Net options aside from TWC

Apparently the apartment I just moved into will not accommodate cable or internet from time warner (I guess I never thought to ASK if you could get cable or net when signing a lease.) I work from home and having no net is not an option- I tried verizon and they're not in this area yet. Does anyone know of any options for internet aside from these two? Is there another DSL option?

If you're not in a TW area, you're probably in a Cablevision area, so you can get Optimum Online cable Internet. Having had both TW Roadrunner and Cablevision Optimum Online I can say this:

*Cablevision is more reliable (fewer problems with service interuptions, you won't have to reboot the cable modem much)
*You lose access to newgroups like Usenet
*So far, OO hasn't officially started capping how much you can upload/download as TW has in some markets, but they supposedly have a secret cap unless you get Boost service
*However, it is an open secret that if you exceed certain total upload amounts, OO will start to throttle your bandwidth (OO will not throttle downloads, only uploads)


Eventually, FiOS will make its way here and once that happens, I will immediately switch.

It is possible that Carmen is in the TW area, but that her landlord refuses to allow TW to wire the building.

If that is the case, she may be out of luck... except maybe for satellite?

Check out independent DSL ISP http://acecape.com. I have been using them for almost 10 years with 0 problems.

I was just going to post about high speed Internet. I believe I can get either of these services... so now I just have to decide which is better.

Thanks for the info

I am in a TW area and booklaw is correct, they refuse to wire the building.

I'm not as concerned about TV, but I work from home so I NEED internet (I've been using coffeshops for the past two weeks waiting for the damn cable company only to find out this...) I'm going to chec into the independent DSL- who provides phone service to park slope? I talked to a neighbor and they said no one in the building has TV or net...I find this to be kind of unbelievable.

Carmen, I became curious about the service Mantic posted about. I followed the provided link and was able within about 20 seconds to determine whether they could provide service (they could) to my phone line.

The one prerequisite is a Verizon phone line.

I don't currently have a phone line, I'm going to call verizon and see if they can set me up with one.

I'm also wondering if it would be worth it to go with a cingular aircard- I've heard the 3g network is pretty decent but Im an IT professional and have a broadband intensive job so I don't know if it'll support it...

where are you? when you say Verizon isn't in the area you mean for FIOS right? I've had pretty good luck with Verizon for DSL but I'm done in Windsor Terrace but I think the CO is in Park slope so you'd be better

from what I understand, if you can't get verizon DSL, you can't get ANY DSL since verizon actually owns all the lines in nyc and other companies just lease it from them. As far as not wiring TW cable through the building, is it just an issue with drilling holes through the building? maybe it may be OK if you get the cable guy to run it through the window and fab some sort of seal for the space thats left.

Carmen wrote: I don't currently have a phone line, I'm going to call verizon and see if they can set me up with one.

Call Acecape, talk to Arkady and ask about a "dry loop" (i think that is what it is called) and VoiP. The "dry loop" is DSL service with out a dial tone. A dial tone used to be a prerequisite for DSL service.

You WILL save money on phone charges. Trust me.
Years ago I switched to VoiP as an early adopter, I was paying about $250 a month for phone service for 4 numbers. I probably spent less than that on phone service in the last two years.

For any hackers reading this that want to play with your own VoiP server check out the Asterisk based PBX in a Flash over at http://nerdvittles.com.

As far as the Verizon DSL availability, you have to be within a certain radius from a Verizon station (I think it is 15000 ft from the hub) If you are outside that radius, your screwed. I don't think FIOS is readily available outside the city. I don't think it will hit BK for a while.

Cable.... they suck all around. Get DTV or FTA.

Another option for those with out net service. If you are in an apt or high up, look into making a pringles can wifi antenna (or other directional hi gain wifi) and looking for open signals.

mantic wrote: I don't think FIOS is readily available outside the city. I don't think it will hit BK for a while.

It's already in parts of Broklyn, like Marine Park. The areas where the wires are above ground are getting Fios first. Areas like ours with below ground wires aill take longer, but FiOs should still be available within a few years.

The EVDO wireless cards (AT&T, Verizon) likely won't do the trick for you. They're decent for email and light Web browsing at 300 - 600 kbs, but not for anything very intensive. Also, esp. for AT&T, coverage can be spotty. Nice to have on the road, though.

