Metconnect: problems and status

spiderman120988 · Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 11

looks like its down, is it down for anyone else, it just goes to verifying password and then it says it can't connect.

OG1 · Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1143

Means too many users online. I have a friend in Manattan who can get on any time - NO problems.

kennylew59 · Joined: 03 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

I have been experiencing the same problem for the past 2 weeks and I am dialing from the 718 area code In Brooklyn. It takes several attempts to connect but the connection Is good when I do connect which is at random, lately. I've had this problem several times before with MetConnect but It was usually fixed within a day or 2. This ***...

furball64801 · Joined: 23 Jun 2006 Posts: 106

Dude its free a bizillion people want to get on free. Just be happy not many of these are available in the USA anymore.

kennylew59 · Joined: 03 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

Yesterday 10-26-08 MetConnect was Intermittantly down most of the morning and part of the afternoon. I would hear a dial tone and the numbers dialing but no connection- no screeching sound (handshake).
I established a connection around 1:30PM and was disconnected around 3:00 and again I couldn't establish a connection until 5:30. I stayed on line until 10:30PM and I disconnected. Just for curiosity's sake, I dialed up again and I immediately re-connected without any problems. Maybe MetConnect was fixing their servers yesterday, maybe MetConnect Is fixed..we'll see!! I don't like MetConnect only because It Is free, but mainly because, they don't require any buggy dialing software like AOL or NetZero. Windows dial-up networking suffices just fine.

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

Hi all! Is anyone else having problems with MetConnect sporadically disconnecting late at night or early morning in the past two days? I may be on for two or three hours surfing and then suddenly, MC's servers just terminate the connection! When I try to dial back in, the line is busy but after three minutes, I'm able to dial back in. Is there a problem with their servers overheating or are they having power failures and using flaky backup generators? Any info is appreciated. Thanks!
shock

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

Is anyone out there still using MetConnect and if so, are you having problems connecting? Their log-on servers appear to be down now! I keep getting the unpicked up dial tone followed by the message "...All circuits are busy...". Any info or response is appreciated! Thanks!
Confused

Epheus · Joined: 15 Nov 2009 Posts: 11

wow--free internet is still available? Sorry if this is a bit off-topic. In my area there has been no free internet in years, I am shocked that it is available anywhere these days. Cool for you who have access to it!

nevadacrab · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 370 Location: Henderson, Nevada

Southern California has two free Isp's (at least a good part of SoCal) and one of them is statewide.

http://www.socalfree.net/

http://www.fastfreedialup.com/

plodr · Administrator Joined: 12 Apr 2001 Posts: 6778

Here's the list and the states
http://www.freedomlist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30187

I only update when people alert me to changes, so there is no guarantee that the info from 2008 is still accurate. I obviously don't check the numbers myself.

alexx_2010 · Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Posts: 1

Metconnect has big problem,
hope any one can help me fix it?

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

Has anyone else who has been using MetConnect been noticing that MetConnect has been limiting transfer speeds in the past three days? I've noticed that pages take longer to load and DL transfer speeds have
dropped significantly no matter where I DL from. I tested the UL/DL transfer speeds using "TestMySpeed" -> http://www.testmyspeed.com/ while using MC and then later NetZero. Here are my test results:

MetConnect
----------
DL 21kbs
UL 52kbs

NetZero
--------
DL 48kbs
UL 32kbs

checks on my machine for malware using SpyBot Search & Destroy and viruses using AntiVir did not show any problems, so I must concluded that something is "wrong" at MetConnect. I hope that this is a temporary problem that will be fixed soon. I hope that they are not "capping" transfer speeds on purpose!
Frown

Any help or info that can be offered is appreciated. Thanks!
Smile

MaxBandwidth · Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 41

Ohmygosh, that's awful! You should ask for a refund!

But seriously, what's the problem? It's a well known fact that MC performs a little sluggish at times. Your test results don't really seem any worse than some other free ISPs... At least the price is right!

