Looking for new internet provider

[ArkieBrat]

I live in Ft. Smith and have always used Cox but the monthly bill is SO high.  I have been reading about Freedom Pop & Net Zero DSL.  I was hoping that some of you would have some feedback on these two programs, or maybe have other suggestions.  Many thanks!

[longtimeHogfan]

I live in Ft. Smith and have always used Cox but the monthly bill is SO high.  I have been reading about Freedom Pop & Net Zero DSL.  I was hoping that some of you would have some feedback on these two programs, or maybe have other suggestions.  Many thanks!

Can't help you with either of those.  We cancelled our Cox cable in favor of DISH and did away with our Cox land line phone in favor of our two smart phones and saved something like $50 a month.  Keeping Cox Internet.   I've heard some positive comments about AT&T's U-Verse but have no personal experience with it. 

[Doug]

Contact Cox and threaten to cancel due to your bill being so high. See if they can work out a deal for you.

I have been looking at both Freedom Pop and NetZero for remote wireless access, especially when I travel.

Just keep in mind, the cheaper a service is, the more problems you will tend to have, especially with DSL.

Also, keep in mind that the further away from the DLEC you are, the more line noise you will have with your DSL services:
* ADSL = 16,000 feet (or less) away. Basically, both sides of the cabling work in tandem, but independently to bring you your internet conectivity. If one line goes "down", the other can pick up the workload. The closer you are to the DLEC, the higher speed capacity you have.

* SDSL = 16,001 to 30,000 feet away. Both sides of the cabling have to work together to share the workload to serve your internet connectivity. If one line goes "down", you're offline, period.... or getting really crappy internet speeds. This type of connectivity is much cheaper than ADSL because you won't get the same speeds as you would with ADSL. NetZero DSL probably uses this for their services (looking at their pricing, yeah, they do).

SDSL isn't as smooth as ADSL... and ideally, you want to be no further than 2 miles away from the DLEC.

This isn't something you'll be able to find out easily, unless you are able to find out where the MAJOR routing point for telephone services are for your neighborhood (not the little junction boxes you see on the road... DLECs are usually underground or in a building the size of a single car garage). Calling the phone company won't help, either, since most first, second and (usually) third level support teams won't know what you're talking about.

Side note: It's been about 15 years since I worked for a DSL company. There's five (IIRC) "LEC" tiers involved. I only worked with three of them.

LEC stands for "Local Exchange Carriers".
ILEC = Incumbent LEC - The original carrier (mostly the Baby Bells across the US). Usually one or two of these per region/major metropolis.
CLEC = Competitive LEC - These spider out from the ILEC. There can be as few as 1 to as many as 10 CLECs per ILEC. They all "lease" availability from the ILEC.

Since Verizon owns so many of the ILEC facilities, I'll use them as an example. If AT&T is your local provider, and there's a couple local TelCo providers, those would be the CLECs. They all "lease" availability from Verizon directly... and then "resell" to the end consumer. The telephone and internet traffic is then spidered out to "junction boxes" in each neighborhood (DLECs).

Each building that has telephone and/or DSL services in a neighborhood taps into one of the DLECs. Note: Just because a DLEC is close to you doesn't mean you're routed through that one. Some DLECs were built after some local neighborhoods were established... to handle new capacity.

DLEC = Data Local Exchange Carrier, FYI.

I know this is more info than you wanted, but hey... I knew this sh*t, so, why not?

[GolfNut57]

Can't help you with either of those.  We cancelled our Cox cable in favor of DISH and did away with our Cox land line phone in favor of our two smart phones and saved something like $50 a month.  Keeping Cox Internet.   I've heard some positive comments about AT&T's U-Verse but have no personal experience with it.

I have AT&T's Uverse internet and have had no problems with it. Never used Cox but with AT&T I can watch ESPN3 streaming video of college sports on the puter. Does Cox allow that?

[ArkieBrat]

I thank you for the responses.  I currently have cable tv, phone, & internet service bundled with Cox.  I have also been considering AT&T Uverse.  I have some time to make a decision as I signed a commitment letter w/Cox (in order to keep price from going up); it expires in Feb. 

Doug, I appreciate your input.  I have tried haggling with the Cox reps many times over the years but I get nowhere.  Most likely I will go ahead & cancel in Feb. but I want to have all of my ducks in a row before doing so. 

Again, thanks for the input!

[Wayne Watson]

I knew this sh*t, so, why not?

I have been very pleased with ATT Uverse since Oct. 2007.  Have never had one problem that was their fault.

And Doug knows way too much sh*t.

[longtimeHogfan]

I have AT&T's Uverse internet and have had no problems with it. Never used Cox but with AT&T I can watch ESPN3 streaming video of college sports on the puter. Does Cox allow that?

If they do I've never seen/found it.  Don't think so.

[hogfan68]

everytime i pay my Cox bill it makes me