School me on high speed internet

[Joe]

So I am considering dumping my dial-up finally and getting high speed. I need some help with this and have some questions. How much should I expect to pay monthly? How much does installation generally run? I guess the companies that offer it around here would be qwest and comcast. My cable tv got disconnected and I might pay that bill soon, so I could get it through comcast. But what is the difference in getting it from my phone company vs. cable? Thanks dudes.

[Young Drachma]

If it's through DSL, you have your own access. With cable, you share it with your whole neighborhood, so if lots of folks in your area have it, then it might slow things down some.

With DSL, it's not like that.

I've had both cable internet and DSL. I prefer DSL, but I think it probably depends on your area a lot. Costs are different too, as a lot of them will bundle it with other services to make it "cheaper" while it might go up to another price later.

So, it really depends on your area, go to Qwest or Comcast's site for your area and see what they are charging. As for installation, for cable, they come out one day and set it all up. For DSL, they just sent me all the stuff I needed.

[Rizon]

I prefer Cable over DSL, mainly because SBC runs the DSL here and not only does SBC suck at EVERYTHING, over the last 10 years I've found their DSL service to be shody (SBC/PacBell/Whatever they called themselves each year).

You can expect to pay around $45 a month. SBC here I think is offering something like $15 a month for the first 12 months for DSL, which probably evens out with the slower speed and shody service.

Installation fees should be on each companies websites, so I dunno, maybe around $99.

If you don't have cable TV through Comcast I believe they charge you a higher rate for cable internet.

[sovereignstar]

I've got Qwest DSL here in Moorhead (used it up in Duluth as well). I've enjoyed their service and can't recall any problems whatsoever with it. They offer some pretty nifty deals for new customers. I believe I've got the Qwest DSL Deluxe package (1.5 Mbps). It's only 21.99 for 12 months with a qualifying phone package. After a year it's a bit more spendy, so keep that in mind. I'll probably be switching to the city's public wireless service after my 12 months are up. It's only 20 bucks a month and has comparable speed.

[sovereignstar]

Oh, FWIW, I've never had to pay any installation fees. That's for Qwest DSL and Charter Communications Cable service (back when I used it in Duluth). I suppose it's all dependent on location and what kind of service/package you sign up for.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

I have Time Warner high speed roadrunner and it is awesome. The package I have is the digital free long distance phone, basic cable, and internet and its like 100 dollars.

[MikeVick7]

I also prefer cable over DSL, but currently I have (forced to use because of my apt complex) SBC DSL and despite it being a "tad" slower than cable, I don't have any complaints with the reliability. My only other complaint with SBC is that in order to get DSL I had to also get a home phone line, which I never use. So with that thrown in the mix, I pay around $80 for DSL every month instead of the $40-$50 that I was paying for cable with Comcast.

I think if I didn't have to pay the extra $40 for the home phone line each month I wouldn't be as bitter toward DSL and SBC for that matter.

[Joe]

so with DSL, can multiple computers be online at the same time? It connects through the phone line, right?

[MikeVick7]

so with DSL, can multiple computers be online at the same time? It connects through the phone line, right?
Yes and yes.

[flere-imsaho]

This independent, 3rd-party site is usually very good for finding services, and finding comments on those services from people in your area: http://www.broadbandreports.com

[sterlingice]

Our little local ISP in Lawrence costs $30 a month for Cable- it's pretty fast (~300K max) but there are bandwidth limits imposed so you can't go crazy nuts with the downloads.

SI

[Antmeister]

You should actually check to see which one offer both the best deal and service. I had a choice to go with Cox Cable or Qwest and decided to go with Cox. Why? They had a package deal in which I pay for phone, cable, and internet and found it cheaper to go that route than to pay for each one seperately. If that's not the case for you and the DSL has adequate service, go with them.

[finkenst]

If it's through DSL, you have your own access. With cable, you share it with your whole neighborhood, so if lots of folks in your area have it, then it might slow things down some.

With DSL, it's not like that.


Uhh.. Yeah, but you share the facilities out of the Central Office.

Also, I've had cable for about 5-6 years, maybe longer, it's kinda fuzzy...

It is faster than DSL in my area (i've routinely gotten 3.2mbit/s), and they were here first.... That, a pathological dislike of Ameritech and the requirement (at the time) to use Windows prohibited me from getting service from them.

[Joe]

I've got Qwest DSL here in Moorhead (used it up in Duluth as well). I've enjoyed their service and can't recall any problems whatsoever with it. They offer some pretty nifty deals for new customers. I believe I've got the Qwest DSL Deluxe package (1.5 Mbps). It's only 21.99 for 12 months with a qualifying phone package. After a year it's a bit more spendy, so keep that in mind. I'll probably be switching to the city's public wireless service after my 12 months are up. It's only 20 bucks a month and has comparable speed.


Ok, yeah that is what they are offering now. 21.99 for the first year, then like 40 after that. Question: is the modem rental included in the monthly fee? And it says they will send a modem kit after I sign up, what happens if I need to connect more than one computer, do I need to get 2 kits? I see something on their site about setting up a network of more than 1 computer, but I don't want the computers networked together.

[sterlingice]

Don't do modem rental. Last I checked, you could get a cable modem for $60- since they're probably charging $10 a month to rent it, well, you can do the math. I've seen them go out from time to time but it's not that often- they'll almost certainly last you more than 6 months.

If you have more than one computer you want to connect, this is where a router comes in. Basically, a router splits the signal among all the computers connected. For instance, I have a Linksys WRT54G- one of the more common ones out there. It was running $50 for the last couple of weeks at Best Buy but is back up to $70 now.

I have the computer I'm typing on plugged in via cord to the back of it (it also has 4 slots for cords as well as wireless). I can be doing stuff on here, my wife can be doing stuff on her desktop, and I can be on a laptop all at the same time. To do that, you just have to have the wireless computers connected with a wireless card (like a $20-$40 USB one) and they'll all have access. You split the signal that way, but you can have multiple computers on the same signal all at once and for one fee to your cable company just as if you only had one computer. These can be a little tricky to set up but not too bad.

EDIT: Also, check the ads. These things fluctuate in price from week to week so you can save yourself $50+ on your home network if you're patient.

SI

[Joe]

Don't do modem rental. Last I checked, you could get a cable modem for $60- since they're probably charging $10 a month to rent it, well, you can do the math. I've seen them go out from time to time but it's not that often- they'll almost certainly last you more than 6 months.



Right.. what I'm asking is if the modem price is included in the 21.99 I'd be paying for the DSL fee. Sov, you'd know this since you had qwest... was it just 21.99 for everything?

[sovereignstar]

Right.. what I'm asking is if the modem price is included in the 21.99 I'd be paying for the DSL fee. Sov, you'd know this since you had qwest... was it just 21.99 for everything?

Um.. I'm pretty sure I pay like 4 or 5 dollars per month for the modem. I don't believe that's included in the 21.99. One thing that's cool is that the modem is wireless-ready. I can have my desktop connected to the modem and I can use the same connection in my bedroom with my laptop with no router or wires.

[Joe]

ok, I hooked it up today and I must say this is awesome.

[ISiddiqui]

What did you get?

I have Comcast cable doing my high speed, and I have no complaints. 6 MB/s downloads (or is 8 now?) make it very sweet... though the upload speed could be better.

[Joe]

I got DSL through Qwest. Considered getting cable but decided not to subscribe to cable tv again, so it would cost 57.95 a month for non existing customers... would have been 42.95 otherwise, which is about what Qwest will cost after the first year. But its half that price right now, so I'm good.