Aros.net North America based nationwide dialup internet service provider
Arosnet Internet Services
Introduction
ArosNet is currently having difficulties, but is not out of business - yet. The Salt Lake Tribune ran an article on Feb 20, 2007 giving correct information. You can also read more about ArosNet customer service issues by watching Get Gephardt here: Company Leaves Customers Without Internet Access.
Update: ArosNet is pretty much out of business now.
SEE NEW INFORMATION
ArosNet's webpage lists their new technical support number: 1-800-313-9782
They are outsourcing their e-mail through a 3rd party, us89.net The number
mentioned above goes to them. They will only help with e-mail issues.
For all other ISP related issues, you are currently up the creek, without
a paddle. Just try to contact anyone actually at aros, regarding billing,
payments, refunds, etc. and you will be out of luck. The tech reps
at us89.net say their only contact with aros people is 
So far, numeroous messages sent there have not been replied to.
Does anyone know how to contact an actual aros.net person?
ArosNet Internet Services has been providing premier Internet service to the Wasatch Front since 1995. ArosNet offers Internet access to Salt Lake City, Provo, Park City, Ogden, Brigham City, Logan and Tooele, and DSL access throughout Utah. All good things must come to an end. Aros, as we used to know it, is now long gone.
Contact Information
Here at ArosNet, our reputation is built on our friendly sales staff, our helpful tech support team, and our kind billing representatives. Sadly, that reputation was ruined when the new owner took over last year. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact us.
Address
- 4659 South 2300 East
- Suite 104
- Holliday, UT 84117-4553
- 28 South 400 East
- Salt Lake City UT 84111 US
Additional Information
Languages
English
Discussion
Community Review
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Aros.net has changed the support phone number; they can be reached at 800-313-9827.
- [Not so. That number takes you to us89.net, and those guys there have no clue
about aros.net Oh sure, they'll take your money, if you're dumb enough to sign up again. But no one there knows how to contact an actual aros person. You sign up with aros and you're pouring your money into a black hole.]
The phone number given below was disconnected months ago. Like every other Aros.Net related phone number, it is not currently worked. The previous current local number, 924-0248, works only after hours, when it will tell you to leave a message that will then never be returned.
Aros.Net, where are you?
We have been with this company since they were KDC Online back in the mid-90's. This is the second outage in the past two weeks, but at least with the previous one, they had a phone message that said they were aware of the problem, and it was self-limiting. Gephardt's article says that at this point you can at least pick up your email via their website. WRONG. I was able to log on intermittently over the weekend to their site courtesy of a friend (this is really great when a customer can't log on but a customer of a competitor can). I was never able to pick up my email via the site, so I don't know who told HIM you can do this at this time (this is normally a function of the website, but everything went to heck on Friday). I did get my Internet access back early Monday afternoon, but the site has been down since then anyway. The only time the phone seems to work is after hours, when it will tell you to leave a message that will then never be returned. Mike's number is on the eviction notice posted at the old address; his answering machine (it's an out of state area code) says, "I don't often check my messages, so please page me." We're at 24 hours and counting since I tried that. Apparently a whole lot of us disgruntled customers have complained to the Utah Commerce Commission and will likely file complaints. (Mike Winsett's number is 503-754-6394 for any who want to check it out).
I had decided to stick with Aros.Net when Internet access was restored yesterday afternoon (figured that was a show of good faith), but the Trib article quoted these fools as saying things would be working by last night, and I still have no way to access my email. They blamed Qwest; when I talked to Qwest, as far as Qwest was concerned, the Arosnet people had skipped town. With their dwindling number of clients (we only didn't jump ship because of the time it seemed it would take us to get a DSL connection through another server), you'd think they could at least set up an automatic dialer to call and say they're here, they haven't skipped town, and service will be restored shortly, at which time they'll be offering a big fat rebate for those who stuck with them.
