If you crazy-mad love your ISP, kindly share

[Bossy Monkey]

I'm getting more than a little frustrated with Earthlink, and am ready to bail. I'd also like to move up to high-speed, but obviously not with Earthlink.

This is a new laptop with wireless LAN capacity, but I personally am a recent escapee from the 19th century. (Many years ago, I was called a technopeasant; it is a label that I still wear with, if not pride, then at least a certain glee.) If some kind techno savant wants to explain to me the ins and outs of wireless routers and wireless providers, I would be eternally grateful. I recommend using little words, though. :P

[GirlinContempt]

1. I'll probably get crapped on for saying this

But, if you aren't that familiar with it, I'd suggest going with one of the companies that offer wireless networking. That way you're supported through your ISP, they hook everything up, get you going, and provide support.

Can't recommend my ISP, as I live in Canada :P

[Burma Jones]

2. I am exceptionally pleased with Comcast.....n/t

[Bossy Monkey]

7. Glad to hear it, but I don't think they operate here

Cable here is Time Warner; I don't have overmuch faith in them, although I hear good things sporadically about RoadRunner.

[Orsino]

3. Speedfactory, a local ISP, rocks.

I'd had it with BellSouth and Earthlink, so was delighted when a third ISP got access to our central office. Speedfactory is a local op, so we consistently dealt with the same tech during the set-up process (nice guy, an ex-marine who knows his stuff). I work for an ISP myself, so I have high standards for customer service. Speedfactory meets my standards.

Outages have been few and brief, and all (IIRC) cleared before we could get a tech on the phone.

[LaraMN]

4. What is an ISP, anyway?

My husband talks about them, and is all proud that we have our own server in the basement, and I think I'm *supposed* to get excited about that, but I don't even know what the hell any of it means, and it seems boring. :rofl:

[Blue-Jay]

6. Internet Service Provider.

[speedoo]

5. If you go high speed switch your phone service to Vonage.

You will probably save enough to almost offset the increased cost of highspeed. I pay Vonage $16/month total for 500 minutes anywhere in US/Canada/Puerto Rico. For $25/month I could get unlimited service if I needed it. Setup can be a bit of a hassle, but service is great.

You will probably have a very limited number of highspeed options. I use Cablevision, which is too expensive so I'm looking for an alternative here in NYC.

Someday, we'll all be on wireless.

[Bossy Monkey]

8. Thanks, all! Anybody else? n/t

[Benfea]

9. Earthlink is evil. Be careful when you leave.

Long, long ago Earthlink had good service and really good tech support. Since I was supporting a large number of solo people in the field, I felt Earthlink was a good choice: my users had more PPPs to choose from, and if they ran into trouble the help desk was quite useful.

Then I found out the Dark Side of Earthlink. Remember that "Buy 15 CDs for 2 cents!" scam? Just like that, Earthlink makes it nearly impossible for you to get them to stop charging you. When you quit, watch your credit card bills like a hawk and be prepared to make many, many phone calls.

I highly recommend ADSL or cable Internet, but I can't tell you squat about who to go with since it varies widely from local region to local region. Do your research very carefully.