Dsl

[lynchknot]

Well, it's been real and it's been slow - but the time has come that internet will no longer be free for me.
I've been looking into DSL. Cable is not available in my area yet.
Seems the major player (cheapest) is DirectTV. I think there are some others available in my area. My questions are: Does anyone have experience with this company? Any other recommendations?

[Big Booger]

Get DIRECTV DSL and do everything you want online faster and more conveniently. With DIRECTV DSL, you enjoy the power of an “always-on” Internet connection with lightning-fast speeds and the power to do more than ever before!

Current DirecTV DSL Promotion:

• $29.99/mo for 3 months! $49.99/mo after that.
• FREE Setup and Activation!
• FREE use of DIRECTV DSL™ Gateway (DSL modem)
• FREE Unlimited Surfing!
• FREE 24 Hour Tech Support!
• FREE 5 Email Accounts!
• FREE Static IP Address!
• FREE 20MB Storage for Web Pages & Email!
• FREE 60 Minutes/mo. of Dialup Access!


Above is their service plan. Not too bad considering they give you the modem to use for free, have the 24 hour tech support, no setup etc...

My mom uses their Tv service and as far as I know she doesn't have any complaints.

Below is a review of their DSL service,
http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/822

From that I ascertain that they are an average company. The didn't do poorly in any category.

The only thing I see is they don't have the 8mbit service capabilities just yet.
hope that helps,
BB

[lynchknot]

SOLD!! lol BB. I'll give them a call. One thing I don't like is (a minor thing) having an e-mail address lynchknot@directTV.com

[Conan]

Ok Boogs how much is your commission from signing up Lynchknot with DIRECTV?:p

[Big Booger]

I get 1 year free internet service LOL
:)
BB

[lynchknot]

I was wrong :rolleyes: DirectTV does not cover my area. However, there are 3 other companies that do. :)

[Conan]

Oops, there goes Boog's comission!:D

[lynchknot]

Upon further investigation, i'm finding that this area sucks. There are only 2 companies that can offer me service and one is $100 a month! The other one is Britsys.com. This is their offer - what do you guys think? not very fast for the money.

384/128K - $49/month

There is a $50 set up fee for all line sharing plans and one-time equipment fee of $0*(after $99 mail in rebate) (Efficient Networks 5667 Bridge).

A 10Mbit or 10/100Mbit Network Card (NIC) will need to be purchased for your computer.

All BritSys ADSL plans include:

*1 static IP address (1 more available for $2.50/month).
*Up to 5 email accounts (More available for $3 per box/month).


Should I stick with dial-up? How much is a 10Mbit or 10/100Mbit Network Card?

[Conan]

Network cards can range from $20 to 50.

[lynchknot]

Thanks, I'm not sure what a network card is. Do I have one already? My PC is only a few months old. In "Connections" there are 2 connections under "LAN or high speed internet" they are disabled though.

[Reverend]

Lynchknot,click on the Dealsonic.com banner at the bottom of the techzonez page,and then click on the networking link.
Some cheap network cards there. ;)

[Conan]

Originally posted by lynchknot
Thanks, I'm not sure what a network card is. Do I have one already? My PC is only a few months old. In "Connections" there are 2 connections under "LAN or high speed internet" they are disabled though.

Check your PC's manual or the Sony Site to see if indeed you have a LAN/Ethernet card in your PC. You can also open Device Manager and look if you have an entry called "Network Adapter". If you do then you are set.

[lynchknot]

umm.....Belarc advisor thing says this:

Lucent Win Modem
Realtek RTL8139/810X Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport

Device manager also says: 1394 net adapter

[Big Booger]

Realtek is a ethernet NIC (network Interface card) on the back of your PC case you will see the standard dialup port, look around for another that is a bit larger, that is your ethernet port that you will use to hook your DSL modem to via a CAT5 ethernet cable.

The 1394 is your firewire port that you use to hook a digital camera up to and download your video through.

Hope that helps,
BB

[lynchknot]

Thanks BB, so a 10Mbit or 10/100Mbit Network Card is the same thing?

[Big Booger]

If i recall correctly, before the 10/100 there was a strictly 10Mbit card, ( I have a 3com 10 Mbit PCMCIA NIC for a laptop that is strictly 10bit)but these days most cards are 10/100 meaning, depending on how the PC's are connected, (usually this is autodetected by your system) you will either connect at a maximum of 10Mbit or 100Mbit. I get 10Mbit on my wireless connection and 100 Mbit on my LAN (wire-based) connection.

BB

[jontmke]

If you can, check to see if you can get a cable modem. Mine costs $45 per month, and I average downloads at 240kBs per second. Thats kilobytes!! It rocks, and is way faster than that dsl deal you found. It is not exact, but a general rule to determine download is a factor of 10, such 1000mbs or 1giga bit per second will get you around 100kBs per second. So, I am connecting at around 2.4 to 3 giga bit per second.

[lynchknot]

No cable offered in my area.

The one I listed is the only "bargan" DSL around. The other company is $99 month.

[tosbsas]

Its just a different speed - 10mb will only transmit up to 10mb 10/100 will be able to do both

Ruben

PS: By the way Realtek is a great card. Get new drivers from the webpage:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/htm/download/level.asp?class1=communication

[lynchknot]

Originally posted by tosbsas
Its just a different speed - 10mb will only transmit up to 10mb 10/100 will be able to do both

Ruben

PS: By the way Realtek is a great card. Get new drivers from the webpage:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/htm/download/level.asp?class1=communication

I can't read that. What is it? A Taiwanese page?

[tosbsas]

Sorry lloks like they changed there website design

go here

ftp://152.104.125.40/lancard/drivers/8139/

or here

http://www.realtek.com.tw/

Ruben