- Karen Webb
- Centerville
Followup from Dave Andersen, 3/5/2007: ArosNet didn't start out as KDC Online. The ownership history is: It started as ArosNet, was incorporated in 1995 by Bjorn Ablad, Kent Lewin, and Dennis King. I became a co-owner a few months later. In 1998, I sold my shares to my three partners. Dennis King left in about 2000, though I need to check that date. Bjorn and Kent ran things until March 10, 2005, when they sold ArosNet to its current owner and CEO, Michael Winsett. If you're reading this article, you're probably familiar with how things have gone since then.
Arosnet
- They have been great for years. For the last week they have been absolute crap. Completely down for days. No notification other that a really bad recording when you call. I am sure that there are thousands of people like me that can't even get to my email.
I will change providers as soon as possible.
- posted by Anonymous on Feb 1, 2007, 4:19 pm
Aros.Net should provide a redirect for our email and a refund
- They must have known this was coming and to leave their customers in a lurch is unforgivable! Typical of business these days!
- posted by Anonymous on Feb 20, 2007, 10:32 pm
It's 26 Feb and their systems are still down
Is aros.net still trying to point the finger at Qwest?
Feb 27, email still down
March 16th and you still can't contact any business or technical person at aros.net This company is dead as dead. Are there any customers left?
- posted by Anonymous on Feb 27, 2007, 7:09 pm
Moved locations
ArosNet was evicted from the building at 28 South 400 East in mid February. The new address listed above was current at the time of the eviction. Their servers and equipment is located a few buildings north in the building owned by NetWorld.com
- posted by Lonnie Olson on Jul 10, 2007, 1:23 pm
Class Action Suit, Anyone? (Update as of July 15)
We're at 5 days and counting on ArosNet's latest email outage. I'm getting really sick of hearing about the DNS server being upgraded, being out, or being worked on. The tech support people most recently complained that part of the problem is that the actual server is not resident with them in their offices in Provo but gets worked on (or worked over, take your pick) by yet another group. Despite the fact that they maintain "the server is being worked on," this is by my count the third outage (they're happening roughly every 2 weeks now so one might draw the conclusion the server has bipolar disorder or very short cycles with very bad PMS)that started mid-week and had not been resolved by Friday. Did any of them get resolved on a Saturday or Sunday? Nope. The obvious conclusion is that even the tech support people are blowing smoke (or having smoke blown at them) when they tell you "they're working on it" over a weekend. The obvious conclusion is also that whoever works on the defective DNS server packs up and goes home at 5 on Friday (if, indeed, they bother to work that long) and ArosNet's clients can go rot for all they care.
We have stuck with them in part because, like so many have found, the billing office is unreachable and we couldn't see about a refund or waived fees (we pre-pay by the year and couldn't afford just to waste the money). I'm going to be really curious to see how they'll let us know we need to renew in August. (My money is on smoke signals.) To be fair, the internet connection has remained patent and the big problems are with the email --- but when you do all your business by email, these constant outages are costing you time, money, and all sorts of emotional distress.
My original thought here was to rake Mike Winsett over the coals to the extent that he'd file suit against me for slander. Then at least I'd know how to get hold of him to file my countersuit. As it is, I've finally filed with the Department of Consumer Protection (this is how you get the attention of the State Attorney General) and with the Better Business Bureau. I will say this much. If you look around the Internet, this is not the first ISP this guy has wrecked. One of them (seems to have been based in Portland) was one of those family friendly Christian services that supposedly keep the 'Net safe for your kids. Well, yes, if your ISP gets wrecked by this fool, your kids will be safe because they will no longer have access to the Internet at all. My guess is his religious affiliation is with someone other than Christ (with, perhaps, an Adversary, so to speak), which makes him a truly consummate con artist. I'm thinking the $180 we pay a year times what was at one time a customer base of 3000 is over $500,000 a year. We figure we got half the service we paid for; if others are faring likewise, he essentially pockets half of that. Even with a fine or two of $7500 for shady business practices, he skips town with a nice chunk of change. Yes, I mean skips town. The Holladay office listed above has closed now, there are ArosNet ex-employees on the web saying the office from which the company was evicted closed while they were still owed back pay (who knows whether the tech support company is getting paid), and the tech support folk say that, while they used to have real phone numbers and email addresses through which they could contact ArosNet, they've been forced to go to a "ticketing system" that blinds out the actual contact info. I guess the moral is that if you learn Mike Winsett is buying out your ISP, head for the hills.
