Have worked with Internet service providers since their inception. This is without a doubt the only firm left in the planet the delivers over provisioned rates and service stability - the amount of wobble when you run a speed test - that is like a Swiss watch: a flat flat beautiful line of consistency. Not like a purana Smiling at your ass (all others). RCN is the most undervalued United States asset there is - Not for just stupid Tech hype- for life stuff. Long story short. Actual management with real human beings, who can listen like no other team. Reminds me of IBM in the 80s. read more

I'm astounded! I'm astounded just how terrible a company can be! My parents are in their 90's and live in a 55+ manufactured home community in Elgin, IL. They had to pay over $200 a month for cable and internet for antiquated equipment and service because Astound refused to separate the two products. They could have had internet through Verizon for just $25 a month and just pay Astound for cable but no...they have to rip off all the elderly people living in the community! And now when my parents are moving into assisted living and turning off their service, Astound is demanding that they return their antiquated boxes, not to a local office, but to a currency exchange 50 miles away on the north side of Chicago or they'll have to pay a huge fee! And this is even when my parents just received notice that Astound is finally replacing their antiquated equipment! Do not use this company! They just keeping raising their rates, even for seniors! read more

They just acquired Wow Internet and now I have no access to my account. They're just looking for customer to cancel service I guess. now if we can only find out how to contact them to do so. There's no CONTACT info anywhere on their website. read more

Worst customer service! I moved to a new condo last month. Since the building has a contract with RCN and internet services are included in the monthly settlements, I started the RCN service. When calling RCN to obtain the Internet service, the customer representative opened my account and directly scheduled a technician visit for me. She said there would be no charge for my Internet service. However, they neither inform me of the $79.95 technician visit fee nor inform me of the option of picking up and installing the equipment by myself. I felt very surprised and disappointed when I suddenly received my bills. It was not acceptable for this kind of communication. read more

I had no issues for the first couple years but for a long time now the speed (gigabit) has been inconsistent. Plus I'm going on a week now with no service due to a minor damaged line outside my building. Service tech identifys the problem on a Tues and I'm told Thur will be fixed. Then I'm told Friday. Then I'm told they tried to contact me multiple times (which is a complete lie and I have unanswered txts to a "construction supervisor") so now I'm stuck through the weekend again waiting on Monday. Poor communication on date/time service will be restored. Lack of sense of urgency in helping me. Now my trust and faith is gone and my internet service that I rely on will be down for who knows how long so seeking alternatives ASAP. You're better off going with a larger ISP especially now that prices have came down and availability of fiber expanding. read more

Connectivity quality is virtually nonexistent. I am constantly losing internet service, making it impossible to do any work. I have reached out to Astound to look into this and have not heard a word back. Do not use this provider. read more

RCN in Illinois charges a 33% fee (Municipal Construction Surcharge and Network Access and Maintenance Fee) that it keeps. This is an unscrupulous way of raising its fee as these fees should already be included in the basic fee. RCN customer service tells customers its government taxes but look at your bill closely and it will show it all goes to RCN. Just a sneaky way to charge more money and blame it on the government. RCN cannot be trusted. Municipal Construction Surcharge Recovers a portion of the expenses RCN incurs from government mandated relocation of its facilities that are in the public rights-of-way to prevent interference with street repairs, public construction projects or other activities required for public health, safety or convenience. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed on you the government. This is a fee that RCN assesses and retains. Network Access and Maintenance Fee A fee to defray costs associated with building and maintaining RCN's fiber rich broadband network, as well as the costs of expanding network capacity to support the continued increase in customers' average bandwidth consumption. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed on you by the government. This is a fee that RCN assesses and retains. read more

I was paying over $100 a month for cable and TiVo without even having HBO, showtime etc. for what?? Totally ridiculous. Every time I tried to lower the bill 'nothing could be done' Secondly, when I sold my tv I was left with my iPad and I downloaded RCN on the go, but did it work??? NO! Bc even tho I pay $100 per month for cable & TiVo, the box wasn't 'updated' enough (even though it was under a year old) so I wasn't able to watch anything. When I called the customer service line, the person was rude to me and insisted that I pay an extra $40 for an updated TiVo box. Ya, please charge me for the box so I can pay your company a total of $140 now... No f'ng way! What the hell is the point of RCN on the go anyway) if you can't use it at your own convenience? I find all of that nonsense to be complete and utter bullshit and on top of that, horrible customer service.. I will never use this company again. read more

