OT: DSL

[chrisg]

Well, the cable modem rant below got me thinking about how annoying my cable service is.

Does anyone here have DSL from a service provider other than the local phone company and NOT have local phone service? We only use cell phones, and Sprint (the only local carrier) charges an extra $10 if you don't have phone service - so $29 vs $19. I'm pretty sure that other providers can provide DSL service on their lines. And of course, I would have to get the phone line run from the box to the house since I never bothered to have that done when we built the house. Ugh, so much work for something so simple.

Thanks,
Chris

[mike_e]

> Well, the cable modem rant below got me
> thinking about how annoying my cable service
> is.

> Does anyone here have DSL from a service
> provider other than the local phone company
> and NOT have local phone service? We only
> use cell phones, and Sprint (the only local
> carrier) charges an extra $10 if you don't
> have phone service - so $29 vs $19. I'm
> pretty sure that other providers can provide
> DSL service on their lines. And of course, I
> would have to get the phone line run from
> the box to the house since I never bothered
> to have that done when we built the house.
> Ugh, so much work for something so simple.

> Thanks,
> Chris

well this goes to what i read a while back. That TW was up in arms about haveing to let other companies use there lines to say your house to offer the same service. IE internet like RR, they offer the DSL or RR cheaper to people who already have it as a savings. Thats the way i see it. Would you really offer something cheaper to someone who isnt already a customer? I guess look at it like this you have someone who pays you say $40 a month for a phone line. You offer internet for $29 a month. Now that person paying you $40 doesnt have to go with your internet service. Just how do you hook them, offer it to them at a lower price.

i remember when i first got DSL here in austin. It was $60 a month... then about 3yrs or so later SWB had a deal going on for 2x the speed for about half the price for new and current customers. I got on that like white on rice. Went from $60 a month for 1mbit to $29.99 for 3mbit.

The thing here is that TW,SWB and i forget who else or the different parts of the nation. Have already install their cable to run to your house. Now other companys might be able to offer internet service to you using that companies lines. I cant find them but there are news topics over at <A HREF="http://www.dslreports.com">www.dslreports.com</A> That site is not just for DSL users it covers the range of isp's as well as cable, and areas that happen to offer wireless internet.

mike

[thylantyr]

>>Well, the cable modem rant below got me
>>thinking about how annoying my cable service
>>is.

What people fail to realize is. The technology
is not the problem {cable vs. DSL), nor is the
vendor supplying the service, it's more like
the infrastructure in *your* area that makes it
reliable. ie, my DSL is flawless for 7 years,
my friend had the same service but lives 10 miles
away and always had downtime because the infrastructure in his area was hosed. I also had
cable modem eons ago and had all kinds of downtime. But others may have much less in a different location. What you have to do is analyze both services and see what works best in
your location and it's best not to stereotype
one as being better over another. Asking people
for comments like the thread below is sorta
moot because it's all different. :)

[mceachrw]

you're look at it wrong. sprint does charge an additional $10. but, is the total cost ($29.99) cheaper and just as reliable as cable? in my area, it was so i switched. i also ditched analog cable for dishnetwork. i put dish on my local sprint bill for even more savings.

[mikebw]

You should look up <A HREF="http://www.speakeasy.net">www.speakeasy.net</A> for DSL. I had two acounts with them for many years, and they have the best support/customer service I had ever seen from an ISP. They are more expensive though.

If you want to have DSL on a line without traditional phone service, you can sign up for their 'One Link' service. Basically this works over any unused or 'dry' line to your house. You just need to have at least one copper pair (one line) going to your house from the local CO.

> Well, the cable modem rant below got me
> thinking about how annoying my cable service
> is.

> Does anyone here have DSL from a service
> provider other than the local phone company
> and NOT have local phone service? We only
> use cell phones, and Sprint (the only local
> carrier) charges an extra $10 if you don't
> have phone service - so $29 vs $19. I'm
> pretty sure that other providers can provide
> DSL service on their lines. And of course, I
> would have to get the phone line run from
> the box to the house since I never bothered
> to have that done when we built the house.
> Ugh, so much work for something so simple.

> Thanks,
> Chris

[transnova]

> Well, the cable modem rant below got me
> thinking about how annoying my cable service
> is.

> Does anyone here have DSL from a service
> provider other than the local phone company
> and NOT have local phone service? We only
> use cell phones, and Sprint (the only local
> carrier) charges an extra $10 if you don't
> have phone service - so $29 vs $19. I'm
> pretty sure that other providers can provide
> DSL service on their lines. And of course, I
> would have to get the phone line run from
> the box to the house since I never bothered
> to have that done when we built the house.
> Ugh, so much work for something so simple.

> Thanks,
> Chris

You can get service from another provider other than your local phone company. You will however still have to pay a local loop charge for the line at about $10.00 per month. The only advantage to this is you would in effect be using dark copper giving way to the possiblilty of SDSL service. This will give you more upload speed. If you are not running web services SDSL would be a waste of bandwidth.