If Dave Andersen and friends are still monitoring this page, I'd like to ask what they were thinking when they sold out (in all senses of the word) to this crook. Did their loyal customers mean that little to them that they'd leave us in the hands of someone like this without at least a warning that the company was changing hands? (And yes, Dave, the flow of providers for a lot of us was from KDC Online through Aphelion to Aros.Net with no interruption of service so it appeared it was one company morphing rather than one being subsumed by another.)
- posted by Karen Webb on July 15, 2007, late evening
Karen, the saga of ArosNet in the last few years saddens me terribly, but I should point out that I haven't been involved in ArosNet's management since 1998, and had nothing to do with the subsequent sale. When I left, the company was still thriving under the management of my partners and their tech staff. My understanding and opinion about the sale six years later is that Winsett purchased ArosNet when the controlling partner needed to sell for fairly serious health and family reasons. Winsett probably looked good enough on the surface. If he is, as you say, a "consummate con artist", one could guess how he pulled the wool over people's eyes long enough to complete the transaction. I believe that my former partners are also involved in pretty heavy-duty litigation against Winsett about the whole thing, but it's clear that the legal system couldn't/won't move quickly enough to prevent everything that happened. But I'd have to wager that they can't say much right now because their attorneys have forbidden them to while the matter is still ongoing. I do know that they're incredibly distraught by what's happened to their customers since the sale.
- Dave Andersen, 17 July 2007.
Update July 16
Laugh of the day: Per the tech guys at US89.net: "We're making progress. The mail should be working in a few days." (Note we're on day 6 of the outage) And since the mail sent to aros.net addresses is being bounced back to the sender, there will be no actual data dump when the server is finally fixed, so, again per US89, "the only way to tell will be to keep calling us." And waiting and waiting to be connected.
Oh, well, at least it's cutting down on the spam.
- posted by Karen Webb on July 16 at 7:20 p.m.
July 17
As you may be well aware, ArosNet has had their share of problems over the past few months. Due to the recent overturn of business, consistent system failures, and the impact this has had on Utah business owners who currently have websites hosted through ArosNet, Nevatech LLC, Based in Weber County-Utah, will be offering substantial discounts on web design and hosting services for current ArosNet clients. This is our effort to help local businesses get back on the web quickly, and at a minimal expense. more info
- Posted by Brett July 17 - 12:00pm
July 17
It is a loss what Aros.net has gone through. To help in anyway contact 
and we move your Co-location, DSL or other service for free. We will also offer discounted rates on T1, Fiber and co-location requirements.
- Posted by Bryan July 17 11:51pm
For Karen or anyone else looking for contact information on Winsett.
- posted by Anonymous on July 19, 2007
- NEWEST INFORMATION**************
New Email that was attempted to be sent July 17, 2007. If you couldn't access your email, you wouldn't have received it.
July 17, 2007
An open letter to all Aros.net subscribers:
I realize that the last few months with Arosnet has been a very difficult time. I also felt as subscribers that you needed to know the current situation, what has happened up to this point, and what the plan is for the future. This email is an effort to communicate these things to you.
In late February of 2007 Arosnet was involved in a legal dispute that involved their leaving their office in downtown SLC. They moved the office to Holliday for a period of time, and eventually closed their offices. At the time of their move, all of their services were disconnected. Two Utah Based companies, who were, and are still, not connected to Arosnet stepped in to assist Arosnet subscribers in getting their service up and working. This was done at great expense and effort and was done primarily because these companies did not want the subscribers to be left with nothing. One of these companies (NetWorld) provided a location for Arosnet to place their servers and provided dialup numbers for the dialup subscribers to connect to the internet. The other company (ServerPlus) provided email, technical support, and DSL service to the rest of the subscribers. Each of these companies spent considerable time and money bringing these services back up to the best of their ability in order to provide continued services to the Arosnet subscribers. Neither was paid for the time or services they provided. For the first 2 months billing was handled by Arosnet, but eventually that was taken over by ServerPlus under the name of Liberty Billing.
