Best internet service provider?

[Sevaede]

Troy and I are going to go sign the lease and get the keys on our apartment tomorrow! Kathy (landlady) said a whole bunch of incredibly nice things and is going to let us have it before our reference clears because she knows it will anyways! :D

So, I need advice. The computer that I use for internet is my in laws computer. They have AOL. We have had our own computer for a while but use it for other things. We, mostly I, want to keep in touch with people and have something extra to do, etc. However, we cannot afford anything too expensive. Or fast, unfortunately. :p

My question to you, dear PTers, what do you recommend in the way of dial up services? People PC? AOL? What else? I have only ever had experience (bad) with AOL and would PREFER to NOT have to go through them again! :D

Thank you so much!

[dionne]

comcast. if you have it down there. if not there is earthlink and people pc, i guess :p

[krazyaboutkatz]

I have comcast now but when I had dial up I used NetZero. I never had a problem with them except that my connection became slower and slower so I had to change to a faster ISP. I think that the regular account for NetZero is still $9.95 per month and the high speed is $14.95 per month unless they've changed it. Good luck.:)

[catnapper]

Can you only afford dial up? Because Yahoo has DSL for $14.99 a month. Great deal! Thats only $5 more than the Netzero dial up I was paying AND you end up still being able ot use your phone because the internet isn't taking over your phone.

[Catty1]

There is also Juno - you can email ONLY for $9.95 a year. I think their internet is 9.95 per month.

You might ask a friendly computer store as well...they'll know everybody!

How exciting your move is!

[Craftlady]

We have dsl with our phone company, great package deal (phone, internet).
Check with your phone company. Also, your cable company.
DSL prices have come way down and are just about matching what dial up charges. With graphic intense world of internet, dial up in a few years is going to be non existant because it's so technology slow.
Personally, I'd rather be without internet if dial up was my only choice.

[RedHedd]

I have AT&T which I understand is now Yahoo/SBC. Their service is pretty good and affordable. I've never had AOL, but have heard nothing but nightmare stories, so you're smart to stay away from them. Many of my friends use NetZero and say it's pretty good.

[CathyBogart]

I do NOT recomment Earthlink - Their customer service is absolute garbage. I have comcast now, which is not perfect but much better than Earthlink IMO.

[moosmom]

Beware of AOL. They are another company who kept pulling money out of my bank account, even 2 years after I cancelled my account. The bank I have now told me they are having MAJOR problems with AOL illegally taking money out of people's checking accounts.

I've had great luck with Yahoo, as well as highstream.net

Good luck in your new apt!!! Isn't moving fun?? :p

[Zippy]

I had People PC a few years back.I really loved it.

[Roxyluvsme13]

I have Charter.. It's not available in some locations, but it's pretty good. It's kind of expensive though, but you can get Cable, Internet, and telephone service for $99.99 a month. It's pretty fast, and they have great customer support.

[sammy101]

I have Sprint/Earthlink DSL. I like it alot better than the cable we had before.The customer service is very good when we needed it.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

We have Quest, which is only $65/month for their fastest DSL and phone. Before we had DSL we had AOL, not because we liked it (we hated it) but I'd call in every month to cancel and they kept offering it for free. I had free AOL for 10 months before I finally really did cancel. :D

[G535]

I've heard bad stuff about AOL even down here! :)

[Sevaede]

Yep! I can certainly believe everyones AOL horror stories. They are, by far, the worst ISP that I have ever had the displeasure to deal with.

Thanks for all your help! I am going to have to check out Juno and Charter.

I would love to have DSL but we really cannot afford to spend more than twenty five bucks a month on internet. :(

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

I have Shaw High Speed Xtreme - it's roughly $30.00 per month.

[Lady's Human]

LOH's grandmother (as in someone who is completely and totally computer illiterate) Has had Juno(sp?) for a long time, and has no problems with it.

[K9karen]

Yuck to AOL. The customer service was a disgrace and they use foreign countries. Not that that's bad, but I had a language problem and they were short and rude. I changed to Comcast. I weedled them down to lower rate since my cable is with them. If their rate goes higher, I may switch to Verizon since all my phones are with them, but I'm pretty pleased with Comcast's customer support.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Ohhh yeah, AOL sucked. Our internet messed up and they were supposed to send a disk to get it fixed, and you know that disk came about 3 months after we requested it! :rolleyes: By that time we'd switched to Charter. I'm pretty sure you can get their basic DSL for $29.95 a month, but the higher version (which is what I have) is $39.95 or $49.95 a month.