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General discussion

Verizon DSL $14.95/month

Sep 5, 2005 12:03PM PDT

I saw that Verizon now offers DSL for $14.95/month at a speed of up to 768k/128k. I am currently on dial-up and want to switch to an affordable high speed connection so that i can upload photos onto ofoto,snapfish, etc.. download mustic from the internet,etc. can someone explain to me what the speed of this dsl connection means, and if it will be fast enough to support what I plan to use the internet for.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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DSL..
Sep 6, 2005 3:23PM PDT

Now that Verizon has teamed up with Yahoo and lowered their cost to $15/month, they are finally a competitive service. Basically they are offering you 768 Kbps downstream (receiving information/webpages/downloads) and 128 Kbps upstream (sending requests for information and uploading files).

Dialup is technically 56 Kbps, but current government regulations limit it to 53 Kbps. After that, a combination of your modem's quality, the age of your house (old wiring can cause a poorer connection), and your ISP can reduce that figure down even further, with a ''good'' connection speed being in the mid 40s.

Since DSL is over 10 times faster than dial-up, it will be a significant increase, and a great value considering dial-up costs between $9.95 (People's PC) and $23.90 (AOL). Although even dial-up is capable of uploading and downloading large files, the DSL connection will help turn hours into minutes when downloading files and sufing the web. While it won't be as fast as cable internet, it is fine for your needs, beats what you have now, and is the best deal for broadband internet currently available.

Hope this helps,
John

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Also depends on what is available
Sep 7, 2005 2:42AM PDT

in your area. SBC/Yahoo offers 1.5MB DSL for $14.95 (twice as fast) if you are a customer. So, check around.
Some people have had trouble with SBC, but Verison has had complaints also. I have had real good luck with SBC for several years now. Good luck. chuck

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Caveat...
Sep 7, 2005 3:11AM PDT

John accurately describes the benefits of DSL vs. dialup. The caveat I would warn of is that you should first inquire of the Verizon sales office whether your house qualifies for DSL at all. I know nothing about your house or location, but DSL is feasible only if your phone circuit (the physical copper wires from your house back to the Verizon central office that serves your phone number) is shorter than 18,000 feet (and that is electrically equivalent wire-feet of the actual cable route, not driving distance or as-the-crow-flies). Just because Verizon has rolled out a national advertising campaign with the deal of a lifetime, doesn't mean EVERYBODY is necessarily eligible to take advantage of it. If your location qualifies, then yes, this deal is aimed squarely at you to encourage you to drop your old dialup.

dw