Hey, there! Log in / Register
Local Internet, WiFi provider shutting down
By adamg on Sat, 06/01/2013 - 11:36am
Galaxy Internet Services, which started when local digerati knew that local ISPs were fresh (TIAC, anyone?), e-mailed customers yesterday that it's shutting down on June 30.
In addition to providing Internet access, the company also provides the free WiFi service at Faneuil Hall Marketplace and parts of Brookline.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
This is a real shame. We used
This is a real shame.
We used to be Galaxy customers around 1999-2002. For us, this was post-AOL and pre-RCN/Comcast -- and strictly dial-up.
Just recently I went to their website hoping they might constitute a worthy replacement for the mega-ISPs that we reluctantly rely on.
We really need decent ISP alternatives. For TV and phone, we can go elsewhere fairly easily. Not so sure about high-speed Internet access.
Our first broadband ISP was Speakeasy
Not a local company, but they had a local POP and their DSL service just worked. Then Best Buy bought them and they abandoned residential service and that was that.
The World is still around.
Grove Hall
They also operated the city's attempt to provide residential WiFi service in Grove Hall.
I thought broadband killed them a long time ago
I used Galaxy long ago for a few months for dial up internet. Then I found UltraNet which had more local access numbers. That was living in the suburbs when the next town over could be a toll call. Oh the memories of dialing in,listening to the connection tones,beeps,and buzzes, and firing up my Netscape browser(who uses Mosaic anymore?)
Sad, but surpised they were still around
I was a GIS customer fairly early on, and it was my first commercial ISP outside of Emerson College, and one called jungle.net a friend ran out of his basement, literally, in North Jersey. I had to telnet in from Emerson to use it. Remember telnet?
My experience was mostly positive, except for some other customers of theirs who kept accusing me of having their nephew's email address. How can I "steal" an email address Galaxy gave me? I had to keep responding to their emails that they have the wrong Seth, after which they would complain that they had the right address and I was wrong for having it. :)
Speaking of old ISP's, I live right by Shore.net and for a brief while rented shared conference space in their building. Cool place. The original owner bought it back - not as a traditional ISP, but you can rent space in their server room, use them for hosting/cloud services etc. (not an advertisement, necessarily).
TIAC
TIAC == The Internet Access Company
Man, I'm old....
world.std.com
I knew a lot of people who had internet access via TheWorld @world.std.com...including the legendary Kibo. (Wonder if he's Kibozing UHub?)
sunspot.tiac.net!
sorry, couldn't resist (nerd alert)
I still have a TIAC address...
... or three. Earthlink bought them in ~2002? and let me keep my work stuff the same.
It's a crying shame that the little ISPs are going the way of the dodo, and the behemoths are not snapping up their customers.
A few of my friends keep sending to me at GMail; alas, I only use Gmail for political sites :)
A real shame
This really is a shame. When my girlfriend and I were in Allston from 2011-2012 we used their DSL service to the apartment, partially because I refused to give Comcast or Verizon any of my money (of course Verizon owned the lines so they got a bit of it but still) About April of 2012 they transferred all existing residential DSL folks to a national DSL company so they could focus on municipal and business access. I enjoyed their service while it lasted, nice friendly folks on the phone too. We are now on RCN out in Newton and very very happy. We need more options but RCN works for us very nicely.
Can anyone recommend another
Can anyone recommend another local DSL provider?
Alternate providers
Ultimately, DSL is coming over Verizon's wires regardless of who is offering the service.
-----
Galaxy also offered a handful of free dial-up nodes in the region that were free to those who had no service or for those needing an emergency dial-up connection. I used it a couple o ftimes when my DSL died and was waiting for a new modem to ship from Verizon.
There was no SMTP allowed but if you had web mail it was OK. Best connection I could get was 33.6 and on most days 28, but while painful, it worked for quick and necessary e-mail needs.
That's true. But I haven't
That's true. But I haven't had any issues with the underlying service. I'm mostly concerned with customer service, and supporting a local business.
Unsuprised
Until last year I used to interact regularly with some of their staff. Lovely people but certainly not folks I expected great things from. Indeed even their website is a study in "a day late & a dollar short" with front page services they don't offer, job listings from 2004, latest press releases from 2006 (that was an optimistic year!) etc.
Sic transit mediocrity.
http://www.gis.net/
TIAC - Those were the days
I was a long-time customer of The Internet Access Company (TIAC) and was sorry to see it sell out. After that I went to a few dial-up resellers, and eventually went DSL when Verizon started it up.
I still know a couple of people with a TIAC domain address, which is now owned by Earthlink after several resells of the customer base.
Heh. I still use
Heh. I still use theworld.com. People ask my why, I say because I'm dying to know when they'll finally shut down. (Plus, I have a cool early username.)
15 years
I got a gis.net dialup account in like 96 or 97. I got DSL in 2000 or 2001 but since my gis.net email was my primary email I switched my account to an email only account (for like $5/mo).
I still activity use the account to this day. It feels weird knowing an address/identity I've had for ~15 years is going away.
Luckily while I still used it a lot it was no longer my main email and I just finished updating about ~65 online accounts to no longer use my gis.net address.
Oh well, hopefully Google doesn't shut down since they host my current email lol. At least it's my own domain so I can just switch providers if that ever happens.
RIP Complete Internet Access (TheCIA.net) and Galaxy (gis.net)
Looks like they shut down for good around 8:00 this morning.
I'm losing an e-mail address that I've had at Complete Internet Access (TheCIA.net) since 1997. Galaxy bought TheCIA in 1998 but had, until today, kept the domain and e-mail servers alive.
I *hope* I've told everyone who needs to know my new e-mail address, but I have this nagging feeling that I've forgotten someone important.
Anyone know what's going to happen to the Brookline and Boston wireless systems that Galaxy was running?
Thanks for the info
I just went today to try to pull some files off my thecia.net webpages -- I guess I'm too late. It was helpful to find this thread to see what the deal was.
Thanks everyone!