Internet/Landline Provider Suggestions . . .

[lavendertook]

It's been over a week since I had a dial tone on my landline home phone, and after days of many hair-tearing hours on hold on my cell phone, technicians were supposed to come out today to work on the lines for my phone in the basement of my apartment building. They did not show. The DSL has been getting spottier and spottier over time, too.

I've had Earthlink as my DSL and landline phone provider for over a decade. They used to be good, with responsive customer service, but I'm so done with them now. And their web chat help is a total joke.

So US peeps, do you have a national internet/landline provider your'e happy with that you'd like to recommend to me? Or a regional if you're in the mid-Atlantic? Or any advice for me on the switch over process?

I've had recommendations from a few people for Verizon, and I saw on a provider rating website that customers seem in general to be happy with that service. I hate joining one of the big monopolies, but Earthlink's time seems to be over and I need something reliable.

I feel so insecure without a landline--the batteries run out so quickly on my little cell phone. I'm not a big cell phone fan.

All advice on this is very welcome.

Comments

[monkey5s]

No real help here, I have Time Warner for my cable/Road Runner/telephone, and can't actually recommend them. I have a cell phone now, my niece added me to her Verizon plan, I know that they do have good coverage, but not sure how the home port wifi thing goes (which another friend uses for all her Internet, not happily, though). Good luck with your hunt!

[zana16]

We did not have good luck with Verizon and eventually switched to Comcast. You don't have to give up your landline, though they may tell you that you do. Legally they're required to support landlines, but they really really don't want to so they make it difficult to get that information.

[zlabya]

We fired Comcast in favor of Verizon, and haven't had sufficient problems in 6 years to make us change again. We do have FIOS; I don't know if that's an option for you. And we've kept our landline.

[jan-u-wine.livejournal.com]

i'm with Verizon. After not having any tv for about 4 years (meanwhile still paying 60$ for my land line and internet), Verizon came across with a plan that included hi-speed internet, some really decent if limited cable, landline. 80 a month and after the first three months, i rec'd a 300$ debit card. (note: the first 3 months were about 140, the differnce between the 80 and 140 being the price for the box. But as you can see, i got that back and more with the debit card. I believe you also can have the bill decreased by 300 if you don't want the debit card). I have a two year contract. 200$ penalty for early withdrawal.

I thought their customer service, in terms of setting up the install, was dreadful, but the install itself and subsequent customer service was great.

Hope you find a good home soon!

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

By "box", do you mean a modem?

Thank you for the info, my friend.

Not life threatening stuff, but so very aggravating nonetheless.

And I won't be able to make a switch until I excavate the piles of crap that are in front of my phone jacks, which will take a couple of weekends, provided I do not become trapped in an avalanche.

[jan-u-wine.livejournal.com]

no, the box is the one that enables the cable usage (we already had the modem due to our prior account with Verizon)

lol, to excavating the crap-strata. You never know what sort of fascinating stuff you'll find....

[addie71.livejournal.com]

My landline is now with a cable company, Wow!, which I love, but when I lose power, I lose my landline, too. :( I get a bundle for my TV, internet and phone for around 130.00/mo. and they have the best customer service of any company I've ever had before. I don't know if they are available in your area, but I'd check them out if they are.

I hope you find a company that works for you.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

Thank you, for the info hon. I don't currently have TV, so that's probably more than I need, and yeah, the loss of phone due to power outage would be bad for me since my power company has a very bad reputation for a reason.

What's the company?

[addie71.livejournal.com]

Wow! is the name of the company. They started out as Wide Open West and became just Wow!

[shirebound]

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with your land line. Are there national carriers like AT&T that might be able to give you a deep discount based on your income? My mom pays very little for her land line because she has almost no income.

Once you get a reliable land line, an internet carrier I used for ten years is NetZero DSL. They mail you a modem and instructions on how to set it up to your phone. I was with NetZero from 2002 (originally dial-up) to just few months ago, and had been paying $26.90/month for DSL service. (I switched to a bundle of TV/internet/phone with my cable company when I moved in December.)

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

I have Comcast for combination internet/phone. It's pretty much never down so I like it :-)

[romeny.livejournal.com]

We use Verizon & have the whole Internet/cable package. My landline rarely goes down & it was something to due with the basement wire getting frayed.

How're doing otherwise hon?

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

My sil has Verizon and they're pretty reliable. My landline is Verizon too, and they show up when they say and do okay for me.

[grey-wonderer.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you get it in your area or not but I use Suddenlink and so far I've been happy with them. I have my house phone and my internet through them. My employer uses them for my in-home working setup too. Most of the issues I've had were weather-related and quickly repaired.

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Hi, ducky, I've been away. We have Charter for our landline and internet, Verizon for cell phones. We have been pretty happy with both services, though they are costly in my opinion. We did save money by cancelling our cable television service. We found we almost never watched TV, so it seemed a waste of money. We bought an antenna called "the Leaf" which allows us to get HD, but just the over-the-air channels.

[ancalime8301]

I had Verizon DSL when I was out there (and frankly I wish I could still have them, but they don't serve my current area :( ). I had a landline with them for a year as well, but ended up cancelling it when it became obvious I wasn't going to use it. :-p