Your ISP Choices?

[imoldernu]

We only have Comcast, and Hughes.

In searching Hughes, found this website re: services.
Top 1,011 Complaints and Reviews about Hughes Network Systems
Could not find cost other than the 3 mo. special. Based on the ratings comments, and the contract requirement... an absolute no.

At one time we had a dial-up service but this is now gone. Although we get offers from AT&T on an almost weekly basis, the service is not available. Classy, glossy, expensive mailers... great offers... not available.

Comcast service is now unreachable by phone to speak with a person, so I was desperately looking for an alternative. Maybe they'll get better after merging.

Some years ago, two different towns that we lived in had planned for and actually began installing "free" internet. Never finished. Since I won't live long enough for Google to connect the whole nation, am not hopeful on that account.

Anyway.... what is your ISP service... Telco? Cable? Fiber? Wireless?
What speed?
Is anyone in a free public service area?

OH!.... one more thing... Are you happy with your service?

Reviews and ratings here:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/internet_services.htm

 

[Car-Guy]

I have 3meg DSL from Windstream, and I'm lucky to have it "out here in the country". The only other option would be satellite. I tried 3g (before the DSL was available) but I could only get about 150k out of it and there's no cable out here.

 

[pb4uski]

Our only choices are Fairpoint (DSL) or Charter (cable). We use Fairpoint. It is a little slower but also a little less expensive and meets our needs.

 

[aja8888]

Comcast and Consolidated Communications...both of which are horrible to deal with. I use Comcast right now,,,but my monthly bill is growing as they have very frequent price increases. Maybe I'll give CC a try soon.

 

[braumeister]

Like many, just two choices.
Cable (Time Warner) which is horrible to deal with, according to everyone I know.
or
DSL from the local phone company, which is just slightly less horrible to deal with.

We also get the offers for what sounds like good service, but it's always "unavailable at your location."

 

[RE2Boys]

Time Warner cable or Verizon DSL. Just noticed a price increase by Verizon. We have DSL and it has been reliable and works well at 15Mbps. Except when trying to view Netflix streaming, but it has gotten noticeably better in the last three months.

 

[kcowan]

We use Telmex DSL in Mexico and Shaw cable internet in BC. The cable gets bad every evening in our 150 unit apartment. Our DSL is pretty good but the line has been out for 2 weeks. We are using our neighbours wifi in the interim.

 

[easysurfer]

I switched from ATT DSL (not U-verse, but old DSL) to Comcast basic internet about a half year ago and couldn't be happier.

With Comcast, not only to I get better speed consistently, but connection has only been lost a few times and when that happened the connection would be up within a couple of hours. Plus, just calling their number I'd get a recording telling they are down and expected recovery.

On the other hand, with my old DSL connection, I'd get intermittent connections almost daily.

 

[photoguy]

We heard huge horror stories with Comcast (although what ISP doesn't have these) so we weren't thrilled to use them (previously with att u-verse). However, there were no surprise charges (and only $10 install fee). The service is actually pretty good with low pings and 30Mbps.

The main problem was when we called to activate. The rep initially tried to tell us our cable modem wasn't supported (we bought instead of renting) even though it is docsis 3 and listed on their website as a supported modem (I think they are trying to get rentals).

 

[imoldernu]

The main problem was when we called to activate. The rep initially tried to tell us our cable modem wasn't supported (we bought instead of renting) even though it is docsis 3 and listed on their website as a supported modem (I think they are trying to get rentals).

That's SOP for Comcast. MY old Docsis2 worked fine for my use, but lots of pressure to change. We're now using their "Technicolor" modem, and get 55Mbps "burst" and continued @ 25-35Mbps... but it costs!...
Our rationale for spending too much on TV/Phone/Internet/Streaming Netflix is that it's now a major part of our entertainment expense... All told, less than the cost for a one person 4day cruise. (lots easier to say this when we don't cruise anyway!)

 

[MichaelB]

We have two options:

1. Crappy and inconsistent broadband, with bad customer service is thrown in for no extra charge

2. Unacceptably crappy fiber / copper hybrid that misrepresents the real availability but compensates with bad customer service.

 

[3800Fiero]

Where we live there is no cable, fiber or DSL. We are currently on a wireless 3x1 meg connection that is very stable and reliable but runs about $70/mo. There is a new wireless startup in our area that is offering a 5x2 meg connection for $60/mo. Thinking about switching.

 

[mpeirce]

We have two cable companies here: WOW! and Time Warner (previously Insight Communications, soon to be Comcast). Yes we have two separate cables running through the back yard. Actual competition. I know, unusual.

We used to have Insight and it was fairly good service - a nice speed improvement over the T1 I originally had at the house. When WOW ran their cable through our backyard and offered 50/5 Mbps service we switched (a very nice improvement over 15/.7 Mbps from Insight) and it has been reliable and excellent service.

We also have Frontier (telephone) offering DSL. It's slow since we are a long way from the CO.

There are also a couple of wireless (not telephone) ISPs around here. I almost tried one of them a few years ago (before WOW put in their cable) but good line of sight was iffy.

