BS: High speed internet recommendations?

Subject: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 01:55 PM

Some advice on getting the best deal in high speed internet and email would be much appreciated. I'm currently on Earthlink, with a dial-up connection. I just bought an IMac, and I need to switch to high speed in order to switch my data from my Mac G4 to the IMac, and to get into sites I can't use with dial-up (YouTube, etc.). So, I call Earthlink, and the only plan they have available costs $99 a mointh! Unbelievable! There must be better deals out there. I've been with Earthlink since 1999, but it's time for me to switch providers. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Chanteyranger

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 02:30 PM

Earthlink has high speed internet, and they hooked it up for me here, but I'm too far from the station so their service has been diminished to about 1/4 of the speed it should be. I pay $41 a month, and they're expensive for the service, all things considered. I'd definitely check into other companies. I dislike the local cable company (Charter) but I'm about to switch over just for Internet; I won't get television, though I might bundle in the phone.

Around here, if you can get AT&T, they have a modestly priced plan (about $15 a month) that a lot of people have switched to if they are closer to the phone company station than I am.

I think you can keep access to your web email from Earthlink, or pay about $5 a month for email download access once you switch to something else. I've been slowly migrating my email over to free Google gmail accounts, setting them to forward from Earthlink (you do this from their web mail access point.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: artbrooks
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 03:08 PM

Whine at Earthlink. I'm paying $42.50 for 6 mbps, and would be paying more if I hadn't bitched about it.

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 03:19 PM

Telephone, cable TV and high-speed cable internet (including virus-protection and blockers) are combined into one package by Shaw Communications here in southern Alberta (cities only). Telephone service is unlimited U. S.-Canada and 1000 minutes/month to UK, Europe, and selected Asia Pacific and S. Am. countries. Cable TV is some 100 or more stations and varied musical channels. Package cost $145/month.
We are heavy long-distance users, and the phone service (in our opinion), is the best for our area.

Next year, TV rates will change (upward, of course!) when the new HD transmission regulations go into effect. Many are available now at extra cost, along with special interest stations (Greece, Fairchild Asian, etc.).

Talk with people in your area about services available and their satisfaction rate. Much variation in different areas, depending on servers available.

Also investigate satellite; one of my kids lives in the bush with no cable and very poor phone service.

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 03:43 PM

We were a bit reluctant to go with AT&T because of the Yahoo connection (and their reputation for "software overload") but it actually has been quite a good change. It depends entirely whether DSL is available at your location though. Various wireless connections may be more widely accessible.

While cable and satellite services often claim higher speeds, it must be noted that the speeds quoted usually are "one-way" (downloads) and uploads often are closer to dial-up than to DSL. DSL is usually more "symmetric," with comparable speeds for upload and download, and with our #2 plan (not the cheapest, but not really what we might want if we were into huge video downloads) it's more than adequate, for about $49/month "quoted offer" rate (~$65/month with excise taxes) for both DSL and land-line telephone. Since we were able to drop a second (internet dedicated) dial-up line it was very nearly a "no-cost" conversion.

(At present, T-1 is not available in my area, and the minimum cost for this "somewhat better" connection is over $100/month for all plans that I've seen offered. With the exception of "pure geek factor" I can't think of a reason why I'd want it at present; but it's something to look forward to - maybe.)

Due to differences in availability, unless someone lives in your immediate area, all recommendations have to be taken with due consideration for the specific plans available to you at your location. And be very cautious in separating the bullshit advertising from the reality when checking out plans with the individual provider who makes you an offer.

John

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 05:25 PM

I have cable-internet at work and at home, very reliable and quick.

For what it's worth, since the post-Katrina flooding here in New Orleans, I've been in a position where I have little choice.

There was no conventional "land-line" telephone service to my neighborhood for over a year, during which time we adapted to a cell-phone-only lifestyle. By the time we had an option to reinstate our home phone (either to the newly-installed conventional AT&T service or to digital-cable-telephone service), there seemed to be no need to take on the extra expense of either alternative. We had all the telephone we need in the form of our newfangled cellulars.

Satellite/dish TV is advertising heavily around here and offering lower rates for television than our well-established local cable outfit (Cox), but if we were to switch our TV from cable to satellite, we would then have to start paying for a phone line in order to retain any internet connection, DSL or even dial-up. After factoring that into the equation, we prtty much have to stand pat. The internet service is fine; I just hate paying so muche for TV ~ more than folks with home phones and stellite dishes. (Of course, I'm not paying for the home phone.)

Cable internet speed, I'm told, is greatly affected by one's proximity to a source, whatever that is. Living in a moderately dense metropolitan area (albeit not as densely populated as before August 2005), our cable internet service is pretty good. But I think you'd be better off asking around locally in your area than asking on this international forum!

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: frogprince
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 06:48 PM

We went from Sage telephone and dialup to AT&T phone and DSL. Not the very fastest internet, but far, far faster than the dialup, and phone and internet total runs about $10 a month less than what we were paying.

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Amos
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 07:21 PM

We've used cable for more than ten years with 99.9% satisfaction.

Comparing up-load and download speeds is a little of a stretch because the majority of your browsing time your uploads are small requests for pages, and your downloads are large answeres to them.

Historically DSL has been bumpy with lots of glitches, but it seems to have settled down lately, and I am hearing fewer horror stories as the installation base matures.

But Roadrunner has been an excellent provider for a long time with all the bandwidth I need, and I am happy to recommend them.

Survey users in your own region, though. Half our county has to be served by Cox rather than Time-Warner, and their service record is much more spotty.

