X-Stream Internet Service

For about six months after the switch, all was fine. The contract we agreed to was for a mid range of upload and download speeds and other than occasional problems, we consistently were able to achieve these speeds (and they were better than what we had been getting previously with BRMEMC). There was then a period of time for about five weeks where the upload speed was very poor (<0.5 Mbps). After several contacts with X-Stream personnel, they indicated that they had to replace some equipment on the Rocky Top tower. This was apparently done on several occasions and finally after multiple tries things got better again. Note, however, that we never received any formal apology or explanation from X-Stream, despite the fact that speeds were very, very slow for many weeks (much less a refund or discount). Then, about four months ago the service again became very erratic. This remains the current state as of this writing. Download speeds jump from almost nothing to spikes of 3 Mbps and then back to around 1 or less. Upload speeds are always much worse, sometimes not even registering on a speed test. We have several neighbors also with X-Stream and the response when they call is often something different than what they tell us when we call. Promises are made regarding changing equipment or working on the tower, but there is no improvement and never any follow-up explaining what is happening. The most frustrating thing (apart from paying for a service that is not being provided as it was promised for us to switch to them) is this lack of due respect for one's customers. Never do we receive a letter, call, or email explaining the status - good or bad. We have just come to expect that our internet service will be so slow that to stream music is a luxury, uploading a document for work is best done at the library, and streaming a movie is out of the question. I am crossing my fingers in fact that this review will upload! Part of this may be that they are the only game in town, but it should not be this bad when what was agreed to in the contract we signed indicated the service would be much better.