I need a new high speed internet provider

[julia & nicks mom]

I want to get rid of my house phone - we always use our cells -

but when I do - I lose my internet access -

does anyone have a national service they really like?

I got an offer from earthlink - how is their high speed internet??

 

[Molly Meow]

From what I understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong) -

If you don't want a land line at all, you have 3 options for internet: Cable, satellite, and Wi-Fi.

I would check with your cable provider first - if you have cable. It's going to be the most reasonable per month, but still expect to pay $40+.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[JudicialTyranny]

Earthlink provides high speed access over DSL, and for DSL you need a phone line.

 

[Nite0wl71]

Earthlink needs a phone line, it's DSL.

I had them for a year and when it was up I din't renew. They were down often and when I would call it took forever to get service. Once I was down for 2 days and they said they were doing routine maintenence.

On the plus side I learned to call whenever it was down for more then 3 hours and they always gave me credit on my next bill.

I have SBC now which also needs a phone line. I have had it 4 months and no problems at all. Very reasonable price also.

I feel better having a land line and not just relying on our cells.

 

[KMH1]

Can't you just move outdoors and "mooch" off the nearby coffeeshop?

Amy

 

[julia & nicks mom]

Can't you just move outdoors and "mooch" off the nearby coffeeshop?

Amy

only on my laptop - I hurt my back when I carry my desktop around like that!

do you have roadrunner - I can get that without cable or a phone line -

 

[RAD]

Earthlink needs a phone line, it's DSL.

Usually but not always true. There are a few cable systems that allow other ISP's to use their wire, Time Warner is one of them and I think BrightHouse also does.

 

[KMH1]

Thanks for not calling me out as your stalker.

Yes, we have RR...I think we've had it for 3-4 years now. We've had occasional outages, but overall RR is quite reliable and nice and quick.

Amy

 

[julia & nicks mom]

Thanks for not calling me out as your stalker.

Amy

I was worried that you knew about the coffee house but then I remembered you are fellow t-shirt addicts!!

Isn't the weather great now!!!

 

[KMH1]

LOL...it was actually Kevin who told me about your coffee house internet mooching. I can't keep up with that t-shirt thread!

And yes, it's so nice to be able to go outdoors again, although those blasted Cincinnati meteorologists are claiming the humidity will return in a few days.

Now quit distracting me! I finally finished reading Harry Potter and now I'm trying to read the spoiler thread before Alyssa wakes up from her nap. I'm only on post #196!

(And don't send me any "nasty" PMs either!!! )

 

[JudicialTyranny]

Usually but not always true. There are a few cable systems that allow other ISP's to use their wire, Time Warner is one of them and I think BrightHouse also does.

Then it's not DSL - it's cable. DSL uses a previously unused frequency range (unused for voice) on a telephone line.

Time Warner can call it DSL, but if it doesn't use a phone line, it's not DSL.

 

[debbiedoo]

We do not have a land line phone either.

We choose cable with internet and have been pleased. But it cost around 40/45 a month

 

[RAD]

Then it's not DSL - it's cable. DSL uses a previously unused frequency range (unused for voice) on a telephone line.

Time Warner can call it DSL, but if it doesn't use a phone line, it's not DSL.

I never said it was DSL on TW or BH, I know the difference between cable broadband, DSL, WiFi, BPL, satellite. I've never seen a cable broadband provider call their internet service DSL. My response was to the poster that said Earthlink needs a phone line, which is true only if it's Earthlink via a dial POTS or DSL, or ISDN-BRI is you want to stretch the point.

 

[LoraJ]

I have a dedicated DSL line with Speakeasy. I got rid of Verizon and have a VoIP service with them too. So, you can have DSL without phone service.

But if you already have cable, that may be a cheaper option. The dedicated DSL line is $55 a month.

 

[RAD]

I have a dedicated DSL line with Speakeasy. I got rid of Verizon and have a VoIP service with them too. So, you can have DSL without phone service.

But if you already have cable, that may be a cheaper option. The dedicated DSL line is $55 a month.

Yea, I forgot that some LEC's are now offering 'naked' DSL service along with some CLEC's that will provision ADSL/SDSL/IDSL service on dry cable pairs. I Think Verizon and Qwest are the only LEC's saying that they will do naked DSL, my LEC, SBC, says that their research shows that nobody wants naked DSL service, they didn't ask me I can tell you.

 

[LoraJ]

Yea, I forgot that some LEC's are now offering 'naked' DSL service along with some CLEC's that will provision ADSL/SDSL/IDSL service on dry cable pairs. I Think Verizon and Qwest are the only LEC's saying that they will do naked DSL, my LEC, SBC, says that their research shows that nobody wants naked DSL service, they didn't ask me I can tell you.

I would have loved to have cable internet, but the cable box on my block is not easily accessible. It was easier to get Satelite. A lot of peopel are switching to Satelite because it can be cheaper in some areas. So, SBC should re-do their research. lol.

 

[Rex Rules]

We have our high speed internet through our cable tv company. Works great. Even with all the thunderstorms lately, we have only lost connection once. We pay around $100 for both high speed and the digital cable.

 

[Galahad]

We have our high speed internet through our cable tv company. Works great. Even with all the thunderstorms lately, we have only lost connection once. We pay around $100 for both high speed and the digital cable.

We do this too and have no land lines either. Haven't had for 3 years. It all works great. Cost is about as you listed. BUT, when the new broadband services from Verizon Wireless and the like mature, I'll probably jump that way. Right now Verizon Wireless has broadband WAN availble in 43 markets, but it is only slightly faster than DSL and slower than cable. But, you can get it anywhere in town - even in your car .

 

[RAD]

I would have loved to have cable internet, but the cable box on my block is not easily accessible. It was easier to get Satelite. A lot of peopel are switching to Satelite because it can be cheaper in some areas. So, SBC should re-do their research. lol.

I do a lot of work finding ISP's for the work at home staff at my work place and I'd have to say to try to avoid satellite internet unless it's your last option. Because the radio signal needs to travel 22,300 miles up to the satellite and then 22,300 miles back down it adds about 1/2 a second of latency to all your packets. If all you do is web surfing and file downloads it would probably be OK for you but if you do any game playing or want to use VoIP it just isn't usable. There's also a very high upfront cost to purchase the hardware. Direcway charges $600 for installation and hardware plsu $59.99 or free hardware/install but a $99.99 activation fee and $99.99 per month for 15 months, then back to $59.99.

If you can't get cable or DSL I'd recommend looking to see if there are any local companies that provide terristial based wireless internet service. You might want to look around at www.dslreports.com or even the yellow pages under internet service providers to see if any local providers have a wireless service. Before cable or DSL made it to my home I had a wireless ISP that provided a 1.5Mbps down/1.5Mbps up service for $60/month. Good luck in your search for a provider.

 

[LoraJ]

I should have been clearer, I meant more people may be looking for DSL if cable isn't in their area. Which is the reason I got DSL, because the cable guy couldn't get to the box.