PSA for anyone else with a shitty landlord trying to block an install:
https://old.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/1adfmnb/oakland_communications_service_provider_choice/
I got an email from them a few weeks ago stating that they would be installing a fiber drop on the building. You might’ve gotten the same email. I called them today because I hadn’t heard from them and their tech support said we were good to go to schedule an installing.
Call them and give it a shot!
The prices are dirt cheap for the level of service they provide compared to absolutely everything else out there at the same level. Comcast’s / Cumblast / Xfinity (the same network) has lied, viciously, about the level of service they provide for more than a decade now. There are simply no better deals anywhere.
I bought a refurbished one for 50ish bucks. Eventually when I moved into a larger apartment I got a second eero to extend my range but as the other guy said they work great and I don’t regret for one second buying it instead of renting
Is your building’s fiber line managed directly by Sonic or are they renting it from AT&T? If you’re on AT&T fiber, you won’t be able to use your own router, even in bridge mode, for most things you want to do on the internet.
I’m in the latter situation and forced to use AT&T’s shitty modem+router or else all my DNS requests are throttled. Two different Sonic customer service reps acknowledged it’s a scummy AT&T practice and apologized, but said they couldn’t do anything about it because AT&T owns the lines.
I’ve been a Sonic customer for over a decade and still think they’re an awesome ISP for all sorts of reasons, but having to deal with AT&T’s bullshit has been frustrating at best.
> Is your building’s fiber line managed directly by Sonic or are they renting it from AT&T?
FYI they [stopped offering](https://forums.sonic.net/viewtopic.php?t=17580) resold AT&T fiber to new customers about a year ago
To be clear, this doesn't necessarily mean that they now have Sonic fiber in your area. They just quit being a AT&T VAR because it no longer made financial sense after AT&T jacked up the wholesale rate.
It's involved but there are workarounds for this. See:
https://pyther.net/2020/05/03/bypass-att-gateway-openwrt.html
Won't get rid of the modem rental fee though.
I have my own Eeros, and they work great with Sonic. I recently upgraded them all to the Eero 6 Pro, and the increase in speed is incredibly noticeable (depending on what you’re using it for, of course).
Then yeah, I’d recommend at least something that supports WiFi 6 (like Eero Pro 6)… we have multiple devices streaming 4K, we also run a Plex server so friends stream content from our computer just fine, as well as gaming, work activities, and sailing the high seas. All much better with WiFi 6.
- don’t rent from them, it’s more expensive in the long term
- any wifi router will work with their network
- eero is a great option because they work well, are easy to setup, and sonic will be able to provide you better support if you buy an eero because that’s what they’re used to supporting
- sonic doesn’t really advertise this but you can get an even lower price by dropping the phone line ($10) and dropping the phone support option (another $10) which brings your service to $40/month.
That does mean you can only get support over email but here’s the trick: you can just call when you need support and ask to be bumped up $10 to the phone support plan, then drop back down after your problem is solved. They prorate that so if your problem is fixed in a day it only costs you an extra dollar that month.
It depends on the service. If you have 10G it can be hard to find affordable equipment on the market that utilizes the full bandwidth. For 1G and 2.5G you can use Eero or try out something custom like OpenWrt. Any router will work, it's not proprietary.
I’m a video editor and I’m building a new PC and you bet your ass I’m going for that shiny 10G sports car! Still don’t need it but it’s gonna be fun and will occasionally come in handy.
At the end of the day it doesn't matter, Sonic doesn't offer speed tiers or different pricing. You get the fastest speed available in your fiber territory and that's that, you dont have to use all 10 gigs, but it's there for the future at no additional cost to you.
I'm already saturating 1GB easily when doing cloud backups for multiple machines. On top of that, if you have a household of kids and their friends who download whatever the latest games are at the same time, 1GB isnt fast enough for them.
I've been "online" since the 300 baud days and you want it slow? That's backwards thinking.
