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I live close to the community center in Petersville but ATT says the high speed dsl is not available at my house right now.

Anyone know of any other options for internet that aren't through the roof or dial up? I know comcast would work, but it's so expensive, plus we just hooked up to direct tv so I don't know if Comcast would even be possible.
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I'm sort of in your boat. No cable, no DSL. We use Verizon wireless. It's expensive and they limit your usage. I used to have HughesNet. Also expensive and they have a daily limit that if you go over, they cut your speed so low that you get off the computer.
You should check out Open Range. If it's available to you, it's supposed to be fast, and it's not too expensive. They also let you try it for 30 days free and there's no contract. I live 2 miles out of their coverage area, otherwise, I would use it. You can find Open Range on Google.
We're out in your area, also, and we have Comcast. Apparently AT&T has broadened their area because they came to my door last week to try to get me to change. After checking with others, as far as the monthly bill, I don't think AT&T will be any cheaper after the first contract period, and it's not worth it to me to have to change my email address. I know, if I was smart I'd use gmail or something, wouldn't I?
I live out between Underwood and Cloverdale (I have no idea what this area is actually called, I'm not a native to this part of the state) and I use Comcast. I was told by AT&T a while back I was eligible out here, but I don't want their services. There's always satellite, which my understanding is faster than dialup but not as fast as broadband (I could be wrong here).
Heh. I live down the street some from you. I have Commiecast at the moment.

AT&T tells everybody they're eligible-but no service out here yet.

Sasha's right about the sat and broadband speeds. Plus, Hughesnet and the like put a data cap on your account. So many Mb per month-if you exceed it, your connection speeds go straight down the crapper.
Where we live, which is like 2 miles from highway 43 right outside of Killen, our only option was Verizon Wi-fi. It is faster than dial-up, but not by much. It is definitely not worth the money you pay, but it was our only option. It is funny too, because people in Greenhill are getting access to the new ATT U-Verse while I live closer to highway 72 than they do and I can get nothing high-speed from ATT.
quote:
Originally posted by oldgreymare:
Can you get Comcast internet service if you do not have cable? I had cable once upon a time but got tired of paying for junk. The cable is still run to my house.


OK. The SIGNAL is always there unless your cable was physically disconnected at the box.

I suppose you could procure a generic cable modem and try to sucker 'em, but that's called 'theft of services' and I sure don't recommend it.

Also you have to be able to log on to their proprietary service to be assigned a static IP. Unless you have a valid username and password-prolly no dice.

Your best bet would be to build a Wok-Fi on a pole and hook it up to a goodly long USB cable and nick your 'net off somebody's wireless router.

'Course, that's 'theft of bandwidth.'

But everybody does it.

/shrug.
quote:
Originally posted by Road Puppy:
quote:
Originally posted by oldgreymare:
Can you get Comcast internet service if you do not have cable? I had cable once upon a time but got tired of paying for junk. The cable is still run to my house.


OK. The SIGNAL is always there unless your cable was physically disconnected at the box.

I suppose you could procure a generic cable modem and try to sucker 'em, but that's called 'theft of services' and I sure don't recommend it.



Whatever you do, dont do this. They will find you. It used to be the case that you could just split off someone elses line. Now that cable communicates both directions through the line (for on demand, cable internet, phone, etc), the lines are very sensitive to outside tampering. The 'noise' you introduce to the line can take everyones cable down in your area, which in turn causes the cable company to have to come out and find you.

I had an issue with mine recently, the cable guy came out and explained all this to me. My problem - one of the connections was not screwed on tight enough at the house. It wasnt loose enough to unscrew by hand, but it was loosed enough to wiggle and affect the signal. He 'torqued' it with a wrench, I havent had an issue since. I thought he was crazy when he told me what he did to fix it, but it apparently did the trick.

He also said squirrels can cause havoc with the lines as well, running up and down them all the time and chewing on them as well.
quote:
Originally posted by skreechowl:
Oldgreymare...Yes, they would reactivate but it would cost you .....the best thing that could happen is for Comcast to have some competition..


You could try to get them to waive the reactivation to get you to switch to them. They will charge you more for not being a cable customer, but you can get cable internet by itself. I've thought about switching to Sat, but after all the extra fees for the boxes and the increase in my internet costs, Sat is really no better than cable in the long run. They are all a bunch of cheats.

Comcast could definitely use some competition in the way of service in this area, though.
quote:
Originally posted by oldgreymare:
Can you get Comcast internet service if you do not have cable? I had cable once upon a time but got tired of paying for junk. The cable is still run to my house.


Yes. But they charge more for it than they do for cable customers. It averages around $10 more.

quote:
Originally posted by WarEagle1982:
Where we live, which is like 2 miles from highway 43 right outside of Killen, our only option was Verizon Wi-fi. It is faster than dial-up, but not by much. It is definitely not worth the money you pay, but it was our only option. It is funny too, because people in Greenhill are getting access to the new ATT U-Verse while I live closer to highway 72 than they do and I can get nothing high-speed from ATT.


U-Verse/DSL is very dependent on your distance to a VRAD (Video-ready access device) which is basically a portable central office. This requires a fiberoptic hookup that may exist in Greenhill but not where you live, or if it does exist you aren't within 3000 feet which is required to get the best performance. It's worth noting that unless you are in town or a major subdivision you probably aren't within distance to provide service.
quote:
Originally posted by oldgreymare:
Can you get Comcast internet service if you do not have cable? I had cable once upon a time but got tired of paying for junk. The cable is still run to my house.


I don't have cable TV and I have internet. I get the medium speed, I think it's called Performance or was before this Xfinity business started, and I pay $64.95 a month including my cable modem rental. They have a speed that's less expensive and about as fast as DSL (which is generally slower than cable) too but for someone like me who watches all her TV online that was pointless.
I also haven't had problems with my Comcast, we've been with them for three years here, and previously in another city. As riverrat says, the only problems are things that are not their fault. During my hookup I had some problems with servicemen's appts. but once I got through that things were fine.
Well whatever ya do-don't bother with HughesNet.

I figured I'd try them out and had a guy come over and plant a dish in my yard.

He explained to me that I'd even be able to watch movies and stuff and that my signal strength was better than what he expected when he ran diagnostics.

I tried to get it to load this forum...I had enough time to step outside and have a smoke and a full cup of coffee before only 75% of the forum home page loaded.

Conclusion: HughesNet is like a stoned turtle with racing stripes on Qualuudes.
It sucks like a black hole.

Called up Hughie and told him I've got limited if NO internet access. I can 'not get online' for free-I'll be danged if I'll pay $60 a month for the privelege of 'not having internet access.'

Needless to say I'm chopping down the flippin' dish. They only want their transmitter and modem back so I guess I can use the dish to build my Wok-Fi.

Wink Big Grin
Do not get satellite internet service. For one, the latency is horrible. Do a ping test and you will see what I mean. The signal has to travel 24,000 miles into space and back again, which means the latency is unavoidable. If you play games online, it makes it impossible.

Second, they cap you to only a couple hundred MB of bandwidth a day.

Third, it's outrageously expensive.

I have Comcast and I have never had a single problem. I have the highest speed package which used to be 8/2, but I think it is now 16/2 after the Xfinity upgrade. You wont find any service in this area that's faster.

I have a question for Comcast techs that are reading:

1) Is Docsis 3.0 in this area yet?
2) Is the 8/2 package still around or is it now 16/2? I have read that all speeds are being upgraded once Docsis 3.0 hit.

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