Does anyone NOT have internet access at home?

[ScrimpAndSave]

As most of you know, I am moving into my new townhouse is August. I am trying to figure out what the best cable/internet service will be for me.

Limited basic cable (29 channels) will be $18.99 a month. I think I am going to go with this since I watch a ton of news and stuff on local channels anyway. I don't have a lot of options for internet because the townhouse is in a rural area and not many companies provide coverage for this area. Internet will run me about $40 a month. I know that paying $60 a month for cable/internet isn't bad at all...but I started thinking...what if I forgo the internet? I spend too much time on it anyway. I have access at work and at a lot of local hangouts (and my dad's haha). I do not plan on getting a landline.

And no, stealing internet from a neighbor is not an option. lol

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Nope, I work from home occasionally and my DH does too. Plus I run a blog which I try to write from home.

[arthurb999]

You could get a wireless card and try to leverage someone elses unsecured wireless router...

[boosami]

If you do a land line and dialup service it will be slighly cheaper than the $40, but the super-slow speed is probably not worth the minimal savings. Depends on how frugal you are and what the savings actually are.

[Broken Arrow]

I'm too much of a net junking to cut off the net.

My current (cable) broadband is $35 month.

For DSL, Ma Bell insists that I buy their land line, which is $28 a month. And for DSL itself, it starts out at $19 a month. So, compared to cable, I am getting half speed at $12 more, oh but I don't have to share my half speed with the neighbors and I also get a land line that I'm not going to use.

I can go with dial-up, but they're $10 a month, and it still requires a landline, which totals to $38. So, if I go this route, I can take a much, much slower speed than cable for $3 more.

I really do miss a dedicated high speed DSL though. That was fun. No slowdowns or anything. It worked beautifully for me.

I never looked into satellite, but didn't see the need to.

Your Mileage May Vary, of course, depending on location and service.

Edit: I just checked the website again for dry loop DSL (DSL without land line), and for once, I actually was finally able to place an order! WOW! Thanks for starting the thread and have me looking.

Edit 2: OH MY GOODNESS! A Bell South rep just called me! They just called me, 10 minutes after I placed the online order to make sure that I am all set to go and didn't have any questions! And they're going to activate it on Monday! I'm shocked! I am completely, utterly, and pleasantly shocked! They just might have won back a loyal customer!

Edit 3: Just want to be clear that I've known about dry loop DSLs before, but Ma Bell sworn up, down, left, and right that they know nothing and were not offering it. Plus, it wasn't something that I was able to locate either. So, I don't know what if they changed their policy or that I finally found the right URL, but whatever it is, the rep on the other end was super nice, and said it will be on Monday. I can't wait!

[feh]

We have dry-loop DSL, and use Vonage over that for phone service; no (conventional) land line.

[red92s]

I bought a high power wireless adapter antenna off Ebay and pick up 20-25 wireless networks (although only 3 are unsecured). So, I have home internet access . . . I just don't pay for it

[ScrimpAndSave]

Red, isn't this illegal? I am going to live in a townhome community...so I am sure that I will be able to pick up other people's signals. But doesn't this make your computer not so secure?

I also feel like this is just ethically wrong...

[red92s]

Red, isn't this illegal? I am going to live in a townhome community...so I am sure that I will be able to pick up other people's signals. But doesn't this make your computer not so secure?

I also feel like this is just ethically wrong...

I'm not "hacking" into anyone's network. I just use networks whose owners have chosen not to enable any security whatsoever. There is nothing more illegal about it than using an open network at a coffee shop or airport. I guess it could be less secure, but I keep any sensitive info on an external hardrive that is not always plugged in.

I'm doing basic web browsing and email, no downloading music or streaming videos or anything, so my presence on most networks would have a negligible impact on speed noticed by the owner. Security is so easy to enable on a wireless router these days that anyone who hasn't done it probably wants to share. So ethically, I don't feel too bad about it.

[ScrimpAndSave]

I'm not sure. I have been researching it and it is apparently called "piggy backing"...and not legal in most states.

[disneysteve]

OP, you are correct. Using someone else's network without their permission is illegal. Using it with their permission, actually, is also illegal as it violates their agreement with their provider. Otherwise, one person in a complex could get service and share it with all his neighbors and the providers would lose a ton of business.

[PrincessPerky]

So where is the dryloop dsl link?

[red92s]

OP, you are correct. Using someone else's network without their permission is illegal. Using it with their permission, actually, is also illegal as it violates their agreement with their provider. Otherwise, one person in a complex could get service and share it with all his neighbors and the providers would lose a ton of business.

So it's only illegal to protect the profits of service provides? I bet there was no lobbying involved in that legislation, right ? The provider is still supplying the same amount of data if 10 people are using 10 accounts or 1 account. The pipe can only deliver so much bandwitdth. Are places with internet hotspots violating law then? I mean . . . they are sharing bandwith with people that could be paying for it otherwise.

[kork13]

So it's only illegal to protect the profits of service provides? I bet there was no lobbying involved in that legislation, right ? The provider is still supplying the same amount of data if 10 people are using 10 accounts or 1 account. The pipe can only deliver so much bandwitdth. Are places with internet hotspots violating law then? I mean . . . they are sharing bandwith with people that could be paying for it otherwise.

This is a matter of contracts. The residential user (all of us) sign a contract with the internet provider that the bandwidth will be for our own use only. Find whatever you signed when you first got it, and I guarantee you'd find a clause like that of some sort. Commercial users (such as airports, Starbucks, and office buildings) on the other hand specify in their contract with the internet provider that the bandwidth will be available to multiple users.


Scrimp, I personally don't think that I would be able to go without some sort of home internet access. I do all of my banking, research, and much of my entertainment via the computer in some way. The idea of dry-loop DSL is interesting, seems like a great option IMO.

[ScrimpAndSave]

I never heard of dry loop DSL. I will have to look into it. Thanks!