The Chainlink

Internet/phone provider-- options?

My phone/internet bill came today-- just under $90.

Measuring 2.12 Mbps down and .34 Mbps up per Speakeasy speed test.

I stopped answering my home phone and disconnected the machine 1-2 years ago (it was only solicitors), but I need the line occasionally to send out faxes.  I also like to think it would be good to have as a backup to my cell phone, although since switching to Verizon there hasn't been a single incident where this would have been necessary.

 

Seems like I should be able to get this unspectacular level of service for less than $90  . . .

 

Anyways, do I have any options besides Comcast? I've looked into them and the introductory deals are not bad but when they expire I'm back in the same boat. Plus I had continual interruptions with their service before switching to ATT DSL.

 

Thanks for any info/clarifying questions/links.  I'm near SW (60608).

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Permalink Reply by Joe TV on January 16, 2011 at 3:17am

I pay @60 for comcast internet.  No phone/cable.  After years of wifi in the house, I plugged a cable into the desktop and got speeds of above 20mbps. 60625

 

 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on January 16, 2011 at 1:37pm

If you are going to spend $90/month you might as well get GOOD internet.  AT$T sucks -it REALLY sucks!

 

I keep hoping that Verizon FiOS will make it up to my neck of the woods in Logan Square sometime soon.   It is DARN fast and you could get cable, home phone AND super-fast fiber-optics broadband for $89/month.  I don't watch TV so I could give a squat about the cable.  I just want faster internet and would like to get rid of AT$T.   Maybe it is in your area.  Someday it'll make it this far north to mine.

Permalink Reply by Leah Jone on January 16, 2011 at 2:28pm

I also have Clear and love it. I find myself having to reset the modem every night, which is annoying, but the speeds are better than AT&T and it is much cheaper.

 

For fax I use a scanner and email an attachment as a PDF or walk to FedEx.

Jeff Schneider said:

I have Clear 4G/3G for $50/mo.  Last summer, the speed at home was only 3-6 Mbs download.  In recent weeks it's improved to 9-13 Mbs, about the same as my old (more expensive and immobile) Comcast service.  Comcast service was fast and reliable; I just got tired of being tied to a cable.

 

The nice thing about wireless is mobility; the bad part is that speed varies greatly depending on the exact location of your modem (distance to nearest tower, interior or exterior room, near a window, etc.). I live very near a tower.

 

I haven't had a home phone in many years.  They are SO 20th century ;-)  To send a fax, can't you tether to your mobile phone?

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on January 16, 2011 at 3:56pm

I have Cricket.

A modem for my ancient computer, unlimited,text,talk,internet,camera (for the sexting) on my phone. $80 a month.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on January 16, 2011 at 7:42pm

The internet is billed at $33.


I think there's something like a $6 long distance package so when I fax to over 8 miles it doesn't kill me.

 

Normally the bill is something like $82 after taxes-- I looked it over but couldn't figure out what accounted for the extra this time.

 

My options for stand-alone internet without voice all start at $50+ before taxes/fees, so it's not like I can just drop the landline  and save $55.

I appreciate all the responses but I'm not sure what to do with most of them-- as far as I know Comcast and ATT are the only things available to

Kristian M Zoerhoff said:

What's your bill breakdown? I have AT&T for phone & DSL, as there's no cable out here, and I only pay around $70/month, and that's for 6-8 Mbps DSL (the "premier" package or whatever they call it now). At $90, it sounds like you're paying way too much for the voice portion of your bill.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on January 16, 2011 at 8:37pm

I use Clear and am very happy with it although it is not great 100% of the time I have never been unable to stream movies so it's still quite good even when poor reception gets me.

 

Dump the phone, there are fax to e-mail and e-mail fax options that work well and even at Fed-Ex/Kinkos prices you can send a lot of faxes for the 40 bucks a month you are going to be saving.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on January 16, 2011 at 10:08pm

Thanks Dug.

What do you think about these reviews? I don't see many recent ones-- maybe it's gotten better?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/clear-home-internet-chicago

Kinko's is not an option as I rarely get to faxing until very late at night and can't invest an hour in travel each time; was hoping I might get a suggestion or two for specific fax-over-the-internet options; I haven't seen any services for less that ~$10 a month, and there are sometimes whole months when I don't send a fax.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on January 16, 2011 at 11:14pm

Wow, sounds ugly for Clear on yelp but I, and my GF, have both only had positive experiences with Clear.  I will, however, warn you that if you do choose to go with Clear make ABSOLUTELY sure you are purchasing the package directly from clear and not through some reseller; when I shopped around for internet I found all sorts of 'deals' on Clear internet services but they were through resellers and often had problems in the contract or cost much more than the same product was direct from Clear.

 

I have no idea on the fax thing; I send about 1 fax every 4 months and live virtually next door to a UPS store...

Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on January 16, 2011 at 11:20pm
I also have Clear and I've been very happy with it. Sometimes it has issues, but the Yelp reviews really seem a bit extreme. I have the slowest at home version and I only pay $25 a month. I have no problems with watching streaming videos.

One thing that didn't work well for me was the USB mobile internet device. That could just be because I have a hackintosh thought.

I did cancel my service at one time and restarted it without too much hassle.
Permalink Reply by Jared on January 17, 2011 at 12:12am
Is RCN an option?  I thought I had found a good deal with them when I moved into my current apartment but apparently my building wasn't wired for them so had to go with Comcast again.  Pay about $65 a month for that.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on January 17, 2011 at 1:42am

A Hackintosh? *swoon*

 

I don't think I want mobile internet in my life right now.

 

RCN says it doesn't serve my area.

 

It looks like I can try Clear for free as long as I'm sure to deal directly with them?

 

I combed their site and they did a good job of providing everything but what I wanted to know.

 

So, there's no installation fee? I just hook their modem up to my router and I'm off? Any way to find out where the nearest tower is? There's almost no way to assure there's not a few layers of brick and plaster blocking the magic internet dust.

 

Permalink Reply by S on January 17, 2011 at 4:01am

If you just need the phone line for faxing, you can get one of the web/internet based faxing accounts.  You upload a pdf or doc or image file  and tell the service which number to fax it to and it'll get sent within a few minutes.  The rates are usually fairly reasonable (~50 cents a page or less) and you can even get a number so that you can receive incoming faxes. 

 

Not quite what you want but if you don't need the phone except for faxing, you might be able to drop the phone part. 

 

As for Clear, I've heard mixed reviews about them.  In chicago, I think you're limited to rcn, comcast, and at&t for wired phone/cable internet services. Of the three, I've found at&t to be the most reliable although it's also the slowest of the three.

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