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Internet Access

Started by 41mag, January 04, 2007, 09:50 PM NHFT

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41mag

I was looking for internet access a couple of weeks ago (actually I still am :) )  I do not have a standard phone line, only a cell so dialup and DSL are not an option.  I attempted to get cable and did not have much luck with that.

I spent 30-45 minutes on the phone with the cable company trying to tell them that yes, they do provide service to my area.  I kept being transfered around (due to the Adelphia recently being sold) and finally they told me I would have to go to the "local" office to get signed up.  Those offices are in either Lebanon (about 28 miles away) or Concord (about 32 miles away).  So far, I've been less than impressed with their service and I have not even signed up yet.  My neighbor ended up getting rid of cable TV and went with dish because of the same "quality" of service.

I know some of the dish companies offer internet, and that has some problems especially in bad weather.  Does anyone know what they charge for service?

Do I have any other options (T-1 :D )?

error

It might help if you said where you are!

If you really want cable, you can try CALLING the "local" office.

In most areas you can get Verizon DSL without home phone service; this was one of the conditions imposed on them when they merged with MCI a year ago. So that might be worth looking into.

Spencer

What about satellite internet service?

I've never had it, but it sounds good.

http://www.wildblue.com/

cathleeninnh

We tried to get DSL from Verizon without phone service and were denied. We have cable with Comcast, but I am not totally satisfied. As we are looking at other parts of the state to live, Don thinks satellite is inadequate (slow) for working conditions but might be ok for casual/personal use.

Cathleen

money dollars

Quote from: 41mag on January 04, 2007, 09:50 PM NHFT
Do I have any other options (T-1 :D )?
I looked into a T-1, and it would be $1200 a month for me. I think $700 of that was going to be the local loop charge, and that is based on how far you are from the CO(central office)

Quote from: Spencer on January 04, 2007, 10:37 PM NHFT
What about satellite internet service?

I've never had it, but it sounds good.

http://www.wildblue.com/
I think Lex has that...I agree with Don.

I won't get it because of latency(it sucks for IPSEC VPNs...that is how I work remote), and they have long contracts. If they had a trial period, I might try it for non-work stuff...but most providers want to lock you into a 12-18 month contract, or charge you several hundred dollars if you want to get out of the contract. A lot of them also have bandwidth caps.

I connect to the internets at 26.4 Kbps   :'(

Lex

Quote from: money dollars on January 05, 2007, 10:43 AM NHFT
Quote from: Spencer on January 04, 2007, 10:37 PM NHFT
What about satellite internet service?

I've never had it, but it sounds good.

http://www.wildblue.com/
I think Lex has that...I agree with Don.

I won't get it because of latency(it sucks for IPSEC VPNs...that is how I work remote), and they have long contracts. If they had a trial period, I might try it for non-work stuff...but most providers want to lock you into a 12-18 month contract, or charge you several hundred dollars if you want to get out of the contract. A lot of them also have bandwidth caps.

I connect to the internets at 26.4 Kbps   :'(

I do have WildBlue, have had it for a while now.

The pros: You can download large files pretty quickly. You can get used to the latency when browsing the web, but it's not going to be smooth going. Still better than dialup though.

The cons: Number 1 problem is latency. Also, as MD said, there are long contracts. You do have pretty severe caps which I have hit a few times already and I have the Pro package (they are even lower for regular package): Upload 5GIGs a month, Download 15GIGs a month. The download limit I have never reached, but if you use bittorrent you will more than likely hit the upload limit which is what happened to me. Weather does affect the connection. But not as much as the problems that they sometimes have in the base station, so your signal works fine going up to the satelite then down the base station and stops there. They had a fiber cable cut one time which took the internet out for 4 days, although in that case WildBlue wasn't the only one out a few cable companies were out too, etc.

It's a gamble either way you look at it. Would I get WildBlue again knowing what I know now? Maybe.

d_goddard

I have comcast and am very happy. My house in Concord is consisently connecting at 6-8 MB download, upload ~64K.
I work from home very intensive on the internet (VNC, chat, and VoIP) all the time, no issues.

aries

Just go to the local office. 28 miles isn't that far.. I realize it's further than it would be in a more urban environment but hey this is NH

41mag

Thanks for the replies.

I was mostly frustrated with the cable company (Comcast) making it difficult to get service in my area even though they offer it. 

I did check Wild Blue, and they were a bit more expensive (especially with the purchase of the hardware).  I might check back with them later, but currently they are not doing installs in my area since they said they have more demand for installs elsewhere than they can currently do.

QuoteIf you really want cable, you can try CALLING the "local" office.

I did.  Their listed number for the local office is not for the local office, but for their call center.  As I mentioned before they do not want to provide service. 


aries

I believe most satellites have a monthly data limit, like 10-20GB... I dont know about you but I can easily download that in one day.

Dreepa

I have comcast  and everything has been ok so far.
I don't have a land line so I didn't want to get one just to get dsl.

41mag

Quote from: aries on January 06, 2007, 04:11 PM NHFT
I believe most satellites have a monthly data limit, like 10-20GB... I dont know about you but I can easily download that in one day.
When I checked on Wild Blue, they had a 150GB download limit and a 15GB upload limit. 


aries

Quote from: 41mag on January 08, 2007, 05:51 PM NHFT
Quote from: aries on January 06, 2007, 04:11 PM NHFT
I believe most satellites have a monthly data limit, like 10-20GB... I dont know about you but I can easily download that in one day.
When I checked on Wild Blue, they had a 150GB download limit and a 15GB upload limit. 



It's the upload that would make me hesitant as I use bittorrent pretty heavily