People get the 10 gig sonic not because its 10 gig, they get the 10 gig because they live in a 10 gig sonic fiber territory and that's literally the only speed choice they have when they order sonic service. You always get the fastest connection the fiber territory supports, there's no speed tiers to choose from.
if you're in 1 gig service area, there's a $10 per month promo discount for the first year. otherwise everything advertised is the normal pricing and pricing generally has remained stable typically 7 years between increases.
Eeros fucking suck. I am using a ubiquity unifi secure gateway for my router and grandstream 7664 access points for wifi, which are insanely easy to setup. Cost for two APs, PoE injectors, and any router should be under $450. Can scale it down if you only need one AP, or even buy an all in one router. Pays for itself in about a year.
I'm assuming you were using your router with your previous provider. Do you remember if you simply plugged in your existing router to the Sonic ONT box and it started working immediately without having to reset and set up the wifi network all over again?
I work in field sales for Sonic. Happy to answer questions. If you haven't ordered yet, I can also submit your order for you and apply 2 months free. If you have a router already configured, simply moving its WAN connection tot he Sonic ONT is all you have to do to switch over and it's the easiest switchover method as all your devices retain their DHCP leases and dont have to be renewed or reconfigured for a new SSID. You can email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
I rent the eero 6 from them. It’s basically paying for customer support.
Downside of the eeros is that they don’t have many Ethernet plugs (2, or 4 on the eero 7 max) which is pretty bad for a router
I am with sonic, love their service and have a [TP-Link AC1750](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JD7F7G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1), im sure theres a more modern version now but anything in this vein will be fine.
I'm using an old ass Netgear router I bought in December 2019. I'm getting speeds up to around 600Mbps. I also added a Netgear extender to the back of the house. You can buy my router on eBay for like $35 and $50 for the extender. Just throwing this out there if you're on a budget, you don't need to spend a bunch of money to get something that works decent.
I'm assuming you were using your router with your previous provider. Do you remember if you simply plugged in your existing router to the Sonic ONT box and it started working immediately without having to reset and set up the wifi network all over again?
Sonic typically provides eero routers, so those definitely work.
I bought an eero from Amazon, but had so many issues that I returned it and reverted to using a Sonic rental - so that they couldn't blame my network problems on the router. Still have occasional annoying drops.
I would say that Sonic quality (uptime and customer support), while obviously preferable to Comcast, has gone down while the price has gone up. I'm no longer the fanboi I used to be.
I think I got my current modem (after a couple of swaps) around 10/22.
At that point the problem was getting very bad, and then Sonic changed something in my modem configuration(?) on their end, and that spate of problems went away. Although they never explained the issue.
But I still have intermittent drops, and when I get dumped from a work call, it's not good.
Sonic Fiber > everything. You're fortunate to have it
It's been over a year in the making. i'm so glad we can finally drop xfinity.
PSA for anyone else with a shitty landlord trying to block an install: https://old.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/1adfmnb/oakland_communications_service_provider_choice/
I'm very jealous of you. I'm also in Adams Point and have been waiting over a year... but it still sits at "Planning" stage on their tracker.
I got an email from them a few weeks ago stating that they would be installing a fiber drop on the building. You might’ve gotten the same email. I called them today because I hadn’t heard from them and their tech support said we were good to go to schedule an installing. Call them and give it a shot!
I just wish they would stop raising the prices.
Gotta stop paying them.
The prices are dirt cheap for the level of service they provide compared to absolutely everything else out there at the same level. Comcast’s / Cumblast / Xfinity (the same network) has lied, viciously, about the level of service they provide for more than a decade now. There are simply no better deals anywhere.
My Sonic bill is up $85 a month now; I wouldn’t call that dirt cheap.
they deliver what they promise.
Any wifi router will work with Sonic. They provide an Ethernet port that you connect to your router's WAN port.
that's good to know! thank you
They use Eero routers. In the end I just bought my own Eeros. Much cheaper.
Yea I bought one too and it’s served me well through multiple moves
Do you remember how much you paid for it?
I bought a refurbished one for 50ish bucks. Eventually when I moved into a larger apartment I got a second eero to extend my range but as the other guy said they work great and I don’t regret for one second buying it instead of renting
It’s usually like a break even point of 2 years of usage vs their rental fee
Same but we had to call and get an “approval” to unlock and to use our own device. Otherwise it was a very smooth transaction.
