Cobalt Broadband Corporation
This supposed internet provider does not provide internet service for weeks at a time and does not call you back

Cobalt Broadband
I borrowed some of this from another report I read as I had exactly the same experience with them. My internet service would be out not just for days - but for weeks. Nothing. I couldn't even check any emails except on my iphone and dial up. I have an internet business so I had to get another provider eventually. They wouldn't return any calls or emails for the weeks my service was out and then one day a man showed up at my door to take the antenna down and I found a chrage on my credit card for for $175. They charged me that huge cancellation fee even though I had no internet service for weeks and they never contacted me back by email or phone. They do not even answer their phones ehen they know it is you calling. They are the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. It is amazing they are still in business. Do not even think about using them.

Here is a little info on Cobalt Broadband.

To do a quick summary, here are the main points.
1. The product itself is not bad, when it's working.
You loose you internet connection randomly, most of the time it is up. They have a variety of issues, hopefully they are addressing some of them.
2. Don't expect Customer Service to do anything in a timely manner. And don't expect them to call you back when they say "can I call you back in just a bit?".
3. They treat you like a burden, rather than a customer.
4. New installs are a priority (to get them done, not right, just done), so if you are an existing customer expect a wait.
Basically, it could be a good product if the right leadership, and skill was there. But instead they try to do everything half way just to turn a buck. It's all about profit, not product.

Technology:
They run off 802.11b (same as your Linksys wireless router), with a T1 line running to their tower. Their product is only ok, most the time.
Half the time they have a high latency just from the radio to the tower. I think they are really overloading their equipment, trying to take on more customers than their equipment can handle.
The equipment is kept in a metal box located outside. The issue with that is, this summer has been 101, you can only imagine how hot is it in that metal box. This equipment is not designed to be put, much less work well in these conditions. Most of their technicians lack the skill and knowledge to maintain their product, or so it appears.

The installation:
If you get Cobalt's installers to put up your radio and tower. Be sure to inspect it before they leave. They are known to do a terrible installation.
Some actual examples:
1. Not high enough,
2. Guy wires that are not at the right angle to secure the pole and screwed directly in to your shingles,
3. A radio mounted on a DirecTv footing, with a 1 1/4" pole placed in a 2" pole and secured by a self-tapping screw that usually is used to hold on metal roofs.
The problem with that example, is that this technology is line-of-site. Meaning, that if your radio is pointed even slightly to the left or right of the tower, you don't have a signal. The pole I referred to above had an inch and a half swing on it. Which means if it was slightly windy, then your internet is out.

The Service agreement:
Read carefully! When you agree to their terms of service, you are locked in to a 2 year agreement. Not too out of the ordinary these days, right? The crooked part of this agreement is that if you cancel before your contract is up, you have to pay for the entire remainder of the contract. Meaning, if you cancel a year in to it, you still have to pay the rest of the year. Even SBC lets you pay $150 penalty to get out.

Customer Service:
This company is not about customer satisfaction. The employees of Cobalt Broadband are incompetent.
If you request a call back from them, expect to not get it.
Cobalt's main agenda is to make money, not caring about customer satisfaction. If you have them and have an issue, good luck, you're going to need it.

Even when I was trying to order their product, I would never get a call back, I had to call them back (4 times). Really, that should have told me to go with one of their competitors.

Company: Cobalt Broadband Corporation
Country: USA
State: Texas
City: Houston
Address: 2401 Fountainview, Suite 416
Phone: 7135329000

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