 

[38Chevy454]

I am out in the country a bit, so DSL through phone co is my only good option. We have Century Link here, formerly Qwest, and my DSL is supposed to be 7 Mbps, but real results are about 1.5 Mbps. Only other options are through cell phone or satellite, both of which are worse than my slower DSL connection.

 

[Bikerdude]

I have Crapcast for TV and was on ATT U-verse DSL however ATT sold all of its CT infrastructure to Frontier last month. I only buy the bandwidth that I need.

 

[RockyMtn]

We have Century Link and Cox here in Scottsdale. 20mps from Century link is good for my needs and the top they have right now in our hood. I pay $31 per month as every year I call and threaten to drop and go to Cox. They dutifully cut the price from $62 to $31 for the next twelve months.

 

[sengsational]

Third Option?

I bet many of you have a third option:

Clear Wireless, which uses a cellular modem (at least I think that's how it works). This is my backup ISP, and am not using it now. You can buy a month at a time from Clear Wireless and be up and runing in an hour. I own the modem (got off eBay). Latency can be pretty bad with this provider.
Others available:

AT&T U-Verse is available to me, but I have never tried it. I had old DSL from AT&T, but they refused to renew the DSL of service for me (they tried to push a forced "upgrade" to U-Verse, and I bailed out on them).

Time Warner Cable is what I have now. I'm in the 12 month "deal", but will probably bail and get U-Verse "new customer" deal when that runs out.

They all want me to "bundle", but I get my TV over the air, and supplement that with stuff from icefilms or whatever. And my phone is Ooma, so no bundle needed...just be an internet "pipe" and leave me alone!

 

[rodi]

My choice is Timewarner broadband - about $35/month for "standard" - which is "up to" 15M downstream, 1M upstream. It's supposed to be going up to 50M downstream soon - for no additional charge.

The other option is ATT uverse.

I've heard from neighbors that the uverse is slower than the time warner... 2 neighbors switched back to time warner it was so bad. They're about the same price for just internet broadband.

I have a former coworker who lived in a community that had a choice of cox and timewarner... he bounced between the two - switching every year - always getting the 1 year starter price.

 

[rbmrtn]

Only one provider available. Regional cable company , not one of the megas.
Service is actually fairly good although they have their moments.

U-verse is getting closer but their plans are more expensive for slower service. Also their equipment is lousy. Their routers don't support bridge mode which makes using your own equipment a little more complicated.

 

[ls99]

Comcast we have, dialup is the alternate at home.

At my mancave, nothing. Even for cellphone I need a high gain 24db directional antenna for useable signal. My cellphone is just a phone. At $10 to $30 per year it is adequate to phone home.

On and off I play with high gain antennas to reach any kind wifi, so far nada, zip. I refuse to go the smartphone route.

Edit add: I do have a Hughes antenna and transceiver. Having read the reviews I do not consider setting it up. I may convert the dish to a wifi transceiver, see what I can fish out of the ether. It is a nice high gain Dish. I also know where the focal point is. Now it just needs a gitaroundtoit.

 

[MBAustin]

We've had UVerse (broadband and tv) for quite a few years now and have been very happy with quality, reliability, and service. Still annoyed that the bill creeps up every few months, but that's pretty much the norm.

Time Warner is the other option and we had so many problems with them with TV only back in the day that we'd be hard pressed to ever try them again.

 

[pb4uski]

Actually there are a couple options beyond DSl and cable that i have considered but not gone with.

One is satellite (Dish, our satellite tv provider offers internet service) and the other is that some of the big cellphone companies are offering internet service via their hi-speed cellular networks. One friend uses the Verizon offering.

I've looked into both and they seem to have slower speeds and similar price so I haven't changed.

 

[Car-Guy]

Even for cellphone I need a high gain 24db directional antenna for useable signal.

On and off I play with high gain antennas to reach any kind wifi, so far nada, zip. I refuse to go the smartphone route.

I have a cellular Yagi too with a local in house repeater. The cell site I'm hitting at is about 12 miles away, as the crow flys. Works pretty well for voice calls but it's not really good enough for high speed data.

Regarding WiFi, back in the days when I kept up with this stuff, I think the worlds record distance for a non amplified 802.11 signal was about 125 miles set at DefCon. But that was 8 or 10 years ago. I haven't checked but I would expect someone has gone further than that by now.

 

[ls99]

My camp is in the mountains. Many are higher than my camp. I can hit only one cell site through wooded valley. Summertime green leaf attenuation along with rain can still wipe out the signal.

On wifi will need to increase transmit power well beyond what normal stuff does. Then with high gain antenna might recover something. Time will tell.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I have Comcast Xfinity according to my statement. I don't know the speed but likely not the fastest or the slowest based on my monthly fee (a few pennies less than $59.00/month). I really have no complaints with Comcast. They answer the phone quite promptly and have a nearby office which I have visited when the modem went kaput. They quickly slid a new modem over the counter to me no questions asked. I rent the modem. I have cable TV and a landline phone with them, too.