Living in the country is wonderful for many reasons, but one downside is that you most likely only…read morehave 2 choices for getting online; wireless and satellite. I've always been told by my very smart tech oriented friends that wireless is the better and more reliable choice. I'd kill for a fast internet connection delivered by a wire to my home, but in my area of the boonies, we have just a few choices in wireless internet service providers. A big company (Rise Broadband) and a small one (Open Air Wireless). I have used them both. Open Air is the better choice for one reason alone; top notch service. There will always be speed and signal problems with wireless internet because there are so many points where failures can occur. And the speed you've been promised WILL vary because there is just so much signal to be doled out to everyone along the way...you're going to get slower speeds at certain times when everyone is using their signal at the same time or playing online video games that use tons of band width. That's the nature of the beast. At some point you will need service either at your home or along the chain of towers that deliver the wireless signal to your home. When your signal gets slow or goes dead, you have to make the call to tech who will start to work out where the problem is. I have found that with Rise Broadband, the company is huge and there are various levels of tech support. Don't get me wrong, the folks at Rise tech support are wonderful, but if they can't fix the problem with a "reset" on their end, they can't just send someone out to fix you. They have to "elevate the case to the next level". It's nothing to them if you're completely out of a signal for a week or two. Meanwhile, I have to turn my phone into a hotspot and pay for precious cell data while they take their time going through the proper channels. This is not the case with Open Air Wireless. When you call in with a problem with your signal, you're most likely going to get Matt, the owner of the company who turns you into a top priority. He tells me when he will be able to respond and I have to give him (and his wife who works at the office when he is unable to directly respond) an A+ for courtesy and responsiveness. I can't expect them to stop what they're doing but they are very aware that it's a big deal and they will get to you quickly. It wasn't too long ago that my only choice out here in the country was dial-up. I'm very grateful that I have choices now and Open Air is my top pick.

I heard that they were doing some planned maintenance on the Volo water tower, and that they…read morepromised more consistent speeds and low latency, but my download speed still stays at a snail's pace 2 mbps, even though I buy the extreme package. I created an account just to write this review, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. The owner Matt is rude to anyone who doesn't agree with him, and the internet overall is just flat out mediocre.

Our building hired this company to replace a glass window and repair an exterior rusted frame…read morecorner. For the repair, they simply patched a piece of metal of the front with adhesive. The metal piece is not well adhered (you could easily pull off) and the rusted holes on the side were not even filled patched to prevent water penetration. The installer didn't even clean the new pane of glass, leaving it covered in smudges and dust.

We had a wonderful experience with this company. They replaced our master bathroom's shower…read moredoor.Oscar went above and beyond to make sure the glass door fit perfectly and Christine was wonderful in answering all our questions and promptly returned all our emails.

The service technician was completely inept, sloppily dressed, lacking in business accumen, and…read moreapparently disoriented (more on that below). I also got the feeling they were overselling. Save yourself the trouble and look elsewhere. I contacted Active Alarm Company because they had previously been responsible for monitoring my alarm. They're located in Lake Zurich but service the Chicago area; I'm in Lincoln Park. I gave them a call to come out and take a look at the system. My initial conversation with the sales representative seemed productive; we set up an early morning service visit (7:30). The sales person said that it would not be a problem to connect the alarm to the phone line. But then the day of the service visit came. To start, the technician called me at 5:30 in the morning. I had initially planned on rolling out of the bed at 7:20, so suffice it to say I was pissed. When he arrived, I realized that this particular technician was an older gentlemen, so I was hoping that he would bring his many years of experience to bear on our alarm system. Not so. It became pretty clear that the technician was pretty out of touch with current technologies. He spent a good three hours walking up and down the stairs of our house trying to connect the Comcast phone system to the alarm. Then, when he finally had it done and did a test, he determined that our system was outdated and would not work with the Comcast modem. This after four hours of work. (Mind you, I had been explicit in mentioning that I needed to be into work that day, hence the reason for scheduling the early visit). What would have been more effective would have been to look at the system and first determine if it would work. Instead, he spent wasted hours trying to rig a system that was never going to work in the first place. Also, he was obviously disoriented. Every time he went out to the truck he wandered up and down the street looking for his vehicle. I thought I was seeing things. But all three times that I watched him go out to the street he looked around with this stupid blank stare. Obviously this does not inspire confidence when this person is charged with helping to protect your home. But what really got me was when I overheard his manager tell him on the phone that he didn't want him to "leave there empty handed." (The technician had the volume on his phone turned up so loud that I could hear the entire conversation). When I confronted the manager with that piece of information later in the day, he tried to (unconvincingly) explain it away. In spite of all that, I was still willing to give them a chance. However after prodding for quotes for four days and receiving nothing, I finally gave up. I went with Alert Protective Services. Their monitoring fees are $5 more a month, but the installation of a brand new and much better system cost me much less than the rough estimates I was given over the phone. Plus, Alert Protective services ripped out the old system and installed the new in less than 2.5 hours. It would have taken the Active Alarm guy at least a full day, based on my observations of his work. So if you're in Lincoln Park look elsewhere for alarm systems. See my review for APS coming soon.

