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What are our ISP options?

(20 posts)

Started 4 months ago by glimmerbee
Latest reply from Oly

glimmerbee

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Here in No.Ba. do we have any other reliable options for High-speed Internet service other than Comcast or Century link? Specifically, I am interested in hearing from those who game and download games online.
Thanks!
--B.
P.S: apologies for any repetitive threads on this subject. Things do change quickly in the techie-web world though...

Posted 4 months ago #
BooRadley

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You'll probably have to go with Comcast. Centurylink is limited depending where you are, I get 2.7 megs. I'm curious about Clear as far as streaming performance etc. but I don't know anyone who runs it through the wringer as far as torrenting, streaming and the like.

Posted 4 months ago #
phoo

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I recommend against Clear, assuming it is remotely related to Clearwire. I knew someone who had it. The way the contract was written, they were under no obligation to provide decent service so when the net was down or very very v e r y slow, she was SOL. She said it was so slow it was almost unusable, and she isn't a computer a geek, just an average user.

As a bonus, I'd be cautious about being on someone else's wifi network. Do you do your banking online? Do you want that information going outside your house?

FWIW, I have century link and it works very well here in north central ballard (not crown hill). I had another ISP for awhile, but at slower speeds and that ISP is strictly for geeks who can do their own troubleshooting when something goes wrong (on the bonus side, when you call him and say the problem is on the other side of the demarc, he believes you).

Posted 4 months ago #
BooRadley

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Thanks Phoo. I'm on Clink as I don't want to feed the Comcast beast. 2.7 ain't great but it fills the bill for the moment. I was never sold on the 4G

Posted 4 months ago #
phoo

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You mean Clear was offering 4g? I'm not fond of Comcast either. If you want VDSL speeds (read: mostly fiber and a short bit of copper), you will have to submit to comcast or century link. They have a "duopoly." No one else is allowed to use those fiber lines. Not everyone has fiber running to their neighborhood, but I had it both in northeast and north central Ballard. I've had great service and when CL took over, surprisingly tech support got significantly better. I spoke to someone who knew what the hell they were talking about and even better, believed that I knew what I was talking about. They got someone right out to solve the problem (likely a local miswiring problem and not their fault).

Posted 4 months ago #
BooRadley

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I'm in an odd pocket on 80th that isn't wired for higher than 1.5. Remember the thread with the "representative?" He was helpful but the infrastructure remains the same. I'm still in a lame zone. They "conditioned" the lines and billed me accordingly for a 3 mbs upgrade.

Posted 4 months ago #
BooRadley

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Phoo, do you stream Netflix and do the movies fizzle at the end sometimes?

Posted 4 months ago #
jj

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If money isn't too much of an issue, I heard that Verizon offers home service over their cell network. I can't remember the speed they offer, but I believe it's the one above 4G - LTE? Anyway, I looked into it on a whim, I think it was around $90/month.

Posted 4 months ago #
phoo

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BooRadley: Any issues I suffer with netflix is their fault. In fact, I use a game console which means it is limited both by proc power/memory and goes through the wireless and I still don't usually have problems. Yesterday I experienced some minor glitching on the beginning of one show, but it resolved quickly. Today I did heavy downloading (cs2 for free!) and no issues. I don't game, so I could not attest to that. I also stream hulu and have less problems with hulu than netflix.

I am sorry to hear about your infrastructure. On the bright side, it may be a matter of time before they get that part up there wired.

I do not think 4G would be faster than what you have now.

Posted 4 months ago #
SEdholm

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I stream netflix daily on clink and it isn't bad. I get HD a lot, rarely does it look bad, rarely does it buffer (maybe once a month?)

Posted 4 months ago #
dsomers

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I am not getting service in the Ballard area right now, but I did up until recently. I lived on my boat for years down in Shilshole Bay Marina and used Clear for my service. I had good throughput, 4 to 6mps. Only a few outages over the years. No problems with Netflix streams, which was about as demanding a load as I put on the system other than software downloads.