Carmen wrote: I am in a TW area and booklaw is correct, they refuse to wire the building.

I'm not as concerned about TV, but I work from home so I NEED internet (I've been using coffeshops for the past two weeks waiting for the damn cable company only to find out this...) I'm going to chec into the independent DSL- who provides phone service to park slope? I talked to a neighbor and they said no one in the building has TV or net...I find this to be kind of unbelievable.

Where the heck do you live again?

7th st near 5th ave.

Jesus- I just called verizon and to get a phone line put into my apartment is going to cost $200+ on top of the activation of $55 and the monthly charge for the actual line. There has got to be a way around this.

Carnivore wrote: *You lose access to newgroups like Usenet

learned that one the hard way from them. i've been paying for a separate news server since.

carmen, it's actually against the law for your landlord to do this. take a read:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3601/is_13_54/ai_n21149270

basically, "...because of Section 228 of the Public Service Law, a landlord cannot prevent access to a franchised cable company if a tenant wants that service. Although a cable company may not want to install a system for potentially a single tenant subscriber, it is required by franchise to serve all residents who desire the service."

Seeing as Carmen lives on 7th & 5th-there is no way she is in a Cablevision area. this neighborhood is TW-it must have something to do with her landlord not letting the building be wired.

you can always get DSL through Verizon-we had that for a while before switching to cable.

I have confirmed with the lease company that they won't allow cable to be installed into the building because they would "put a hole in the building" to wire it. This seems like a shady excuse, especially when other tenants in the building seem as irritated as I am.

Sloper- Verizon said they do not provide DSL to my address. I have decided to go with Acecape which is about double the price and I'll just go without tv and use my rabbit-ear antenna until I can afford to get direct tv (on top of my inflated internet cost.)

Wow-that stinks all the way around! As for the hole in the building, uh, that is rather minimal.

As for Verizon DSL-really? they don't provide service for you? you are only 4 blocks away from me! Verizon sure is an odd company!

carmen, your leasing company people are being dicks. it's against the law for them to stop you from bringing in cable

HA!!

So I quoted that article BrooklynPotter sent me to my leasing company (thank you! I didn't even think it was actually against the law) and, after a very snotty response about not "understanding why this is a problem, everyone else in the building has directv and uses the neighbors internet, no one has ever complained and people continue to sign year after year blablabla...." she said she called the owner and TWC and will let me know when they're going to be able to run the lines in. HA! I WIN AT LIFE
So now I'm going to get an aircard for the meantime (cingular allows 30 days to get out of your contract) and then I can have NORMAL INTERNET. I was kind of excited to try acecape and might still have to if this doesn't work out, but at least they're making an effort.

I feel like I was kind of conned when I signed my lease- I told them I worked from home and although they're not obligated to provide me with cable or net I would never have thought to ask if it was even possible. I know they didn't want to volunteer that information for obvious reasons, but it's kind of shifty.

carmen, the shifty part was that they were breaking the law and making you seem difficult by asking for something that is your right as a tenant.

these laws are there for a reason, and were there long before internet. you can find info about them all over the web

and there is no way they could not know this law if they are a leasing company

brooklynpotter wrote: and there is no way they could not know this law if they are a leasing company

You can never overestimate people's stupidity.

I'm sure they knew it was the law, they just hadn't had anyone so forcefully request it before.

Apparently everyone in the building has directv and there's a woman on the first floor who has DSL (probably something like acecape) and she charges everyone in the building $20 a month each to use her wireless (and it is DSL not T1.) This doesnt work for me because the signal isn't strong enough, it's too slow and I need something encrypted for work. Apparently "everyone" in the building is "perfectly happy" using her net, but I'm not (not to mention that she will most likely get caught by her ISP at some point since there are 12+ units using that router.)

Now I hope it doesn't take 3 months for them to get out there and do it.

are you sure the building people need to call TWC? can you call them directly? i don't trust your leasing company

TWC has told me they need to speak to the owner or management company to be allowed to wire the building. I don't trust them either but I don't know the best course of action- if I hear nothing by tomorrow PM I will call TWC and see if they have a work-order filed or what the next steps should be.