10-09-2009, 02:29 PM

I recently purchased a new Mac for my wife and I. We have dial-up web access, but our new Mac does not come with a modem like our last one. As I understand we have two options to get on-line. We can either purchase a modem for the Mac or sign up for broadband web access. I'm tempted to sign up for broadband, but I have never used residential broadband. At the university where my wife and I teach the internet in the offices and classrooms loads almost instantly. Is that what residential broadband is like or does residential broadband just make watching movies and playing games possible?

10-09-2009, 03:25 PM

It's definitely a lot faster and considering the speed and functionality you can get (such as wireless access in your home), it's well worth the price especially if you compare the price of dial up and broadband. You won't get university speeds (I never have) but it will be much much faster.

10-09-2009, 03:46 PM

I think I will go ahead and get that. Do you know if I can get Comcast (my city's cable television provider) to install broadband internet without purchasing cable television from them?

10-09-2009, 04:46 PM

G'day David and welcome to the forums.

Go for the broadband. After using it you will NEVER go back to dialup, which really is last century's technology,. With system updates running sometiomes intlo the hundreds of MB, broadband is the only way to fly! Only way to go online even for us here in rural Australia.

10-09-2009, 07:51 PM

I can't answer your question about Comcast (don't have it here) but you would be best to consult their website for packages.

10-09-2009, 08:26 PM

Wow, I am amazed someone is still using dial-up! Broadband has been pretty much the only way to go for about 6-7 years now, and it is what the vast majority of people on the internet are using. Dial-up is really only useful for people in extremely remote areas where there is no broadband access, and is pretty much a dead technology now. With the size of system updates and most other downloads these days, there is just no alternative to broadband. It probably won't even be much more expensive than what you are paying now.

I know I have Charter cable internet but do not have their television service, so it should be possible with Comcast as well.

10-09-2009, 11:08 PM

Don't buy the adapter from Mac! They always manage to add another 10 bucks to the price. There are many good usb-to-phone adapters on the market. However, I'm not sure if snow leopard supports any form of dial up whatsoever. I highly recommend cable ethernet, same price as broadband, but airport can utilize it at 130MBits/second. Most broadband services only run at about 10MBITS

10-10-2009, 11:10 AM

Be warned: a friend of mine had Comcast internet for a while, and she had the lowest level, but her bill went up to like $60 a MONTH. If you have AT&T for phone service you can get their internet (lowest level) for $10 a month for the first year (before it goes up to $15) Best part? No cables!

10-10-2009, 06:16 PM

You can get JUST internet from comcast. The lowest price is 19.99$ a6 months with 15 MBps download with powerboost, whicb is about 43$ after the 6 months. You can also get 25$ for 1MBps download and 384 upload.

10-11-2009, 12:38 PM

I am taking a look at the packages from AT&T because I have phone service through them. I am going to call them on Monday and order their DSL service. Does anyone have a comment on which package to buy. They seem to sell different speeds.

10-11-2009, 05:34 PM

Can't comment on AT&T of course, but as a general rule, as fast as you can reasonably afford. Personally found 256/512 reasonable, but the 1.5MB/ps is my choice here in rural Australia as we do not have ADSL2 as yet.

10-15-2009, 10:31 AM

I just got started with AT&T's DSL Basic package. It is most certainly worth the extra money. I set up all the hardware myself in under 20 minutes and it is fast. Thanks for the help.