(no subject)

[alexeye]

man, dsl is expensive. i've never had to set it up myself before - am i going to have to pay for all of the equipment, too? i don't think this apartment's been wired for dsl before, and it certainly doesn't contain any hidden hubs or routers.

crap. i think dial-up may be the way to go.


ETA - after searching the school's website, it looks as though i'll be able to get free dial-up at home, since the ibook has a 56k modem built in, and the school's website has remote access instructions. i just don't know anyone else who uses this service, and, if you know anything about my school at all, nothing ever works properly.

Comments

[jangrl.livejournal.com]

with one pooter, wired, you're only gonna need the modem, and most places give you that if you sign up for dsl.

with more than one pooter though you're gonna need a router. they're not too expensive these days - a 4-port's around $50. or if you wanna go wireless, even cooler! they're about $100 for the wireless router and about $40 for a pcmcia card, although depends if you have an airport card in your ibook already. airport cards are slightly more expensive from what i remember.

jangrl

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

i didn't order an airport card, 'cause it was kinda expensive, and i didn't know what we're going to end up doing.

i just really don't want to pay $60 per month for dsl, and it's very possible that comcast won't hook us up unless we get basic phone service as well (that seems to be sbc's deal), which would be at least another $30. it's really not worth it for the two of us, and just one computer (though the dell could still be hooked up to the internet, it just doesn't work very well sometimes).

sigh. i hate dealing with this stuff. but i have to have some kind of internet connection because of school. blah.

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

do you have cable? can you get a cable modem for less?

Also, I get like 8 hours of free dialup/week from my school, which is good enough for my needs (considering I am at school most of the day!). You might want to check if they have a dial-in line for you to use.

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

that's a good point - i'll check with school. ucla had a similar program.

we don't have cable, and have no plans to get it. we'll proabably get bunny ears so that we can watch the simpsons, but otherwise we're happy with our lack of t.v.

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

I feel the same thing re: tv!

I did a search for a comparison, you might get cheaper options here:
http://www.dsl-internet-service-connection-isp.com

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

unfortunately, it won't work for me, since we don't have phone service set up yet.

[monkeyhouse.livejournal.com]

$60 a month for DSL? maybe it's just a regional thing, but SBC/Yahoo offers it for $26.99. most of the other carriers seem to be comparable, at least around here. YMMV.

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

as far as i know, sbc won't offer me dsl unless i have basic phone service from them, which will total about the same as the $60 comcast wants to charge me. and sbc's online service is having a great deal of trouble locating my house.

[monkeyhouse.livejournal.com]

bizarro. i thought earthlink and verizon had pretty decent prices for DSL as well, but maybe it does depend on the location and the number of DSL providers in the area? there are plenty to choose from out here, so i guess there's more competition as far as monthly rates go.

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

earthlink doesn't provide dsl to my neighborhood, and i'm not sure about verizon. i have the feeling that chicago is less wired-up than southern california, and in particular our new neighborhood may not be a hot spot for internect action.

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

nope, verizon doesn't provide for my region, either.

[jangrl.livejournal.com]

wow, a place where people still kinda talk to one another...those still exist?! :)

jangrl

[jangrl.livejournal.com]

you know, natalie told me that since we make less than a certain amount of money a year, our basic phone service each month is like $5 or $10. since you're a student that might work in your favor as well. :)

as for dsl, we use sbc. it's definitely less than $40 a month. go through yahoo! dsl. sometimes they have these deals where it's $26.95 a month for a year or something.

just a heads up. :)

jangrl

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

thanks! i've totally used the starving student cheap phone before. heh. and i'll look into yahoo! dsl, but sbc is sucking about telling me if they serve my area or not.

shady, but...

[kickarse.livejournal.com]

Nearly everyone I know with an airport card in an urban area manages to get on someone or somewhere's wireless network with no problem at home or elsewhere.

Re: shady, but...

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

hmmm . . . and i KNOW i can get wireless connection at school . . .

Re: shady, but...

[mizrobot]

Hey, it's their own damn fault for not locking their network up! Not that I steal internet from my neighbors...ahem.

The only problem is that it is not very reliable. If the person who owns the network goes on vacation or moves or catches on to you and password-protects the network, you are SOL. Some other sucker usually pops up in their place, but you can go for days or weeks without access so it might not be the most desirable thing for a student. I'm also guessing it probably ups your risk for viruses but I don't know too much about that.