ISP's

[Anebriated]

Alright, it has finally come to the point where I can take no more AOL. Im looking to upgrade my service to either a DSL or a Cable connection. Right now my family has 2 computers(one shared and one was mine from school) that are used reguarly, only the shared one is connected to the internet.

That being said I have 2 questions. What is the easiest way to connect both computers to the internet? and what ISP's do you suggest?

We already have Comcast cable so I know that we could just get a modem and all and go that way but that is alot more expensive than the alternatives. On the DSL side we tried to get Verizon DSL but they wouldn't put a line(I thought it was just through the phone line) to our house because of our location.

I figure once we get the connection I will set up a wireless router to get both computers up and running but I wanted to see what the computer guru's of PC had to say first. Thanks in advance.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<Im looking to upgrade my service to either a DSL or a Cable connection.>>

Plz do not get DSL.

<<Right now my family has 2 computers>>

Plz get more.

<< only the shared one is connected to the internet.>>

Plz get a router with your more computers.

<<What is the easiest way to connect both computers to the internet?>>

Get a router. Connect one computer. Connect the other.

<<and what ISP's do you suggest?>>

Charter Communications. But they is teh local and you do not live in Massachusetts. RoadRunner is supposedly good if you can get that.

[Scott]

Why not just keep comcast cable, pay a cheap price for router, then just hook it all up to the router. Thay way you won't need to go out and buy a wireless card and you can keep your regular ethernet card without going through any hassle of switching.

[Hulkein]

I had both Verizon DSL and Comcast Elrodin, definitely go with the cable, it's just faster and that's all that really matters (unless you can't afford the cable, then Verizon is cheaper, but you don't sound like the money is an issue really) since both are about equal in service and uptime.


Edited - Read the rest of your post and notice you already have cable. Just get a router and network the computers, you can even get wireless if you don't feel like going through the walls with wires.

[Edited on 7-17-2004 by Hulkein]

[Numbers]

Good god... how have you survived on AOL up until now?

If you've got Comcast cable already, just give them a call, tell them you want to add on a computer connection, and they'll show up in a few days with a cable modem and set it up for you.

If you're feeling confident enough, you could probably do it yourself by picking up a cheap cable modem at Radio Shack or CompUSA, putting in a cable splitter to your main cable line, do the wiring yourself, and then calling Comcast. That's generally more trouble than it's worth, though, when they'll do it for you inexpensively, and sometimes free.

Don't bother with DSL. In most cases, you should only bother with DSL if cable isn't available in an area. I'm not sure why Verizon wasn't willing to put a line up to your house... it could be that you're just too far from their hub location. It does go over phone lines, but if you're more than 15,000 feet away from their location, it's considered too far. In rare cases, in areas where you can get cable or DSL, DSL can sometimes be better, but only if your cable network is really, really crowded, since cable connections use shared bandwidth with your entire network (your neighborhood,) while DSL is a constant, dedicated connection to you and only you. That's rare, though. When I lived in NYC and had Time Warner cable, the service was fine, and that's about as crowded as you can get.

As for the router... there's not much of a reason to go wireless, unless both computers are REALLY far away from eachother (as in, on different floors and across the house,) or if you have a laptop that you want to be able to connect with anywhere in the house. Wireless routers/adapters are generally more expensive than ethernet routers/adapters. And ethernet adapters are usually built right into the computers these days (unless the computer is three or four years old.) If the computers are only a few rooms away from eachother, just put the router next to the cable modem, which will be next to whatever computer you tell the Comcast rep to put it next to (you could probably convince him to stick it in a closet between the two computers to make connecting both computers easier,) and then just run the cables along the floorboards to both computers.

An alternative to a router is a hub, which is essentially a piece of "dumb" hardware. Think of it like a cable splitter... it receives the signal, and then pipes that signal into whatever lines are connected to it, regardless of whether it's the destination or not. Routers are different in that it receives the signal, but will then send out that signal to whatever IP address it's intended for. Hubs are super cheap (you could probably find one for $5) and usually more hassle-free than routers, but if both computers are being used at the same time and online at the same time, it could lead to some annoying problems.

[Edited on 7-18-2004 by 3704558]

Heh I'm still using Aol dial up cause I don't wanna pay for high speed

[Anebriated]

I really dont know how I have put up with it for so long. I guess its pretty much because I have become accustomed to it and after using the 14k baud modems awhile back the 56k seemed decent.

The reason I considered DSL is because I just got back from a vacation to Florida where I stayed with relatives. My cousin had DSL and it seemed to fly compared to what I was used to.

The two computers(we only need two because as it is I pretty much have to tell my parents how to turn the computer on and off, and before now it was never a problem with kicking my brother off when I wanted to be on.) are on different floors and across the house. My house is also relatively old so its mostly stone and not easy to work with. I think I will end up with comcast cable and a wireless router then. Thanks for the info everyone.

[Numbers]

"The two computers(we only need two because as it is I pretty much have to tell my parents how to turn the computer on and off, and before now it was never a problem with kicking my brother off when I wanted to be on.) are on different floors and across the house. My house is also relatively old so its mostly stone and not easy to work with. I think I will end up with comcast cable and a wireless router then. Thanks for the info everyone. "

Well, here's your problem.

How old is this house? If it's mostly stone, and if it's really, really old (in other words, lead-based paint, thick stone walls,) chances are that you'll get really really crappy reception with a wireless router.

In college, I live in a century old house with five other people. I set the wireless router up in my room. The house was mostly wood, so I wasn't expecting any problems. There was one person who lived on the ground floor below me and across the house... probably only about thirty feet away total. She got horrible reception. Why? The chimney was directly in between us. And that kicked the singals ass. I actually did an experiment where I moved her computer across her room, out of the line of sight between the connection and the chimney, and the connection improved dramatically.

Of course, the dumb girl refused to move her computer because she had her room set up exactly like she wanted, and refused to change. Instead, she just bitched about it all year.

[Anebriated]

I hope that wont be a problem. The house is fairly open for being old. Im going to give it a shot as there are two brick chiminies but neither should be in the way, if they are I have no problem rearranging my room.

[Numbers]

Save receipts then, just in case.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<are on different floors and across the house.>>

Wireful is the way to be. My home network is two rooms next to each other downstairs, and two rooms across from each other upstairs.