Help me escape my lack of adequate Internet.
October 14, 2016 6:18 PM   Subscribe

The service provider who will not be named (starts with a V) has kept me on hold for a total of 10? Hours over 4-5 useless calls re upgrading my internet. I'm in Manhattan with slow speeds- what do frugal nontechnical people do for Internet in this city?!?

No landline, no television. So 'bundling' unlikely to be a cheaper/better alternative.
posted by bquarters to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)
 
Are you on a laptop/tablet? Hail a cab and get thee to a nearby Starbucks where there is (usually) free wifi for days.
posted by Hermione Granger at 6:23 PM on October 14, 2016


Response by poster: I live here and have work to do, I'm looking for a permanent home solution and can't believe there isn't one. I'm not the working in a cafe type...
posted by bquarters at 6:37 PM on October 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Run the NY AG test here and report your results. OK, that's pushing for a long-term solution, but you should do it.

I'm not aware of any parts of Manhattan where Verizon is the only option. Have you looked at the competition? It's not winning any awards but it might be better than what you have.
posted by praemunire at 6:43 PM on October 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Is this FiOS or Verizon DSL? There are others who will sell you DSL but Verizon owns the phone lines so they'll still be involved. Then there's cable (a company with initials TW had such bad service I switched to FiOS).
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:48 PM on October 14, 2016


Is optimum available? i live in brooklyn and have had surprisingly good luck with them. Just have internet, that works just fine for normal internet activities, and is $40 a month (which i have to haggle with them every year to keep the price low, but customer service is pretty great for an internet/cable company).
posted by KMoney at 7:05 PM on October 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Give Time Warner cable internet a try. It's faster than DSL and doesn't seem to crap out as often. If Fios were available in my building I'd be using that, but in the meantime.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:20 PM on October 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Not in Manhattan, but I've used Time Warner in upstate NY and I always found their service to be pretty good. Better than Comcast at least, which is just an assholey company. I'd try Time Warner if it's available.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:49 PM on October 14, 2016


I've lived in three states over the past 20 years and i've found cable internet has always been better than DSL. It may be more expensive (we pay like $70/month for just internet in nowhere virginia) but it's faster and more reliable.
posted by noloveforned at 5:40 AM on October 15, 2016


Call and say you want to cancel your service. When they start trying to talk you out of it, say your service is shitty and you can't get anyone to help you upgrade it. Might get you a quicker answer one way or another.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:17 PM on October 15, 2016




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