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Partial
2006-06-20, 11:32
Do any of you guys know of any affordable broadband? 45 dollars a month for roadrunner with its slow upload is ridiculous. I need about 1mb per second download minimum, and preferably a faster than cable (40kbps) upload. I don't really want to switch phone services, so if is DSL it would have to be standalone unless its a fantastic deal.

Currently, we do Time Warner's Digital Phone, Cable and Internet package for like 100 bucks a month I think. I live in a big area, so most major services are available.

Any input will be greatly appreciated!!

rollercoaster375
2006-06-20, 11:56
FiOS (http://www22.verizon.com/content/ConsumerFios)

rasmits
2006-06-20, 12:03
Do you have Comcast available? My upload speed is advertised at 768Kbps. I've never heard of Cable having only 40Kbps upload.

It's $24.99 a month for current cable customers.

bassplayinMacFiend
2006-06-20, 12:21
Do you have Comcast available? My upload speed is advertised at 768Kbps. I've never heard of Cable having only 40Kbps upload.

It's $24.99 a month for current cable customers.

Wow, I'm getting screwed. I pay $45.95/month for Comcast with only a 384Kbps upload.

The 40kbps you reference probably should've been written as 40KBps.

I know Comcast offers faster upload speeds which I would like so I could host 16 player GRAW games on my 360, but I'm not about to pay $79.95/mo for it.

AT&T/SBC is offering basic DSL for $12.95/month in my area, if you sign up for a 1 year agreement. I'm quite positive they aren't giving away 1Mbps upload with that though.

kretara
2006-06-20, 12:27
It must be nice having choices.
I've basically got SBC or Comcast for affordable access.

I used to have Comcast, but after a year or so their speeds (upload and download) had slowed down tremendously because everyone in the neighborhood was using them. I was paying $50 for low-end DSL speeds.

I now have SBC DSL, their cheapest plan ($25/month). It's not the fastest, but it is good enough for me and is still faster then my neighbors cable connection during 'peak' hours.

rollercoaster375
2006-06-20, 12:32
The 40kbps you reference probably should've been written as 40KBps.
No, it should have been written as 40Kbps. I had Roadrunner when I was living in Houston, and on average, I got around 13Kbps upload (and 5 Mbps download).

Partial
2006-06-20, 13:24
Do you have Comcast available? My upload speed is advertised at 768Kbps. I've never heard of Cable having only 40Kbps upload.

It's $24.99 a month for current cable customers.


Wow, thats uber cheap and fast. I have Time Warner Road runner, and it is 45 dollars a month, with 6mbps download, and 40kbps upload.

DMBand0026
2006-06-20, 13:26
FiOS (http://www22.verizon.com/content/ConsumerFios)

No matter how I type in my address for this, it says it can't find me. I guess living on a pretty major street in one of the biggest cities in the world doesn't actually make my address exist. :confused:

Banana
2006-06-20, 13:30
Paying $35 for 1.5/1 Up/Down Mbps.

The hitch? It's standalone DSL and I cut off my landline. But Qwest sucks big green balls. :\

bassplayinMacFiend
2006-06-20, 14:32
No, it should have been written as 40Kbps. I had Roadrunner when I was living in Houston, and on average, I got around 13Kbps upload (and 5 Mbps download).

So you're telling me that your cable modem (40Kbps or 40 Kilobits per second) is slower than a dial up modem (53Kbps or 53 Kilobits per second)?

In other words, it's not the capitalization of the K that's important since the K should always be capitalized. It's the capitalization of the letter B that's important. Small b = bits, capital B = bytes.

bassplayinMacFiend
2006-06-20, 14:33
Paying $35 for 1.5/1 Up/Down Mbps.

The hitch? It's standalone DSL and I cut off my landline. But Qwest sucks big green balls. :\

Hey, Qwest was the only company that didn't give the NSA their phone records. At least you can be happy for that. Your bandwidth costs are pretty cheap as well. $35/month for T-1 down and almost T-1 up? I'd give up some of my 5+Mbps down if I could actually get some decent upload speed.

atomicbartbeans
2006-06-20, 14:39
I also pay Road Runner ~$45/month for the same as what you have: 5000kbps down, and 384kbps up (your 40 figure probably referred to kilobytes per second, which is actually 48, as 384/8=48).

It's pretty much the best that's offered around here; I could pay roughly the same for Verizon DSL, but I'd get lower up/down speeds, along with shitty customer service and the hassle of installing DSL line filters.

Hopefully in a few years, we'll become as advanced as Japan is now (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3278375.stm)...

rollercoaster375
2006-06-20, 15:40
So you're telling me that your cable modem (40Kbps or 40 Kilobits per second) is slower than a dial up modem (53Kbps or 53 Kilobits per second)?
I'm aware of what the difference is... and 40 Kbps is higher than the upload I had with Roadrunner.

