our prices to keep up with inflation, so probably 10-20 years. Your $50/mo service doesn't include some small fees and taxes, but the total price you will pay is virtually identical to other customers with the same service and shouldn't change unless you change your service.
• Q. I understand that I can sign up for your gigabit service now, to be available in late 2018 or so. Aside from being nearer to the front of the line, what advantages are there to me in signing up now?
  A. To be honest, there are no special deals aside from being the first on your block to have fiber, and bragging rights.
• Q. If I sign up now, will you want any payment now?
  A. If you were to sign up today we would take a down payment of $54 if I am remembering correctly.
• Q. If I sign up now and change my mind later, is there any penalty?
  A. If you sign up today and decide to not go through with it you will not be charged any fees for changing your mind and the down payment will be refunded.

Speed

• Q. I know that I will not actually receive 1000 Mbps downloads. But how likely is it that I will receive, say, 500 Mbps? Or 100 Mbps? Or 10 Mbps? If I can receive even 10 Mbps for less than I'm paying now, that would be an improvement.
  A. Plugged into the ONT A.K.A. Fiber box/modem (https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Adtran_411) or the modem you should see no less than 899Mbps, over wireless is a little more difficult, you can see speeds ranging from 20 at the lowest up to 600 depending on the device/network card/wireless interference - there are a lot of variables.
• Q. I need only one entry into my house, which I hope can be put through an existing entry hole for a cable from my roof antenna. Will there be any fees for converting my support to Sonic gigabit?
  A. There are no fees for an install, we try to use existing holes if possible. If not we do make discrete holes, usually no larger than 1/2 inch; we do seal them up and weatherproof them after.
• Q. Let's say I want two new holes so that the two computers I use most frequently can be set up with wired connections, but I also want to use the existing hole for the modem so I can connect wirelessly from other places in the house. Is that where the $200 charge that I read about comes from? Would someone have to string an ethernet cable from your modem to those two locations I mentioned? They are about 20 and 40 feet away, respectively, from the intended modem location, so that would be awkward.
  A. For the computers that you want to be connected via ethernet, if running the wires along the wall is not something you want to do the only other solution I can think of would be to have an electrician come in and run some wire through your walls, but I would recommend connecting them wirelessly to the 5Ghz network. Based on the distance to the router and the capability of the 5Ghz network, you most likely wouldn't notice a difference in performance when compared to an ethernet connection.

VOIP

1. Jacks: Will all the phones in my house work as before, plugged into the regular phone jacks scattered around the house, or just the one plugged into the new hardware you will provide? I understand that I can get around that by plugging in the base unit for a bunch of wireless phones into your hardware, and plugging in remote wireless units around the house using just the electric sockets, not the phone jacks.
   A: We guarantee at least one working phone jack that you can simply plug your regular phone into. This will be connected to the ONT (optical network terminal), which is effectively the base unit. It's possible that more phone jacks will be activated when the service is connected if your wiring is already set up for it. It's not a bad idea to set up remote cordless phone units with the main base connected to the ONT.
2. Fax: My girlfriend has an all-in-one printer with an ordinary phone line connecting it to the wall jack. If we have only VOIP, how will she be able to send and receive faxes? I guess the only way we will know whether our existing phone jacks will still work (which you said is possible) is to try them and see, after we switch to gigabit. So, if they don't work, she'll have no way to fax. Unplugging her all-in-one and carrying it over to plug directly into your new hardware is not an attractive option. The only other options I can think of are to get a super-long Ethernet cable, like 50 or 60 feet, to connect her fax to your hardware temporarily, but that's not attractive either; or to replace her all-in-one with one that connects wirelessly. Can you think of anything to add?
   A: Another option comes to mind regarding the fax issue. All of our connectivity customers have a digital fax service free of charge in our member tools. You can read about our send-a-fax tool here: https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Send_A_Fax. [Author's note: I have tested it by sending a fax to a real fax machine, and it works.] Here is some info on our free virtual fax service for receiving faxes: https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/FaxLine.
3. Power failure: I understand that my phones won't work if there is a power failure or the Internet is out. (I understand that I have the option to buy a battery backup system.) But I read that some modern ATAs can switch to old-style service if the power goes out. I take it that the ATAs you provide do not handle that.
   A: The phone service goes through the ONT, and doesn't actually utilize a separate ATA. If the ONT has power it will be able to connect to the internet and provide you with phone service as well. If there isn't any power, then the phone service will not function.
4. Message Waiting Indicator: I've read that some people had to change settings with you or their phone so that the Message Waiting Indicator would work and the time would be set correctly on their phones. I assume we will be able to work that out if I have the same problems.
   A: This is an uncommon issue, but we can certainly help you configure your phone settings if we are able to should it become necessary.
5. Q1. 911 identification: I've read that although using it for 911 calls is not recommended, it may be possible if you agree to transmit my home phone number and location when I make a 911 call, which I guess is part of E911, or even figure out what local emergency service to connect to. Is there documentation about that? I recently needed to call 911, and they asked for my phone number and address even though I'm still on old-style phone service, so I imagine that would be the same even with E911. Your page https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/FTTN_E911 seems to be saying that if I get your Gigabit service, it will have E911.
   Q2. 911 routing: If I call 911, where is the call routed if I don't have E911? What if I do have E911?
   A (answer to both): All of our VOIP phone services are connected with an E911 service, and should be able to send your contact info if you dial 911. It will be routed to your local police department as determined by your zip code.
6. Call from anywhere: I've read that it should be possible to make a VOIP call from anywhere in the world if you can connect to the Internet and have the right phone, or maybe just a headset for your computer.
   A: You can use a program called Accession to access our VOIP phone service if you have internet access. This can be downloaded on PC, Mac, and mobile devices. It must be enabled on your account (for free) to work.
7. Quality: I'm particularly concerned that the quality of VOIP calls apparently depends on many variables that can not be predicted and may even be worse than plain old analog service. I'm so concerned that I'm considering waiting until some of my neighbors are using Sonic gigabit and seeing what quality they get.
   A: I've not heard of anyone having any issues with our gigabit phone service that weren't hardware related. It should be relatively crystal clear, and hum or static free.