Lorraine Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 The old man signed up for social security. We will be in a position, when the payments start, to ditch this lousy dial-up and finally, finally, finally, get high speed!!! :) He told me to "look into it." but I have no idea what I'm looking for as to what it good and what isn't. Not everything is available in our area, and I hesitate getting Comcast for two reasons - they have a lot of outages and their monthly bills are forever going up and up. Any suggestions will be gratefully appreciated by me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djflex Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I have comcast, but some people on my street have att . They seem ok with it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 We can't get ATT out here. Just Century Link, and I was thinking of doing that. But I'm unsure how to decipher what is offered. How do I know what they're offering is a good speed? ( Although I don't know why that would concern me since anything would be a vast improvement over what we now have.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat 3 Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I switched back to Comcast after having Verizon FIOS, which I, a: didn't like and b: talk about prices going up and weird fees here and there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Analog Cub Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 We can't get ATT out here. Just Century Link, and I was thinking of doing that. But I'm unsure how to decipher what is offered. How do I know what they're offering is a good speed? ( Although I don't know why that would concern me since anything would be a vast improvement over what we now have.) Generally, you want to look at the MB/s (megabytes per second). Many popular providers advertise 10 MB/s though rarely do they ever actually give you that much. The higher your MB/s the faster your Internet generally is, without other factors in mind. Internet speed is a tricky subject. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JARG Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Start here, Lorraine. You can input your zip and see what's available. http://broadbandnow.com/Washington 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I had Roadrunner/Time Warner for years and never had any trouble with it. Now I have Comcast and it's been a real PITA, though I love the On Demand cable. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disembodied Spirit Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Did you finally get a new computer Lorraine? Also, how many devices (PC's, Laptops, Phones, etc) will you be using at 1 time?I assume not many, but that is important for your speed requirements, most of us use 3+ devices, since you just arrived in 2016, I don't believe you will need the fastest, which should save you $$ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 Did you finally get a new computer Lorraine? Also, how many devices (PC's, Laptops, Phones, etc) will you be using at 1 time?I assume not many, but that is important for your speed requirements, most of us use 3+ devices, since you just arrived in 2016, I don't believe you will need the fastest, which should save you $$ No, we have a rebuilt Dell. It's just that we've had dial-up for years because we couldn't afford anything else. Now that my husband signed up for social security, the monthly payments will be a windfall for us. Most people wouldn't be able to make it on what he'll be getting but, for us, we'll be rolling in dough. :) We don't have any of the other extras (laptops, phones etc.) you mentioned - just the computer - so nothing to "bundle" which everyone who offers high-speed seems to want you to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 Start here, Lorraine. You can input your zip and see what's available. http://broadbandnow.com/Washington :) Thanks, JARG! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. JD Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Whoever you decide to sign up with will probably supply the equipment you need. If you don't plan on streaming video like Apple TV or Amazon Fire, you should be able to get away with 3 to 6 MB/s DSL. Even if you you stream video, HD video can stream over a consistent 10mb connection pretty good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 I checked the link JARG provided and we have only two options - Century Link and Comcast - both claim to provide 10MBs. I have read what they claim to give you is not what you actually get but, again, compared to what we now have, it will be heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grep Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 (edited) Whoever you decide to sign up with will probably supply the equipment you need. If you don't plan on streaming video like Apple TV or Amazon Fire, you should be able to get away with 3 to 6 MB/s DSL. Even if you you stream video, HD video can stream over a consistent 10mb connection pretty good. ^^Sounds about right. These days one doesn't need much more bandwidth than that unless they are doing hardcore gaming, or file sharing/hosting. Edited April 13, 2016 by grep 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disembodied Spirit Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 You need to decide, what you will be doing online.I assume, logging on to TRF and the web.No one just jumps in a streams TV, so, thats a ways off IMO for you and your history.A basic package will suit you fine from an internet perspective.How have you guys been watching TV, antenna?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one. That's amazing to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemiBeers Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one.Get decent enough internet service and you can use your computer to watch streaming tv shows and movies. Bonus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. JD Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one. That's amazing to me. I second that... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one. That's amazing to me. I second that... No matter what the two of you, and maybe others, think, it is true. We are all different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. JD Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one. That's amazing to me. I second that... No matter what the two of you, and maybe others, think, it is true. We are all different. Agreed. I don't think anything bad, just in this multi-media age, someone without a TV is very rare. To each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JARG Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one.I went through about a 3 year period where I didn't replace the TV that I had that busted. You get used to not having a TV pretty quickly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one.I went through about a 3 year period where I didn't replace the TV that I had that busted. You get used to not having a TV pretty quickly.I know. I don't miss it at all. Neither does my husband. I think it amazes me more that others find life without a television inconceivable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemiBeers Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one.I went through about a 3 year period where I didn't replace the TV that I had that busted. You get used to not having a TV pretty quickly.I know. I don't miss it at all. Neither does my husband. I think it amazes me more that others find life without a television inconceivable.I often finding myself half watching tv shows while I'm on my laptop. I could probably turn the tv off and not miss much...unless it's sports. Oh, comcast does have an internet deal where you get basic tv channels...at least you could get the 3 major networks Edited April 14, 2016 by 2112FirstStreet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) DS, I haven't watched television in 23 or so years and we don't even own one. That's amazing to me. I second that... No matter what the two of you, and maybe others, think, it is true. We are all different. Agreed. I don't think anything bad, just in this multi-media age, someone without a TV is very rare. To each his own. Yes same here. Nothing bad. I would just hate to have to do without mine, so it's hard for me to imagine being without one. I love to watch movies in particular and watching on the computer monitor just isn't the same. Edited April 14, 2016 by EagleMoon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 An update on my quest for high speed. Unfortunately for us, we don't have a lot of options where I live. Don't ask me why. You'd think we lived in the woods out in the middle of nowhere. :sigh: I called Century Link. (Patience is necessary when one does that.) They do not have high speed in my area, but the helpful customer service rep told me she could set me up with what she called a Verizon Jet Pack. I had no idea what she was talking about from her description. Has anyone here ever heard of this Verizon Jet Pack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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