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andyrossPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-04
Schaumburg, IL | [Midwest] Retention options I work from home (Chicago area) and have Comcast as my main ISP. Due to occasional (but luckily, rare) issues, I have DSL as a backup. Due to line issues, 1.5K (Express) is the best I can get. It's good enough when needed.
It was $34/month back in 2006 when it was month-to-month. When they got rid of the annual agreements, I was able to drop it to $19. It has since been creeping up quite rapidly, now going to $36.
What is worse, I see that 'new' users can get it for $14.95/month for a year!!
How difficult is it to get a lower price for awhile? Any key ideas on getting the bet deal? Are they really trying to retain customers, or will they be glad to dump you and let you have cable. U-Verse is NOT available at my address.
I do NOT have a smartphone (just a stupidphone), so something like tethering is not an available option. | | |
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 brg
join:2001-01-03
Chicago, IL
kudos:1 | If you are only looking for backup, and given that you are in Schaumburg, consider some of the Clearwire alternatives. FreedomPop offers 500 MB/month free, and you could get the "Bolt" USB stick receiver for $39, or the "Proton" hotspot for $89. They also have a fixed modem device for $89 with 1 GB/mo of slow free service available. Lots of tricky "gotchas" will cost you a couple of bucks a month if you are not careful, but still maybe a good backup solution. If you want more data, or faster speeds, you can get them and still pay less than ATT DSL.
Netzero has some similar deals, but their data allowances are a bit lower, and their device prices are a bit higher. | |
 NetFixerFrom my cold dead handsPremium
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
 ·Comcast Business..
 ·Vonage
 ·Cingular Wireless
·Comcast
2 edits | reply to andyross
said by andyross:I do NOT have a smartphone (just a stupidphone), so something like tethering is not an available option.
Neither of my current cell phones (a Samsung Sync and a Samsung Solstice II) are smartphones, but both can be tethered via USB or Bluetooth as GSM/UMTS/WCDMA modems. I have not had a cell phone since my first Motorola MicroTac flip phone (that I tethered to a Motorola Mariner PC Card modem) back in the '90's (BellSouth Mobility was the carrier) that could not be tethered. I do know that some carriers disable tethering in their subsidized phones, but AT&T has never done that on any phone I have obtained from them.
And unless I am in a bad signal area, my two current phones (current for me...AT&T considers them to be ancient and obsolete) can usually be relied on to meet or exceed the 1.5mbps delivered by your current DSL circuit.
Here are a couple of speed tests I just did using my USB tethered Samsung Solstice II (and my home cell phone service is terrible...I have to use an external mast mounted antenna and a booster/repeater to get cell phone service to work):
For comparison, here are the results of speed tests to the same servers done using my backup U-verse 3mbps service (not really much difference except for less lag in the U-verse circuit):
FWIW, my AT&T cell phone data plan is a grandfathered $15 per month unlimited plan (but I think the price is still the same for new "feature phone" accounts). The U-verse (IP-DSL) 3mbps plan doesn't cost me anything (it is a WiFi link to the apartment leasing office network), but if I had to pay for either the $15 per month cell phone plan, or the $45 per month U-verse (and could not afford/justify paying for both), I would probably go with the cell phone plan since it is considerably cheaper, is more versatile, and there is only a minor difference in performance.
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A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. | |
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