Broadband

Richard lives in an area that doesn't give him either broadband or cellphone coverage, and is wondering if satellite internet is a viable option. Leo says if it's all he can get, then that's the only option. The equipment is expensive, though, and the upload speed is very slow. There's latency that's pretty bad so gaming and VOiP such as Skype would be an issue. There's also serious bandwidth caps. If that's not important, then it'll work. Leo recommends Exede, also known as WildBlue.

Frankie is moving to a rural area and would like to have an alternative that's similar to FIOS. Leo says that rural areas are hard because there's not enough in population to justify laying down broadband cable. So that leaves Satellite and 4G. Satellite has the downside of being expensive and that there's a lot of latency. It's also slow and subject to weather. The chatroom also recommends Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs). Exceed is the best satellite Internet provider.

Sam's internet connection is costing him $100 a month. Why is it so expensive?! Leo says that Sam didn't realize that they set him up with a super fast, high cost internet plan. He should contact Time Warner and tell them he wants to cut it back, because Sam is overpaying! He should tell them he wants to cut the cost in half. It shouldn't cost more than $50 with cable.

Doug would like to dump his AT&T phone line, but keep his DSL Extreme broadband connection. Can he do that? Leo says yes, it's called "dry loop DSL." AT&T has to allow it by law. He'll have to get DSL Extreme to fight for him on it because AT&T will do everything they can to make it difficult for him to keep it.

Steve is getting DNS errors and his internet connection is slowing to a crawl. Leo says it's likely a flakey cable modem. He advises taking the modem to the Comcast cable store and telling them it's broken. Ask them for a DOCSIS 3. It's fast and more reliable. Or, he can just buy a modem and avoid the monthly rental fee.

If that doesn't fix it, it could be malware. It is not unusual for malware to modify DNS. If he can't get to an antivirus page, that's often a sign of malware.

David has heard about ClearBand wireless internet called OMGFast for $29.99 a month for 50MBPS. Leo says it's essentially WiMax and suggests going to BroadbandReports.com to find out what others think and get reviews. Users are reporting a constant 45-55mbps down, 4mbps up consistently. Latency isn't great for real time gaming or VOIP.

Letty would like to unbundle her services from Time Warner and use another internet service. She also wants to get DSL without phone service. Leo says if she asks for "Dry Loop DSL," the phone company will give it to her. Actually, they are required to even though they don't like it.

Tamar is considering AT&T Uverse but the salesperson at Direct TV told her that on Uverse the Internet will slow down when she gets a phone call or watches TV. Leo says it may be true, but she'd have sufficient internet bandwidth to easily do both. However If she's watching an HD TV show and recording another HD show on DVR, then the internet speed will suffer because Uverse puts a higher priority on the TV signal.