Recommendations on internet service?

[Fierce Critter]

Here's the deal. We moved 5 miles SW back in February. Same city, different county. New dial-up area code.

In the old house, we had access to plenty of local access numbers for AOL. Here, there are NONE. We "solved" the problem by getting an unlimited long-distance phone plan.

But I got a letter from Sprint, our local carrier, saying you can't use ULD for data transmission, and we've got 30 days to figure something out. They never had that info anywhere when we signed-up for this plan.

Anyway, I've tried my damndest to find a solution. I even considered DSL. The biggest problem is, Sprint is the ONLY local provider available to me - and they don't have DSL in our area. DSL is strictly through your local provider (or so I've been told), so NO DSL plan will help. No DSL also means no broadband.

So I'm stuck with either a dial-up service or satellite. Satellite requires TV service in order to get internet service. We already dropped satellite TV to save $$. And the cost of their internet service was ALWAYS too expensive. So that's out.

Got something in the mail from Direcway satellite internet today. The cost is insane, so that's out, too.

The best solution I've found so far is I have found one, single, solitary internet provider that has one, single, solitary local access number for us. It's called Intergate. Costs about $10.00 a month. AOL will give us our plan for only $14.99 a month since we won't be using their access numbers - we'll be piggy-backing on the Intergate connection. So we'll end up paying about the same as we're paying for full-price AOL now.

Before I call Intergate to sign-up, however, I wanted to throw this out here and see if anyone knows of a possible other solution.

The best thing to come from this is that since we can dump the unlimited LD, our phone bill will drop from $85 a month down to about $40 a month. So we'll be saving a hefty amount. But I'm worried about having only one access number to get online with.

Thanks for any help.

[Rose]

No DSL also means no broadband.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't understand... broadband is cable and DSL is through the phone line. why would no DSL mean no broadband?

[Fierce Critter]

Maybe I'm confusing something - I've talked to a dozen companies over the past few weeks.

You can't get AOL broadband without some other kind of high-speed connection first. I was under the impression that meant you had to have DSL first.

Anyway, cable isn't available in our area. We are, like I said, in the middle of NOWHERE.

[Rose]

ahh ok. AOL for broadband is a service that goes on top of your existing connection. You don't need it at all (in fact it's an extra expense), what it will give you is the AOL-specific browser and content, and access to your AOL email accounts, etc. Which I guess would be important even if only for the time it took to transition to a different email/webspace/etc.

no cable, and no DSL, I would probably go with satellite. but if you can't get satellite, then you can't. so... my only other suggestion is to try Budget Dialup and see if they have any local access numbers for you. I use them when travelling and have found them very reliable

[Ginevra]

Part of the issue with the DSL/broadband is that the phone lines in "older" neighborhoods simply can't reliably uphold the transfer of information. So it's quite possible that while simple dialup is readily available that DSL/other broadband is not.

You might try out NetZero for low cost accounts. I know that one member of DGN goes through speakeasy.net for their services. Perhaps they could have something to offer you. Yahoo is also supposed to offer various plans as well.

[Fierce Critter]

Netzero had no access numbers in our area.

I'm going to check out speakeasy, Yahoo and Budget Dialup per your recommendations.

Thanks!

[Fierce Critter]

None of the above are available in my area. Yahoo goes through SBC, which isn't available in NC at all.

I found Intergate through some website that searched local services like phone service, cable, etc for people moving to NC.

I'm going to try some other web searches to see if there is anything else available for dial-up that I might have missed.

I have to decide soon. I think I have about a week left.

This sucks so bad.

[Ginevra]

As much as I hate to recommend it, what about MSN's web service?

[Fierce Critter]

I SHOULD say that I'm willing to check out ANYTHING.

But at this point, I can almost guarantee that the big ones - MSN, Yahoo, Earthlink, PeoplePC, etc - don't have local access numbers for me. I've checked all the ones I mentioned (save MSN) and none of them come close.

I found a webpage that'll search internet providers within area codes. It's coming up with dozens. The problem is, just because a number is within my area code (910), doesn't mean it's a local call.

I called the phone company and had them list EVERY prefix that's a local call for me. But what I have to do is go to EVERY ISP's webpage and look at their access number listing to see if the numbers they list include my local prefixes.

Thusfar, I've found one that has 2 numbers and costs $8.95 a month, an improvement over Intergate by having 2 numbers instead of Intergate's 1. But there are DOZENS to check.

Since I'll be using their access numbers to piggy-back AOL on top of, the "winning" ISP will be based on how many local access numbers are available to me. Nothing else really matters at all.

I have until the 18th. I'll be spending all day today cross-referencing those numbers.

