Question about very cheap DSL cable access. . .

. . .I heard that some company is offering this service across the country for $9.95 per month with free installation and a free cable modem. Do any of you know which company this is, how good the service is in comparison to Bright House or Southern Bell DSL and if there are any hidden costs or special hooks like limited access time and a locked contract for an extended period of time. I pay $44.95 per month for the service now, but I experience frequent interruptions and the most aggravating problem is that the cable modem gets hung up for no apparent reason. Then I have to unplug in, and reboot. So, if this service is available at this price it would be a substantial savings and because I work on-line from home quite a bit, if the reliability is better I would have more peace of mind.

Input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Make sure that the service IS high speed access, and make sure you know what the limitations are. Several providers (Bell South for one, and I think some cable providers) are offering a tiered service. At the least expensive price level, you get much higher speed than dial-up, but not nearly the maximum speed available over the particular medium. If you want more speed, you pay more per month.

As far as your cable modem, perhaps it needs a firmware update, or a replacement. My cable subscription includes the cable modem, so if it has problems, I take it in and get it replaced. We had a problem with our cable service as the line from the street to the house was plain RG-59, with no armor, and the insulation was starting to crack. After it got replaced, we've had no more problems. That might be another thing to check for.

I haven't noticed any high speed providers advertising in my area for $9.95, but since I'm not in the market, it would be easy for me to miss. Could it be the NetZero ads you've noticed?

Good luck, and let us know if you find anything elsewhere.

Unless you HAVE to...don't do this service. I'll be responding to an important post at home and I get kicked offline for not clicking on the popups. I've got DSL at work, thankfully. My republican boss pays me to chat on DU. It's the best part of my day.

I have looked and have not found anything as cheap as the poster mentions. I'd be wary.

Do you have to have cable to get DSL? I keep getting offers from our telephone company (Verizon) for DSL. We don't have cable, and I am wondering if you can get DSL from the phone company without a cable hookup? Or is DSL by definition cable?

Thanks for letting me piggyback on your question, whistle.

DSL use your telephone line but not all areas are DSL compatible. Check with Verizon on availability in your area. I know they sent me their newest offer of $29.95 plus a free modem but you need to sign a contract for 1 year of service. You have 30 days to decide if you want to keep the service or not. If you decide not to keep it the modem has to be returned at your expense or if you chose to only want month to month service the price increase to $34.95 a month plus you pay a rental fee for the modem ( I think it's $10 a month ).

...because at $44.95 a month I should be able to expect trouble-free high speed service. It is not happening that way so I want to know about alternatives. I'm not after a free lunch, I just want what is fair and competitive.

As far as I know DSL requires a cable of some short either from cable TV or phone cable or some other type of line hook-up. As for speeds, I suppose that is optional on the part of the provider. I'd be willing to consider digital satellite if I knew what was available and it was not more money. I have the satellite already installed, but I don't want to be taken in by another sham.

I know Netscape now has online service available for $9.95 for dial up service and with that price they offer "accelerated surfing" which is a way of caching web pages to make them load faster. This service is for dial up costumers only and they are competing against NetZero which also offers service for $9.95 but if you want the "accelerated surfing" feature it is $5 more...$14.95.

...I recall it said ???DSL.com, but I just don't recall what the ??? was. I saw it in passing earlier this afternoon while taking a snack break and just have not seen the ad again.