Posted on 08/23/2004 8:01:02 AM PDT by LuLuLuLu
Since we rarely use the phone, I'm wondering what my options are.
The land line service has all the bells and whistles, because if I remove all the stuff we don't use, the bill actually increases.
We have a dish and subscribe to DirecTV, and I really don't want to give money to the local roadrunner company.
We're often gone two weeks or more at a time, and return to no messages on the home phone, so my thinking is that since Mr. Lu and I both have cell phones, we really don't need the land line.
Recommendations, anyone?
I've checked, and Verizon DSL isn't available here, but Earthlink is.
Your only other option is DirectWay sat internet. A Costly solution since you have to buy the Sat modem.
Direcway.com, a two-way satellite internet provider, $60 per month or so after equipment is paid for (1st year at $100/mo buys the equip and service)
you have the best alternative.
IF you need the cell phone and the land line (required for many services), usually the DSL is the better way to go.
I have had both Cable Modem and ADSL - The cable modem was slower but the speed was steady both ways.
THe ADSL was much faster on the download side, but it varied depending on total area usage.
ADSL = $26.95 /mo for 384k
Cable = $49.95 / mo for 384k
cable brings with it - left-wing, socialist, homosexual trash TV
I disconnected my TV -and cable and now run on ADSL
Never happier.
Total phone bill including UNLIMITED long distance (inside US) $99 (includes taxes)
Out of the options you talked about, you probably have the cheapest setup now. The only other option MIGHT be wireless, if it's available in your area.
Current telephone bill breakdown:
(Apoligies for this not being formatted well.)
Monthly service: 72.35
That includes the DSL and the bells and whistles called Complete Connections.
We have more minutes of long distance calling than we've ever used -- 200 per month.
We also pay a $3.00 monthly fee for cheap(er) international calls, since Mr. Lu travels a lot.
My cell phone with tax is $35.95 per month.
Have a look around and see if there are any wireless ISPs around - no landline is needed; they bring a small box to your house and mount an antenna there. If you need help finding one, let me know in private FreepMail.
Sounds like a pretty high price.
Doubt it's available many places. But my ISP has an antenna at the airport NW of town and one across the river from us on the bluffs which some of us connect to via microwave antennae on top of our roofs.
We have 2 computers hooked via lan line to the antenna on our roof then to the ISP at slightly faster than DSL speeds.
I think the cost is about $30/mo or some such.
What I do when I move to a new location is check dslreports.com for my city and zip code. They have a pretty good listing of alternative broadband sources. Then again, I once spent weeks searching for broadband everywhere without success, then just happened to overhear some guys at a local computer store talking about a little-known local wireless service that not only served up good broadband, but also was reasonably priced (considering there was no alternative). So, you need to investigate your specific location, there is no generic solution for everyone everywhere.
Try
http://starband.com/
I've been on it for over 3 years.
DirecWay download speed is under 1 MBS. Zoomtown (Cincinnati Bell DSL) is now about 2.5 MBS. And it is not blanked by rain fade. ANd I agree: stay away from RR.
LuLu,
Good question. I just went through this. DSL requires the phone company's wires to your home.
You might want to price "stand-alone DSL", which uses the phone lines for DSL but disconnects the phone service. This is as low as $15 or as high as $32 from Qwest depending on the speed of the DSL service and your ISP (here, they have cheaper rates for customers of the largest ISP, which they don't advertise). Then there are several options for your regular phone service. In addition to my regular cell service, I went to a limited usage Vonage VoIP service (Google Vonage for service options and prices; Vonage is not the only VoIP provider), with a base price of $15 per month, which includes all the whistles and bells and free nationwide and Canada long distance (unlimited usage costs $28, but I didn't think I would use all the minutes of the limited usage plan, plus the charge for going over the limit is minimal compared to cell phones). Then I activated a new, bare bones phone line over the DSL wires for my fax for $12 per months. This gave me a separate fax number that I didn't have before, a lot of additional services, and a bill quite a bit smaller. Setting up the VoIP caused some problems with my WiFi system which required changing settings on a lot of my devices.
If you want to port your current local phone number to the VoIP line, which I did, the phone company had to activiate a different line for DSL, which was a little bit of a hastle. I took the opportunity to upgrade my DSL speed. My internet was down over a weekend and a couple of weekdays during the switch.
Bottom line, though, you're still using your local phone lines for all these different options. Theirs is the only wired service going to your house. Even if you went to VoIP, the provider would rent a line from your phone company.
Hope this helps. If you need any more info, message me.
Steve
What we did was have our landline taken out completely. We use CableVision for broadband and T-Mobile cell for voice. No more voice spam problems!
ok, my point was that if you want DSL then you have to have a land line.
Yo Parth, AFB thinks - and I quote - "you don't need the land line phone for DSL." What's up with this?
cable brings with it - left-wing, socialist, homosexual trash TV
Cable internet is available WITHOUT the cable TV. I should know, I have it through Comcast. When they install the internet connection they put a filter on it to deny the Cable TV signal.
true true - but you must pay extra $10 in some areas - more in other areas if you do not have digitall cable service.
So it costs even more.
BUT --- if you live more that 17,000 cable-feet from the telephone office, you cannot get ADSL. Then you should go Cable-Modem.
Only use sattelite if you have neither - I have recommended that option to those living in the mountains in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming or any other area without fiberoptic systems.
DIRECWAY® Two-Way Satellite Internet System. Pay a $99.99 initial fee. Includes a 28" X 38" elliptical dish, Transmit and receive LNBFs for Internet and 2 USB units (one for receive and one for send)
(Unlimited Access Monthly Service is $99.99 for the first 12 months then $59.99 thereafter) (Subject to credit approval)
Internet Only. Win 98SE,ME, Win 2000 and WinXP Includes Professional Installation
No you don't. Qwest in urban Arizona offers bare DSL without a landline connection.
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