by Anura Guruge
on July 7, 2023
So, today, I have picture BUT NO AUDIO. Last week the channel was totally BLACK — no picture, no sound.
All the other channels, like always, work FINE. Just MSNBC.
You can clearly tell that this is targeted. Just MSNBC — & specifically the ‘Morning Joe‘ show.
I called TDS. Eventually talked to a supervisor. They think it is funny.
So, I had no option. I filed the above complaint.
I am NOT going to let this go.
PLEASE help me. Thanks.
by Anura Guruge
on June 29, 2023
‘MSNBC‘, during mornings, especially the ‘Morning Joe‘ talk show, is REGULARLY BLOCKED by ‘TDS Telecom‘ on their ‘TDS TV’ & ‘TDS TV+‘ services.
It is not a temporary technical glitch. I thought that the first few times I saw that MSNBC was unavailable.
BUT, I now realize that it happens TOO OFTEN, too regularly — like most mornings!
All the other cable channels work, & work OK — i.e., CNN, HLN, Fox, Fox Business, CNBC.
Only channel that is BLACK — no video, no audio, is MSNBC.
Plus, I notice that MSNBC magically comes back on at 10am as soon as ‘Morning Joe’ finishes.
CENSORSHIP.
Just like TDS. I will have to see who I can report this to.
Not right. Censorship.
by Anura Guruge
on January 13, 2023
I was told, at least 3 times, that I could always go back to the START of a currently airing show. This was REAL IMPORTANT to I.
Let’s say I get up at 8:42 am & switch on CNBC (as I am wont to do). I like to go back to 8am to see what the HEADLINES were. YOU CAN’T. TDS LIED. TDS LIED multiple times. You can only go back 30-minutes. So, at 8:42 am you can only go back until 8:12 am. NOT 8 am.
I am crushed & annoyed.
They even, this morning, had the audacity to send a technician to the house who was going to show me how I can go back to the start of the show. The technician told me point-blank JUST the last 30-minutes. If someone told you otherwise you were misled. Yes, I was LIED to by TDS — multiple times.
Then there is the go back 72-hours feature on SOME channels (& it is both hit-or-miss & v. finicky).
BUT, this feature DISABLES FF & REWIND. Yes, you can Fast Forward. So you either have to watch whatever show it is from the start or just give up. We gave up. STUPID.
Furthermore, picture quality is ABYSMAL.
Picture quality on the old TDS TV was much, much better.
And it isn’t as if they can blame this on us not having enough bandwidth.
We pay the full 1 Gbps service. So, we get as much bandwidth as they deem to give us.
Not impressed at all, at all, with TDS TV+.
TDS TV+ is a JOKE.
I am actually very disappointed & upset with TDS TV+.
by Anura Guruge
on December 8, 2022
TDS installed one of their own, eero-based “Wi-Fi+” Mesh Networks in our home, in March 2020, so that we can (supposedly) get most out of our (near) 1Gbps Internet feed. Once we got used to it, we found it to be tolerable. It was reliable if nothing else.
Yesterday, they I NEVER requested it, TDS upgraded us to a new eero 6-based network because we upgraded from ‘TDS TV’ to ‘TDS TV+’.
So they swapped out our old ‘Surfboard Internet Modem’ & three eero 5 units & put in a 4-unit eero 6 Mesh. It has been a DISASTER.
It works BUT it is PAINFULLY SLOW.
My main PC (as has always been the case) is hardwired (i.e., LAN-attached) to one of the eero 5 units. That is standard. My Roku as well as the TDS TV+ unit are also hardwired. (Yes, we use a LAN splitter in the basement to make that happen & TDS took care of that too (though I supplied the splitter).
The hardwired connection is down at least 90Mbps. No if & buts, it is SLOW.
Wi-Fi is consistently 100Mbps SLOWER than what we had.
Yes, given that we (in theory) have 1Gbps coming to the house, we can still function with a 100Mbps drop in bandwidth. But we all notice it.
NOT AMUSED. NOT IMPRESSED. NOT HAPPY. But, I am at the mercy of TDS! I would rather NOT have eero.
by Anura Guruge
on May 25, 2022
The worst part of today’s 5-hour outage was that TDS Telcom REFUSED to tell me what the problem was. I just wanted to know whether it was a cut cable, a server that was down, a data center that was in trouble. They refused to tell me.
That at 1pm they were telling me that they will give me another update at 5pm was SCARY.
Luckily the Internet service came back at 3pm — albeit at half-speed. We are crawling along.
I pay for the full 1Gig service. I was NOT even getting half that when they resumed service.
I called again. They are sending a service technician tomorrow morning.
TDS used to provide outstanding support.
Not so, anymore.
The support I got today was unaccepatable.
They do NOT communicate.
You can’t reach them on Facebook or Twitter.
A shame. A shame.
by Anura Guruge
on February 10, 2022
To be honest it wasn’t a big deal, BUT I like to keep track of all outages so I have a record. SMILE.
It transpired just after mid-night, about 3-minutes after.
I have been with TDS Telecom (& ‘Union Tel.’ they had acquired) for 15-years. So, I can honestly say I know them & their ‘moves’ quite well.
That it happened right after mid-night was a HUGE clue to I. This used to happen quite often in the past.
They schedule cut-overs or reboots for mid-night. Basically, when they need to restart some of THEIR equipment they wait until mid-night assuming that most of the customers will be in bed by then. I have always thought this annoying. It would be better it they waited until 2am or 3am. But, c’est la vie.
It would also be nice IF they send us all an e-mail saying that there will be a SCHEDULED OUTAGE (for x-hours) starting at midnight. Well, I never got one. Like I said, I know TDS quite well.
This could have been our local folks doing an update. Most times they don’t want to tell the folks higher up about such disruptions. So they try to do it ‘on the sly’. Whatever.
I checked all my ‘stuff’ & made sure that I was OK & that this was a genuine TDS outage. Then I went to bed. The Internet was up this morning. I didn’t even have to recycle my TDS modem. That is good.
My 1G service seems to be a TAD slow. I will monitor it & let TDS know if it persists.