Astound | Port Angeles — Local services in Port Angeles

Been with this provider for over a decade. Primarily because here on the North Olympic Peninsula there aren't many options for internet. Until the last year or so the service was acceptable. But in the last 3 months particularly I am getting constant disconnects and nowhere near the bandwidth that I'm paying for. Tried calling the customer service line and it's the same old rope-a-dope. Power cycle your modem. Make sure your computer is updated. So on and so forth. Every time it comes down to one thing the service dropping out. I know it's not me because everyone on my block has similar issues. Astound is heavily subsidized by the government to provide internet service to rural areas. They're cashing the paychecks but not providing the service. I'm a pretty relaxed guy when it comes to this kind of thing and not a fan of writing reviews but this is starting to really piss me off.

EDIT: As per your request for additional information, I am appending my email response. Sorry for the delay. I noticed a few days later that the service provider had trucks in the area and was hoping for a restoration of the previous service quality... no such luck. :(

Greetings Jackie, You requested more information regarding my review of Astound Broadband here in Port Angeles Washington and so I am including my account number for you to research this issue. I will be updating my review today with additional information. None of which is good. Two years ago we were getting service activated at our new home and the agent we spoke with sold us on the Gig service and informed us that the price would always be the same. My wife typically handles the bills so when I happened to open the bill the other day and saw that the amount due had DOUBLED since the last time I looked at one I was a bit irritated, especially since the service has been severely down throttled in the last year. The first year in the new house we were getting 800+ consistently and now we are lucky to get HALF that. The first year of service I could count the outages on one hand after lopping off a finger or two. Now it is dropping out multiple times DAILY. I know this is on the service end because this entire street of homes are all new construction, built at the same time and EVERY one of my neighbors has the same issue. Latency and regular disconnects. Unacceptable. Even more so because the provider has been heavily subsidized by the government to provide high speed internet to rural areas. This is money collected in ADDITION to the fees collected from the subscribers. Add to this that the rate was increased and I am seriously looking at cancelling home service and just making use of our cellular service devices for everything. Thank you for your time...

As much as I enjoy the Port Angeles Wave Technicians that I have had the pleasure to meet, I am not very impressed with the professional manner of the customer service or management team. I have had multiple calls now with zero resolution to my billing inquiries. Never change address of services over the phone. Address was incorrectly inputted, and I am being charge for what wave says is a valid service, but no one has been able to tell me what these “valid” charges are pertaining to. I have talked to multiple representatives who tell me that I will be called by a manager. They always call while I am at work so I am unable to answer and when I call back, I receive the same message of “the managers are very busy, and they will be contacted to contact you.” The one time where I was able to be transferred to a manager immediately, the line was disconnected shortly after with no return call. I Waited about 30 mins in hopes that I would receive a call back before calling customer services again. During this call, I was informed the manager was on another call and would call me back once she has completed her current call. Can you guess whether I received a call back from Manager Paige or not? Today, I look at my bill, my past due amount has increased from when I tried resolving it last, I have charges for my new monthly bill (which do not reflect my terms of service), and a notice saying I need to pay my past due or services will be disconnected. I have been trying to pay the portion I know I do owe for the last month and a half and get this matter settled so I do not get charged for late fees. When talking to representative Ray on 5/15/20, (who by the way ended our conversation that day with “these charges will be waived” and then failed to contact me when the waived charges were denied) he told me wave would not be charging late fees or stopping services due to covid-19. These mixed messages and non-clarity in an already stressful time does not make me want to continue my services, nor refer wave to anyone else moving to the area. I understand it is one of the only options we have on the peninsula, but it does not mean that we have to deal with unprofessional, mediocre service. I would give these interactions negative stars...

Have had Wave for several years now and never have had any problems out of the ordinary

I see others leaving reviews about now getting the advertised speeds and bill cost being raised after a year, For both those, You never get your full advertised speed, Usually you should get 1/5 of what you pay for or more depending on where you are downloading from, For example, I paid for 75down and 10up, I usually got around 20mbps download, But when downloading from the Microsoft store I got at least 75 down with consistent download speeds of up to 120mbps. This is because the server that is sending your data from whatever service you are using might not have their servers optimized properly for full speed on your end or not. Its easily tested to see if you can possibly get your full speed by downloading something from the Windows Store or off your Xbox One as its a bandwidth hog. Your Modem, Router, Cable to them, And to your house, Can also make this speed vary wildly and it isn't Wave who is supposed to upgrade the cabling unless you pay more for it

As for the price increases after a year, This is due to the plain fact that you get a discount the first time you join wave, The discount lasts a year. After that, You get charged the full amount. And by that time Wave actually upgrades their data packages and speeds to faster packages that are cheaper than your old one anyways, So you may as well upgrade..

Waves customer service has been great too.. Your not being connected to some goon in India, So of course your going to be put on hold. Not trying to defend Broadband providers with the current Net Neutrality issues of late but the facts are facts, They've done a good job and try to help as much as possible, Id take them over Centurylink and sketchy friggin Comcast any...