BS: Broadband internet USA

Subject: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: John J
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 05:18 AM

I'm about to sign my father up for broadband. He lives in Clearwater, Florida. His telephone is with Verizon who are offering a 2 year deal for broadband internet for U$14.99 per month for 2 years with a connection speed of 'up to' 768kbps. The deal includes a modem and the first month free and is valid for orders placed before 5th January.

Could any of our American cousins advise if this is a route worth exploiting?

I live in UK but will be visiting him on 9th January. If I order this now I could do the techy bits whilst there.

Many thanks,

John

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 10:43 AM

That's pretty slow. You should be able to get at least 1.5 Mbps, possibly even an "up to 10 megs burstable".

Verizon has a lot of plans, and I'm sure that in Clearwater there are other providers as well. I'd check 'em out, perhaps via the phone book, when you get there.

Cable television is also a viable option and he may already have it in place.

Whatever company, check and see if you can buy a compatible modem, etc. instead of renting it from the company. Might save some money in the long run, but remember the support issues.

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: John J
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 12:35 PM

Thanks for your reply, I agree that the speed appears to be slow - but the price seems cheap enough. Do you think U$14.99 per month is reasonable for this service in USA?

I would wait until I arive in Clearwater before I get things ordered, but as I'm only going to be there for around 10 days I would prefer to get things moving now so when I arrive it can be set-up.

Any thoughts?

John

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 01:31 PM

That cost isn't bad, and if he is accustomed to dial-up, it will seem fast, at least for a while. Some of these companies offer graduated speed levels depending on how much you're willing to pay. How will he be using his computer? If he's downloading movies he needs something faster than if he's only sending email.

You can also check to see what the competition offers. Chances are there are other companies like Earthlink or America OnLine (AOL) in the area. If he gets cable television see what they offer. My next door neighbor is looking at an offer (in Texas) for $14.99 a month for 12 months (then it goes up) at a little bit faster speed than what you found, and they also offer graduated levels.

If you're not in the U.S. you might not get the same results, so I searched on "compare DSL prices" and have a couple of links for you.

http://www.broadbandinfo.com/internet-access/dsl/top-providers.html

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/internet/isp/retailers.html

I haven't researched who actually sponsors these pages, but they seem to cover a variety of U.S. providers and offer links for reading up on the subject.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 08:02 PM

If you're looking for a provider at a decent cost, try checking out The List. It really is what it says it is -- the definitive guide to ISPs.

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 07:15 AM

In many places in the US the choices available may vary. There may be only one, or a few, providers with whom you can get a DSL connection. In advertising and other "explanatory materials" DSL may be called "High Speed Internet."

Surprisingly, a "wireless high speed internet" connection may be available in places where wired DSL is not; but even the wireless connection may be "available" in a particular city, but not in some "pockets" where signal conditions are less than satisfactory.

Generic advertising for a major telco like AT&T, Verizon, etc may have different policies depending on precisely where you are and what local office administers the service you want.

Although it's seldom stated "up front" most wired connections insist that you must get your local 'phone service from the provider that gives you the high speed (DSL or wireless) connection. In some places it's a requirement. In other places they may imply that "you have to" get both together but you may be able to argue about it.

It's nearly a universal requirement that in order to get a "cable internet service" you must also subscribe to at least "basic cable TV." If you have and intend to keep a cable TV the prices quoted for internet are in addition to that. If you don't have cable TV, it can be very difficult to even get the "cable internet people" to admit that it's an additional cost you will have to pay, and/or to get a price for "how much cable TV" is required and what it will cost (It is at least in my area).

The price and speeds cited in the first post here are pretty typical for what's available in my area, with "basic" packages from $9.99 to about $20 at the speeds given. Most providers will offer a higher speed option for around $20 - $30 per month, with a "premium" service in the vicinity of $30 - $50 per month. All of these are for "Dynamic Address" service. [If (unlikely) you want a "Fixed IP" service the range here is around $50 to $75 per month.]

The possible "clinker" in the deal fist described could be in the two year contract. Most providers in my area require only one year at initial signup. More important perhaps than the length of the contract is the "termination policy and charges" demanded by the provider. It's been fairly common for providers to demand payment for the full "length of contract" at termination, or to apply a lesser "flat fee" for any termination before the term of the original. AT&T in my area has only - within the last couple of months - gone to a prorated termination fee that decreases as you "use up more" of the original term.

Verizon is one provider that's been cited in complaints that for cell-phone contracts any contact with them automatically results in a "contract renewal" that extends the contract by the term of the original, so if you call to inquire about your bill you've "agreed" to a new one or two year extension of the contract, starting with the date of your call. I haven't heard of complaints of them doing this with internet service, but would advise asking specifically about disconnect terms/penalties with any provider you're considering.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting hooked up in a hurry to get a "special offer" price, since a new "special offer" likely will come along almost as soon as the old one expires. The rate quoted may be a little better than the "regular rate," but isn't likely to be a lot different. If it really is a "special introductiory rate" it may be difficult to get them to tell you what rate will apply after the "introductory period" expires - or even whether or not it does expire or is guaranteed as long as the contract is renewed.

