I am excited. Our phone company just informed us that DSL is available and that we are eligible. Now, I have a few questions. What kind of cost should we be charged for 1) Installation and 2) the necessary equipment? The program they offer is for us to purchase the router and filters rather than lease, etc. I would like to see what others are charging for DSL hookups?

Here's a link to Bell South's ADSL pricing. You might come across specials. They can help increase market penetration rapidly, which generates the monthly income for the carrier.

When I got ADSL from Bell South, they had a deal too good to pass on. The modem was free, there was no activation/install charge for self installation (it's easy). Right now, the modem is still free and the self installation program is on until the end of the year. They also have the first 2 months of service for the price of 1 month.

Here's what it says from their site:
**The $99.95 activation and the $199.95 installation fee reduced to $150. The installation fee is waived for customers who install the modem themselves. Self-install offer dependent upon meeting certain wiring, PC and geographic requirements. Should a self-install customer subsequently require a professional installation, additional charges may apply. Savings to customer is based on a representative average modem cost of $240; plus, $99.95 activation fee, which are both waived during promotional period. Prorated month's charge plus first full month will be billed initially - the next month is free (additional charges for optional features or premium services, if any, will still apply during the free month); thereafter regular charges will apply. Offer good for residential customers only and expires 12/31/00.
My experience was that they did not charge extra when they came out. Self installation did not work in my case. When they came out, we found that they had failed to activate the port on their end. A call to their office by the technician got it going.

I hope this helps by giving you some reference as to waht others charge.

your lucky i can't get anything but 56k

:bawling::bawling::bawling::bawling:

I envy you... A GTE Rep told us we would have DSL by the end of Nov. Well, come December 1st I looked up on their nifty little number checker and surprise suprise, the date magically changed to April 2001. Of course once it goes in, I'm going to pay an arm and a leg for the connection... but it's worth it for THE INTERNET. :)

Originally posted by Greg
Here is our local phone company prices:


http://www.telus.net/highspeed/hs-prices.html



I notice that for $39.99 a month you get 5gb downloads and 1 gb upload.

Does anyone know what the average family uses?

Quit, talking about DSL!!! It'll never be in my area.... :)

All online communications have bandwidth limits whether they are stated overtly or not. One shouldn;t assume that cable modem service is without limit just because it might not be mentioned. DSL is inherently better and more secure than cable modems. The allotment of 5 gb is ample for the gret majority of users. Most business sites don't even use that much.

Duster --> I have heard the total opposite. Cable is more secure then DSL. Though Cable reliabilty sucks!

Duster is actually right. Cable can be very insecure and your computer left open to attacks if you're not careful.

On my local LAN where I run cable (with Telstra BigPond) unless you have a firewall up then you're very susceptible to attacks (e.g. TCP/UCP floods, port scans as a prelude to other stuff) from other cable modem users, as well as outside.

Well I guess, I stand corrected then. Well another thing to research about :)

Speedwise, it also depends on how close you are to the master connection of death. If you are too far away, then your speeds will be slower no matter which you get.

Unlike DSL, cable modem service degrades the more people are online at the same time. From what I've read on sercurity sites, cable modem systems are so insecure that even a mildly talented cracker can break security and attack the computers of other users as well as the system itself.

We've talked about the attitude of hosts being more important than technological offerings. It's just as important in the consideration of a fact access provider. the relatively poor performance, especially as regards to service, of the cable industry says much about their attitude.

Are there any programs which keep track of how much bandwidth is used. I would hate to go to DSL and then find I am pushing there limit. On our computer we download a lot of artists sites. I am big on photography side and while I don't view as much as my wife does looking at art I am sure it adds up to a lot of bandwidth.

Both cable and DSL are available in our area. Our cable system really sucks, they aren't much faster than dial-up.

So I am considering DSL now. I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried a company called Telocity ( http://www.telocity.com ). They are available in my area now and seem to have very good rates ($39.95 per month). For me they are offering up to 784 kbps download and up to 392 kbps upload. Also, they don't make you sign a contract, so you can cancel after only a few months if you wish.

So, does anyone use them? I am interested in how solid the company is, I mean are they going to be there in a year? Also, how is their reliability?

Both DSL and Cable are only as secure as your PC. Hack your registry settings and put all ports into stealth mode, then go make sure your Network Neighborhood setting are secure, and you are pretty much unhackable as far as todays technology goes....regardless what kind of connection you have. http://members.aol.com/axcel216/ is a site I visit often, and it has all the reg tweaks you need. Windows default reg settings are slow, inefficient and very insecure. I have all the reg tweaks I like setup into one .reg file and have it on a backup disk (-:

I gotta say I've had my DSL (960 Kbps) for a little over a month, and there is absolutely no comparison as far as technology is concerned to cable. I get speeds over twice as fast as my landlord does and over 20 times as fast as dialup on a consistent basis. If you're going to choose, go DSL, no question (nothing like that private connection to the Internet as opposed to the shared cable connection).

As well, the Shaw cable installer (it was on special) came in, refused to install the cable modem, and broke my apartment door. Made the DSL decision just a little easier at that point. :)