My apartment building has an agreement with Astound about delivering internet and tv. When I moved in I didn't have a tv yet but asked the company over the phone whether I should get one before they arrived so that they could install the tv along with the internet. I was told that I could wait and make an appointment for tv installation later on so I chose to do that. What they didn't tell me was that a second installation visit would involve af $80 installation fee. Had I known that I would have of course insisted that they install the tv during the first free visit. read more

My review is regarding the installation process, not the internet itself. I made an appointment for the day after I moved into my new apartment. The technician was not very respectful of my personal property while being in a pandemic, frequently using my facilities and not being sanitary about it. Besides that, he didn't seem very knowledgeable about his role. I showed him the different cable outlets around my apartment. And he landed on the one that was a Comcast cord. He was under the impression that he needed to access the cable room. He requested that I contact my building manager multiple times to gain access to the room. We ended up having to reschedule because he was on a tight schedule. The next day a new technician came out, and used a different cable outlet (that I pointed out to the first technician), and was in and out in less than 15 minutes. He was very polite and respectful. I don't know if this is a direct reflection of RCN, but the first technician made me very uncomfortable in my new apartment and did not seem very knowledgeable about his role. read more

Horrible and manipulative customer service. They tried to access my credit history for a new connwction, and i asked twice, is there another way bcs i will not allow credit pulls for non credit related activity. Are they are selling credit information? Later, a rep called me, after i told them to go to hell, i wont allow credit checks and that i will use another provider., apparently i can leave a 50 dollar deposit instead of credit pull. So why on earth did they make such a huge issue over all this credit pull BS. They i agreed and said okay take the deposit, and start swrvice. They these m*rons tell me since they attempted to pull credit once, they have to continue with a credit pull aswell. What kind of idiots are these nut jobs. Wish grande was still here in my neighborhood as they were amazing. Im going with google instead now. read more

It a super bad customer service. The supervisor is rude and did give me false information. They were lying the entire time about the payments and bills. They increased the payments without letting their customers know and the representative have no knowledge of how to handle clients. read more

sitting on the phone waiting 40 minutes so far to restore I trendy service when I started the recording stated 24 minutes. can't hang up now. Not sure why it's out! only get Internet at 85.00 I had WOW - changing already based on cost but service and customer service is horrible read more

I singed up for the RCN $49.99 monthly plan which comes out to around $53 a month. I pay my bills on time. Literally every month I have had to call RCN due to some problem with internet connection or over charge. With the Internet connection problem they said the would send a technician free of charge, and guess what, that was a lie, they charged me anyway and refused to take that fee off my account. Trust me you don't want your billing statements to look like mine. DO NOT GET RCN!!! You will end up regretting it. read more

Astound - Chicago - This is what a $49.99 monthly plan looks like. - Internet Service Providers Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Dang you can't catch a break with Internet in this city. RCN, which stands for, random chargers necessary, will increase your monthly rate without notice several times per year. Is that legal? Oh why yes it is, but it's not ethical. How do they get away with that - simple...by making your bill conveniently month to month. Requesting you go paperless and on auto pay and then adding a small note in the back of the 6 pages that you won't read online - rate increase because why not, it's been six months! Not only had my bill increased by over 35% since I started with them a year ago, but also their service is increasingly undependable. Get used to random internet outages weekly. So let's review: random increased charges + multiple outages = avoid. read more

From the minute the service is set up it, the quality of the connection will go down and the price will rise indefinitely. We had it for 3 years and in that period our monthly bill went up by $30 and our internet speed dropped by almost 50 Mbps, despite us upgrading both the router and the modem halfway through. Comcast has better service and better prices, which is maybe the most depressing thing I've ever typed. read more

I've been an RCN customer for the past 4 years and I am sad that my new address in the city will not have RCN. I think RCN has had the most reliable speeds and service. Anytime I've had issues, they would be good about coming in to help unlike other companies who give a huge window of service time. 3 years of having them as a provider they called me and said that I was overpaying for my bill and they would lower my monthly internet rate. I wish I would of asked around to my friends to find out what they were paying since I was paying for 3 years about $10 more than them for the exact same service. Other than that I am happy with the service and hopefully they will expand their service to my area in the near future. read more