Last week, Networld, because they had not been compensated for the services they were providing, was forced to shut off the server room that Arosnet was using. This resulted in all websites and email going down. Recently the owner of Networld and the owner of ServerPlus spoke and discovered the issues that both were dealing with. In order to bring services back up for the Arosnet subscribers, these companies have banded together to get your service running the way it should.
If you had a website that was hosted with Arosnet, please contact Networld at 801.736.5200 and although they are not part of Arosnet, they will work with you to attempt to get your website up. Please be patient with them, they are doing this as a courtesy, and will try to accommodate you to the best of their ability. They are also working to get the server to direct the email to ServerPlus (US89's) email system (this is called a DNS Server) up and running as quickly as possible.
If you are having other technical issues, please contact the Arosnet technical support number which rings to ServerPlus's call center at (800) 313-9782. Again, although ServerPlus is not a part of Arosnet, they will attempt to assist you in whatever way possible. Until Networld is able to get the DNS Server up and running incoming mail will not be coming through. This means that people sending you email will get a message bounced back to them. Networld is working to get this accomplished as quickly as possible. You will however still be able to send mail using the us89.net domain as the sending domain. You can also access your email at webmail.us89.net, by putting in your email address and password.
Please be assured that neither Networld, nor ServerPlus had anything to do with the situation that Arosnet is currently experiencing, but they will work together and do everything they can to get your service back up and permanently repaired. We know that you have been frustrated, as have we, by this situation, and we are making every effort to restore your service and we appreciate your patience and understanding. Please be patient with the people you speak with at both companies, and know that we are all doing everything we can to get things back the way they should be.
We felt that it was only fair to let you know what has happened, and we hope that with this explanation at least you will know that efforts are being made on your behalf to resolve these issues.
Sincerely;
Layne Sisk President, ServerPlus LLC
- apparently Aros is in the hands of someone else, I called Mr. Winsett and he gave me this number 1-888-546-2297 which is an active service number for US89. They are trying to help, please be patient with the extended Frank Sinatra music, but someone will actually answer and try to help. I have Thunderbird, and they are having trouble with it's security, but they say a new website will be up soon. Winsett says that a Creditor now has control. Don't know if that's true. But here's more information if like me you didn't have any email access and didn't receive the information from ServerPlus.
Regards! Hope this works, I want my Aros back!
July 21
I was contacted recently by Kelly Robinson of Networld, who was actively trying to contact those of us who screamed the loudest or had the most vociferous presence on the Internet (guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease). He said pretty much what Layne Sisk says above. The one complaint I have about that entire situation was that apparently nobody bothered to tell the US89 people, so they were forced to keep perpetuating the myth that server was just down and being fixed. On the other hand, Robinson stated that it took till July 11 for Winsett to come to his office and sign some sort of agreement that allowed them to contact Aros.net customers.
So you don't have to click the link, here is Winsett's info: (801) 944-0287 7490 Mitt Ln. I hope Al-Qaida, the Mafia, etc, are taking note. The Division of Consumer Protection sure is, and so is the state Attorney General. The Consumer Protection people contacted me not long after Robinson with pretty much the same info. I would encourage anyone who feels he has been burned by Winsett to contact these guys and the Better Business Bureau. The one thing Consumer Protection is saying is that this is mainly a civil matter -- unless criminal intent can be proven. The gentleman who phoned me felt that Winsett is just a poor businessman. Having looked at the other companies he's bought and wrecked, I disagree. If any of you would like to contribute to the discussion (if, for instance, you have further knowledge of the previous ISPs he's been involved with that are no longer in business), now would be a good time to speak up. Pay it forward, consider your fellow man and don't let this guy cause this sort of grief to another set of clients in yet another state. I would not have wished this experience on my worst enemy. (If you want any sort of refund or compensation, at this point your only option is to file a civil suit. Networld is being very gracious about trying to make good on Winsett's default, but if you want compensation for lost business, I think you'll have to a) determine whether the cost of taking him to court is worth it (I'm assuming Winsett is banking on individuals thinking it won't be worth it -- enough individuals to whom he should owe less than $1000 in compensation can still result in a nice profit for him if court costs prohibit anyone from filing), and b) take a number and stand in line.
