I'm sick and tired of dealing with Time Warner. I've kept putting up with crap from them just because cable and road runner were the easiest options for television and internet. But now I'll do whatever it takes to never have to deal with them again. DirecTV will replace the cable, but I don't know what options there are to replace high-speed internet.

I'm not in North Raleigh so I can't get UVerse I know that.

10/4/2009 4:03:00 PM

this is also relevant to my interests

10/4/2009 4:04:06 PM

then where the hell are you?

also, i'm pretty sure uverse is available towards Cary, not just north raleigh

10/4/2009 4:04:37 PM

uverse is the only option

much of south & west raleigh have it. cary has it... I have it and I'm not in North Raleigh...

look & see: https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do?target_action=serviceabilityCheck

[Edited on October 4, 2009 at 4:12 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2009 4:10:10 PM

yep, u-verse is your only other option.

10/4/2009 7:25:53 PM

I can't get Uverse at my place yet, but I knew I didn't want RR. So, I got AT&T DSL. Works fine for me.

10/4/2009 7:28:04 PM

at&t dsl is horribly overpriced for what you get... but yeah, it's not TWC, so there's that.

10/4/2009 7:29:37 PM

Eh, it's like $5 cheaper for 6mbps down / 512 kbps up, vs TWC's 7up/384down. And it isn't TWC. If Uverse becomes available, I'll switch to it.

10/4/2009 7:35:30 PM

^not if you're getting roadrunner for $29.99/mo

10/4/2009 7:56:24 PM

wat?

10/4/2009 8:47:29 PM

http://www.earthlink.net/access/cable.faces

[Edited on October 4, 2009 at 10:15 PM. Reason : it's exactly the same as roadrunner, even runs over TWC's network]

10/4/2009 10:15:12 PM

get a cell phone plan w/ unlimited data and tether. mine is as fast as dsl.

10/4/2009 10:45:22 PM

^^ Road Runner = Earthlink

I was paying $19.95/mo for Road Runner Lite (768k up/128k down) and called to say that I wanted to switch to Earthlink's $29.95 deal for 7megs down/384k up. The TWC guy said he could send the signal right to my existing cable modem. So i ended up getting 10x the speed for $10 more. The only catch is that the promotional price is good only for 6 months and then it goes up to $34.95 afterwards.

[Edited on October 4, 2009 at 10:46 PM. Reason : -]

10/4/2009 10:45:47 PM

That's unlikely

[Edited on October 4, 2009 at 10:52 PM. Reason : ^^]

10/4/2009 10:46:48 PM

with earthlink you're still dealing with TWC and their bullshit

10/4/2009 10:50:56 PM

clearwire

10/4/2009 10:52:09 PM

anybody have any experience with clearwire?

10/4/2009 11:09:46 PM

my brother's had it for a couple of years now; he likes it well enough. the only real issue i know of is that you have to keep the modem somewhere you can get a signal; you can't stash it in the basement or something

[Edited on October 4, 2009 at 11:16 PM. Reason : and i think you have to sign a contract]

10/4/2009 11:16:00 PM

Dumb question: Why are you calling their customer service in the first place? You avoid that like the plague, similar to avoiding anything that has "Dell Home" labeled on it. And yes, otherwise you are correct, you are 1 customer out of several million in a near-monopoly industry. Cell phone companies will fight to keep your business, cable companies ... meh, not so much.

I'm out in the woods southwest of Jordan Lake, here's what I have:
- $60 / month, aircard with unlimited bandwidth plugged into router. Basically allows laptops / computers to connect over wireless 802.11x, while use aircard for data itself.
- $75 / month, satellite package with several channels, DVR and HD.

Having just moved, the same cost for TWC is approximately $120/month, depending on which package you pick of course. Both have their advantages / disadvantages. I wouldn't recommend the above setup unless you have NO other options available, but, is an option. Good luck.

[Edited on October 5, 2009 at 6:19 AM. Reason : .]

10/5/2009 6:15:17 AM

Get a job at Sprint = $14.99/month for unlimited broadband card

10/5/2009 4:33:18 PM

Quote :

"anybody have any experience with clearwire?"

I work for Clearwire in Greensboro. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. We are going to be offering the 6 Mbps package for $30 come 11/1

10/5/2009 5:37:35 PM

no Uverse?

10/5/2009 5:45:55 PM

Quote :

"Get a job at Sprint = $14.99/month for unlimited broadband card "

"unlimited" != unlimited

10/5/2009 8:10:54 PM

^employee plans are truly unlimited-customer plans are stuck with teh 5GB cap

10/6/2009 9:42:13 AM

Clearwire PC Card is unlimited and 4G

just sayin'

10/6/2009 9:55:38 AM

Get a job at Sprint = hate your life

my sister worked in the billing department for customer service and had a man (who happened to you know, just not pay his bill, therefore getting his service shut off) tell her that she and all her unborn offspring will burn in hell for eternity.. then my stepmom had to call the cops on a man threatening her and her entire team - said he was gonna come to the building and everything (but that was Verizon).