TL;DR: Random hidden fees months after closing the account with no recourse and no guarantees that more random fees won't pop up. When I closed my account with RCN, I asked two separate customer service reps whether I needed to return any equipment and both said no. Since I had fiber, and the only equipment provided was drilled directly into my wall, I thought this was reasonable. Apparently that was foolish, because I got a bill two months later for equipment return. Since I'm no longer in state I can't return the equipment, I spoke to three more customer service reps who could not help me, or even provide any written assurances that I had no other hidden future charges waiting to bite me. I have no recourse at this point other than to pay that bill. Presumably, in a couple months when they send me another random bogus bill, I'll have no choice but to pay that too. They're the gift that keeps on giving! read more

We've had nothing but excellent service from RCN. Today they came to install our transfer to our new apartment. Our appointment time was between 12-2 and he came at 12:15. For starters, I think a 2-hour service window is generous. I've had other companies tell me 8-12, 12-4, 4-8. How frustrating to sit at home for 4 hours; RCN shortening it to 2 hours was nice. The fact that they were at the very beginning of the window was just an added bonus for me! The man who came to do the transfer had great customer service. He took his shoes off before entering my apartment (and I didn't even ask him to)! I had the show "The Chew" playing in the background on TV, and he asked me if I like to cook and told me about the duck he made for Thanksgiving. He was done setting everything up in under 15 minutes, double checked that it was working correctly, and left. I can appreciate solid, efficient service like RCN. Glad to be doing business with them for another year. read more

I cannot complain about the techs that come over to fix issues. This rating is for horrible customer service during phone calls. Hang ups, impossibly long wait times and script reading (how many times do I have to unplug the modem). My company would be out of business if phone support was so horrible. read more

AVOID RCN LIKE THE PLAGUE. If you like having your contractual price increased underhandedly with "Network Access and Maintenance Fees" and "Municipal Construction Surcharges" then this is the company for you. They're not legally allowed to charge these. This company is so dishonest, their speeds aren't as advertised, their late fees are 1/3 of the bill effective at one day late, and the reason their prices seem so low initially is just to get you in the door. They will attempt to up-sell you unnecessary equipment and they will absolutely f*ck you over as time goes on with fees and shoddy internet service. Received this message in response: Hello Matt, Thank you for reviewing your recent experience with RCN. We strive to provide reliable, affordable service. That's how we won PC Magazine's Reader's Choice Award for the past several years in a row! I'm disappointed to hear that we did not live up to this high expectation. The Municipal Construction Surcharge recovers a portion of the expenses we incur for the relocation of our facilities that are in the public rights-of-way to prevent interference with street repairs, public construction projects or other activities required for public health, safety or convenience. The Network Access and Maintenance fee of $1.97 is now being billed. The Network Access and Maintenance fee helps to cover costs associated with building and maintaining RCN's fiber rich network and the costs of expanding network capacity to support the continued increase in customers' average broadband consumption. Please reply with your account information so we can review your account and make sure you are getting the best value for your needs. I'll also be glad to run some tests on your connection to make sure you are getting the most out of your internet speeds. Thank you for the time you spent with us as a valued RCN customer! -Jackie S. My reply: Hi, Jackie S.! Verizon FIOS has been the winner for 12 years in a row at PC Magazine so that is a load bullshit. (I didn't switch to them BTW. Verizon can eat it too.) Explaining what the charges are doesn't make it OK that you breached the contracted price of service. Not any more than me explaining why added expenses in my life justify paying you less on a bill. Right? That would be fucking stupid. It's fucking stupid for you to try and explain what those fees are. I don't care. We agreed on a price for service. I can't pay you less. You can't charge me more. Don't be dishonest. Your company decided it would tack on some bullshit fees and I don't use you any more. ***And your late-fees, one day late, are 1/3 of my total bill. read more

They scheduled our service promptly. The technician as friendly, and knew his stuff. Very happy that we switched from Xfinity who lost us from perpetual price increases. Very good service so far. read more

Fairly reliable internet. Horrible experience with moving service to different address. Have been without the internet in new apartment 7 days and counting. read more

