Okay, I think I may be the only one left in the universe still on dial up and even worse have AOL. I've been having major problems with getting kicked off over and over again and think it's my phone service (bell south). We have a lot of storms and stuff here in the south and though I can't hear things on my line, I know that little jigs here and there can still cut you off. I'm thinking of going with MSN Broadband or Comcast DSL. Does anyone have any advice? I just want to know if anyone has any pros or cons to share about these types of systems! thanks guys! Newstdt
Hey, I'm in Louisiana, and I was gonna tell you about Bellsouth's Fast Access ADSL, until I saw you obviously don't want it ;-). It's fast, but sometimes it chokes around 7 p.m. When I first signed up with Bellsouth, I thought it was great that you could get your land line, ADSL, and a cellphone (Cingular), with them. Now I am older, wiser and a little more broke. Sadly, Bellsouth is the only phone service offered where I live. I wish you luck.
I had the same problem you had. Bellsouth blamed Aol - AOL blamed Bellsouth. The bottom line is that the connection did not work. I switched to Comcast. It is great. Always works. Anyone who used to use AOL who has switched will never go back. One problem is that Aol will send you a letter saying that if you ever want the service again, just click on their icon - you don't have to sign up again. You will find that the Aol constantly pops up, trying to get you to click on. It is impossible to get it off the machine. If you have kids, this may be a problem because they may click it without knowing any better. I have never used AOL on this computer (it is fairly new), but it keeps popping up. I deleted it yesterday and again today.
Thank you both for your quick help!! I was wondering Thomas if you paid for your modem with comcast or are doing the $5.00 a month thing? Did you guys download a firewall? (Just learned a bit about this through eopinions.com) Does that cost you? I was looking at possibly MSN broadband since there's no time commitment (one year min with Comcast) and you get what you need to self-install for free. Although comcast has the 19.95 for 3 months... decisions, decisions... Thanks again! I really appreciate it!! Newstdt
When I started with Comcast, the only option was to rent it from them for about $15 a month. As soon as they allowed us to buy a modem, i got mine at CompUSA for $250. The price has gone down since then. We can't get MSN here. Only other option is Bellsouth and I don't deal with them because the phone service is so bad. About two years ago, some companies came in and wired the whole city for the latest cable access. There were three companies who all agreed to provide cable service that was supposed to be the fastest in the country. All three went under before they signed up any customers. The cables are there with no one using them. Comcast has announced that they are allowing a competitor to use their lines later this year so we will have another option. One thing about Comcast - their service is the pits. But, fortunately it almost always works right. If you switch from AOL, you will never go back. Its like swimming in a septic tank, and then swimming in a pristine lake. Once you see what is available, you can't change back. I probably should not have compared AOL to a septic tank. The septic tank people will find that offensive.
I don't have a DSL answer but in the meantime bigzoo.net is 5.95/month, no ads recommended on clarkhoward.com I have used for 1 year dump aol
I personally use RoadRunner from Time Warner. It is a cable modem hooked up to your cable service. The cost here is only $44.95 a month. The modem and installation were free. As far as a firewall. I highly recommend zonealarm. www.zonealarm.com The firewall is free and keeps hackers out of your computer.
