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General discussion

DSL Question

Jun 20, 2005 11:23AM PDT

Im not very DSL savy so this may sound like a stupid question.
I do not have home phone service(landline) but I'm interested in getting DSL service. Do I need home phone service in order to use DSL service.
Thanks!
Mustang

Discussion is locked

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DSL. . .
Jun 20, 2005 11:33PM PDT
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(NT) (NT) Just go with Cable then....
Jun 22, 2005 3:31PM PDT
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(NT) (NT) Cable is much better than DSL
Jun 22, 2005 3:42PM PDT
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Complete answer: it depends...
Jun 23, 2005 2:28AM PDT

Some services will allow you to get DSL without having to purchase phone services. I thought I heard Verizon was doing this in some markets. Some people will probably recommend that you get cable service. While it is true that it is faster is also cost a lot more. My thinking is that if you aren't familiar with DSL then the speeds it will provide will be plenty fast for your needs. Also, if you get basic phone service for $20/mo. or less and if you can get SBC Yahoo, their price for DSL is only $15/mo. now. That means you will have a total of $35/mo. or less!! Cable isn't likely to beat that any time soon.

If you are saving $20/mo. or more by going with DSL over cable that means you're saving $240/yr and I can think of better things to do with that money, but I'm cheap and I get a lot of satisfaction from saving money... call me crazy!

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yup... it depends...
Jun 23, 2005 5:20AM PDT

entireley on where you are located. DSL is transmitted over a phone line. There must be a phone line. Whether the phone line is also used for phone service is technically irrelevant, but absolutely relevant to the business practices of the phone company that owns the line leading into your house. Without information about who they are, we can't tell you much. Verizon has been mumbling about allowing naked DSL (that's the jargon for DSL over a phone line with no dialtone/voice service) but nobody has seen it yet. Qwest has offered it in places. Other big telecos may or may not, it's all pretty ambiguous - but as I started to say, it depends absolutely on the business intentions of the one phone company that owns the one line into YOUR house. Anything going on anywhere else means nothing.

Note that there may be other ways to get DSL - e.g., resellers such as Covad - but they can only help you if they have forged a business relationship with the aforementioned one phone company that owns the one line into your house. Sometimes, the reseller can lease the currently unused phone line into your house and then transmit their own DSL over it without simultaneously providing a dialtone. But again, that all depends on the business intentions of the phone company whether they'll allow a competitor easy access to the circuits. Technically, they are supposed to. In reality, the phone companies treat the outsiders miserably, which often trickles down to miserable service for the customers of the outside company.

As for the blanket statement that cable is better than DSL - that too depends entirely on what is going on in YOUR neighborhood. Some cable companies suck big time. Some are outstanding. Some DSL plans suck big time. Some are outstanding. Without knowing the exact details of YOUR options, we can't make a recommendation.

dw