Posted on 01/09/2013 12:08:59 PM PST by Terry Mross
I'm tired of the Comcast monopoly.
So, does anyone know of a cheap internet provider (without need of a phone line) that is available in NW Houston?
Uverse isn’t bad—they’ll provide internet-only, at least.
Comcast doesn’t offer Internet only? That must be a recent change. I use Earthlink (which still uses the Comcast cable for delivery).
Go to centurylink.com and check your zip code.
I just talked with them, and we can drop our bundle ($170 mo.), and just have internet only for $30 mo.
If smarttalk works for our cells, we’ll drop verizon too, cutting our media bills in half.
Comcast is the Brawndo of this century. I switched to AT&T only out of frustration. Comcast is beyond horrible. I have only internet from AT&T. Television is Direct TV, who teams up with the superior custmer service and professionalism of AT&T to offer options here in Memphis over the “C” word.
If you do switch, read the fine print.
Wireless, for the same price, is typically restricted to 5gb/month downloads. Over that is extra charge.
Telephone companies (such as CenturyLink) are DSL, so their ‘speed’ is actually less than cable.
My mid-range cable ($55/month) allow for upwards of 20mbps download speeds and 200gb/month download. A lesser package is about $35/month with 5mpbs download and 50gb/month download.
If you use services such as Netflix and watch HD movies, those download amounts could be very important.
Net zero
I live in Southaven and out Comcast is close to $95 for internet only, since we have Direct. Is the AT&T as fast as Comcast?
I have Comcast and I have only the Internet, no cable TV or phone. I refuse to get either until their rates come down, and I told so when I had the TV turned off.
What kind of speed and what price range?
It would seem so. I have a guest house and the range on the AT&T is slightly less than the comcast service, causing some speed issues on our second house served off the one router. I bought a repeater or booster. My tennant says it’s good now.
What kind of speed and what price range?
AT&T is $39 for internet and phone. I don’t even have the phone connected. So, it’s $39 for just internet and then Direct TV charges me $59 / mo for satellite TV service w/ DVR.
Net Zero is indeed inexpensive, no-frills for ten bucks a month. There are two caveats however, dialup speed, and the additional cost for a landline, which when combined can equal the cost of the cheapest high-speed plan. So it’s a wash.
I dumped Comcast for Centurylink in December.
Comcast does too have Internet only. I’ve been an Internet only customer for almost ten years. Btw I pay 19.95/mo for my access as I complain loudly when they try raising my bill. AT&T is an option for me, which I threaten to go to every time they try jacking up my bill.
I know a business owner that wanted to order Comcast internet and phone for his office. But not TV. The way in which Comcast (ugh)”Customer Service” people reacted to this you’d think he had asked for a full-time dedicated microwave link with Alpha Centauri.
What, you want us to break the bundle? We can’t break the bundle. You don’t want television? Nobody doesn’t want television. Etc. etc. etc.
With Comcast the Customer is Always WRONG!
Can you do Netflix on Centurylink, do you know?
We want to get rid of Commycast too.
we dumped comcast last summer for centurylink at $30 a month, and i watch netflix all the time over it. The netflix servers are less reliable than centurylink.
one caveat: the customer service is somewhere in tijuana, based on my experience, and they had 15 minutes of training in how to solve technical problems. they don’t know how to help me set up my non-centurylink email to come in thru my centurylink browser...they use different ports.
but cheap was the criterion, so i save maybe almost $100 a month now and put up with it.
I have had Comcast for probably 7 or 8 years now. I had the “triple play” package with HD TV and finally got tired of calling them every year to “cancel” in order to get the new “special” rate so I called to drop my home phone and TV part of my triple play package. I only wanted the internet part because it was blazing fast and ALWAYS working. I have never had a problem with the Comcast internet so I decided to pay for what I have experienced as a good product.