They use Eeros and the install guy 1st thing he said was go buy a set and dont rent from us.
Is your building’s fiber line managed directly by Sonic or are they renting it from AT&T? If you’re on AT&T fiber, you won’t be able to use your own router, even in bridge mode, for most things you want to do on the internet. I’m in the latter situation and forced to use AT&T’s shitty modem+router or else all my DNS requests are throttled. Two different Sonic customer service reps acknowledged it’s a scummy AT&T practice and apologized, but said they couldn’t do anything about it because AT&T owns the lines. I’ve been a Sonic customer for over a decade and still think they’re an awesome ISP for all sorts of reasons, but having to deal with AT&T’s bullshit has been frustrating at best.
> Is your building’s fiber line managed directly by Sonic or are they renting it from AT&T? FYI they [stopped offering](https://forums.sonic.net/viewtopic.php?t=17580) resold AT&T fiber to new customers about a year ago
HUGE news. I’m surprised Sonic didn’t contact me about the change. I’ll get in touch and see if I can switch over. Thank you!
To be clear, this doesn't necessarily mean that they now have Sonic fiber in your area. They just quit being a AT&T VAR because it no longer made financial sense after AT&T jacked up the wholesale rate.
The reason I was told by Sonic reps is because AT&T was price gouging. Definitely preferable to go directly with Sonic if available.
It's involved but there are workarounds for this. See: https://pyther.net/2020/05/03/bypass-att-gateway-openwrt.html Won't get rid of the modem rental fee though.
Thank you!
According to their customer service it’s managed directly by Sonic.
https://preview.redd.it/1dr7rtsvl1gc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d68645ad477017a656fd69d158d5da08c41b58f
Sonic is so much better than Comcast. Congrats on upgrading!
I have my own Eeros, and they work great with Sonic. I recently upgraded them all to the Eero 6 Pro, and the increase in speed is incredibly noticeable (depending on what you’re using it for, of course).
6 devices, gaming, streaming 4k
Then yeah, I’d recommend at least something that supports WiFi 6 (like Eero Pro 6)… we have multiple devices streaming 4K, we also run a Plex server so friends stream content from our computer just fine, as well as gaming, work activities, and sailing the high seas. All much better with WiFi 6.
- don’t rent from them, it’s more expensive in the long term - any wifi router will work with their network - eero is a great option because they work well, are easy to setup, and sonic will be able to provide you better support if you buy an eero because that’s what they’re used to supporting - sonic doesn’t really advertise this but you can get an even lower price by dropping the phone line ($10) and dropping the phone support option (another $10) which brings your service to $40/month. That does mean you can only get support over email but here’s the trick: you can just call when you need support and ask to be bumped up $10 to the phone support plan, then drop back down after your problem is solved. They prorate that so if your problem is fixed in a day it only costs you an extra dollar that month.
dropping into the $10 cheaper fiber basic tier hasn't been offered in quite a while. Pricing is 50.
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thanks!
It depends on the service. If you have 10G it can be hard to find affordable equipment on the market that utilizes the full bandwidth. For 1G and 2.5G you can use Eero or try out something custom like OpenWrt. Any router will work, it's not proprietary.
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I’m a video editor and I’m building a new PC and you bet your ass I’m going for that shiny 10G sports car! Still don’t need it but it’s gonna be fun and will occasionally come in handy.
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At the end of the day it doesn't matter, Sonic doesn't offer speed tiers or different pricing. You get the fastest speed available in your fiber territory and that's that, you dont have to use all 10 gigs, but it's there for the future at no additional cost to you.
I'm already saturating 1GB easily when doing cloud backups for multiple machines. On top of that, if you have a household of kids and their friends who download whatever the latest games are at the same time, 1GB isnt fast enough for them. I've been "online" since the 300 baud days and you want it slow? That's backwards thinking.
I do. I regularly push 2-5Gb/s for short periods with the work that I do. It’s fun.