As several have commented, the rates claimed for the service in the first post are typical for "minimum DSL" service. It probably is adequate for casual browsing, but if significant "video" - as in Movies or TV programming - downloading is anticipated you probably should consider a step up to the next more expensive (faster) plan. Note that all such offers say "up to xx MB/sec" but actuals may be closer to about half what is claimed. You're unlikely to get a provider to quote an "expected actual speed" before signing the contract.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: John J
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 08:45 AM

Thanks for all this information - Mudcat members always come up with the goods!

Do you think the speed Verizon are likely to actually deliver (around half the speed advertised as suggested by John) is going to be suitable to view the odd YouTube video? That is likely to be the hairiest thing we'll be downloading. the rest will be a bit of surfing, listening to a bit of internet radio, and emailing.

Dad's phone is with Verizon, it certainly looks easy enough to sign up with. My plan would be to order the service about now so that all the bits are in place for me to actually connect when I go over next week. I'm assuming it will take Verizon around a week to activate the DSL on the phone line.

Cheers,

John

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 09:45 AM

I haven't read every sentence of the posts above, but it seems to me that none of them deal with what I consider the real issues in choosing an ISP. Here are what I consider real issues:

Do they answer the phone and talk to you, or do you have to deal with several menus, none of which deal with your problem?

Do they put advertisements on your computer? I signed on with AT&T, which told me 'no ads.' Three months later they were putting flashing, gyrating ads on my e-mail program. One day I was composing an e-mail to my nephew about his new daughter and suddenly found myself staring into a stranger's all-but-nude rear end. I found a new ISP.

Do the technical support people talk understandable English? When I call my present ISP, I get to talk to a nice guy named Jason. (I think they're all named Jason.)

Does the Help screen actually help? Or does it have FAQ's such as 'Duh, how do I turn dis computer on?'

If your father has a lot of cables and connections in place, can the new system use the same type of cable? I chose my present ISP (kcnet)because it uses RJ 14, just like the previous ISP.

If I were you, I would have my father talk to friends, etc, and see who's offering customer-friendly service in his city. The difference between $14.99 and 19.99 is unimportant compared to having an ISP with integrity and a good attitude.

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 12:34 PM

YouTube videos? No, not really. Not unless you want to watch your plants grow while waiting for the video to load.

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: Amos
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 12:36 PM

IF your father subscribes to cable television he should investigate getting abundled ISP service and cable TV setrvice over the same wires. The bandwidth is quite high enough for his needs, and the technology is quite robust -- Ive used it for a good ten years with no serious problems.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 01:38 PM

We opted for a "second tier" package with slightly higher speed than quoted for the "special offer." Ours has no problem streaming video from YouTube or from typical TV News pages, although there's sometimes a few seconds delay for loading; and the "actual speeds" (shown for some sites) while loading often are not above the "maximums" quoted for the cheaper service. The problem is that it's very difficult to get a provider to tell you what they consider a "minimum guaranteed" rate for a given service.

If daddy isn't a real video addict, the lower rates should be okay, if he's willing to allow for a little download time before the newsclips or YouTube videos start. A step up in speed would be recommended if he wants to watch "streaming video" for feature length web TV. If he expects to download movies or full episodes of TV shows, he certainly will want a faster service - perhaps much faster (T1 anybody?).

Upload speeds are generally significantly slower than download speeds for all the "economically viable" plans. In the past, the difference has been very much greater for cable than for DSL, with some "very fast" cable (for downloads) close to dial-up speed for uploads. At dial-up speeds, sending an email with attachments over a couple of megabytes can be tedious. The DSL lines that I've looked at generally apply approximately a 20MB per email attachment limit, and it seems to cause no noticeable delay for the few "larger" clips we've sent on our DSL - although we haven't tried anything that really approaches the 20MB limit.

The difference between cable up/down speeds may have changed some, as I haven't checked recently; and the difference may not be too important for users who arent' into "video sharing" or some other form of bandwidth hoggishness.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jan 08 - 02:39 AM

I'm paying AT&T $19.95 a month for 1.5 Mbps - I could have gotten 768 kbps for $14.99, but I'm happy I got the faster speed. 1.5 is fast enough for YouTube, but not for some of the higher-quality streaming video.
My dad has cable Internet from Comcast in Sarasota, which is quite close to Clearwater. He's very happy with it. I'd suggest you should check out both cable and DSL.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Broadband internet USA
From: PoppaGator
Date: 03 Jan 08 - 03:43 AM

If Dad already has cable TV, definitely consider the provider's cable internet service. That makes exactly the same kind of sense as considering DSL from his phone provider, inasmuch as either provider will give you a deal for "bundling" two or more services.

If his does not have cable (i.e., if he has satellite dish TV or simple broadcast only), DSL may be the only practical choice, and the current phone provider will probably offer a deal that no one else can match.

I've had both DSL and cable, and don't find a great deal of difference. Cable may be a bit more consistent speed-wise. Either is, of course, a huge improvement over dial-up, especially since neither one ties up your regular phone service.