Who do you use for internet service?

[Cono Este]

I canned ATT today, billing anarchy, hours on the phone etc...I swore off cable 2 yrs ago and did fine without it. Netflicks and locals was plenty. But I still need an internet connection.

Whats the latest, greatest and least bullshit provider? preferably not a big company. Comcast, ATT etc...

[Tippster]

Where do you live?

I have FiOS, but the whole bundle - ISP/Phone/TV. Really happy with it.

[Beaver]

I live in the fucking sticks. No high speed tel line based available, no cable to my house and minimal cel coverage. There is a wireless internet provider in the area but my house sits in a coverage shadow of 2 of their antennas. I've got a 12dB gain Yagi antenna and a 60dB gain amp running so that I can use a 3G mobile internet stick in my house. Its fucking expensive with marginal speed. I'm paying $75/month for 5gb per month through Telus. FUCK.

[iceman]

They're stringing FIOS down my street today, I just might have to give it a whirl when they're done. It's been verizon DSL and Directv for years now here. Not terrible internet speed but not exactly awesome either.

[Benny Profane]

Fios rules. So happy I got it over shitty cable a few years ago.

From what I've experienced with 4G since I got a new phone, that's pretty fast, too.

[MontuckyFried]

I've heard great things about FIOS. Using some little company called Mid-Rivers for my direct fiber connection. Not a bad speed for living in the middle of nowhere, but expensive as hell. In Billings I used Optimum. Super fast internet and priced really well. I had zero problems with them. Wish they were here in BFE.

If I had T-Mobile (and 4G) here, though, I'd be inclined to just use my phone's hotspot. It's dirt cheap ($50/month for unlimited everything) and is actually stupid fast in the right places. At my family's little farm last summer, which is outside of Dallas, I had the whole family using my phone as a hotspot. We had 5 connections at once (it can support 8), and everyone was still getting speeds that seemed to mirror a decent cable modem. Very impressive. Especially for $50/month including a cell phone! Apparently they're doing away with throttling speeds past 5gb, too! I currently have a 10gb full speed cap. Screw Verizon and AT&T's high cell prices!

[iceman]

Cono, you might check out Clear, it's an all-wireless system that supposed to be pretty cool. Fairly new company from what I understand. Coverage not available everywhere. internet.clear.com Coverage isn't available at my house or I would probably have tried it by now. You can do just internet or bundle DirecTV and cell with it.

[Flyoverland Captive]

I'm with Exede, Wild Blue's new high-speed satellite service. After some really shitty growing pains, it seems to be pretty solid right now, and depending on where you live, you can get speeds up to 20mps. In my area, I max out at 8, which is good enough for what I need. One caveat: there are limits on total data usage per month, so streaming movies or radio is a no-no for me. Expensive, too; the top tier is $130/mo. But I have no choice.

[BmillsSkier]

Prodigy.

It rocks.

[bmg97]

Prodigy.

It rocks.

LOL !!! 36 k ?

[Bobby Finstock]

Fios internet is great. The TV service is nothing special, especially if you like watching sports (soccer). I'm switching back to Directv next week.

[RShea]

The suggestions are very location specific. What works for others if it is not available in your neck of the woods will not matter.

Affordable options tend to be DSL (AT&T and Verizon as local telco) or Cable companies (typically Time Warner or Comcast) but there are probably some smaller regional providers out there that may service your area too. 4G cellular possibly may work also- if you are a typical check email, surf the web to check TGR and the like out and not a big bandwidth hog- streaming and downloading content and large amounts of bandwidth usage. Out in the rural back woods boonies- satellite could be your only option. But location is key....

[BmillsSkier]

36 k ?

Like a boss.

Nothing as soothing as hearing that modem purr when the other end picks up...

I even get email now.

[teletripper]

I'm with Exede, Wild Blue's new high-speed satellite service. After some really shitty growing pains, it seems to be pretty solid right now, and depending on where you live, you can get speeds up to 20mps. In my area, I max out at 8, which is good enough for what I need. One caveat: there are limits on total data usage per month, so streaming movies or radio is a no-no for me. Expensive, too; the top tier is $130/mo. But I have no choice.

