High speed internet services in Baltimore (home, living in, costs)

[corman842]

Hi,
I'm moving to a new part of town, and need to set up internet service. I've been looking around, and have been having trouble finding anyone other than Comcast that services my part of town. I'll be moving to Barre Circle, out by Pigtown. Is Comcast the only game in town, or are there other options? I don't plan on having cable, so Comcast seems a little impracticle as all their listed prices (which are already kind of high, unless you get the economy service) are only for cable or voice customers anyway. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[oneworld25]

You can probably get DSL internet from Verizon. Unfortunately, Comcast and Verizon are the only game in town.

[KennyP]

I have Verizon DSL and it's crap. If I didn't hate Comcast service with every fiber of my being, I'd get cable internet.

[are you kidinme?]

My neighbor has Dish TV and got internet through them. It's a wireless service, recieved through an antennae on the roof. I'm clearly not too familiar with it, but he seems to like it and has had no problems.

[Bong477]

DSL is available in some parts of the city... it wasn't available to me in Federal Hill 2 years ago but is now.

There's a wireless service from Sprint called Xohm which apparently works pretty well.

I went with Comcast anyway... costs me $55 a month without any other services. They actually signed me up for the most basic cable package as the bundle saves a little ($10 a month ballpark) over internet by itself so that's something to look into. It's a rip off, but I need fast reliable internet at home and the other options aren't that great. Aside from being expensive, the comcast internet has always worked perfectly fine.

[Michael21214]

Cavalier also serves Baltimore with local & long distance phone service and DSL.

Does anyone use them?

I currently use Verizon for DSL and phone, and I'm wondering how Cavalier DSL speeds and phone service compare. I'd like to save some money over Verizon.

I'd try VOIP but I have an older home alarm system that may not work with VOIP.

[true911]

Sorry if this is late, but don't overlook the Clearwire (clear.com) option. It's a wireless wimax (Sprint is calling it 4G) that gets 5-6Mb for $35/month, no commitment.

[Cathalain]

Since you say you're going to be living in Barre Circle, you may also want to consider Port Networks as an alternative. Great wireless service. But you need to be near a station/hub to get the best signal. The closest one is in the downtown area, though, so it may be an option for you.

The website is portnetworks dot net.

Good luck.

[carthell]

Originally Posted by Michael21214

Cavalier also serves Baltimore with local & long distance phone service and DSL.

Does anyone use them?

Cavalier's service would still have to come through Verizon's network. If anything went wrong, Cavalier's going to have to talk to Verizon for you. Verizon isn't the greatest when it comes to fixing stuff. I had to live with 90% downtime for a few months last year because of a DSL signal problem.

Someone mentioned Xohm. I wish I knew how to get the service. Sprint considered it experimental, and Xohm's website now points to a different carrier (clear.com, already mentioned here) which does not offer service in Maryland.

There's also Believe Wireless. I sent an inquiry through their web site last October about the prerequisites needed to hook up their equipment to my house, and received no reply so far. I noted that I was leaning toward switching carriers within a month from the writing of the inquiry.

My set up for internet service now is Verizon as primary with NetZero as the (free) backup.

[r2d2x]

I have verizon service. Their fastest rate in the city is 1.5 mbs. I considered the Clear network but checked the Better Business Bureau and found their BBB rating is F. Comcast is out of the question due to their horrendous reputation. Decided to give Port Networks a try. They offer high speed at a good price. To show my appreciation for Verizon Fios snub of Baltimore City I am also moving my phone service. Urge others to do the same. Gary