Living in Chicago you have very limited choices when it comes to Internet, cable television or telephone service. Unfortunately I selected RCN as my provider. What a mistake. I am constantly finding my Internet connection dropping common problems with the TiVo or your television boxes and telephone service that is at best, intermittent. I make monthly telephone calls to the service department and you think by now they might be able to get it corrected. That is not the case. I can't begin to tell you the number of technicians that have come to the house to fix the problems only leaving me with more problems when they finish. AT&T is not an option given the speed at which they perform and Xfinity has just as bad f a reputation as RCN. There are no choices. Unfortunately, I need my Internet service so I think I am choosing the least HORRIBLE of all evils. I so wish I can make other choices. read more

My condo building has Astound, formerly RCN, and basic cable is included in our condo assessment. I have had basic cable and internet with them for 8 years. The internet barely worked in the bedroom and cost $103 per month. When I got a new phone at TMobile, I found out that their internet is $50 per month. I set up the TMobile internet and disconnected the Astound internet equipment. I called Astound to remove the internet from my bill. After being put on hold for 3 times, I was told that I was not allowed to have any internet other than Astound! I contacted my condo manager and internet chairperson who both told me I could have any internet provider I wanted. When I returned the internet equipment in person, that representative told me that I had to return the cable box. I explained about my building having cable, but she insisted and said I would be charged. When I got home, my cable was off. My building manager contacted Astound and they were supposed to call me to apologize and turn the cable back on. After several days with no call, Bridget called, did not apologize, and was unable to turn it back on. They sent a technician to "install" and I now have cable and can toggle between Astound cable and TMobile internet. BTW, the TMobile internet works in the bedroom too. It was way too much difficulty for a simple issue. My condo manager said they should give me a credit for the days I didn't have cable but I'm just glad it's over. I'm just hoping they don't mess up my bill which should be zero$. read more

Since Wow sold to Astound, nothing but trouble. we do not have internet more than we do. customer service never has answers. I DO NOT recommend! currently looking for other service providers. Price keep increasing and the service keeps decreasing. read more

RCN charged me $220 for equipment after I canceled my service and giving me basically no info on how to return the equipment. Update: I returned my equipment in person. I was told the refund would be initiated to my credit card in 24-48 hours. A week later, no refund, so I called. They told me it was actually 12-14 days, and said they were in a different state and I could call the physical store to ask them if I still had questions. Another week later, still no refund so I called again. I finally got someone who had actual information. Their refund window from equipment return date is 14-17 business days. The refunds come via check, no one asked me for an updated address so I wouldn't have gotten the check. I updated my address and will be calling back next Friday (17 business days) to see if this has happened. It took a 22 minute phone call to figure this out. RCN, you are a mess. Based on this I would never have your internet again if I moved back into your area. It's sad this previously well functioning and unusually nice to deal with internet company is now owned by astound and sucks. read more