Partial
2006-06-20, 15:58
I also pay Road Runner ~$45/month for the same as what you have: 5000kbps down, and 384kbps up (your 40 figure probably referred to kilobytes per second, which is actually 48, as 384/8=48).

It's pretty much the best that's offered around here; I could pay roughly the same for Verizon DSL, but I'd get lower up/down speeds, along with shitty customer service and the hassle of installing DSL line filters.

Hopefully in a few years, we'll become as advanced as Japan is now (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3278375.stm)...


I have the same internet as you. I am fine with the download speed obviously, but it seems almost useless with the upload so low since your torrents keep a ratio of upload to download max speed, so when it maxes out a 40 kbps I could be getting so much faster downloads that way with DSL. Oh well.

It seems that this is pretty much the only option around here, and I'm fine with that I suppose. Just figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Ryan
2006-06-20, 17:27
If you have SBC DSL available, look into some of the other providers over their lines. Sonic.net and DSL Extreme are both good. Sonic.net is only available in California, but their customer service and features offered can't be beat. DSL Extreme offers service in more states, so you might look into them, if cable doesn't work out.

Banana
2006-06-20, 17:47
Hey, Qwest was the only company that didn't give the NSA their phone records. At least you can be happy for that. Your bandwidth costs are pretty cheap as well. $35/month for T-1 down and almost T-1 up? I'd give up some of my 5+Mbps down if I could actually get some decent upload speed.

Ah, it's not the plan, really. I begrudge the fact that Qwest is my Supmere, Magnificant, Glorious and the Most August Overlord of All Realms Surveyed, and I basically went with them because... let's look at my choices-

1) Qwest
2) Qwest
3) Comcast (but I don't want cable TV and they charge ridiculously high prices for internet only service.

Furthermore, the lack of competition has led to really really lax and outrightly stupid customer services. They are incapable of following simple instruction. I gave them this

1) I want to sign up for DSL
2) When DSL is active, disconnect my landline.

and they gave me a confirmation number for my order. Few days later, they cut off my phone lines. No DSL. A call to customer service and they're saying that I never ordered DSL. I say that my confirmation order covers both. They deny it. :err: This is only one of clusterfuck I've witnessed time after time.

Finally, my beef with both Qwest and Comcast (and any telco for that matter) is how they never really tell you any pertinent information. They keep telling you can have six months of internet for only 99 cents but not even in their fine print will they admit to their regular price of $1,999.99 plus taxes and fees and you're stuck on a mortgage with them for life. The only way to get regular prices and no bullshit is to call them directly, which means putting up with the aggravating promotions they push on me-

"Would you like to sign up for..."
"No, thank you. I'd like..."
"It's one-time offer,"
"I'm sure I don't want it. I'm calling because..."
"We also have deals on..."
*clicks*

In other words, I'm suffering from telco hegemony syndrome. ;)

Partial
2006-06-21, 09:10
Here's a general question for you guys, in your area is there generally only one cable provider? I live in a big city, I mean its not new york but its in the top 20 cities in the US in size. We only have one cable provider, and two cable internet providers. Is this how it is in most places or do you guys have option when it comes to your cable tv and internet?

atomicbartbeans
2006-06-21, 09:17
Around here the only cable provider is Time Warner, which owns the local cable lines and also provides Road Runner internet service. Of course, they're required to lease their lines to other providers (namely LocalNet and Earthlink, but at only 2000kbps downstream).

kretara
2006-06-21, 09:21
There is only 1 cable provider per city here. Mostly its comcast throughout the central portions of Arkansas.
We have multiple DSL providers (sbc and Alltel locally) but they all have to use sbc lines and sbc seems to make using their line very difficult.

One of the big issues that we face here is that Arkansas is still a rural State. A large portion of Arkansas has slow dial-up and when I say slow I mean in the range of 24k sloooooow.


When I lived in Boston, Ma there was only 1 cable provider per 'city'. Throughout Boston it was comcast (don't know what it is now). About the only dsl available was the old Hell Atlantic/verizon. They were even worse than sbc above.

bassplayinMacFiend
2006-06-21, 09:25
Here's a general question for you guys, in your area is there generally only one cable provider? I live in a big city, I mean its not new york but its in the top 20 cities in the US in size. We only have one cable provider, and two cable internet providers. Is this how it is in most places or do you guys have option when it comes to your cable tv and internet?

There is only one cable provider per town in CT. Charter, Comcast and Cox all have stakes in towns throughout the state. SBC bought SNET so SBC owns all the phone lines now.

Banana
2006-06-21, 10:17
Comcast is my local sugar daddy.

Is my hatred showing? :D