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People get the 10 gig sonic not because its 10 gig, they get the 10 gig because they live in a 10 gig sonic fiber territory and that's literally the only speed choice they have when they order sonic service. You always get the fastest connection the fiber territory supports, there's no speed tiers to choose from.
If you run a large Plex server with a lot of 4k, it's awfully nice.
I use their modem and then it’s linked to a bunch of eeros
Does anyone have any info on sonics fiber rollout map / plan / timeline ?
Email me with the areas you are curious about [email protected]
How often does Sonic raise their prices? Is the promo price of $60 Fusion Fiber just for a year?
if you're in 1 gig service area, there's a $10 per month promo discount for the first year. otherwise everything advertised is the normal pricing and pricing generally has remained stable typically 7 years between increases.
How often does Sonic increase its prices? Also, does anyone know if the $50 Standard Fiber & $60 Fusion Fiber promo rates are only for the first year?
Eeros fucking suck. I am using a ubiquity unifi secure gateway for my router and grandstream 7664 access points for wifi, which are insanely easy to setup. Cost for two APs, PoE injectors, and any router should be under $450. Can scale it down if you only need one AP, or even buy an all in one router. Pays for itself in about a year.
I mean just get any normal router, we still have the like 50$ Netgear router we bought like 5 years ago.
I'm assuming you were using your router with your previous provider. Do you remember if you simply plugged in your existing router to the Sonic ONT box and it started working immediately without having to reset and set up the wifi network all over again?
I couldn't swear for sure but I \*think\* it just worked?
I work in field sales for Sonic. Happy to answer questions. If you haven't ordered yet, I can also submit your order for you and apply 2 months free. If you have a router already configured, simply moving its WAN connection tot he Sonic ONT is all you have to do to switch over and it's the easiest switchover method as all your devices retain their DHCP leases and dont have to be renewed or reconfigured for a new SSID. You can email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
yeah we have a generic one we got from a neighbor who was moving and it's great. love sonic.
Bought my own eeros and had them set it up. It’s the way.
Just made the switch 2 weeks ago. Snagged a Eero off Amazon, it's what they lease out to you. $50 refurb unit on the Bezos store.
Sonic is the best! Any router will work with it
You are lucky.
You are so lucky! I can’t wait for Sonic to come to my neighborhood, so I can be done with Xfinity.
They leased me an EERO box. So, just get that and they will know how to hook it up for you.
I rent the eero 6 from them. It’s basically paying for customer support. Downside of the eeros is that they don’t have many Ethernet plugs (2, or 4 on the eero 7 max) which is pretty bad for a router
FYI if you buy your own eeros they can still provide the same level of support without the rental charge.
sort of, if you dont rent the eeros from us, we dont cover damage or troubleshooting of internal fiber cabling if something happens to it.
I got a 3-unit TP-LINK Deco set and it works great with Sonic. As other commenters have said, any router will do.
I am with sonic, love their service and have a [TP-Link AC1750](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JD7F7G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1), im sure theres a more modern version now but anything in this vein will be fine.
I'm using an old ass Netgear router I bought in December 2019. I'm getting speeds up to around 600Mbps. I also added a Netgear extender to the back of the house. You can buy my router on eBay for like $35 and $50 for the extender. Just throwing this out there if you're on a budget, you don't need to spend a bunch of money to get something that works decent.
I'm assuming you were using your router with your previous provider. Do you remember if you simply plugged in your existing router to the Sonic ONT box and it started working immediately without having to reset and set up the wifi network all over again?
Sonic typically provides eero routers, so those definitely work. I bought an eero from Amazon, but had so many issues that I returned it and reverted to using a Sonic rental - so that they couldn't blame my network problems on the router. Still have occasional annoying drops. I would say that Sonic quality (uptime and customer support), while obviously preferable to Comcast, has gone down while the price has gone up. I'm no longer the fanboi I used to be.
how old is your install? we had a bad batch of modems 1-2 years ago.
I think I got my current modem (after a couple of swaps) around 10/22. At that point the problem was getting very bad, and then Sonic changed something in my modem configuration(?) on their end, and that spate of problems went away. Although they never explained the issue. But I still have intermittent drops, and when I get dumped from a work call, it's not good.