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

If you're using MetConnect and are experiencing or aren't experiencing a slow down with the transfer speeds, then please say so. I was just asking the community here for constructive help, not a wise a** comment that does no good!

I consider it a major problem when pages take twice as long to load and DL speeds drop from a historical avearge of 5.4k/s to as low as 2.6k/s over a consecutive four day (and still continuing) period even though I'm still connected at 52.0kbps each time I dial-in! Your non-chalant attitude leads me to believe that you're probably not using MetConnect often (If ever). Not everyone is as fortunate as you to have high speed internet.
shock

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

Is anyone else out there experiencing problems with MetConnect abruptly disconnecting in the last two days? Worse yet, when I tried several times this evening to connect, I was able to connect to MC's servers via the 212 and 646 numbers, get assigned an IP address but did not have any HTTP access (IE could not go to any site) - I am using NetZero as I write this. I'm guessing that something is wrong with their servers (Most likely) or perhaps they are performing upgrades (Probably not, given MC's history). Any help that can be offered is appreciated. Thanks!
Smile

P.S. - Please respond if you are or are not experiencing the same problems with MC (I'm just curious about whether I'm alone or not). Only helpful (Not "wise a**") remarks will be appreciated. Thank You!
Smile

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

Is anyone else having problems with MetConnect (Please see previous post)?
Frown

Please let me know. I would appreciate it. Thanks!
Smile

BTW - When I ran a network connections diagnostic in IE
I got the following:

Does anyone knows what the above means? Thanks again!
Confused

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

Here's an update if anyone cares: I was able to connect to MC, get assigned an IP address and have HTTP access last night for about one hour before MC disconnected. When I tried to reconnect, the same problem occurred (See above post). I tried again two hours later and still had the same problem. Early this afternoon, I was able to connect and get HTTP access. Based on all this, it appears that someone at MC is aware that there is a problem with their gateway(?) server (For dial-up users). All us free users can only hope (And pray) that MC will kindly fix or generously replace (which is a "Long shot") the faulty server (Assuming that it is the cause of the problem).
Confused

kennylew59 · Joined: 03 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

I am sure MetConnect will eventually fix the problems they are having. Even though MetConnect Is free for us, It Is costing Met Tel some money to run a free (barebones) ISP like this and they are not going to let their investment go to waste. I have experienced all of the problems with MC which are discussed on this forum and all of them were eventually fixed. MetConnect is a tax write off for MetTel.

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

kennylew59 wrote:

I am sure MetConnect will eventually fix the problems they are having. Even though MetConnect Is free for us, It Is costing Met Tel some money to run a free (barebones) ISP like this and they are not going to let their investment go to waste. ...

Thank you for responding, kennylew59! It's good to know that I am not the only one here that is experiencing the current problem.
Smile

I too have seen all of the problems mentioned on this forum eventually fixed. For some of us (Especially those of us who are currently unemployed), MC is a lifeline rather than a minor luxury (The public library offers free decent wifi access but is not open 24/7 and has limited times of service - To make things worse, the bandwith drops as more and more people compete for the library's wifi).

As I stated previously, I have concluded that someone at MC is aware of the problem - Obviously, someone is rebooting the affected server the next day whenever it crashes overnight (Except for the weekends which is understandable). All we can do is hope and pray that they fix or replace the faulty component(s) in the server as soon as possible.
Frown

guardsman · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 60

It looks like the problem (See above posts) has resurfaced again today (I logged in three times during the late afternoon and early evening but didn't have HTTP access).
Frown

It seemed like the problem was fixed (The problem didn't occur during the last ten days). Perhaps it was fixed (Whether properly or with a "Work around") and now things just broke down again at MetConnect (I'm using Netzero to write this).
Frown

Is anyone else out there able to connect to MC, get assigned an IP address but have problems with HTTP requests getting through (e.g. - Going to any page in your browser)? Please let me know! Thank You!
Confused