When I called to drop all but internet service they told me the “double play” package (Internet and digital/non-HD TV) was cheaper than internet only by $5. So I pay around $80 per month for their double play package. Plus they offered HD free for 6 months which I will see if they will continue after the 6 months is up. I probably won’t even waste my time calling them after the 6 months is up and just wait for the HD to go away as I don’t even use the TV part of their service. I have a special “sweet” deal with DirecTV right now for my TV service.
well there’s always borrowing your neighbors internet.
Centurylink in Seattle offers unlimited internet for `9.95 month, but you have to bundle with unlimited nationwide land-line service.
Still a good deal, I pay 60 a month for Inet and Phone.
Alot of folks are dropping land lines for cell service, PERISH THE THOUGHT!
The cell phone industry is probably near the biggest rip-off ever - all the money, all the phones with all their BS apps, and the actual voice communication part is barely acceptable, at best.
I do have a cell phone, it’s a miracle I’ve avoided chucking that junk in the river!
(so far)!!
I signed up for “Basic DSL for Life” around five years ago for $14.95/month; they’re still honoring even after Frontier took over from Verizon. I actually don’t want higher speed service as we generally keep the kids off videos and discourage downloads. 768 Kbps on a good day and less in the evening is a great way to keep the videos jerky and halting. hahaha No iPhones either hahahaha
I have this....never will do comcast again!!!!
50.00 month...
http://internet.clear.com/?s_clid=b4d7cbdbfb29b76b27fa52513ffe89a1&gclid=CIurk9PC3LQCFUWo4AodnycACg
Call Comcast and cancel the phone & TV, keep the Internet.
I only have their data service. It’s a bit pricy at $65/mo but fast and no apparent cap. Use your cell phones for voice service, and get an AppleTV + Netflix + Hulu for video, on demand, few or no ads.
While not hell-bent on dumping Comcast, I’m always watching for a viable alternative.
They told me they only have the “double” deal. Maybe for new customers they’ll give you internet only.
I can get ATT for the same deal as yours. Goes to $45 after six months.
Thanks to everyone.
Isn’t it interesting that comcast owns one satelite service and ATT owns the other. And I believe those two get are in collusion. Every politician in this country is bought and paid for.
In my zip code internet only is $39 then jumps to $45 after six months. So, you can see, the prices are different for different locations. They’re probably a lot cheaper in Sheila Jackson Lee’s part of Houston than they are in The Woodlands.
Aaah,The Woodlands.
Spent a week there visiting friends.
.
Going to look into it. Comcast sucks.
How ‘bout this? In my area they’re now offering cable and internet for $69.99 for 12 months. And it SAYS even for existing customers. We’ll call them tomorrow and get the fine print.
It’s sad that these monopolies exist. And they exist because they’ve bought all the politicians. I don’t believe there’s one who can’t be bought.
When you’ve gone without TV for a while you don’t want it back. I get “add cable TV to your Internet for $2/mo!” offers, but have no interest.
your local library might have free internet, both desktops and wi-fi.
We just switched from Comcast to AT&T U-verse. Not only is it less expensive than Comcast, but also it qualifies us for a 12% discount on our AT&T cellular service.
If you have a laptop, you essentially have full internet connectivity anywhere you might go.
They also have a 4G mobile hotspot and a similar plan I've been looking into, but the only hesitation I've had so far is that the 3G has, and continues to serve all my needs adequately...
New info! As I said, I have “triple play” with Comcast for $117.00 a month. On the internet there is an offer of $69 per month for new or EXISTING customers for internet and cable for 6 months. Guess what. The $69 offer for EXISTING customers is only for EXISTING customers who already have internet. But I have to pay $89 per month PLUS it’s for 24 months. So, if I drop the phone land line my charges drop by around $20 but I have to agree to a 24 month contract with a $350 early cancellation fee.
My wife argued on the phone this morning for over 3 hours. All we get is “I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do.”
So, bottom line, if I don’t find something from one of the places you guys are suggesting, I’m going off the grid completely.
U-Verse isn’t available in my area. They got together with Comcast and divided up the territories.
I may be doing that. Drive to the library once a month. ha!
Centurylink is not available in my area. From what I’ve learned the only ISPs in my area are ATT and Comcast. That’s wny I use the word “monopoly”.
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