Have dial-up (I know, I know...) please help me upgrade-BUDGET

[disneybound31]

Hi all- we are one of the last few dial-up people out here...I HAVE to get faster internet here at home for our son sho starts middle school next week.

I do NOT want to go through our cable or phone company to do this. I want to cut off the land line entirely so how can I best accomplish getting wireless, fast internet or something else that moves faster than a snails pace and does not cost me an ABSLOUTE fortune each month.

ETA: It would be great if I could get $50 or less per month- possible?

Talk to me like I'm five...I won't be offended as I am fairly computer illiterate.

 

[TxRabbit]

If you don't want to go through a cable company and don't want phone lines, then that leaves satelite or a cellular phone provider for service. I checked out Verizon, here's the link to the plans:

http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/HighSpeedInternet/Plans/Plans.htm

If you commit to the plan, you can get it under $50 a month, easy.

 

[howlongtildisney]

Check into getting DSL from your phone company. Our phone company does not require us to have a landline in order to get DSL. We did for a couple years, and I believe the cheapest (and slowest but still way faster than dial-up) was somewhere around $20 a month.

I'm not sure where you are, but here in Atlanta we have Clear internet. That's what we use now. We had to pay about $75 for the modem and then pay $40 a month. Much faster than DSL and very reasonably priced. However, Clear only covers a few metro areas at the moment.

 

[ssawka]

You need to check what is available in your area. Not all services are available in all areas. If FIOS from Verizon is an option where you live, I would go with that. It might not be the cheapest, but it does give you the "best bang for your buck".

 

[Nayan]

Do you have cable? I have broadband with my local cable company and pay about $45/month. If not, check and see how much basic plus internet is. The nice thing about is I don't pay for modem rental and if it breaks I can switch it for a new one at no cost.

 

[sam_gordon]

You say you don't want to go through a cable or phone company, but you're pretty much stuck. Your other two options are satellite or cell. Satellite has good download speed, but upload isn't so good. And don't think "I'll never upload anything". Sending an email = upload. Filling out an internet form = upload.

Cellular, while a slight improvement over dialup, still isn't as fast as DSL (phone) or Cable internet. I suggest contacting your phone & cable providers to at least find out what their charges are.

 

[DawnM]

Where I live the ONLY options are DSL (through the phone company) or Cable modem. There are no other options.

We have Time Warner cable modem and pay $35/mo.

Dawn

 

[Tinkerbelle9980]

A couple thoughts...

Be careful if you get an air card from a wireless company. Their is generally a usage cap and if you go over the prices are horrible. Thet aren't bad as long as you are careful.

Also I know you said you didn't want to go through your cable company, but check prices with them. Two years ago we switched to a cable company that was new in town. They had one internet plan that was still so much better than the evil company we had. Last year I called our company for a friend to check prices and they added more plans. They now have a ten dollar plan, that is great.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Hopefully you find a good deal!

 

[Mkaz]

We had satellite for a while and hated it. Anytime it rained, snowed, or was really windy we lost our connection. Sometimes for for a couple of days at a time.

We finally ditched the satellite and went with verizon high speed internet. They gave us a bundled package for our phone, t.v., and internet. Our bill is usually $139 per month. It is saving us roughly $60 per month.

 

[disneybound31]

Do you have cable? I have broadband with my local cable company and pay about $45/month. If not, check and see how much basic plus internet is. The nice thing about is I don't pay for modem rental and if it breaks I can switch it for a new one at no cost.

I just REALLY don't want to go thru my cable comp...it is Comcast and as the only cable provider available in this area they have a monopoly on us and mess up our cable at least twice a year and have to re-route our underground wires- i just fought for two weeks to get someone out after they cut our line instead of our moving neighbors and I DO NOT want to have it messed up again.

 

[disneybound31]

So is there no way to get a wireless router (?) and get faster internet that way? What am I missing here? I know alot about some things, but computer hook-up is not one of them- lol. All our friends say 'Comcast bundle package, Bellsouth bundle pkg, or other bundle' but I just don't want that. That Verizon FIOS aounds interesting, but we do not have a Verizon cell account- does that matter? Actually, our son has a Verizon phone that occasionally we put minutes on when he travels..that count?

Thanks for all the help, guys. I am trying to understand the lingo and get with the program and you are helping alot!

ETA: we NEVER use our home phone- people only call our cells so we really don't want to keep the home phone unless that is our only option to get faster internet and I don't want to pay over $50 phone bill/internet combined...possible? I keep getting put on hold when I call Bellsouth...

 

[sam_gordon]

So is there no way to get a wireless router (?) and get faster internet that way? What am I missing here? I know alot about some things, but computer hook-up is not one of them- lol. All our friends say 'Comcast bundle package, Bellsouth bundle pkg, or other bundle' but I just don't want that. That Verizon FIOS aounds interesting, but we do not have a Verizon cell account- does that matter? Actually, our son has a Verizon phone that occasionally we put minutes on when he travels..that count?

Thanks for all the help, guys. I am trying to understand the lingo and get with the program and you are helping alot!

Let me try to help. You can purchase a wireless router at your local store. When you try to hook it up though, it requires a wired connection to your internet modem (cable/DSL/satellite modem). The 'wireless' part refers to the connection between the router and your computer. A VERY simple drawing...

Cable/Phone company headend ----wire---> DSL/Cable Modem ---wire---> Wireless Router (or direct to PC) ----wire or wireless ---> Multiple PCs/Iphones/Ipads etc.

Now, it is TECHNICALLY possible that you might be able to connect wirelessly (from your laptop) to your neighbor's wireless router (or if you live next to a Starbucks or something). I won't get into the ethical discussion of that.

I hope this helps.