Is my viewpoint lacking in Christian charity? We were loyal for 6 months longer than half of Aros.net's client base. We believed Winsett was trying. He could have acted, even if action was only to contact customers and tell them he had business problems and the business might be going up the tubes. He could have done something as a show of good faith. He apparently owes Networld $70,000 for running his equipment for 6 months (the $300 a day it took to run the equipment with no sign of payment on the horizon is why they pulled the plug over there). He apparently owes money to quite a few people, including fines levied by Consumer Protection (their story is he just ignores their repeated demands for payment). He, according to CP, skipped out on a court hearing and got hit with a contempt of court citation (that was why he landed in jail, serving 5 days of the 30-day sentence, again according to CP). I've run out of cheeks to turn. Even Jesus threw the tax collectors and money changers out of the temple. I, too, want my Aros.net back. It ain't gonna happen.
- posted by Karen, who is receiving mail via Yahoo
ArosNet Refugees Hear-ye Hear-ye
I am Scott Edwards, a previous systems administrator of ArosNet (as was Lonnie, Brandon and others that moved on before this time).
I left the company when paychecks were deferred for over 10 days. I advised Michael sometime around June 2005 to have his newly acquired company's books audited by a neutral 3rd party. As it turns out, hindsight was 20/20. It's to my understanding the accountant, (Virgina Haun?) was skimming the books, as well as granting her extended family that worked there (Shon Nelson?) a hefty pay increase (reportedly greater than any other sysadmin, but he was techsupport). That's most of the sad news, if you didn't already suspect finance issues.
I don't believe all of what you hear is ill intent on behalf of Michael, however, there's a lot of room from improvement. I'm surprised it's gone this bad. I know he also runs http://www.familysafeweb.net which I'm sure has the same hardships.
Moving on; Good News
If you're looking to replace anything that ArosNet was performing for your or your business, I have a few suggestions. (most with 24x7 support)
- On Site Consulting
- http://www.AllYourGeek.com
- Dial-Up Internet
- http://www.SurfThe.US
- Domain Registration, Domain Registration, BackOrder Domains,
- SSL Certificates, Fax through Email, Online Group Calendar,
- Shopping Cart, Website tonight (easy D.I.Y template based web-design),
- Web-Site Hosting, MySQL, PHP5, ASP+MSSQL, ColdFusion, Traffic Blazer, Traffic Stats, Blogging,
- Co-location, Managed Servers, Dedicated Servers, VPS (Virtual Private Servers),
- Windows and Linux server packages available, Static IPs,
- Online Photo Gallery, And More
- http://www.daxal.com/hosting/arosnet-refugees - All services have online account management for ease of use. 24 x 7 support is also available for any support needs you may need regardless of when you need help.
Data recovery is also available. If you're looking to recover data previously stored on ArosNet systems, contact me. Before and after leaving the company, I made legitimate purchases of hardware with many backups on them.
Thank you, Scott Edwards.
-
- Contact Page
- http://www.surfthe.us/contactus/
- Linked-in
- http://www.linkedin.com/in/supaplex
psaxton sysadmin comments
As the last lead sys-admin for aros.net, I do agree with Scott. There was bad stuff happening, but I know that I had the best of intentions and believe that Michael did as well. Unlike previous failing companies I have worked for (Ikano, VanSikel Trucking), when paychecks started getting delayed, Michael had already been holding his own for some time. I loved Aros.net and considered it to be the best place on earth to work and get internet service. In the end, everybody involved had their share of ulcers and other serious stress related problems. With regards to ServersPlus, there are some things which I feel are in my best interest to hold my tongue on. With regards to Networld, I was amazed at the help and sanctuary they offered in our time of need. Unfortunately there just wasn't anything that could be done when the foundation had been stolen from the structure. Philip S.
Related Domains
External Links
- Alexa: Aros.net
