at&t dsl?

[ABEL]

i'm looking into getting cheap high speed wireless or dsl connection for my laptop.
i'm currently on dial up.
someone who works for verizon actually suggested at&t to me for high speed dsl.
he said they have a month to month for $20 per month.
that sounds like it would be perfect for me.
right now i can't really sign up for anything else with a commitment as i will be moving to the netherlands in 6 months or so.

does anyone else here use at&t?
also will i need to purchase a router or modem?

my computer has a built in modem and is wireless ready.
and i have *cough*testedthewirelessconnection*cough

so would at&t be the best to go with or does anyone else have any suggestions?

i've also seen t-mobile which we have at work.
but it's more expensive.

 

[Justin24]

I have AT&T. I am currently paying 20 a month. It's decent. They send you a modem. Although it's wired I think they charge a little bit for a wireless modem. It serves as a router also. (sorry not to technically advanced) But yeah go for it pretty good service.

 

[ABEL]

how much do they charge you for the modem/router thingie? (not technical either )

 

[Calvin N. Hobbes]

I used to have sbc dsl... it was great for a about a year and then it started being a jerk and became unreliable constantly. So then I decided to pay more and switch to earthlink. But I never really recieved the full speed potential from earthlink considering how much I was paying for it either.

So thus I switched over to cable. I'm glad I did, my cable service is much more reliable and the signal is stronger/faster. Also, cable is usually month to month.. no long term contracts. When I had sbc it was a 6 month contract and when the 6 months were over they jacked up the price to the "normal higher rate" - they expected one to call in and sign up for a new contract to maintain the same low price.

But honestly, I would consider sbc/att again considering how cheap their rates are. Most people that I know didnt have the same problems with it that I did.

 

[Justin24]

how much do they charge you for the modem/router thingie? (not technical either )

I dont remember but I think the website might have more information. www.att.com

 

[ABEL]

I used to have sbc dsl... it was great for a about a year and then it started being a jerk and became unreliable constantly. So then I decided to pay more and switch to earthlink. But I never really recieved the full speed potential from earthlink considering how much I was paying for it either.

So thus I switched over to cable. I'm glad I did, my cable service is much more reliable and the signal is stronger/faster. Also, cable is usually month to month.. no long term contracts. When I had sbc it was a 6 month contract and when the 6 months were over they jacked up the price to the "normal higher rate" - they expected one to call in and sign up for a new contract to maintain the same low price.

But honestly, I would consider sbc/att again considering how cheap their rates are. Most people that I know didnt have the same problems with it that I did.

the guy i talked to last night who suggested at&t actually suggested against cable and he explained to me why.
he said that during peak times, i.e. when people come home from school or work when there's a lot of people using it that the speeds are actually slower.
but with dsl the speeds are consistent.
at least that's what he said. he seemed to know what he was talking about.

i'd considered getting cable too since my cable tv company (comcast) has the bundle deal.
i'd still have to pay for the installation with them though ($100) and it's still more per month than at&t.

thanks for the advice justin, i'll try calling them today.

 

[Liesje]

It depends on what services you already have and what types of contractual obligations they require. I've used both for years, and neither is really better than the other. I never had nearly as many drop-outs with SBC (ATT) and no customer service issues like I do w/ Comcast, but their speed is slower and you have to have an active landline for DSL. We used SBC for two years because we wanted a landline so we got a package deal. At our apartment, we switched to Comcast b/c we didn't want a landline and wanted a package deal with our cable ($66/mo for cable (digital cable ~70 channels plus On Demand) and broadband Internet). With SBC I used my own modems and routers that I bought used from other students. With Comcast, I rent the modem for $3/mo and use my own wireless router.

IMO, anything is better than dial-up, and $20/mo with no contract is a deal I've yet to see beat.

 

[ABEL]

well my phone service is with at&t. i've had a landline for years and service with them since back when they were southwestern bell. i've tried calling them today to get more info but they're experiencing heavy call volumes and i've been on infinite hold.
i should have tried calling earlier in the day than waiting till friday afternoon
maybe i can get a good deal with at&t anyway since i have the phone service with them too.
the website says the month to month plan requires no contract.

 

[Justin24]

They do have package deals like comcast where you can put Satellite, dsl, phone together in a package. And Cingular also.

 

[Liesje]

I would go with ATT then. Since you're currently on dial-up, I'm assuming you don't torrent, so you're not going to notice that it's slower than some cable Internet services. I'd switch to ATT if I could get that deal and didn't have Comcast cable.

 

[Calvin N. Hobbes]

i've tried calling them today to get more info but they're experiencing heavy call volumes and i've been on infinite hold.

good ol' att! Wait till you have service issues and then having to call their support center in india where they read to you from a script and then transfer you from different depts. whom all walk you through the same steps!!!

I agree with Liesje, go for it. Cant beat $20 a month for a high speed isp.