What - Who - do you use for internet connection?

[Dogmama]

Right now the phone company is my internet connection. I also have a land line & it's expense & unreliable (older home, older wiring.)

Who or what do you use? Do you like them? My ISP is a local company and I really want to keep them, if possible, because when I call it's a real person who is actually helpful.

I was thinking about WiFi but I don't even really know what that is. I'm so technology impaired. I need a teenager!

Help!

[malkin]

Brewer switched ours to the tv cable company after a big fight with the phone co. when they screwed up. Cable is just as bad.

[Dogmama]

yeah, my neighbor has cable & hates it too.

[Eden]

Over the years we've gone from having regular modem access to ADSL, first from Earthlink, from whom we also used to get land line phone service. Now we've dropped the land line completely and have gone to the source for the DSL and get it from a company called MegaPath. Earthlink was just contracting their facilities anyway, charging us more and throttling our speeds..... (especially upload). Megapath's customer service has been quite good.

Earthlink was a seriously, seriously frustrating series of call centers where the people were 1/2 way around the world, reading a script out of a book and really had no idea what they were talking about. When we changed our phone land line to them we had already been using their DSL for several years. They screwed up and did not connect our new service properly. We were without internet or phone in our house for nearly 2 months trying to get it straightened out, during which time they were changing us for service and then they charged us a cancellation fee because in order to straighten out the whole mess they had to basically terminate our service and start over like we were a brand new customer. When after hours on the phone one guy told me that the problem was that they just didn't offer ASDL in our neighborhood (we'd been using them for the last 5 years.... all we were trying to do was add the phone!!!) I just about lost it.... I believe my phone number was actually blacklisted from the call center. I finally ended up being able to speak to someone in this country who cleared up most of the mess, though I don't think they *ever* properly credited me for the 2 months that we did not have service and the cancellation fee that I should not have been charged (not to mention all of my cell phone minutes because I didn't have a phone... ATT was quite prompt at cutting that off when they were asked to...).

We have wifi - but that is something you set up in your own house. you don't have to pay to run it, beyond buying the wifi transmitter - we're a Mac household so we have an Airport Express (PC's can use it too though)

[ny biker]

I get internet through the cable company.

When I moved to my current home in 2004 the people at Verizon offered me DSL while I was in the process of arranging to move my landline account to the new address. I said okay, they said they would send me the equipment, but they never followed up. A few months later when I was on the phone with them again for some reason, they again offered DSL, I again said okay and again they never followed up. So much for Verizon DSL.

Next I tried Earthlink, but had problems getting it to work with my router and their customer service just passed the buck to the companies that made my pc and router (who passed it back to Earthlink -- I think I spent about 24 hours on the phone to various customer service numbers over the course of several days trying to get things to work.)

So I gave up, returned the equipment to Earthlink and went with the cable company (Comcast) instead. It is expensive, but I have few problems with it and the tech support is surprisingly good.

My sister and parents get internet from their cable company (Optimum) and they also don't seem to have problems with it.

I know several people who have Verizon Fios for tv and internet and they're happy with it. Fios is not currently available in my neighborhood.

[Catrin]

I do not have cable, I have AT&T Uverse - internet only I do not have Uverse television. The Uverse modem is wi-fi and I bought a Sony Internet Media Streaming Device (that is the actual name) with which I stream Netflix directly to my hi-def television - and there are a lot of other services that I can stream to my TV from the Sony device - not all of which comes with a charge. I have rabbit ears for local channels which I rarely watch outside of the news and that suits my needs. I did bump up my internet speed to support the streaming video - but it is still far, far cheaper than having both internet and cable.

[nscrbug]

We use AT&T for everything...internet (I guess it's DSL), land line, and cellphone provider...except cable TV, which is Comcast. We have wi-fi at home, using an Apple Airport with our iMac and Macbook. No real complaints with the internet service...it's been fairly reliable, overall. We do end up replacing our DSL modem about every other year or so, because they just don't last forever (what does these days?)...but we just run out to Best Buy and pick one up for about $60, and we're back in business.

Linda

[badgercat]

Computer-science-grad-student fiancé and I have Cox Cable at our house, for internet (no land line--cell phones only--and we have a small digital antenna for the rare occasion we want to watch live TV). We have the cheapest/slowest internet service and it almost always suits our needs fine--e.g., we can stream Netflix movies etc at good quality with no problem, but we're watching the stuff on laptops and not high-definition TVs.