10/6/2009 10:11:37 AM

^^^well shit, i'd work part time at a sprint store if i can get that, haha

10/6/2009 10:23:59 AM

I was the customer service manager at the Sprint store on Glenwood Ave for a year when I was still in college. I enjoyed working there and really liked the people I worked with, but dealing with hundreds of pissed off customers every day got old really fast. Especially when 95% of them were pissed for shit that was their fault (i.e. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CUT OFF MY PHONE FOR NOT PAYING MY BILL!)

And yes, it was awesome to have a completely free and unlimited cell phone. Plus, whenever the new hot phones would come out, they would let us switch into them.

[Edited on October 6, 2009 at 10:33 AM. Reason : a]

10/6/2009 10:24:07 AM

One of the few reasons I keep working at a VZW indirect is to keep a real cheap ass cellphone plan. My phone is provided by work, which they don't care if I make personal calls on it, and the wife carries my VZW phone, which has unlimited txt, 2000 min., and a bunch of other shit for like $10/month. My total bill for cell phones every month after taxes and all that shit is like $15.

10/6/2009 10:59:53 AM

I decided to go with Clearwire, or Clear as it is now called.

This is absolutely awful. It doesn't come recommended by me at all.

I'll start by saying that I'm getting a full signal and practically live in the shadow of one of Clear's towers. Every part of their product is shitty. I have the "Fastest" plan that is supposed to be 6 MB/s down and 1 MB/S up for $50 a month. I'm on my second modem, the first one got speeds about as fast as dialup. This one is a little better but even with a consistent signal, the bandwidth and speeds are terribly inconsistent. Using speedtest.net, maybe only 1 in 10 speed tests comes back near the top. Most of them are under 2 MB/sec, and to give you an idea, it takes about a full minute to load CNN's webpage, and there's constant buffering (stop, start,stop) when I stream media.

Customer service has been miserable too. Techs that don't appear to know what they're doing result in multiple call-ins to diagnose the same problem. I've opened up two service tickets with them, and they still haven't called me.

It's not convenient, you can't exchange bad hardware at a local Clear retailer.

So I'm up for new suggestions. No Time Warner, no Clear, and no Uverse. What's left?

11/24/2009 1:54:03 PM

^ embarq DSL?

11/24/2009 2:00:20 PM

Embarq is now CenturyLink, and when I put in my Raleigh zip code it says no service available in your area.

11/24/2009 2:21:52 PM

oh...well, i'd call them anyway

11/24/2009 2:30:46 PM

is Uverse not available or do you just not want it? you still haven't answered that.

11/24/2009 2:52:12 PM

Figure out who services DSL in your area?

Who is your local phone company? ATT?

[Edited on November 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM. Reason : .]

11/24/2009 3:28:59 PM

I'd love to have uverse but it's not offered.

I don't know what Raleigh's local phone company is, I haven't had a landline in years. AT&T DSL direct only offers the 3 MB/s plan, it says the fast 6 MB/s plan isn't available here.

So I decided to get a Sprint 4G USB modem, for about $75 a month. $50 total cost at signup minus a $50 mail in rebate. Raleigh appears on Sprint's list of cities currently with 4G, so speeds of 6 MB/s should be expected.

[Edited on November 24, 2009 at 6:19 PM. Reason : ]

11/24/2009 6:16:26 PM

^ that is Clear. Sprint is just reselling our shit




$45/mo

Anytime you see 4G it's Clear (formerly Clearwire). Sprint and Time Warner Roadrunner Mobile use it, and have paid heavily for it. Why go with the investors when you can go with the inventors?

[Edited on November 24, 2009 at 6:35 PM. Reason : a]

11/24/2009 6:33:01 PM

My $45 connection from clearwire is a piece of shit, I wish I got the above results just once in the 500 speedtests I've done this week.

11/25/2009 12:37:06 AM

You can expect the same results from your sprint 4G, since it's the same network, and essentially the exact same equipment just with a different logo on it.

[Edited on November 25, 2009 at 9:21 AM. Reason : a]

11/25/2009 9:19:18 AM

Quote :

"^ that is Clear. Sprint is just reselling our shit"

not that it matters but i was under the impression Clear is just reselling Sprint's shit....does Clear own any of the hardware/towers?

11/25/2009 9:23:23 AM

i was actually under the impression that clear and sprint each owned roughly half of the nationwide network and now they're playing nice

11/25/2009 9:30:28 AM

The 4G network is Clear. Sprint and Time Warner invested money in Clear so they can have access to our 4G network. In return, we have access to Sprint's 3G network. The dual mode card we sell (4G/3G) is the same exact product that Sprint sells, with the same exact coverage area.

But when it all comes down to it, it has to do with money. Clear had the technology but not the capital to implement it on a grand scale. Sprint and TWC have the capital. So I guess if you want to look at it this way, the network belongs to all 3.

Intel and Google are also major investors in Clear

[Edited on November 25, 2009 at 9:35 AM. Reason : a]

11/25/2009 9:30:47 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearwire

ahh ok - so sprint owns the controlling share in clearwire - i thought clear was just a brand sprint owned - didn't know it was a separate entity that sprint "owns"

11/25/2009 9:34:55 AM

It's odd because I find myself competing against companies that are huge investors in the company I work for.

It's a very incestuous industry, i suppose

11/25/2009 9:37:44 AM