I'm using Wild Blue also and it fuckin sucks balls. I have to share it with another renter in the apt next door (landlady won't let me all a dish of my own) and the dumb fuck is always streaming shit.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

I know you said no big companies, but I've been 98% satisfied with Comcast. Reliable and fast, what more do you want?

[Cono Este]

I used my iphone as a hotspot before, and it is 100%.

Anyone use Clear? Its wireless for 34 a month.. 4g.

[jm2e]

I live in the fucking sticks. No high speed tel line based available, no cable to my house and minimal cel coverage. There is a wireless internet provider in the area but my house sits in a coverage shadow of 2 of their antennas. I've got a 12dB gain Yagi antenna and a 60dB gain amp running so that I can use a 3G mobile internet stick in my house. Its fucking expensive with marginal speed. I'm paying $75/month for 5gb per month through Telus. FUCK.

And still you manage to post up all that pron! That's dedication.

[Ted Striker]

Clear used to be named Clearwire. Do some googling for the horror stories. I have no idea how accurate they are, but I do have a friend who tried it and switched to comcast. His issue was purely speed related.

[BackCountryNC]

Anybody but Charter. A rotary phone dialup would be more reliable.

[Meadow Skipper]

I use a local provider - Southwest Cyberport - pumped in on a Qwest dsl line. Not particularly cheap, but reliable as shit and I like supporting local biz. The downside is I'd love to boot Qwest, but I need a landline.

Local providers like swcp and xmission can be pretty cool. Maybe there's one you can use.

[stuckathuntermtn]

I use tin cans and a string. What? It's my birthday, and I'll get belligerently drunk if I want to.

[Ted Striker]

...Qwest dsl line. ...I'd love to boot Qwest, but I need a landline.

Me too, and me too. Qwest sucks.

[Bobby Finstock]

Anybody but Charter. A rotary phone dialup would be more reliable.

Charter is the worst company in the history of mankind. I can't believe their stock is trading at $76 bucks a share. What a fuckin racket.

[Bite Me]

Currently with AT&T and it's been fine.

The only ones I will NEVER, EVER have again is Comcast, a bunch of lying cunts.

I signed up for a plan years ago with a $200 rebate - sent all the stuff in, and waited - nothing. Asked what was up, and they said I hadn't sent in the right stuff, and I knew I had as I had a copy. OK, sent the stuff they said I hadn't again, and waited and waited. Called again, and they said the "promotion was over" so I was fucked. Sent a stinging letter to their president, and eventually they sent me $75 as a "goodwill gesture".

Later, the kid living in the house, who was a degreed geek said there was no internet. Came to the house and confirmed, but, of course, Comcast said everything was fine and the problem was on my end.

A very happy day when I cancelled with Comcast. They wanted to know why, and I just had a ball. Assholes - nener, ever Comcast again. Ever.

So, my "bundle" on AT&T (I love the ads on that - "Puppy?"), is $170 with every channel known to man, telephone and the uber-high speed internet. As the company picks up everything but internet, no incentive for me to do anything else.

[Dantheman]

Cono, you might check out Clear, it's an all-wireless system that supposed to be pretty cool. Fairly new company from what I understand. Coverage not available everywhere. internet.clear.com Coverage isn't available at my house or I would probably have tried it by now. You can do just internet or bundle DirecTV and cell with it.

Anyone use Clear? Its wireless for 34 a month.. 4g.

Clear used to be named Clearwire. Do some googling for the horror stories. I have no idea how accurate they are, but I do have a friend who tried it and switched to comcast. His issue was purely speed related.

I tried Clear for a couple months. The $34/mo is for 1.5 Mbs max. I had the "6 Mbs" plan and it always ran slow. 90% of the time when I did a check on speedtest.net I was only getting 1-1.5 Mbs which is a fraction of what they advertise. Got a 4G modem you can have for free though.