Accessing the Interwebs

[Wind Swept]

I'm rather curious what the average Pwebber is paying for Internet access.

I'm currently getting 30Mbps downloads for $15/mo. thanks to a first time customer deal. After a year, this tier bumps back up to $48/mo., which is still far better than what any other provider in the area offers. Second place is 5Mbps for $50/mo.

On the other hand, my parents in rural Minnesota are still paying $40/mo. for 1.5Mbps downloads. The coop they're a member of laid fiber optic cable to every one of their customers' houses a few years ago, but the packages and pricing stayed the same.

What do you, average Pwebber, pay for Internet, and how fast is the connection you get for that price?

[Jayelle]

Download speed up to 1.5 Mbps, Upload speed up to 640 Kbps

$54/month.

I hate living here. There is ZERO competition for internet. It's Bell or pretty much nothing (Rogers, but it sucks and is more expensive).

In Manitoba, we used to be able to call our provider and say "Hey, I'm thinking about switching..." and they would say "hey, here's a better price." Now we call Bell and they say "Good luck with Rogers. You'll be back soon, I'm sure."

[Noodle]

We have a bundle deal and we're being held over a barrel. Cable TV, Internet (15MB/1.5MB) and phone service for something like $170/mo. I'm not sure how it breaks down between the different services...

[Wil]

Cox High Speed Internet Premier (20Mbps down / 2Mbps up) - $63.99

I almost went for the 50 down/5 up but couldn't justify the $119 price tag.

[Platypi007]

I'm with Time Warner. I think I'm supposed to get 5mbps down and I pay just under $60/month with the extra taxes and fees and crap. My actual speed is generally 10-15+mbps, though, so I can't complain too much.

It pains me to visit my parents. They used to have slow as crap DSL from ATT, the lines in their neighborhood are terrible, so they got like .3 mbps up... Now they're with a WiMax provider that just moved into the area, which is cheaper than their DSL was but the speed has yet to improve over the DSL speed.

[Dr. Mobius]

I don't currently have internet since I live out in the middle of nowhere and satellite is obnoxiously expensive. When I move back to town, I'll get Insight's 20mbs down / 1.5mbs up at $45/month. Insight also offers 10mbs at $35/month, 30mbs at $60/month and 50mbs at $95/month, but I'm pretty sure the faster speeds aren't available here.

[Luet]

I pay $39.95/month plus tax and I had no idea what my connection speed was, so I just used one of those online download speed tests and it seems that it's about 5mbps.

[Syphon the Sun]

New apartment: $29.99/month (for first six months, $34.99/month for the next six, and who know what afterwards) for 15 down, 3 up. And I just learned that I have a data cap of 250GB.

Old apartment: $69.99/month for 12 down, 1 up. This price has varied over the years. It was $49.99/month when we moved in. We bundled with cable TV the second year for $48.99/month total, which went up to $76.99/month total the second year (after the "we're cancelling" discount). Unfortunately, the number of service providers was reduced to only one (there used to be two), and the price went up to $140 (down to $120 with the cancel threat) for the bundle, so we snipped the cable TV. (Plus, given that we only need service there until December, signing another year-long contract didn't make sense.)

[locke]

22/month with verizon dsl, which they bumped up from 20/month earlier this year. service is totally crap and spotty though, not good enough for netflix streaming or youtube above 240.

[Wind Swept]

I'm rather sad I'm winning this fight so excessively.

In 2011, cheap, fast Internet access is a necessity.

[Eaquae Legit]

Right now I'm on the university network. A quick search last night for our options when we move out in a couple weeks reveals that Orange is probably our best bet, since we are already mobile customers. The website is incredibly frustrating and vague, so I don't know the exact details but whichever way we work the numbers, they're still cheaper for the same thing. I have to go in and harass someone to show me a contract.

[Wind Swept]

Did I mention my impossibly awesome deal is also contract free?

I'm afraid I'll never be able to escape Fargo if the Internet offerings everywhere else don't improve...