A Review of DTN Data Transmission Network
By E-Analytics
This is part of a larger Finance & Investing Software Review site provided by Equity Analytics, Ltd.
This review is short because I didn't want to waste a lot of valuable time writing about a product which in my opinion is
terrible. Data Transmission Network - DTN is in my opinion the worst of all the data providers I've ever seen. It's not even
a close contest. In fact, I ordinarily place the company phone number and other pertinent information on the top. It would be
perverse if I did that here. Their product and service is so bad that this company is not even in the game. If you want to save a
little time, stop here and don't use DTN Data Transmission Network for your data provider. If you want to know why - read
on.
Data Transmission Network - DTN is best known for delayed stock quotes. They are perhaps the least expensive in the
industry for this product. Of course, like anything else, there are rarely true bargains. And in this case, you get what you pay
for. Very little. They have the worst technical support I've ever seen. Data Transmission Network - DTN didn't write the
software. They farmed it out. So when a software problem arises they don't know enough about the program to fix the
problem. They make other companies with bad technical support look like giants in the technical support area. If you can't get
your system up and running right away, there is a low probability that DTN will ever get it up and running for you.
They are moving away from their antiquated monitor system and to a more advanced system (which has been the industry
standard for a while) where the quotes go straight into your computer and you can bring the quotes into different applications.
As far as I can determine, they are the last to upgrade to this technology which has been around for several years.
If you need to be able to do anything with your data other than just look at it on a separate monitor which is not part of your
computer, you can't use this product. That is, if you need to bring the data into a charting program or a spreadsheet, you
should strongly consider another data provider. If all you need to do is look at securities prices, find an internet delayed service
(usually free) or watch CNBC (a cable station).
The company will give the user the first month's service for free. My guess is that one month is about how long it takes for a
user to get the service running. If he can get it running at all. Therefore, the first month free is no bargain.
By the way, we were never able to get the service running on our computer. At first, Data Transmission Network - DTN said
that it was a hardware problem. I called Gateway 2000 tech support. For more than three hours, the Gateway technician and I
uninstalled all the software on the computer (including Windows). We then re-configured the autoexec.bat, config.sys, and ini
files, to the way they were when they came out of the factory. We then re-installed all the software I had on the computer.
Guess what? DTN still didn't work. Data Transmission Network - DTN's answer - There's a software conflict. Therefore, it's
still you're computers fault. Of course, the fact that DBC Signal ran just fine, Corel's office suite runs fine, Microsoft Office
runs fine, Adobe Photoshop runs fine, an HP ScanJet ran fine, and a whole host of other data feeds run fine, plus all the smaller
software programs run fine, didn't mean anything to them. Data Transmission Network - DTN adheres to the principles from
the I have to be right because if I'm wrong there might be something wrong with our software, school of thought.
Data Transmission Network - DTN would probably have been much better off if they aired a few less television commercials
and hired some tech support people who actually knew how to repair their software. They are very good at marketing and
selling their product. They are very bad on all other matters.
In summation, if everything goes right with a company's software product, it's easy to be a great company. What sets a
company and their products apart is how well they respond to customer problems. Can they get the product to work? Does
their product work well once it's installed? Does the software run efficiently? And most importantly, does the company do
what they say they will do? These are all questions a potential customer needs to know the answers to. In the case of Data
Transmission Network - DTN, the company receives failing grades to all these questions.
A postscript to this review is that when I contacted Data Transmission Network - DTN I didn't tell them that I was getting
their data feed so that I could review it. I was just another customer. I paid my shipping charges and the hardware and
software arrived shortly thereafter. When nothing worked and after several weeks I couldn't get the data feed to work, I told
them I wanted my money back and they should have the material picked up and returned to them.
They wouldn't return my money. So I told them that if they wouldn't refund my money for a product that never ran and they
couldn't get to operate, I wouldn't return their equipment. For months a stand-off ensued. They called and threatened me. I
told them to give me my money back. Nothing happened.
Then one day I received a phone call from Data Transmission Network - DTN telling me that they would settle the matter.
They would send me a letter confirming that I would send them back their equipment after they credited my credit card. I
agreed. What happened next both surprised me and didn't surprise me. They sent me a letter that should have gone to
someone else. When I got around to calling the person the letter was addressed to, he began to tell me his tale of sorrow with
Data Transmission Network - DTN. His story was remarkably similar to mine. Although, he was able to get his system running
marginally. However, DTN wasn't refreshing the screen constantly. Their data came in like a snapshot, not a continuous feed. I
suspect that there are a lot of other similar stories out there.
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