[Cialug] OT: Qwest and Mediacom Internet Service Advice

[Jeff Davis]

In fairness, the agreement  with qwest also means that they won't raise the
price on you as long as you keep that speed even beyond the 2 years.
They also give you 30 days in which to terminate the service without
penalty
in the event that you don't like the service.

YMMV, however my parents have mediacom and have all sorts of problems
with it.
I have had a DSL line for over a decade and can count on one hand the
times I've had an outage.

Regarding Nick's comment about the modems sucking:  I don't really use
the actiontec modem
as it's in bridging mode and beyond that you can use any sort of router
or WAP that pleases you.
As far as that goes the actiontec sits there and does it's job and I've
never had a problem with it.
If you're trying to use it for anything beyond that it may very well suck.

The $41/month with qwest is probably using their ISP, it will be a
little more if you use a
3rd party ISP like Internet Solver / Freese Notis /  Marshallnet,
however using one of them
for your ISP will tend to result in better service should a problem arise.

So taking that into consideration it will mean a bit more than the $41
to $38 difference.

It's worth mentioning again that mediacom offering you 8 meg down isn't
necessarily what
you'll actually get, especially if your neighbors are using it heavily
at the same time you do.
Though as Dave brought up that can be an issue (as in Ames,) I'm in
Ankeny and I've never
had that problem with my qwest DSL.

This is what I'm actually getting in Ankeny with my DSL at 7meg down /
896 up.
   Download Speed: *6174* kbps (771.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
   Upload Speed: *737* kbps (92.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

-Jeff

Todd Walton wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 5, 2009 at 12:22 PM, Alan Maupin <alan.maupin at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> I'm asking for advice for a friend on Internet service in Ankeny.  It's been
>> awhile since I've negotiated a deal and I'm not sure of what to tell her.
>> She's been offered two deals:   Qwest 7 mbps for $41 per month and Mediacom
>> 8 mbps for $39.  Since the price and download speeds are very similar what
>> other criteria should she consider?  One possible negative is the fact that
>> Qwest requires a two year contract.
>>     
>
> Given the otherwise comparable plans, the contract would be a definite
> no-go for me.  Why should they get to lock you in like that?  What if
> you don't like the service?
>
> --
> Todd
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