Anyone using the new Qwest Heavy Duty Internet?

[shanendoah]

Our cable/internet bill from Comcast is $150 a month for a basic package. We're sick of it and will be getting rid of it this summer.

However, we're both gamers and DSL has never really cut it for us since we switched to cable internet. The speed listed in the new Qwest HD internet is 1.5Mbps (for the lowest cost option) and DH said after doing speed test, our current is at 1.7Mbps, so we're pretty sure we can live with the difference. (Or maybe I'm remembering wrong, since Qwest has other, much faster options for not much more, but I do know DH said it was slower, but only by a little bit.)

Qwest broadband internet isn't available in our neighborhood yet (its supposed to be sometime this month), so before we take the jump, I was wondering if anyone here had used the service and if you noticed any issues.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

That much? I have Comcast cable internet, and I pay half that. Do you have anything special or extra services?

[shanendoah]

Kind of. We have internet and cable- one level above basic -with one HD DVR. But they also have a monopoly in our area. The county gets to determine who gets to offer cable service where, and Comcast is the only provider legally allowed to offer service in our area. (And Seattle isn't a cheap place to live either).
One of their neighborhood guys came buy yesterday (our neighborhood is about to be upraded to pure fiberoptic) and, per his price sheet, their absolute cheapest package will be $100/month plus taxes.

[Deleted]

Brighthouse has a monopoly in our area. It's a Time-Warner company, I think. We get the lowest level (which they still call high-speed . . . I guess compared to dial-up) at $50 a month. We aren't gamers, though.

Today I let them bundle our home phone service with it. For a year it's a good deal. After that, I'm thinking it will be about what we pay for separate internet and separate AT&T phone service but now with free long distance. We were using the cell phone for that so it's only a small gain. (We only have one cell phone that the two of us share.)

Off topic, but can I say what I found offensive? I checked with AT&T to make certain that service was stopped as of today. The representative said, "Absolutely. You are apparently going to a competitor. Oh, and congratulations! We now offer [some sort of] digital tv in your area!" Real peppy, excited, congratulatory voice.

I didn't know what to say. I mean, to the congratulations part. I did something like, "Well, thank you. Ok, Good-bye." Hang up.

Congratulating me as I disconnect my phone service?

[schildi]

Shanon, we live close to you, and only pay $62 per month for basic TV and upgraded internet.
Are you sure your husband is doing the speedtest correctly? I am getting > 15Mbps. Also, if Qwest rates their service at 1.5Mbps, that does not mean that's what you'll really get in the end. That's a theoretical max.

[shanendoah]

schildi: Two options - I could be remembering what he said wrong. We first talked about it right after I returned from the east coast after my grandmother's funeral, so I can't trust my memory to be perfect. OR, our area has yet to be upgraded to Xfinity, and the 15mbps seems to be what Comcast is quoting for the new fiber optic lines.
As for the other, it may have to do with when you became a Comcast customer. We've been with them since 2005. We used to have a slightly bigger cable package (I miss BBCA and NGC) which was costing about $150/month. 2 years ago, when DH lost his job, we reduced the cable and it went down to $115. And then over the next 6 months, it went up again every month until we were back at $150.
We do pay extra for the HD DVR, but it shouldn't be that much extra...

[shanendoah]

I did just test. It looks like we're currently getting 5Mbps download and almost 2Mbps upload speeds.
We can get 7Mbps for $20/month with Qwest.

Again, haven't made a switch yet, but the price sheet the guy who came by yesterday had said that the cheapest package going forward was going to be $100/month. I would like to get down to that (or less) but I don't really want to have worse TV than I do now.

[txbo]

We have Verizon FIOS around here, great service and speed. The package includes telephone, internet at 30/25 Mbps and HDTV full package without the HBO type movie channels. The total cost with two HDTV DVR’s and three TV’s is $160 ($134 plus tax and other add on charges). I also have a Netflix blu-ray package for $13 that includes streaming and DVD’s.

[schildi]

Jun 4, 2011 5:07:49 GMT -5 txbo said:

We have Verizon FIOS around here, great service and speed. The package includes telephone, internet at 30/25 Mbps and HDTV full package without the HBO type movie channels. The total cost with two HDTV DVR’s and three TV’s is $160 ($134 plus tax and other add on charges). I also have a Netflix blu-ray package for $13 that includes streaming and DVD’s.

This sounds reasonable with three TV's included in the package. Are all three of them LED TV's? Big screen / 52"+? How often can you upgrade (replace the TV's for free)?

[shanendoah]

Verizon FiOS is not an option for us. Wish it were.