My parents (about 30 miles outside of town) use Cox with a bundled package for internet, TV, and digital phone, and have had issues with TV quality (they get a lot of "digital noise" and occasional "freezing" of their TV picture) and customer service (e.g. when they moved in, my mom was talked into a higher-cost digital cable package with the promise of On Demand programming, which mysteriously then wasn't available in their area for MONTHS, and they fought her when she asked to be refunded the difference for service she wasn't receiving). However, as far as I know, their internet service and phone has been overall fine (with the exception of a couple days where the voicemail service was down, but they forwarded all calls to my mom's cell phone for free). There are some cool perks of everything being bundled together--e.g., if the phone rings while they're watching TV, the caller ID information displays on the screen. I have no idea what they pay for their package, though.

[OakLeaf]

I was thinking about WiFi but I don't even really know what that is.

I think you're thinking of WiMax. That's an option for rural wireless internet that's never really taken hold in this country - but it is available in some places, so it could be worth checking on. As I understand it, it's faster than 3G but not as fast as 4G.

The trouble with the cellular route is the data limits. It's fine for a phone, but when you start thinking about all the internet you use on your computer all day, including the high-res graphics that you'd get on either laptop or iPad, it adds up.

I've got no choice where I am - too far from the road for cable, wrong side of the trees for satellite, so ADSL from the local phone company it is.

[jessmarimba]

She may be thinking of Clearwire (or may want to consider it) - it's transmitted via radio, somehow? You don't need to wire anything for that one, the modem just picks up a signal. I had that when I lived in VA and it might've been $35 a month. Not the fastest, but pretty adequate, since I wasn't a gamer and didn't need to move files with any sort of speed.

They don't have coverage here, or didn't when I moved, so I have Comcast cable internet. No TV, no land line, and I don't live in a neighborhood that's wired for the spiffy high-tech internet that they'll let you buy from a phone company without a land line. Comcast isn't the best and I think I pay around $50 for just basic internet. Big :( to that.

[azfiddle]

We had intermittent outages during heat and rain with mindspring (earthlink) using DSL over the phone line. We switched to the cable company and we're paying just a little more but we haven't had any outages since then.

[Owlie]

I use the Time Warner, but the internet only, and I did so in Cleveland as well. The only time I had a problem was when I was given the wrong modem in Cleveland, and I'd have outages periodically. A new modem fixed it. I used my own router for wireless internet until it died in March.

[eofelis]

We have Century Link (it use to be called Qwest) for DSL. We have basic landline service with them too. I pay $20/mo for the DSL. When the promo $20/mo DSL rates expire I have been successful in calling them and negotiating the price back down. It's 3mps and that has been sufficient to watch videos online. We are watching the ATOC online right now!

[Dogmama]

We have Century Link (it use to be called Qwest) for DSL. We have basic landline service with them too. I pay $20/mo for the DSL. When the promo $20/mo DSL rates expire I have been successful in calling them and negotiating the price back down. It's 3mps and that has been sufficient to watch videos online. We are watching the ATOC online right now!

That's who I have for landline and DSL and I pay over $70 :eek: Maybe I need to call & see if I can negotiate a lower price - but I doubt it. Maybe they'd prorate my bill for all of the times that my phone was out of service?

(I feel like I'm just b*tching about everything these days!)

[Irulan]

Comcast here. I negotiated a super deal on the fast package and never went back. We has Qwest dsl for a long time. There was a three day outage that they kept saying was a problem on our end. Three modems later I gave up and called for a tech to come out a fix things: his comment was, " why, there is a neighborhood problem that should be fixed soon". Boy was I pissed. If they had just told me the truth about the problem, I wouldn't have been pulling my hair out trying to fix something that wasn't broken. I called Comcast ten minutes later. Now, they have us over a barrel with cost, but its much faster and more reliable by a long shot..

[pll]

Right now the phone company is my internet connection. I also have a land line & it's expense & unreliable (older home, older wiring.)

Who or what do you use? Do you like them? My ISP is a local company and I really want to keep them, if possible, because when I call it's a real person who is actually helpful.

I was thinking about WiFi but I don't even really know what that is. I'm so technology impaired. I need a teenager!

Help!

