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General discussion

No landline for internet. What are my options?

Aug 28, 2009 2:52PM PDT

Hi Guys, I know this is totally random and my jargon may be a bit dated but here goes...

I live in a newer condo building and the whole building is ethernet-wired, what I mean to say is where the phone jacks usually are we have cat5e jacks with what looks like a separate connection for cable and/or DirecTV underneath (sorry I'm not sure what that connection is called.) Everyone in the building is using the same internet company, and they are completely inept but I won't go into that. We have no telephone landlines here so I'm not sure what my options are... DSL? Or mobile broadband? I'm currently using an apple airport extreme for wireless, I've already gone to the apple forums and it seems mobile broadband won't work with that so it's probably not an option. Satellite looks to be way too expensive for me. I'd like to pay less than $100 a month.

The Computers-
We have one brand new 24" imac - this is probably used about once a week and mostly used to mix music, not much surfing. The airport is connected to the imac in our office.

One Dell XPSM1330 laptop - I work from home as a real estate assistant and I'm pretty-much online (email, sending docs to clients, research, posting listings to websites, er, facebooking) using this all day, every day.

One ibook G4 - We use this little guy when we're too lazy to leave the couch. The ibook and the Dell are often being used at the same time in the evenings.

The space
About 1100sqft 2bd, 2bth concrete loft - we've had no issues using the airport in here. Any advice or shove in the right direction (not off a cliff) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time! ~ Anitra

Discussion is locked

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This is a very confusing post...or maybe it's just me.
Aug 29, 2009 7:34AM PDT

You live in a condo which means you don't live out in the forest/mountain some where. Yet..."I'm pretty much online all day)"? Have you talk to the neighbors about the ethernet wiring or call the telephone company? I don't think anyone can tell you much until you find out what's available to you in your area. This is meant to be a friendly suggestion.

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Telling you how much I was online...
Aug 29, 2009 9:07AM PDT

was meant to be a clue regarding how much bandwidth I use. It's not unheard of for service providers have monthly limits. An no, your response did not come across and friendly. If that's difficult for you to do, please do not bother responding. Thanks anyway.

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Difficult to say what you have access to...
Aug 29, 2009 8:15AM PDT

First, are you sure you have no telephone lines running to your space? It would be difficult to believe that you can't get basic landline-based phone service. Have you asked the building manager or your neighbors about this? And why is everyone using the same ISP? Is it the only one available?

The TV antenna jack could be cable service, so you might be able to have internet over cable. I think you need to talk to your building manager and find out exactly what those Cat5 and cable jacks are supplying. As far as we know you might have access to every internet service available.

Post back if you need further help.

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Never mind.
Aug 29, 2009 9:23AM PDT

"First, are you sure you have no telephone lines running to your space?" When we moved in we were told by the developer that there were no telephone lines whatsoever. So unless someone in another unit HAD to have a landline and was willing to pay the costs associated with having that installed, this is indeed still the case.

"And why is everyone using the same ISP?" It's cheaper. We get a deal, lower monthly payments. This is common with new developments in my town - Chicago. I apologize for not mentioning that before.

"As far as we know you might have access to every internet service available." The only cable internet service provider in my area is comcast. I suppose I'll start calling my local providers. I came to cnet hoping to avoid a bit of the cross-selling and avoidance that goes on with those calls. Thanks anyway. I'm done here.