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Cable internet is putting me in the poor farm!


ChasUFarley
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Chas,

I switched from Cable to DSL and haven't had any problems. Cable is faster, but you can only download as fast as the sites you go to. I haven't found any deficiencies in the DSL. And I did similar to DaddyH, got rid of cable phone, cable cable and cable internet and saved about 70 a month.

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Switched from Cable to DSL long ago. In our area it was priced about the same at first.

But I just found DSL to be more stable day and night. Still do. Just there, and very fast when you need it. Lot of outages with Cable.

Now DSL prices are cheaper than cable. I think I pay $30 or $35 per each location I have it at (4 locations).

And for you advanced users:

I don't like those littel DSL filter things and found a whole house DSL filter online for $35. Had a phone guy install it outside the house at the point of entry. All phones and faxes are covered at any jack anywhere. No more DSL filters.

Also, another major reason I swiched to DSL is because for some reason in our area here in Tampa Bay, the IP addresses of the DSL connections rarely changes. I'm talking 3 or 4 months same IP address! With cable it changed almost daily.

This is a blessing for us PC Anywhere users. Almost like having a static IP.

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Perhaps it depends on your location?

I used DSL in a large heavily populated area and found it speed highly unreliable. At high traffic times there was virtually no difference between that and a simple dial-up.

I'm committed to cable for TV reception by my land lord so there is no incentive for me to look elsewhere.

When it comes to my computer cable service which I've been using for just over a year, I have no complaints. We had one short outage (local - not system wide) last winter when one "typical Jersey driver" slid into a pole. It was fixed in 3 hours.

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YEah, I have a friend who went from cable to DSL. It was so slow for him. He went back to cable.

It varies of course. I do not experience high and low "busy times" like with cable which is shared by those around you. In my neighborhood I think at least 90% of the homes here have broadband including my neighbors all the way down the street on either side of me.

I'm the only one with DSL except an IBM'er who has a T??? something line for his work.

We ought to just all network together, run cat5 cable under our lawns and hook up house to house. I wonder how that would set with the DSL or cable companies? icon_biggrin.gif:D-->

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quote:
Originally posted by igotout:

We ought to just all network together, run cat5 cable under our lawns and hook up house to house. I wonder how that would set with the DSL or cable companies? icon_biggrin.gif:D-->


Better yet, get one of those pringle can antennas and beam wireless to the whole neighborhood. I'd bet it violate their service agreement, so if they found out they could yank your service.

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Well, since posting this I've been doing some fact-finding... What I've found is sort of a bummer, really...

DSL is available by the local phone company (LEC) ONLY - no other vendors in the area. It's not even a Baby Bell LEC at that - it's a po'-dunk lil' EXPENSIVE Co-Op that wants me to pay them $39.99/month for DSL. That's the same as I pay for cable. There's no installation charge but there is a six month contract - so if I sign up and find out they suck, I'm paying for 6 months of sucky service. The only benefit I've found is that DSL in this area is faster than cable (the local cable company also has a monopoly going, which is why I'm paying them $39.99+modem rental as it is now....)

Other than DSL, cable and dial-up (not an option, really...) Is there any other way to get internet?

(I'm trying to cut our expenses for when I'm out on maternity leave this winter - that's why I'm doing this....)

Thanks for your help!

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quote:
Originally posted by ChasUFarley:

Well, since posting this I've been doing some fact-finding... What I've found is sort of a bummer, really...


Sorry to say that stuff costs what it costs and if you're not in a market with lots of competition it can be costly. (FYI local phone service would be much more costly in many locations without government regulation).

Perhaps you can look at the problem another way. If you can't reduce costs, can you increase income? $40 per month is about $500 per year. Is there anyway you can earn, save, get a gift, or sell something you don't need to raise $500? That would pay for your service till the kid is a year old. [After that he or she will cost you so much money it won't matter icon_biggrin.gif:D--> ]

I'm not trying to be snide, but sometimes looking at the problem in a different way brings up solutions you wouldn't have seen.

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My3Cents - I didn't take it as "snide"-ness at all. I'm exploring that angle, too. We've nix'ed several subscrpitions (NetFlixs, magazines, etc.). If I can get my kid potty trained (he's long overdue... that's another $40/month)... So, no, I don't think you're being snide at all...

WordWolf - I just checked - it's a no-go with Earthlink. Only their high speed dial-up is available... oh, thrill...

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