If you are happy with your ISP and all you want is wi-fi (i.e. a wireless local area network) to connect your laptop, smart phones, tablets, etc, just buy a wireless router. I have a Cisco Linksys E4200 (http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Performance-Dual-Band-E4200-v2/dp/B0068ALV8Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337514981&sr=8-2) that the tech folks at school recommended to me. You just plug it to your modem box and then set it up: configure some security options, give the network a name and password.

The picture below shows the hardware behind a TV in my place (my ISP is my cable company, but I don't have a choice because my condo association was locked by the builder into a 10 year contract with said cable company). The wireless router is the box on the right of the picture. It connects to the box on the left (the cable modem) and the the latter connects to the wall.

[pll]

Dogmama: Just to better understand -- it seems you are reasonably satisfied with the internet service (ISP) but unhappy with the unreliable phone service, correct? If the internet service is unreliable, scratch my router comment...

Good internet and phone service is like the holy grail in this country... These are "unique" services in which customer loyalty is punished with increased charges and crappy service. All enabled by legislation that prevents competition at the local level.

[Dogmama]

I like my internet service provider because they are a local company that is truly interested in delivering good service. My actual hookup is through the phone company - those are the people who are a pain. Last time I called because I had no dial tone (becoming increasingly frequent) I got somebody with an accent who was just rude. Because I have phone & internet through the phone company, if I drop phone service I would probably drop internet because sometimes it, too, is really bad.

My house is almost 30 years old, so the wiring is getting decrepit. I have the wiring insurance policy, but they don't want to spend the time to come out & do it right.

[snapdragen]

I do not have cable, I have AT&T Uverse - internet only I do not have Uverse television. The Uverse modem is wi-fi and I bought a Sony Internet Media Streaming Device (that is the actual name) with which I stream Netflix directly to my hi-def television - and there are a lot of other services that I can stream to my TV from the Sony device - not all of which comes with a charge. I have rabbit ears for local channels which I rarely watch outside of the news and that suits my needs. I did bump up my internet speed to support the streaming video - but it is still far, far cheaper than having both internet and cable.

I didn't know you could do this! I need to check into it, I've got AT&T DSL right now.

[Crankin]

We have Comcast for Internet and phone (VOIP). Until about 3 months ago, we also had it for TV, but DH got pissed because they wouldn't negotiate a lower price for the cable. We only had basic cable, no HBO, etc. We mostly watch TV for the news, and a few shows we like on CBS. I haven't seen half the shows that are popular, because even when we had cable, we didn't have those stations, or I didn't know we had them! DH bought a fancy digital antenna and we get all of our local and some not so local (RI, NH) HD stations perfectly.
Then there was the issue of watching cycling. I also miss HGTV. We got 2 Apple TV devices, one for the bedroom and one for the kitchen, where we watch most of our TV. We probably will get one for the family room, where our big screen TV is, but we rarely go down there, as we go to bed early. The Apple TV streams things from the I Pad to our TV, so we have been watching the Tour of California each night. Do I know how to use this? No, but I'll learn if I have to.
We have no option but Comcast. Our town refused to put all of the wires underground and AT&T will not bring FIOS here because of this. THe Comcast service has been great, though. Our phone, Internet, and TV were back on within 6 hours after our big snowstorm/wind event last October.

[Catrin]

I didn't know you could do this! I need to check into it, I've got AT&T DSL right now.

I DID have the U-Verse TV at some point and simply dropped the TV portion of my package. I do not know if they will allow a new customer to do this, but it would be good information to post here if they do.

[rivergal]

Also did the full U-Verse package (TV, internet, voice) for a year at $99 for all 3, then dropped the TV and have internet and voice only. Got a good deal on the mid-range speed for a year. Would drop to just internet and keep my cell only, but can't until cell service improves at home.

We also use Netflix. I also have Amazon Prime, and get additional free streaming video there. Between these, Hulu, and broadcast channels (antenna) I have pretty much all the "TV" I need, and much cheaper than cable.

[Trek420]

I DID have the U-Verse TV at some point and simply dropped the TV portion of my package. I do not know if they will allow a new customer to do this, but it would be good information to post here if they do.

They won't. Or at least would not when last I was placing those orders. Might have changed since then. But what they probably won't tell you and your service rep is absolutely positively simply NOT allowed to suggest to you on pain of up to and including termination of my job was that you can sign up for TV/HSI/voice or TV/HSI and then if on a contract once that's fulfilled or if no contract whenever you want drop the TV.


I didn't know you could do this! I need to check into it, I've got AT&T DSL right now.

