Low cost residential ISP

[Deucer]

Hi all,

My grandmother has fallen ill and various family members are spending more and more time at her house taking care of her. They've asked me to price out some options for high speed internet so they can be connected while taking care of her.

The place already has Comcast cable, but Comcast wants around $50/month plus a decent installation fee to get up and running.

Doesn't need to be fast. Mostly email and light web browsing. Anyone have any suggestions at a lower price point?

TIA

 

[FoolishMortal]

Hi all,

My grandmother has fallen ill and various family members are spending more and more time at her house taking care of her. They've asked me to price out some options for high speed internet so they can be connected while taking care of her.

The place already has Comcast cable, but Comcast wants around $50/month plus a decent installation fee to get up and running.

Doesn't need to be fast. Mostly email and light web browsing. Anyone have any suggestions at a lower price point?

TIA

Wireless card and a friendly neighbor?

When I was in Ventura, the guys in the apartment next door ran cable through the attic and dropped it into our extra bedroom. We split the cost.

 

[the donald]

i was going to start a thread because what i want to ask is a bit diferent and do not want to hijack this thread, but i did not want to litter this forum with 2 things that are similar.



i am looking for a 2nd internet service for gaming. i am sick of playing in matches with crappy hosts, pulling host when my nephew is over and we share a connection(ruining the match for everyone), and when we have my xbox, nephews xbox, sister using wfi, mom on the farmville(holy shit that uses a lot of juice) and then all watching TV.

i have xfinity now but with 5 boxes and all that listed above it is pretty awful. i am looking for internet that is not cable, but i will in general pull host all the time.

http://www.switchtobroadband.com/95376-internet-service-providers-page1.html

i found this website

verizon tier 1 and 2 look the best along with charter internet plus and up, the earthlink does not seem bad.

oh and this will be for my gaming, streaming, and general use only. i am going to keep comcast for all the rest that is not me because i am greedy like that.

 

[Deucer]

i was going to start a thread because what i want to ask is a bit diferent and do not want to hijack this thread, but i did not want to litter this forum with 2 things that are similar.



i am looking for a 2nd internet service for gaming. i am sick of playing in matches with crappy hosts, pulling host when my nephew is over and we share a connection(ruining the match for everyone), and when we have my xbox, nephews xbox, sister using wfi, mom on the farmville(holy shit that uses a lot of juice) and then all watching TV.

i have xfinity now but with 5 boxes and all that listed above it is pretty awful. i am looking for internet that is not cable, but i will in general pull host all the time.

http://www.switchtobroadband.com/95376-internet-service-providers-page1.html

i found this website

verizon tier 1 and 2 look the best along with charter internet plus and up, the earthlink does not seem bad.

oh and this will be for my gaming, streaming, and general use only. i am going to keep comcast for all the rest that is not me because i am greedy like that.

Thanks for the link, that's helpful. Looks like my options are 14.99/month for DSL Extreme (never heard of them) or $19.99/month for ATT, verizon or Charter Communications.

Anyone want to weigh in on any of those companies? Again, this is strictly for browsing the 'net, no gaming, probably not even streaming videos.

 

[gnahc79]

If your grandmother has a landline and is using it, sonic.net is a good option if you can get service at your grandmother's home. $50/month for unlimited long distance + DSL. There's no cap speed for DSL, just whatever the max speed you can get depending on how far the house is from the CO. Better deal than AT&T if you want a landline + DSL.
Very good customer service too. We've had sonic since Feb of this year. I think our connection went down once or twice for a max of 1 hr since we got sonic. Connection came back up on its own.
sonic.net is not ideal for gaming though

 

[wazzuFreddo]

I just hooked up sonic.net at home, great deal.

 

[Starshooter10]

+1 to sonic.net

 

[gnahc79]

Also, the landline service is really nice. Free fax phone# to send/receive faxes and voicemail messages can be sent to one more email addresses automatically .

 

[Deucer]

Sorry guys, I can't switch the phone service. They have some special equipment hooked up to it because they can't hear very well.

 

[rumpofsteelskin]

minus 1 for sonic.net.

-shipped the wrong DSL modem with no preconfiguration - they promised a Motorola and delivered a ZTE piece of shit
-no configuration guide online
-only response from tech support was to exchange the wrong modem for the same wrong modem, still without documentation
-I eventually figured it out, but got multi-day outages about once a month
-I eventually swapped in my old AT&T modem in bridged mode and as long as I reboot it every day I get barely acceptable performance.

I'm waiting for my service term with them come to and end so I can drop them like a turd in the toilet.

 

[Downbound]

Depending on where you're located, check out Monkeybrains. (Full disclosure, thats me)

There is an install fee $250 and monthly service is a bit cheaper at $35/mo. . . Sonic is probably the cheapest way to go (I also don't think they have contracts and are month to month like us). Good people.

 

[Banjoboy]

If your grandmother has a landline and is using it, sonic.net is a good option if you can get service at your grandmother's home. $50/month for unlimited long distance + DSL. There's no cap speed for DSL, just whatever the max speed you can get depending on how far the house is from the CO. Better deal than AT&T if you want a landline + DSL.
Very good customer service too. We've had sonic since Feb of this year. I think our connection went down once or twice for a max of 1 hr since we got sonic. Connection came back up on its own.
sonic.net is not ideal for gaming though

I just hooked up sonic.net at home, great deal.

+1 to sonic.net

^THIS^
+ a bazillion fer Sonic.net (Bean with 'em since '99)

minus 1 for sonic.net.

-shipped the wrong DSL modem with no preconfiguration - they promised a Motorola and delivered a ZTE piece of shit
-no configuration guide online
-only response from tech support was to exchange the wrong modem for the same wrong modem, still without documentation
-I eventually figured it out, but got multi-day outages about once a month
-I eventually swapped in my old AT&T modem in bridged mode and as long as I reboot it every day I get barely acceptable performance.

I'm waiting for my service term with them come to and end so I can drop them like a turd in the toilet.

Wow dude, yer the only one who's had bad service from 'em.
I did have issues with intermittent connectivity for about a month. Their #3 tech tier dicked me around 'til I got a #1 dude. He jacked at&t and solved it in hrs. (cuz the problem wuz w/ their lines Sonic leases)
Good thing the service is month to month so you can get out soon.

 

[greener]

Depending on where you're located, check out Monkeybrains. (Full disclosure, thats me)

Rudy?
I have the above service and I love it!

 

[major]

sonic.net seem to have the upper hand!

 

[Downbound]

Rudy?
I have the above service and I love it!

Nope, Anders. . Rudy does not ride anymore. . has kids and a wife that I think ended that.

 

[tuxumino]

been using DSL extreme for about 6 years, cheap, not fast, only felt like blowing them up a couple of times.

 

[goodness-707]

I think AT&T has a 1.5Mbit DSL plan for about $15 a month. It's not super fast, but for web browsing and such, it should work fine.

 

[MC BumSlap]

minus 1 for sonic.net.

-shipped the wrong DSL modem with no preconfiguration - they promised a Motorola and delivered a ZTE piece of shit

Wrong. The motorola 2247 adsl+ modems were POS. The ZTE is much better and more stable.

Dane Jasper, CEO of Sonic.net, is a member of this board. You can contact him here or on dslreports.com

Give them a chance, and they'll make it right. Look at it this way, you weren't talking to tech support in another state, or another country.