I am on Comcast now up in the south end of West Seattle which has been fine. Clink did not have very good service in our area so this was not an option, and Clear didnt reach that area. I still keep my Clear for use at the office (as an off the office network connection) and around town. Not sure how much longer I will do that. No problems to report with them however.

Hope that helps a little.

D

Posted 4 months ago #
phoo

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dsomers: Good to hear that Clear is decent! I knew someone on Clearwire a number of years ago, and it was truly dismal. All she wanted to do was download her email and surf and it was painful. I will update accordingly. :)

Posted 4 months ago #
LandsOnTwoFeet

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I use clearwire (same as Clear) almost every day when I'm working out of coffee shops. It's about 10 times slower than comcast, but I almost never lose my connection. I have comcast at home. I've uploaded and downloaded large files with clearwire (I edit video) but it takes a long time. Still, it gets the job done. I've used it all over the country in major cities. It's very convenient. Here is the trick to get a good price. They want you to pay something like $49.95 and it's not worth it at that price. After the introductory price runs out, call them and say you're canceling. They will give you a $19 or $20 dollar rate for 6 months at a time. I've been doing this for 2 years now.

Posted 4 months ago #
jburgh

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We recently switched from Speakeasy/Megapath (1.5Mbps) for Comcast (15Mbps). We stream movies, but no games. Comcast was the fastest we could find. We rarely get 15Mbps in the house, but 10 is not unusual. With Speakeasy we usually got 0.5Mbps, which is agonizingly slow and streaming was never possible.

Posted 4 months ago #
TandM

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Hi. CenturyLink supervisor checking in. Depending on where you are at in Ballard determines the speed we offer. We are working hard to cover more areas and have installed fiber that runs up to 40 Meg in several areas. I live in Ballard and currently have the 12 Meg service which works great for gaming (XBox). I never have lag or connection issues. it also works great for streaming Netflix. I've been able to help some people, and others I'm still advocating for. If you'd like I can check offerings for you. Email me at tstille@centurylink.com

Posted 4 months ago #
seattletree

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I had the tech from Century Link at my house near 63/8. He told me that I was not the only one who was experiencing SLOW speeds. I pay for 7 and got down to a 1.2 average. He switched something week before last and now I am getting interrupted connections at least once a day, just drops off the internet. The Century Link Tech said he has another call at the end of my road, guy there couldn't get over 5 either. There are brand new condos here who were recently wired by CLink to very high speeds but I was told the chance of "us" getting high speeds soon is about zero. That was from the horse's mouth. I was specifically told not to bother buying the 12 that is advertised as available here because I will only ever be able to get what I have now.. today, which is near.. 6 if you don't mind the daily drop off the internet..Quotes by CLink.. "CLink is not going to put in fiber in this area for a long time. So.. either we are happy with the 6ish.. or we aren't.. but not to pay for 12 because it is not going to happen."

Posted 4 months ago #
TandM

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@seattletree. I'm sorry I just saw yuour response. If you are still experiencing slow speeds or issues, I'd love to help. Shoot me an email at tstille@centurylink.com

Posted 3 months ago #
SmartsyArtsy

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Seattletree, I urge you to contact TandM. He and his team fixed something in one visit that I had trouble with for over a year

Posted 3 months ago #
SmartsyArtsy

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Posted 1 month ago #
Oly

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So you feed the Clink beast instead. Huh? I used to have DSL and it was worthless. The rate you pay is "up to" the purchased speed. The speeds never came close to the "paid for" speeds.

Comcast is the best preforming ISP available in Ballard. I can understand if you can't afford the $55 month, but to not switch because they are the big bad corporate goon you are losing out on your machines capabilities. Comcast is a MUST FOR GAMERS.

Might as well not feed one of the grocery store beasts, or gas station beasts, or the utility beast, or the fast food beasts.......

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Comcast nor do I have a personal beef with Clink.

Posted 1 month ago #