With many complex exceptions but usually if you're in a DSL area you might not have uVerse available and vice versa. But don't take my word for it call and ask a service rep. This also may have changed since I worked in a uVerse call center but with few and mind boglingly complex exceptions if you have DSL now, want to upgraded to uVerse you'll need to either order the uVerse TV and/or upgrade to one of the highest speeds. But again call and ask for current info. Might have changed. Hope so.


I was thinking about WiFi but I don't even really know what that is. I'm so technology impaired. I need a teenager! Help!

WiFi is simply any kind of wireless internet access whether in your home, at a business or location that provides it (coffee shop, airport) or anywhere you are (in the middle of nowhere) that let's you unleash from the cord regardless of whether the cord is to desktop, laptop, game stations, TV, iDevice, tablets, readers ...

To have Wifi in your home you need:
a) high speed internet connection whether through cable, uVerse or DSL. The DSL can be with a phone line or stand alone DSL sometimes called dry loop, or naked DSL, or high speed internet direct.
b) And you'll need wireless equipment aka a router.

Some routers are plugged into your existing modem or they can be one neat elegant classy little unit like AT&T's 2wire gateway.

If you're not wireless now make sure your PC is wireless capable before cutting the cord. If it's not, no worries. There may be an adaptor you can buy for the computer/laptop.

This is the set up let's me sit on the deck with my laptop, coffee and read TE. :)


Because I have phone & internet through the phone company, if I drop phone service I would probably drop internet because sometimes it, too, is really bad.

OK, so you like the customer service of your ISP. Does the ISP you like offer HSI direct? Then if your home is wired for 2 lines you could go for that. If it's not already wired for 2 ask me before you proceed. :)


That's who I have for landline and DSL and I pay over $70 :eek: Maybe I need to call & see if I can negotiate a lower price - but I doubt it. Maybe they'd prorate my bill for all of the times that my phone was out of service?

(I feel like I'm just b*tching about everything these days!)

That sounds steep. Call and see if you can get a better deal. Are you paying for a long distance plan that you don't need or would a new plan be better? Do you use long distance at all? Would removing it save you money? Do you have too many optional features (like caller id etc) or too few (as in add some and you get a better package) Are you paying for an international plan you haven't used in umpteen years or even flat rate when you could have a measured service?

I used to work in AT&T retention center and could almost always find a way to lower a bill :p

So call and ask them to go over it. :p :)

PS: what we have here is local home phone line, just a basic measure rate service, no features or long distance with a pretty fast speed of DSL on it and Netflix for TV. I also do a lot of iTunes downloads like podcasts.

Back in CA I had the same thing; measured rate for the land line, DSL and Dishnetwork for TV with the lowest cost plan (the one they don't advertise. Cost roughly like Netflix).

[Koronin]

We have Time Warner for internet. We had Century Link, but that was the most unreliable internet service and extremely slow. Dial up was faster than the DSL we had with Century Link, so we changed to Time Warner. We do still have Century Link for the land line and have Dish for TV. I actually need a land line because some of the work I do I need a fax machine.

[CenturyLinkHelp]

I like my internet service provider because they are a local company that is truly interested in delivering good service. My actual hookup is through the phone company - those are the people who are a pain. Last time I called because I had no dial tone (becoming increasingly frequent) I got somebody with an accent who was just rude. Because I have phone & internet through the phone company, if I drop phone service I would probably drop internet because sometimes it, too, is really bad.

My house is almost 30 years old, so the wiring is getting decrepit. I have the wiring insurance policy, but they don't want to spend the time to come out & do it right.

Hello Dogmama, this is B with the CenturyLink Help team. I'm sorry you've been having issues with your services. If you still need assistance, e-mail me at TalkToUs@CenturyLink.com, and I'll be happy to look into this for you.

Thanks,

B
CenturyLink Help Team

[snapdragen]

I DID have the U-Verse TV at some point and simply dropped the TV portion of my package. I do not know if they will allow a new customer to do this, but it would be good information to post here if they do.

Checked it out online, looks like you can get UVerse internet only. Way cool.

[Trek420]

Hello Dogmama, this is B with the CenturyLink Help team. I'm sorry you've been having issues with your services. If you still need assistance, e-mail me at TalkToUs@CenturyLink.com, and I'll be happy to look into this for you.

