>
>
>I agree satellite is really expensive, and the speed sucks. I looked into while stuck on dialup in NY. iirc the cheapest for service was like 70$/month, and 600$ for installation. (Unless you use a dialup line to send, the system has to be pro installed because you are sending info to the satellite) worhtless.
>Vonage sounds like a great idea, and actually cheaper than what i was gonna say. I have verizon for my local and long distance, but pay 65$ (i think) flat rate for any call, anywhere, anytime. If you want the name of the plan let me know.
>
>
I used to use Vonage for long distance and RR for Internet, but I'm now
100% Verizon. Why? Money + reliability. My *total* bill this month, for
local phone service, unlimited U.S. long distance, every add-on phone
feature known to the human race *and DSL*, was $104.14.
Vonage was ~$40/month. The sound quality was passable, but Verizon's is
much better for about the same price, and Verizon's international
calling rates are lower. The rest of my phone bill, including all the
add-on services, brings my total voice commo charges up to ~$55/month.
RR Internet service was noticeably faster than DSL when everything was
working right and the loop wasn't crowded, but slower when things
weren't working right or the loop was saturated. On the whole, I find
DSL more satisfactory. And both are "plug and play"' installs these days
either directly to your computer or, in my case, through a Netgear
WAP/router combo (that also has a built-in hardware firewall). And the
DSL part of my phone bill is $35/month, which is $10 less than RR.
The balance of the bill -- the difference between the ~$85 you'll get if
you add up the above figures, and the ~$104 actual total, is taxes and
other mandated add-on fees that cable companies and Vonage aren't forced
to levy. (I'm not one of the "ask not what I can do for my country, but
how much my country can do for me and how little I can do in return"
people, so I don't really mind helping to pay for things like 911
service, low-cost local service, and generally doing my share to support
local, state, and federal government.)
Anyway, taxes and all, I am getting better service per dollar on both
voice and data transmission from Verizon than I've ever gotten before,
either through a single supplier or through a combination of suppliers.
Another factor for me, since my phone and Internet sevices are an
employer-paid business expense, is that I turn in one bill a month
instead of three separate ones. Even if you are using these services on
your own dime, if you are doing *any* amount of work at home, your
telecom services are tax deductible, and once again, saving one bill per
month is a lot more convenient than saving three.
I don't love Verizon. But I have even less love for AOL Time Warner, and
I'm neutral toward Vonage, so I have no major moral qualms one way or
another that influence my telecom provider choices. If AT&T or MCI or
whomever offered me a better price, and similar reliability and billing
convenience to what I've been getting from Verizon, I'd change
providers in a heartbeat. That's what the free market competition is all
about. And I'm glad to see that it's finally having some major effects
on both voice and data commo services!
- Robin
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