ETA: go to Bellsouth.com, select High Speed Internet on the left hand side. You'll get a page with the following:

FastAccess DSL without a voice line is available at several speeds and price plans for qualifying customers. Get FastAccess DSL Direct 6.0 for $19.95 or FastAccess DSL Direct 3.0. or DSL Direct 1.5 for $14.95. If you would like FastAccess DSL Direct 768K for $14.95 per month for 12 months, call 1-866-949-0023 to order! These offers can not be combined with the switch from cable offer. (New customers only).

 

[Nayan]

You could go Sat, but remember that when you sign up that nice price they advertise is good for only a year but you must sign a contract for two, in which your bill will usually double. I would love to get DTV myself, but I can't stand how much the second year would cost to equal everything I get now with my cable company (my total bill is around $190/month, but we have everything, including all the sports packages and multi-room). Does your landline service offer anything high speed? How much faster will you need to go? Does your son want to play online games, like World of Warcraft? View videos? Depending where you live you're only option might be going through Comcast or Sat, but then even Sat is slow (though not as slow a dial-up) and like a PP said, bad weather and it goes down.

 

[disneybound31]

Let me try to help. You can purchase a wireless router at your local store. When you try to hook it up though, it requires a wired connection to your internet modem (cable/DSL/satellite modem). The 'wireless' part refers to the connection between the router and your computer. A VERY simple drawing...

Cable/Phone company headend ----wire---> DSL/Cable Modem ---wire---> Wireless Router (or direct to PC) ----wire or wireless ---> Multiple PCs/Iphones/Ipads etc.

Now, it is TECHNICALLY possible that you might be able to connect wirelessly (from your laptop) to your neighbor's wireless router (or if you live next to a Starbucks or something). I won't get into the ethical discussion of that.

I hope this helps.

ETA: go to Bellsouth.com, select High Speed Internet on the left hand side. You'll get a page with the following:

Okay- that helps alot- thx. I can see from my laptop that our neighbors have unsecured wireless that we can sponge off of- I won't so that, altho a not-so-ethical friend of ours pointed that out to me and told me I could just piggyback off them...but I refuse.

I also clicked thru that Verizon link provided above and it sounded great til I put in my addressa nd they don't serve our area.

What can I try next?

 

[BCV2003]

Your service doesn't necessarily need to be bundled. I have DirecTV as my satellite provider for TV and I have no home phone, only a cell phone.

I subscribe to comcast for the High speed internet only and have the lower speed plan which is considerably cheaper and still faster than DSL. My bill is around $35/month and that is with no special incentives. If you currently have Comcast Service, it will be very easy to have a cable modem hooked up to that.

 

[disneybound31]

You could go Sat, but remember that when you sign up that nice price they advertise is good for only a year but you must sign a contract for two, in which your bill will usually double. I would love to get DTV myself, but I can't stand how much the second year would cost to equal everything I get now with my cable company (my total bill is around $190/month, but we have everything, including all the sports packages and multi-room). Does your landline service offer anything high speed? How much faster will you need to go? Does your son want to play online games, like World of Warcraft? View videos? Depending where you live you're only option might be going through Comcast or Sat, but then even Sat is slow (though not as slow a dial-up) and like a PP said, bad weather and it goes down.

No, nobody plays any online games, thankfully, but I do use the internet for my work, kids school stuff, pictures, etc. Nothing too crazy, but I can no longer live with waiting 30 minutes for a picture to load on the Dis dining threads - and when DS has a middle school projenct, well, forget it. He can't see half the images and hardly can print anything he needs it's so slow. When the kids were smaller I just dealt with my cheap ($10 netzero dialup) internet because it's just me. DH has lightening speed internet thru his work and cannot believe I have lived with ours for years.

 

[disneybound31]

Your service doesn't necessarily need to be bundled. I have DirecTV as my satellite provider for TV and I have no home phone, only a cell phone.

I subscribe to comcast for the High speed internet only and have the lower speed plan which is considerably cheaper and still faster than DSL. My bill is around $35/month and that is with no special incentives. If you currently have Comcast Service, it will be very easy to have a cable modem hooked up to that.

And I totally get that that seems the easiest to do, but I just can't go that route. We only pay $15 month for basic cable because we just want to spend $ on other things- I'm super frugal (DH says cheap haha) and because of the last huge problem with Comcast they are giving us free delux cable for a time as an apology. Not only will they cut off that perk as soon as I start messing with our service I am convinced they will mess the WHOLE thing up and I cannot deal with them right now. I hate COmcast so badly and wish we had another choice (other than DirecTV or Sat) and I refuse to add and pay for another service from them knowing I will sit on hold day after day begging them to come back out and re-hook it up properly. They have admitted they mis-labled our and our neighbors lines, but even when I stand over the technician they mess it up and drive away while I go in to check that ours works. It has happened 16 times in 8 years. Twice a year. Never fails. Sorry to ramble- I just despise them.

 

[Nayan]

Maybe BellSouth might be the way to go then for you (and your budget!). Granted, it's not as fast as what Comcast might offer, but I am sure at this point anything would be a big improvement over dial-up .

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Verizon Wireless has a Mifi (mobile hotspot) card available. It provides broadband internet connectivity for up to 5 computers or devices, and you can take it with you when you travel, etc.

 

[QT Pooh]

Please note that if you do go the satellite route, check up on the Fair Access Policy. Satellite companies price their plans on the amount of information you download. Basic packages have only 200MB in downloads in a 24 hour period. If you surpass that, you get restricted for 24 hours. You can 'use' the service; however, the transmission is SLOWER than dial up. We pay 69.99 per month for the 325MB download package (Hughesnet). They give you unrestricted access (doesn't count towards your daily usage) from 2-7 am (eastern) everyday...that's when they request you do your large downloads.