Thanks,

B
CenturyLink Help Team


I used to work in AT&T retention center and could almost always find a way to lower a bill :p

So call and ask them to go over it. :p :)

Yowie, wowza. Welcome to TE, CLH. Now that's what I call excellent service. And if you bike, stick around :p :D



Checked it out online, looks like you can get UVerse internet only. Way cool.

Good! I'm glad they made that change.

[maillotpois]

Yowie, wowza. Welcome to TE, CLH. Now that's what I call excellent service. And if you bike, stick around :p :D



Taking customer service to a creepy stalker-esque level....

[Irulan]

I used to work in AT&T retention center and could almost always find a way to lower a bill

Yeah cool I don't think Century Link has a retention center. When I last spoke with them a few months ago about my bill continually creeping upwards, I was told that FCC regulations prevented them from negotiating anything downwards. Too bad, as they are about to lose me as a customer because some of the other packages offered are looking a lot more appealing these days. You think they wouldn't want to lose a Qwest carry over customer who's had an account for over 25+ years of consistent on time payment.

[Dogmama]

Hello Dogmama, this is B with the CenturyLink Help team. I'm sorry you've been having issues with your services. If you still need assistance, e-mail me at TalkToUs@CenturyLink.com, and I'll be happy to look into this for you.

Thanks,

B
CenturyLink Help Team

Spooky - there is a big brother watching us.:eek:

Thanks CLH - I will be emailing.

[ny biker]

Well my Comcast internet service died last night. It was working fine, then a few minutes later it wasn't working. The modem "send" and "online" lights were off.

I tried unplugging it twice, that didn't work, called Comcast, they had me make sure the cable was securely plugged in, then had me disconnect the cable and reconnect it, but nothing worked. Set up a service appointment for tomorrow morning. I unplugged the power cord, went to bed.

This morning I plugged it back in, and it's working again.

I need to work from home today while my air conditioner is being worked on, so I hope it continues to work.

But now I'm worried that I'm in "intermittent problem" land, which would be hard to diagnose and fix.

[tulip]

I have Verizon FiOS for Internet and land line. I do not have cable TV, although Verizon offers it. I have rabbit ears and Hulu for TV watching, and that is more than sufficient for me. I keep a land line because it does offer advantages: house alarm, 911 calls (peace of mind for me), "free" calls, and fax (I work from home). I've been pleased with FiOS. It's super fast and very reliable, which is essential to my work. I had some trouble with billing at first but worked that out.

[Crankin]

We've had no trouble with our Comcast internet. Sure, it goes "out" once in awhile, but usually, it's just reset the modem, or the Wifi thing. Occasionally, it's been because they are working on some lines, etc. It's faster than anything else we've had (well before we had this, we had dial up, like 10 years ago).
Still working on DH to get cable back. It's just a point with him. We pay much more money for other things. The Apple TV device works, but it's a lot of "playing" to get it going and at this point, I am overloaded with remembering all of these technology things.

[ny biker]

Update -- I got a call from Comcast this morning from someone who said he had done something to fix the problem, which was apparently not specific to my home. I'm really tired (from getting up early for the HVAC guys) so I didn't press for details, I just said thanks very much and cancelled tomorrow's appointment.

I have to say that I'm surprised that they (a) had someone look into it, rather than just waiting for a tech to come to my house, and (b) called me to follow up. If only they were this good when I call about problems with my DVR, and they tell me that someone will call me within 48 hours but no one ever calls.

So, fingers crossed that whatever the guy did really fixed the problem for good.

[Irulan]

Update -- I got a call from Comcast this morning from someone who said he had done something to fix the problem, which was apparently not specific to my home. I'm really tired (from getting up early for the HVAC guys) so I didn't press for details, I just said thanks very much and cancelled tomorrow's appointment.

I have to say that I'm surprised that they (a) had someone look into it, rather than just waiting for a tech to come to my house, and (b) called me to follow up. If only they were this good when I call about problems with my DVR, and they tell me that someone will call me within 48 hours but no one ever calls.

So, fingers crossed that whatever the guy did really fixed the problem for good.


No Kidding. When we had our DSL outtage that lasted three days, if they had only said it was a larger problem and that they were working on it, instead of telling me over and over it was MY problem.. they might still have a customer. As it was, we were told outright untruths, and I told them that's why I cancelled my service: lies. When I got to a very higher up exec who said he'd do whatever he could to keep our business, I asked him if he could make up the 10K in lost productivity due to the outage. :D