This is a royal pain in the ass.

[Onyx]

http://www.juno.com/

I use them as a backup for my cable in case it goes down. Doesn't happen too often, but I break out in a cold sweat at the thought of no net access, heh.

access numbers : http://my.juno.com/s/numbers

Why piggyback? Why not drop AOL completely? (just curious. I despise them).

[Fierce Critter]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I checked Juno already.

As for dumping AOL, I've had it for 5 years now, and have never had the "hate" for it that everyone else seems to have. The features they provide please me, as do the improvements they've made since version 7.

And I get GREAT service from their helpdesk. I've had, in the past year, at least 6 months free service due to the kind of problem I'm having now.

They have even mentioned that they can GIVE me a computer if that's what it takes to keep me as a customer. Of course, it comes with a service contract of a year or two, but I see no reason to quit. If piggy-backing ends up too much for my 1999 model Pentium II computer to handle, I just might take them up on that (I hear their giveaway computers are damned good).

I have asked DGN members several times over the years for recommendations on better service than AOL, and nobody has ever come up with anything. The only response I ever get is that people are as unhappy with what they've got as many seem to be with AOL.

One major thing that I can praise AOL for is the amount of FTP space they allot. Between 2 humans inthis house, we get 7 screenames, each with its own FTP space. I can load all my Ebay pics, as well as all the pics I use on DGN, etc. and have room for more. And they put no blocks on linking, unlike many ISP's that DGN'ers have complained about.

It's all a matter of experience, and my experience with AOL has, almost without fail, been positive.

[Rose]

how much space do you get with each screen name? just curious...

we use comcast and we get 6 names with 25M of webspace each.

[Fierce Critter]

7 screenames, 20mb each.

[Dubh Aingeal]

Since no one else posted this site, I would recommend checking here for a search to see who might provide broadband services to you... When I told Comcast to go and cram their service for stupidity (of not knowing when service was available at my house when neighbors had 2-way service) this is the site I used to compare and look for a provider. I settled on Speakeasy cause they had a good ranking and because I like the name. Makes me feel like I am doing something shady in a secret room in the back of what looks like a legal place....

Broadband Reports

[Fierce Critter]

I'll check that out tomorrow.

But before I do, I'm curious as to what good it'd do me. I can't even get cable or DSL here - I was under the impression that you had to have cable first to get broadband...

Or am I THAT uneducated in all things ISP?

[Dubh Aingeal]

Broadband cable runs across the same lines that your cable tv runs across... DSL runs across the telephone lines... Neither one is needed to get the other... The biggest down side to DSL is distance... The further away from a CO that you are, the slower the available speeds get and if your too far away (18,000 feet) you are no longer able to get DSL... Which is one reason cable broadband has the larger market share...

You could also look into Satellite Broadband which in most cases just requires a direct line of site to the south, but the prices for that are still kind of high... Not really with the monthly paying, but the installation. The average I have heard of is about 600 dollars for the hardware alone...

[Fierce Critter]

We're, as I said, in the middle of nowhere. There isn't any cable available out here - everybody has a satellite dish.

As for satellite internet, the prices ARE insane. I mentioned Direcway above - it's $600 for the equipment & installation, and then $99 a month.

WAAAAY out of our price range.

Satellite internet through DirectTV would have been about $60 a month. Also out of our price range.

[Onyx]

I wish I could help. Living in the country SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS.

I used to have a house right in the middle of 5 acres of undeveloped land. Took 10 minutes to walk to the mailbox. I had to even pay to have a power pole put in because there was no electricity out that far. No "city water" -- only well water.

I was going to have Privacy, man, with a capital P! I was going to grow lots of good veggies and fruit! I was going to commune with nature in my own little piece of Eden.

It turns out my idyllic dream of country life was not all it was cracked up to be. Inconvenience everywhere I turned, from no broadband to power outages that knocked out the well too, to driving 45 minutes to get to any sort of shopping (including any decent grocer).

I hope you get to move soon!

[Fierce Critter]

Update: I ended up signing on with ISP.com. They had 2 local access numbers, and it costs $8.95 a month. I dial onto AOL now as if using a broadband connection, and my price dropped to $14.95 a month. So I'm paying pretty much the same.

It may be my imagination, but I think things might be moving a touch faster. Probably just wishful thinking, but it sure seems that way.

Wish I'd have done this a long time ago. This is saving us about $40 a month now that I don't need an unlimited long distance plan.

[nodrew]

It probably is moving faster, as you're no longer dialing over long distance, which means there is less line noise between you and your ISP.

[Fierce Critter]

Ahh.. that makes sense.