Sonic started as a little local ISP in Santa Rosa, CA.[1] Now it's huge in Northern California.
I have 1GB Sonic bidirectional fiber with unlimited data and could get 10GB if I wanted. The head of Sonic points out that long-haul prices have decreased over the years, and there's no real need for usage limits.
Self-quoting[0]:
> Sonic has the best customer service of any company ever encountered, and it's not even close. The few times I've had to contact them for assistance, I've been very quickly connected with someone clearly _very_ technical who was able to grok my problem immediately and give clear, cogent, respectful debugging advice and perspective. I do not exaggerate when I say I would gladly pay double their current rate just for the peace of mind of knowing that I can depend on them if I ever need their support again. Not that I often do, because their baseline connectivity/speed is also great.
>
> ...yes, I know I look like a shill/bot. I don't care. They're genuinely just that good, and I will happily advocate for them until that ever changes.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42252183
This has been my experience with our local ISP in Minneapolis as well. Granted, I’ve only ever reached out to them maybe 3 times over 6 years, but each time they’ve been exceptional. No more than two phone rings before a person in our metro area answered, they got me to right person who provided actual good believable information and the situation was fixed. The first time I ever reached out to them, by email, I wasn’t even a customer— I was calling to ask when they would resurface a sidewalk that they had torn up for an install in my neighborhood. The director of operations emailed me back, not with an exact date but with a pretty detailed reason for the delay that was clearly written just for this situation, not a form letter, and then he followed up when the work was scheduled.
One day we might even get IPv6! Everything else is true though, they’re super great.
> ...yes, I know I look like a shill/bot. I don't care. They're genuinely just that good, and I will happily advocate for them until that ever changes.
Properly good, human and effective customer service is so rare these days that I tend to trust hyperbolic reviews like these more than others, believing that the person honestly feels that way, having been there myself.
I just wish they more reliably covered SF. Outside of the Richmond and Sunset districts coverage is spotty at best
I have their 10G service. I love the company and the people. I remember when I first called them to sign up. At the end of the call with the sales guy I told him that 30 minute conversation was one of the most interesting and fun conversations I had ever had with someone I had just met. It was surreal.
The installer was super nice and great at their job.
Their service is so good I have not had an excuse to talk with anyone else.
Many of my neighbors have switched from Comcast, who I was with for more than 10 years, and hated every second of it. Only AT&T is worse than Comcast, but they are both bottom dwellers.
> The head of Sonic points out that long-haul prices have decreased over the years, and there's no real need for usage limits.
Well, aside from increasing your margins...
I have missed Sonic every day since moving from Oakland to SF
I have their 10GB line and I could NOT be happier. Only company where I reply to their “please rate us emails"
I had Sonic for a year I spent in San Francisco, it was absolutely amazing and wish that they were everywhere. I can understand that dense areas like SF make it a lot easier to expand, I just wish that density like that wasn't banned on 99% of city land.