Cheaper alternative to Comcast DSL?

January 5, 2009 11:13 AM

I'm thinking of signing up with a new ISP that doesn't cost as much as Comcast, but the choices are overwhelming. Help!

We've been with Comcast DSL for nearly 5 years, and I've never had any complaint about the service. But it costs us $63/month, and since I'm at home full time with my daughter I'm looking to cut costs wherever possible. I'm really not sure which ISP would be best, though. I've been looking at www.thelist.com, but I don't even know where to begin with all the choices.

*We are just outside Philadelphia.
*We do not have, or want, cable television or a telephone land line.
*We have an iMac G5 desktop (4 years old) and a Macbook (2 years old), so wireless could be a good option if the price is right.
*I would like to continue to have a fast connection.

Thank you!

posted by chihiro to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Just a note on wireless: it is not dependent on your type of internet connection, but instead on having a wireless router. Meaning, for under $50 (one time hardware purchase fee) you can turn any connection into wireless.
posted by nitsuj at 11:16 AM on January 5

What do you use the internet for?

The reason I ask is because you can get a "high speed" connection from AT&T for <>
If you do any gaming, download lots of stuff or need lots of bandwidth then the cable provider may have a cheaper option that provides you the most Mbits/Dollar.
posted by Brettus at 11:34 AM on January 5

Sorry - I don't know why it took it out but my comment above was supposed to say .... from AT&T for < $20 a month.
posted by Brettus at 11:35 AM on January 5

To save yourself any hassle, try contacting Comcast first and asking for a less expensive broadband option. Most providers advertise the lowest price per month as being $45-60, but there's usually a slightly slower version (usually <7>
When I lived in an area with Time Warner Cable, it was called "RoadRunner Lite", and now that I'm with Comcast, after my promo rate as a new subscriber ended, I threated to cancel completely, and they offered what they called a retention rate - about $25/month.

It is a slightly slower connection, which I rarely notice in regular browsing, but I do notice a little when downloading or uploading larger media. I've never been much of a gamer, so I can't speak to that. Still, for the price, I've been very happy and didn't have to change out the provider's modem when I downgraded. Also, the rates with both TWC and Comcast were not contingent on a television cable subscription.
posted by dicaxpuella at 12:02 PM on January 5

Crap, my above comment got chopped up with my bad formatting....

where it says (usually 7, that should read:

(usually under 768 Kbps downstream) for about $24-28/month.
posted by dicaxpuella at 12:05 PM on January 5

I got Earthlink Cable internet which is basically Comcast service re-branded/re-sold but it's about $10-15/mo cheaper. The funny part is that billing and support is done through Comcast and they even sent out a Comcast tech to do the installation.
posted by eatcake at 12:09 PM on January 5

Firstly, look into AT&T Dry Loop DSL, they lost a court case some time ago and have to offer 'just barely qualifies as high speed internet' for $10 per month no strings for a year. You don't have to buy phone service or any B.S. from them. Only in certain states, markets or locations, check on it.

Nextly, cable internet can be somewhat cheap, $25 per month or so, the only problem is, the tards make you subscribe to their cable service, actually, they want $10 per month on top of the 25 for a "line access charge" F*ckers, anyway, what they don't tell you is that you can get ghetto/welfare cable (mainly channels 2-22 or some odd combination, only the major networks and public access and c-span etc) for $20 a month, just 10$ more. You can even get HD service on top of the ghetto cable (you don't have to subscribe to the $50+ basic cable package.

Good luck.
posted by SexCpotatoes at 7:29 PM on January 5

Just a point of clarification - I live in Philadelphia, and I don't think Comcast offers DSL. They are a cable company, so they probably offer cable broadband internet.

DSL is offered by phone companies and companies that lease the lines from phone companies.

Depending on where you live exactly, you may want to look into FiOS which is a high speed internet offering from Verizon... the cheapest plan will probably be comparable to your current speed but less expensive. Just be clear when you're ordering it that you don't want TV, phone, etc.
posted by polexa at 9:43 PM on January 5

I just got Comcast cable internet because I couldn't keep my DSL when I moved. They have an unpublished $24.95/month 4Mb down/384?K up plan that they do a sucky job of publicizing. I'd try to get that.
posted by mysterious1der at 5:24 AM on January 6

Just needed to amend my previous statement before this thread gets closed that the Comcast plan is actually $24.95/month for ONE Mb down, not 4.
posted by mysterious1der at 9:00 PM on January 11

Thanks everyone, I finally had a chance to call Comcast and of course they tried to sell me their special bundle with phone, cable and Internet for "just" $129. No, I wanted to REDUCE my payment! I'm checking into FiOS now, and will see about Earthlink as well.

Thanks for the help!
posted by chihiro at 9:10 AM on January 23