OT -- DSL ... can someone explain it to me and how much is it?

[Belle0101]

Unless I get online during the very late evening hours when I'd rather be sleeping my ISP is s l o w. I'd like to get DSL but have no idea about it except that you are always online and it doesn't tie up your phone line, other than that I'm clueless.

Is it very costly? Right now I pay $17.95/month for unlimited usage of the internet.

If you don't tie up a phone line then how does it work?

Thanks!

 

[Eilonwy]

I can't help you with DSL. I've had Satellite and now Wireless Internet service. DH's workplace pays for it, so we don't have to worry about that. The Satellite service was $70/month. Wireless service is $60/month. I think those numbers are right. With each of these there was some kind of cable/line that comes into the house separately and that is what is connected to a modem/box inside the house. Of course there's the equipment for outside of the house.

Anybody want a used DirecPC satellite? They won't take it back, and DH's employer doesn't want it (since it didn't really work for him for work stuff, they don't want to give it to anyone else).

 

[mad4themouse]

But I recently switched from AOL's dialup service (around $24/month) to Comcast Cable.

Comcast was running a special of 6 months for $19.95 per month. If you purchased your cable modem from BestBuy and signed up for Comcast thru them, you got a 100% rebate of the cost of the modem. Once the 6 months are up, I think the monthly fee jumps to $43/per month. Since we no longer will need the second telephone line in order to get on the internet, we will save on that cost. I figure that it comes out just about even in the long run. Since DSL uses your existing phone line without interfering with phone service, you could also dump your second phone line if you have one.

Equipment for DSL and cable is similar. You will need a cable/DSL modem which is different than the dialup modem that comes standard in most computers. You will also need a LAN card. Comcast and BestBuy had a 100% rebate on cable modems when I signed up, so the net cost for the modem was $0.

Since my computer is a little older, it did not come with a LAN card installed and I had to purchase and install one myself. They really are not all that expensive to buy (about $20 but with rebates it cost me closer to $5). However, if you are in any way hesitant to open up your computer, you would need to consider the cost of paying someone to do this.

Self-installation of the cable modem was pretty easy to do. I'm not sure what Comcast would have charged to come out and do it. Basically, it was a matter of connecting the cable modem to our cable line (a DSL connection would hook up to your phone line) and then hooking the modem up to the LAN card on the computer. Once that was done and all the drivers were installed for the modem and LAN card, it was just a simple call to Comcast to activate the account.

Once we got used to the cable connection, I set up a wireless network in my house. Now all the computers have internet access and we're not fighting over who gets to be online. This is a BIG advantage over dialup service. I also do not need to set up and pay for separate accounts so that multiple users can be online at the same time.

The connection is definitely faster than dialup. The pages still load slower than DSL would but I can live with that for now. In 6 months, when my contract with Comcast is up, they may have DSL available in my area and I'll just switch again.

 

[jcemom]

We're signing up for DSL at the end of the month through Verizon. You can check their website to see if it's available in your area. I think it's free for the first month, then 29.95 for a couple of months, then 34.95 normally. It stays at 29.95 if you have long distance service through them -- though it may only be certain long distance plans, I can't remember.

If you go the self-installation route, they send you the modem for free.

 

[pumba]

it is totally awesome....because we started with DSL in our area the first few months our bill has been the same for almost 2 and a half years....it is 39.95.....but we had three computers hooked at the same time....I can talk on the phone and surf the net at the same time......my husband does alot of our pictures thru the computer and he likes the way the computer goes FAST.....we have had NO PROBLEMS at all.....

 

[jcemom]

Question for you guys...
How do I know if I have a LAN card in my computer?

 

[Belle0101]

Thanks everybody -- these boards are the greatest! It's really nice the way everybody helps everybody out with problems, suggestions, trivia answers ... a really great group of people here!!

So it sounds to me like DSL is the way to go then. I'm gonna give away my age here, or maybe it was just the school I went to, but we didn't have computers in school. My son started computers in kindergaten ... time sure do change. I imagine eventually I'll be having him help me out with computer issues. Anyhow, I'm going to do some checking and see if it's available here. Thanks again!!

 

[lilsonicfan]

one quick and easy way to tell if you have a lan card is to look at the back of your computer where you have all the ports and outlets for plugs. If you have a regular modem, you will see a jack to plug in a telephone cord. If you have a LAN card, you will see a jack to plug in an Ethernet/Cat5 cable, the plug is wider than the telephone jack but otherwise looks similar (may also have some LED lights.)

If you computer is a few years old, it may not have a LAN card. I had to buy one for my computer, but it was easy to put in. My family has two computers networked, and it's great- no more fighting about who gets to go online!

 

[jcemom]

lilsonicfan --
Yes! My computer has that! Thanks.