can't decide which broadband to go with
pdcurnutt (5 points) | Wed, 2009-11-04 22:01I'm new in my city and comcast is the local cable service. The local paper reported fiber optic digital and HD television might be coming soon. Does any body have a strong opinion about going for a cable, broadband, phone special with comcast or waiting for fiber? Of course I could go with satellite for digital and HD TV, but i would still go to Comcast for internet and phone.
Of course fiber is the best, but until then get a short term contract with someone else.
I had DSL, Sat, and Cox cable and so far like the cable the best. It's a bit tricky when it comes to getting static IP's from them and setting it up correctly, but when it works, it works well and extremely faster than the others. While waiting for Fiber to the workstation solution coming soon, that's the best we have so far.
Good luck connecting to the world....
Comcast cable here. No complaints on the internet - fast and it never goes out. The cable tv is okay - nothing special. Vonage is my phone provider and nothing but praise for them - great price ($31 - including tax & everything) and you can call everywhere you'd want to call (including most of Europe) and every feature you'll never figure out how to use. Really wish I had switched to them 5 years ago when I first heard about it. Two of my friends had Comcast phone and both of them had problems.
not sure what remote corner of the world youre in pdcurnutt but in many markets comcast is already fiber optic... and has been for quite some time. i wonder if youre reading that newspaper article correctly?
either way - screw the comcast phone deal. their phone is way, WAY overpriced. its the "you want fries with that" of service providers.
one really good thing about comcast is they dont lock you into a contract for their services. at least not any longer than a month - not in my experience anyway. so you can get something and if it doesnt end up working. or something better comes along, just cancel
if you want phone and arent afraid of not having 911 or a phonebook listing i say go SKYPE! i forget what it is exactly i pay total, but its around $90 a YEAR and i have a local number, free us and canada and all the landline phone features i could ever need and it sounds GLORIOUS on a laptop or usb headset on your desktop!
or look into googlevoice. its FREE! but you gotta scrounge an invite. i have it but ive been so enamored with skype that ive neglected to mess with it. ; )
as far as broadband performance - it all depends where you are. even within the same town. in some neighborhoods comcast (or time warner or whatever your cable is in your area) may be the king and just a few blocks away DSL may rule... it all has to do with the existing physical infrastructure.
where i am, comcast is the way to go. but ONE mile away my friends can hardly get it to work. same sort of logic applies to ATTuverse and the various flavors of DSL
ask people in your town and better yet - your neighborhood. its too variable for an internet answer to give you any accurate help.
another thought... if youre not somebody who lives and dies by maximum internet bandwidth you might look into verizon's mobile broadband. i think their unlimited plan is like $60 a month. get that and a skype deal and you are FULLY MOBILE! you, your work and your phone can set up just about ANYWHERE!
Talking about phone service, has anyone experienced Ring Central IP phones? I was looking at them for sometimes, but have a hard time committing.
Maybe it's best to take Art's recommendation and go for Vonage.