I was a loyal rcn customer for years. I hate xfinity, but they are miles and miles ahead of them in service and reliability. Here's a breakdown of just a few of the many problems I've had with RCN and why I have decided to leave. I hope that folx can gain some insight into the royal pain that this company has caused, not only for me, but for pretty much everyone I know who has used them. The last thing I want to do right now is sit down and think about them even more, but I think it's necessary to disseminate this information so that you don't have to deal. 1. The bill hike. Check your bill and you'll find it sneakily goes up. It's in the fine print...read it before committing to any services. 2. Incompetence/Lack of accountability/horrible internet service/professionally unreliable There was a power outage in my area. Of course, in no way was that rcn's fault. However, after major delays (an entire work day) in fixing the problem in my neighborhood, I wasn't able to get back on the internet for more than a few seconds. The connection has always been unreliable but this was hopping off and online within seconds and I couldn't get it to work consistently. RCN was unable to resolve the problem over the phone, so they gave me an in person repair window. I canceled patients and my own appointment to accommodate rcn's window, and they never showed up. I called back again and they sent someone very late in the evening, who came over and quickly fixed the problem. Soon after, the service went out again. At this point I was on day 3 without being able to work (and for me, that's 3 days of pay). They sent someone the next day, (this is 2 in person techs now...during covid) and that person claimed that it was a problem with my router's software and that I needed to call netgear. He gave me a new rcn router, which I was of course charged heavily for. The next day, I tested my old router and it was fine. I opted to use the new one until I had a chance to go to the post office because I figured that if I was already paying for it, I might as well...so I switched it back. When I got my bill for December, I noticed an extra charge of 50-something dollars for a repair service, as well as the router, and another 50-something charge for a declined autopay. The autopay was my fault as my card had been hacked in December and I forgot to change the number but I point it out because...a 50+ dollar charge for a denied card is bullsh*t. I then reached out to customer service and after explaining all of this, they finally agreed to reimburse me for one day of service. I thought this meant the repair cost that they charged me, but they asserted (very rudely) that the repair cost was necessary as it was an "internal" problem. Despite explaining multiple times that it was not, they still wouldn't budge, resulting in a 'your word against ours' situation in which they erred in their own favor, and offered me a whopping FIVE dollars, taking no accountability for the time it took from me, their rudeness, their lack of competency, and horrible internet service. I paid immediately without waiting for the 5 dollar reduction because I just couldn't deal with the thought of another exchange with them. I called another company immediately and they sent me a self install box so I wouldn't have to risk getting covid. It arrived today, and I just plugged it in and it was about 100x better than rcn's service, and way easier to navigate... no tech needed, my router works perfectly. I am so lucky it arrived today though, because MY RCN INTERNET HAS BEEN OUT ALL DAY. Again. It also went out last night while I was teaching a course. THIS SERVICE IS UNRELIABLE and even worse, RCN lacks accountability. There is nothing RCN can do to keep me as a customer at this point. If they offered me a refund for 6 months of internet, I still wouldn't deal. That's how untrusting I am of this place and how much they have inconvenienced my life. I do not recommend their service and I will make sure to share this experience with as many people as I can. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY WITH THIS COMPANY. I deserve an apology and a refund but given that I made the switch, I doubt I'll ever get that. Why should they care, anyway, outside of the public eye? That's the message I've gotten. Just don't. read more

i have Been with u guys for 3 years the price spikes up and down and the service is crappy as all hell they don't honor there promotions randomly your rate will go up with no notice they claim it was sent in your bill a month ahead but there is no notice just a higher bill they are over charging for a gig of internet when other competitors are charging less with better internet I dont recommend at all. read more

Horrible service. They have long wait times on phone and punitive customer support. RCN is trying to double bill me for a office account that was left empty after two month, after I moved and took the service to an apartment. Then they threatened to suspend my account if I didn't pay them $125.69 for the empy office line. Would not honor gift card promotion. The installation went badly as my modem was not compatible with RCN and the salesman would not help verify model. Please if you have to sign in document your phone calls and all your complaints. Get a name of rep and ID number and contact your credit card company or consider Attorney General Office to dispute charges. read more

The worst. The WOOOOORST! They are technically incompetent and their service sucks. Terrible company.

I have called five times to ask why we cannot get CNN on our RCN cable TV. HORRIBLE SERVICE. I've been on hold with RCN for more than 30 minutes up to 1 hour 20 minutes. NO ONE EVER ANSWERED!!! I'm cancelling my service. Do not sign up with this horrible company read more

I'm very disappointed by the service I received from RCN. I have been a long time customer of RCN even before they became Astound Broadband. In December, I noticed a large increase in my bill and called RCN and the representative said that one of the promotions expired, but they could get my bill back down to the original lower amount and told me the write this amount down on my bill. I followed the representative's instructions and mailed my payment. I get another bill in January saying that I'm short by the amount of money the representative said that I saved and that I owe that amount or face service termination. I then called RCN back. When I spoke to another representative, she said that they had no record of that call reducing my bill. I then demanded to speak to a supervisor who insinuated that since they didn't have a record of that call, that maybe I was either making the call up or that I had misunderstood what the representative said. He said that he would pull the call and if my story held up they would let me keep that price. He said that it would take 24 to 48 hours to pull the call and I was ok with that. Imagine my surprise that a whole week had passed and I hadn't heard from anyone. I called back and had to explain the situation all over again and they said that they would look into the situation and call me back within another five days. It has now been 7 days since that call, and I've had to call them back again. When I spoke to them again, they let me know that they've had to charge me late fees for not paying my bill on time. When I explained that I haven't paid my bill because I don't know what I'm suppose to pay and that I've been waiting for someone to call me back to resolve the questioned amount, they tell me that that's not their problem, and that I should have paid the amount that I was short, plus late fees, even though I wasn't aware of the late fees. They're also telling me that because of all the time that has passed, they can't give me the original reduced price and that I should be grateful that they were able to reduce the bill some and waive some of the late fees. And I'm still waiting for them to pull the December call. And I am told that I can anticipate even more late fees, just because I waited for them to call me back like they said they would. I feel stabbed in the back by RCN. read more