A

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 08 - 10:20 PM

I should note that my daughter and her husband, outside of the area with cable, have two satellite services, one providing TV, the other high-speed internet, needed for business purposes. Expensive, but necessary outside of the cities. They have country phone service in addition.

As most of us have suggested, check with users in your area. Their answers will be better than ours can be.

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Tweed
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 10:01 AM

I recently got DSL from bellsouth (it's ATT, aslo, I think) It's the cheapest version at 20 bucks a month and the speed is fine for me. Music and videos come up very quickly and have had no problems. Used to have Netscape dialup at $10 a month, so for the extra ten I am well satisfied with the DSL. Signed on for either one year or two and got the modem free. Installation is a snap aslo!

Tweed

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 11:21 AM

When I needed to switch, somebody on the Mudcat told me to check the Yellow Pages under Internet providers. (Duh!) I found a local company which provides excellent service for a good price. When I have a question, somebody answers promptly (if not immediately) in clear English.

Shortly before that, I had signed up with AT&T. They told me my home page would have no advertising. After a coupla months, they started putting very irritating (jiggling) ads on the page. I left them.

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 11:41 AM

" Half our county has to be served by Cox rather than Time-Warner, and their service record is much more spotty."

Hmm, Amos, didn't know that. Our local cable service in New Orleans is Cox, and I'm happy enough with 'em.

Now, we were among the very last metropolitan areas to get cable TV ~ I can't remember the year, but by the time we had access to cable, everyone in the country had it too. So our cable infrastructure has never included any of the oldest technology.

And then, after Katrina, Cox did a good job rewiring their entire service area. For example, you could get Cox digital telephone service in many neighborhoods (including mine) a full two years earlier than you could get a conventional phone line from AT&T. (And of course, wherever digital cable telephone is available, so is cable TV and internet.)

Cox and the local politicians claim that N.O. is now the nation's "most digital" metropolitan area, with an almost-all-new cable & fiber-optic intrastructure.

So, Cox in New Orleans is OK, but is very probably not representative of Cox elsewhere...

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Joe_F
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 08:43 PM

I have used Verizon DSL for a couple of years and found it satisfactory. However, it has just cut off access to most of the newsgroups I read, so I am hoping to find, eventually, an ISP with a better attitude.

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Amos
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 09:41 PM

Poppa:

Good for them. They seem to be doing better now than in past years judging from the flow of disgruntled users we encounter in doing consulting for Mac users all over the county. ATT runs a very distand third although they are trying to upgrade their presence by laying in fiber optic through lots of neighborhoods.

A

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 10:03 PM

Joe F mentions newsgroups. One of the reasons I signed with Comcast cable for TV AND internet is that it had access to 'most' newsgroups. They don't host them directly, but contract with Giganews to supply the feeds. I get 2 gigs per month free, but usually opt to get up to 25 gigs directly from Giganews.($12)

Comcast is in direct competition with Verizon FIOS here, and I get something like FRANTIC pleas from Verizon to switch....offering me free TVS and such. Verizon's price is a 'bit' cheaper right now, but they offer fewer newsgroups, and MUCH shorter retention time.

If I understand correctly, Verizon's signal is affected by distance from telephone exchange centers, while Comcast's cable signal is affected by total subscriber load on the line. Thus, my signal and speed drops between 5-7 PM when everyone gets home and checks email..and on weekends when major sports events on TV put load on the lines. Early in the morning, internet access is zippy.

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Amos
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 11:41 PM

"Charter Communications, the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, announced yesterday that it has backed off a plan to monitor customers' Internet transmissions.

The company had been planning to harvest the stream of data from each Internet customer for clues to their interests and then make money from advertisers who would use the information to target online pitches.

The data-collection effort would have protected personal information, Charter officials said in describing the plan, but critics likened the practice to wiretapping.

"The fact is that it would have allowed profiling of an individual -- where they were going and what they were doing online, and there was no guarantee that this information could not ultimately be compromised," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. "They made the right decision in halting their test."



The online behavior of a small but growing number of computer users in the United States is monitored by their Internet service providers, which have access to every click and keystroke. The companies involved say that no personally identifiable information is made vulnerable and that customer profiles are ordered not by name but by anonymous numbers.

Other, smaller Internet service providers have experimented with or are using systems to monitor customer traffic, a process known as deep packet inspection, but Charter was the largest company to announce such a plan.

Charter had anticipated testing the program in June in four cities -- Fort Worth; Oxford, Mass.; Newtown, Conn.; and San Luis Obispo, Calif.

But in a statement yesterday, the company said that although focus groups indicated that "most broadband consumers would look upon this service favorably . . . some of our customers have presented questions about this service. As such, we are not moving forward with the pilots at this time.""

WaPo

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Jun 08 - 12:33 AM

I have ROadrunner thru Time Warner and it works great. Any problems have always been immediately addressed and I couldn't be happier except for the price.

I have cell and landline phone from Verizon and they are constantly pumping their DSL. We have absolutely terrible phone lines here and when I ask if they can match or atleast come close to Roadrunner Cable they at first say, "Oh sure." After checking they all come back and say, "Uh, no....."

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: High speed internet recommendations?
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 25 Jun 08 - 11:48 PM

Thank you all! So many choices and decisions to make. Comcast is expenive, but since I want to get digital cable TV as well, they're the only game in town (SF Bay Area) for cable. I might go with them since I just saw they have a package deal on TV/internet/email....but it's still up in the air. So much stuff to figure out. THANK YOU for all your ideas, 'Catters.

Chanteyranger