Mocha asked: "BTW is there any difference between RR & DSL? The DSL seems cheaper now, and now our area can get it."
I'd be curious about other people's experiences. We recently switched from Oceanic RoadRunner to Verizon DSL, and have few regrets.
We switched primarily because of the price. It got to the point where Oceanic was getting $100/mo. out of us. We "dumped" them a bit by downgrading back to basic cable from digital (praise TiVo!), and by going with DSL instead of their cable modem service.
Besides a better price, DSL to me seems more stable. My mother has RoadRunner, and she lives in Mililani, and that's Oceanic's backyard. But she can go hours, usually in the prime time evenings, with nothing but a sadly blinking box and no service.
Cable modem also seems more sensitive to "system load" -- wicked fast at 2 a.m., sure, but if you're surfing the web at the same time as all your neighbors, it comes down to a crawl.
Finally, although it may just be propaganda, I always felt DSL connections represented a more secure option than RoadRunner. I remember when RoadRunner was first rolled out, and Microsoft was only just starting to patch the swiss cheese that is their OS. I clicked on "My Network" on my mom's PC, and saw little icons for every single one of my neighbors! Of course I couldn't browse their systems, but I'm sure someone who really wanted to probably could.
Downsides? Well, one. When there is a problem, I have to mess with Verizon on the mainland, and a maze of automated this and that for customer service. Oceanic is always just a call to someone in Mililani.
Still, saving, what, at least $150/year for internet service and spending less time waiting or cursing? I think it's worth it.
I'd be curious about other people's experiences. We recently switched from Oceanic RoadRunner to Verizon DSL, and have few regrets.
We switched primarily because of the price. It got to the point where Oceanic was getting $100/mo. out of us. We "dumped" them a bit by downgrading back to basic cable from digital (praise TiVo!), and by going with DSL instead of their cable modem service.
Besides a better price, DSL to me seems more stable. My mother has RoadRunner, and she lives in Mililani, and that's Oceanic's backyard. But she can go hours, usually in the prime time evenings, with nothing but a sadly blinking box and no service.
Cable modem also seems more sensitive to "system load" -- wicked fast at 2 a.m., sure, but if you're surfing the web at the same time as all your neighbors, it comes down to a crawl.
Finally, although it may just be propaganda, I always felt DSL connections represented a more secure option than RoadRunner. I remember when RoadRunner was first rolled out, and Microsoft was only just starting to patch the swiss cheese that is their OS. I clicked on "My Network" on my mom's PC, and saw little icons for every single one of my neighbors! Of course I couldn't browse their systems, but I'm sure someone who really wanted to probably could.
Downsides? Well, one. When there is a problem, I have to mess with Verizon on the mainland, and a maze of automated this and that for customer service. Oceanic is always just a call to someone in Mililani.
Still, saving, what, at least $150/year for internet service and spending less time waiting or cursing? I think it's worth it.
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