Best Internet Service Providers***Which ones are they?

[shance]

I have to say right now I can only offer ones I have not been happy with, which has been earthlink and outlook express.

However, I'm sure there are some good providers out there.

So which ones are they?

[951]

1. If I told you...

"they" would come after me :scared:

[AgadorSparticus]

2. NOT AOL. I hate AOL. I'm looking into changing to PeoplePC.

[shance]

4. Why are you unhappy with AOL?

I would like to hear more why people are unhappy with their internet service providers.

Im not happy with earthlink because it is dropping emails that are sent to me and some individuals are not receiving my emails. So I consider that pretty bad service for a provider that is specifically designed to send and receive email.

I heard earlier someone said Peoplepc and I think they liked it, so that may be a reasonable option.

[RoyGBiv]

9. Dropped e-mails ...

You'll have similar problems with AOL. Their SPAM filters are sometimes too aggressive, and turning them off or modifying them for your personal account is not the easiest process in the world. I actually don't know if it is even possible anymore.

[AgadorSparticus]

10. service was erratic. getting online during peak hrs was a pain. too many

ads. and their news stories are conservatively biased to me.

[Scooter24]

3. I use

Comcast. Love it!

I use AOL as my browser and use Comcast as my high-speed service provider.

[kittykitty]

6. Agree, Comcast is great, but expensive! I wn't give it up, though. NT

[shance]

7. Why do you like it specifically?

What separates it from other Internet providers?

[agates]

5. Copper.net

Cheap, no frills dial-up provider. Based in Ohio, all employees are in the US. Good customer service. http://www.copper.net

[RoyGBiv]

8. Outlook Express?

That's not a service provider. It's an enormous MS program a lot of people use for e-mail.

Anyway, to sort of answer the question, I've never been happy with a dialup ISP and would only go back to one if that were the only option I had in my area.

I use COX HSI and am extremely happy with it. It won some kind of award recently as the #1 service provider for broadband in the markets where it is available.

[shance]

11. I guess you can see how much I know about computers

However, I had the same number of problems with Outlook express concerning my emails as I have had with earthlink.

[RoyGBiv]

13. Outlook Express ... pt. deux

(Oh my, I wrote in French. I'm surely doomed. :-)

Anyway, OE is garbage, IMO. I have to use it at work, and I hate it. If you had problems with it, though, you'd have those same problems no matter your service provider.

If you have broadband service available to you and can afford it, I highly recommend it. Go with an established company with a well-trained CSR department, though. COX and COMCAST are both good. I prefer COX for its customer service, but that's just me.

Some broadband providers are now starting to offer what they call some variation of a "value" account. It's still broadband, just not the screaming fast speeds normally associated with cable internet service. I think COX's "value tier" is a 256k connection, which is still noticeably faster than a dialup and even faster than some of the basic DSL connections available. It's also cheaper than DSL.

Some phone companies offer DSL service. I don't personally recommend them due to the poor customer service usually associated with them -- depends on the company -- the requirement of signing contracts with huge penalties for breaking their terms, e.g. you have to move and can't transfer service, and the fact the hardware required is often worthless if you move to another area.

[hippywife]

17. Those who use cable for their ISP

need to consider a valid point made in the movie "Orwell Rolls In His Grave". Using the existing technology of internet over phone line is using an open, public system. Using a cable company is using a closed, private system that can/will one day control access.

[RoyGBiv]

18. Access ..

I didn't understand what you were saying here originally and wrote a response that was referring to another "end user" aspect of this. This is an update to that.

The Center for Digital Democracy lays out the problems in some detail, but I do not think this is all as nefarious as some are prone to believe. What's more, the fundamental problem is not the cable networks themselves, but broadband access in its own right, i.e. a new technology that is not yet regulated well. DSL, while run over phone lines, are able to exploit some of the same things that cable networks are able to exploit.

Part, a not insignificant part, is a battle between business interests. The telephone industry was not prepared for the 1996 telecommunications act, and they've been battling tooth and nail to try to reclaim their status as a legalized monopoly. This is a big reason why the current push is either to restrict cable networks in exactly the same manner as phone companies or, less publicized, to remove restrictions from phone companies altogether while still allowing them their advantages. The latter is what the telephone industry would prefer, but for the problem you're talking about, it's the worst solution because it justs makes the problem worse.

The solution is not to abandon or avoid cable networks, which by any rational measure do offer a better, more reliable service, but to be informed consumers and make demands on the companies that offer this service as well as demand government regulation and oversight that maintains freedom of access. The technology is no more inherently exploitable in an "Orwellian" sense than phone networks. The difference, now, is that phone networks have been in existence far longer and have more controls already in place. Cable networks are in their infancy by comparison. The controls will come if we demand them.

[shance]

19. A Johny Carson "I did not know this!"

Thanks hippywife***

The more info on what the potential overall consequences are to certain usage, including broadband, the more helpful to DUers!

[AndyTiedye]

14. I use Megapath. They're national, and have not outsourced tech support

Try thunderbird (from mozilla.org) for email. It's free. You'll probably like it.

[ghostsofgiants]

12. I use Rogers Cable

And I'm very pleased. especially since they just doubled their speed.

[SidDithers]

21. Cogeco in Canada, here...

I get 5 meg down / 640 up cable for $44 /mth.

I was on DSL but switched to cable about 6 months ago, I'm very happy that I did.

Sid

[Dem2theMax]

15. I must be the only person on the planet able to say this -

I've had AOL since 1995 and have never had a problem with it, period.
I hate dial-up, but anything else is out of my price range. Until the cost of DSL or whatever else is out there comes down, I'll be with good old AOL.

[RebelOne]

16. I agree. I rarely have any problem with AOL.

And when I do, I call them and usually get 2 free months of service.

[Jack from Charlotte]

20. I use a great one called... Highstream. It's cheap and flawless

Was recommended by a buch of people on a computer website. It's about $12 per month and has never failed to work in the year plus I'ved used it. Go to Highstream.com I think.

[kayell]

22. I've been really happy with ispwest, and they offer a free trial

for 15 days. http://www.ispwest.com/