My experience with Active Alarm has been excellent. I've used them for many years, and they've…read moreprovided security systems for 3 houses for us in that time. I have found their products, technicians, and customer service to be of great quality. I also appreciate their friendliness, professionalism, and responsiveness to my questions. When I had an issue, they went above and beyond to fix the problem efficiently. I enjoy working with small family businesses, so that's a plus, too. Recommended!

So happy we found this place! We needed glass replaced on a picture and they were the only company…read moreof the 3 we contacted, to get back to us immediately AND did the work as we waited. We called them again to measure and install mirror on a wall in our basement and it was all done beautifully within less than a week. Now I'm thinking of a mirror for another area of the house and will definitely call this company again!

They are an amazing small company to work with, extremely quick responses and product availability…read morewhenever we need, and such a kind and friendly group of people. I STRONGLY suggest using this company! -Staff at New American Homes, Antioch IL

I asked Autosonics to install a retro-fit radio and screen…read moreon a 2012 Fiat 500C drop top. Look no further. These are your guys. Knowledge and taking care of the customer is front and center. You be the judge:

Have been using Mario and his team for years for all my auto and marine stereos. Autosonics also…read moreinstalled remote start kits for me on my older trucks. His attention to detail is outstanding. If you're looking to have work done right with amazing results give them a call.

Jim is amazing. He installed our alarm system perfectly nice touchscreen keypads. and the price was…read moresuper good. like 240 a year mobile control and a reliable alarm system that's all wired this is amazing. 10/10

This company does not monitor your security system. We were hard wired with our land line but when…read morewe switched phone companies, we did not realize we were no longer being monitored by Northwest Alarm. They billed us for at least two years before we realized it ourselves. We have a new Alarm Company but Northwest Alarm keeps billing us $240 a year. I have called them several times and ask if they are monitoring us. They say "yes". They are lying. Do not use them for your alarm system. They will scam you like they are scamming us.

I reached out to Paul after getting his number as a computer repair service near me in Northbrook…read more I have been frustrated for close to six months being traded off from Microsoft support to Xerox printer support. Each telling me that the problem I had in not being able to print was the others fault. Friends and family all offered suggestions and possible solutions that only caused more problems with my system. After calling PAK, Paul spent several hours trying to figure out the issue and low and behold, after I left my desk, he found the corrupted driver causing all my problems. He did a great job for me and though I hope I have no more issues with my system, he would be the first person I call, if it were to arise.

I have been using pak computer services for over twenty years…read morePaul does an incredible job of knowing how to fix our computer whenever it is not working right The last time he was actually able to connect to my computer and fix it over the phone Unbelievable

I called at 8 am because I didn't have any hot water. While I was still on the phone and they were…read moretelling me that I would get a call back to schedule a service call, I had another call come in from First Call telling me that someone would be here within 2 hours. Less than 2 hours later, a wonderful, friendly, knowledgeable, and professional tech arrived. He found the problem and fixed it. He then did a complete inspection of the plumbing in both units of my duplex. Wow. Service like this is simply outstanding.

I had to have a new furnace installed and it was under a home warranty program that I had and…read morewasn't really 100% confident with the choices that the warranty program suggested that I reach out to. Turns out that first call heating has a stellar crew and I am extremely happy with the work they did and the patience they had with my concerns. I haven't had to deal with new furnaces for a long time so they definitely did a good job on that. I don't know how they price compared to other shops because that's not something that you can really just look up or call and ask. After having a brief conversation with the owner on one of the issues I was facing concerning the warranty company he took the time to really break it down for me as to how they work and that my warranty company was the one that he chose to stay with. Over the years, he used to have a few others, but apparently they did not serve the customer very well (and them). I had a Lennox Elite installed and it's definitely a nice furnace...I just hope that it outlast the other brands out there. The warranty on parts and labor seem to be pretty comprehensive. What is also nice to know is that with first call heating and cooling, they have a very nice 100% satisfaction guarantee for the first year. The way that it was explained to me was if anything goes wrong at all, I don't pay a dime and they come out and fix the issue should there be one. I'll wrap this up by saying that when the crew comes out to your house to do an install, they are extremely polite, kind and very conscientious of what they're doing. I would highly recommend first call heating and cooling without a doubt.