I am not astounded! This old gal, as they say, just ain't what she used to be. Been a customer since the Twin County Cable days. They are Way overpriced.. fewer services, difficult to make changes. The only good thing continues to be their customer service. read more

If you are looking for reliable service , if you are looking for nice paying attention customer service- do not open an account with RCN- Astound internet company. I had account with WOWAY Company. Nice, local, reliable, reachable).A while ago RCN purchased WOW-and everything changed, not in a good way. I have some problems with internet connection. I call customer service. They run some test (send signal) and decide schedule in home visit appointment. Next day technician show up, (he's license technician) checked everything inside outside .Nope the promising me internet speed not available. He calls back to RCN, report the visit results and run away. Same day I call RCN-Astound and explained myself. It was not easy. People from customer services do not listening .I say: your license technician was in my home, run all possible tests and no help. Please adjust my bill, because RCN promises 300 Mbps I resaving under 90 Mbps. Customer service says, ok. We have to run our test; we are going to send a SIGNAL. Two my questions: your technician already checked everything why you have to do this again? And is your license technician is not license (you not believed him)? NO ASNWER, they ignore me. Nobody listening. The send signal, Nothing change. I keep asking CAN I TALK TO YOUR MANAGER. Answer: manager can't help you. Nice -that what I call the CUSTOMER SERVICE. Any way for a more a 60 minutes waiting I got a chance talk with manager Isha. I explained myself, Isha listen (surprised) she says, O.k. I give you (me) a credit for $20, we are going to adjust your (my) bill. I thinks' her several times , and ask can you (Isha)send me conformation about credit for a $20,and my new adjusted bill (next time I don't have start from stretch and I have a proof) . Isha promises me, she is going to send me requested info immediately via my email. Guess what: I'M STIL WAITING FOR THIS INFO. Definitely I'm looking for another internet provider in my aria. read more

I am seriously mad at RCN because some amount is always being added to my bill. I used comcast for over 2 years and never for once, had this issue even when i was late on payment, i paid the late fee which in RCN, i did the same. So now, from $34.95, it jumped to $73 again and i was told it's restoration fee. please what is late fee for? I was charded late fee, i paid and now this? this is a pix of my bills since i signed up for RCN and. My monthly bill is $34.95, read more

Astound - Chicago - my monthly is $34.95 ...... not in August, i paid on time and now I will pay $73 in sept??? - Internet Service Providers Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This used to be WOW cable, one of the best providers in my area. From the day Astound took over last summer, service has been horrible. Frequenst outages, slow internet, flakey streaming that often buffers and pauses, and high prices. As I type this, my internet, which also powers my phone and streaming TV, has been out for 3 hours. I give up. Time to switch providers. read more

I'm leaving this review because my internet for the past 2 years has been IMPECCABLE. Two years ago I moved to Chicago the first week of july which means I called for internet set up and was prepared to wait for the week after the 4th. Nope! To my surprise they came and set me up on the 4th of july at no extra cost. My service through crap winters and bad storms has hardly ever been interrupted and on the few occasions it was it was back up in no time. My download time for games on xbox and PS4 have never exceeded 15 minutes and is usually less than 5. My streams are never randomly buffering while trying to watch netflix or other streaming platforms. I have had probably 15 people with the all their various devices including my regular set up and I didn't notice any lag in my service at all. RCN is a selling point to me now. If I look for a new place in Chicago I will be looking only in areas where RCN is available. The service is better than Xfinity/comcast and the prices are better too! read more

Tech support is a joke. called for support and they came on site to look at my network issues and all 4 times they were not able to find any issues and blamed my equipment for the slow network speeds. imp only getting a 5th of what I pay for which is the frustrating thing and they don't have people competent enough to fix it read more

The worse customer service, only 1 location in the city and horrible call back system.