DSL Plans
 

I'm trying to see which is the better deal. DSL from cox

Plan 1
Monthly Fee- 39.95/month
Install Fee- $45
Set Up Fee- $0
Equipment Description- Hardwares Cost will vary by retailer
No contract length
Equipment Cost $99.00
Downstream- 4000
Upstream- 512
Email Accounts- 7
No Dial up access
Web Storage- 10MB per email account
# of Static IP addresses- 0
# of Dynamic IP addresses- 1



Plan 2
Monthly Fee- $54.95
Install Fee- $45
No setup fee
Equipment Description- Modems are available for lease for a $10 monthly fee
Equipment Cost- $99.00
No contract length
Downstream- 5000
Upstream 768
Email accts.- 7
No Dial up access
Web Storage- 10 MB
NO Static IP address
Dynamic IP address- 1


Now i don't know which is better.

Also why does it say that you can lease the equipment for $10 a month but the cost of it is $99.00.

And is that a good price for the equipment or would i be better off buying my own.

Well if you're asking the question, my opinion is you don't need the extra bandwidth in Plan 2 enough to justify the extra $15/month.

As for equipment see what they say about compatible equipment and go shopping. $99 seems a lot for a DSL modem, though I admit I never paid for mine (free from Verizon with a one-year commitment).

Before you pay for any plan, find out exactly how far away you are from the central office. You could spend the extra money for the higher bandwidth and Cox will happily sell it to you, but if you're beyond a certain distance from the CO, you'll never hit those speeds, though you'll be paying for them. Lines speeds for ADSL (asynchronous DSL, meaning download > than upload) are always qualified with an 'up to.' 'Up to 4 Megs!' There's a lot of variance between 128K and 4Megs and the odds are, unless you're sitting on top of the CO, you'll never come close to that 'up to' speed. Ask the provider what speeds are gauranteed.

As for hardware, look on eBay. You'll find whatever modem Cox requires on eBay for way less than $99. A router is optimal, though, since you're looking at ADSL, for security reasons.

Have a look at www.dslreports.com. This is a GREAT resource, not only for looking up ISP's and reading reviews on them, but also for tweaking your connection and verifying the lines speeds you're getting - look in the Tools section.

Cheers,

A.E.M.

Thanks
 

Thanks so much for the advice. It is really helpful.

I haven't checked dslreports before. Nice link. Cable interweb is not working very well lately. :(