Good cable & internet provider? (Eugene: new house, movies, taxes)

[Annabell23]

We're moving from North Dakota to Eugene in a couple weeks. Any thoughts on the better options for cable and internet in town?

[Mr Eugenified]

I started out with Comcast bundle (cable, internet, and phone). The internet part was not very stable for me, and the worst part was that the phone would also stop working at the same time. Several times I was talking to them about an internet problem and then the phone would cut off too. (Comcast phone service is running over the cable, so when it goes, everything goes).

When I moved to a new house, I decided to use Dish Network for TV, and Qwest for phone/internet. So far, I have not had any problems. The internet has always been stable (plus the phone would probably keep working even if the internet had a problem; Qwest uses the more traditional phone wire/ADSL approach).

Dish Network also works great in my area. Never a single problem (knock on wood). I have a friend though that contacted a local installer to get Dish Network and that installer used out of date equipment on his house. I contacted Dish Network direct, and they sent out an installer that was much more technically advanced (we have some special channels that require a special dish).

[haggardhouseelf]

We don't even have a home phone, we just use our cells. We use Comcast for internet and limited basic cable and are very happy and pay $50/month. Hubby needs a reliable and fast internet connection for work and he's never had a problem.

Mr. E - do you know if Qwest offers just internet or do you have to get phone, too? We'd love to get rid of cable TV and just have internet... and if Qwest just did internet we'd be willing to try it. For some reason with Comcast whenever I call and say "I don't want cable, just internet" they kind of get weird and right now we're actually getting free cable tv because I didn't want it in the first place. It's odd.

[Mr Eugenified]

Originally Posted by haggardhouseelf

Mr. E - do you know if Qwest offers just internet or do you have to get phone, too?

I am not sure. I sorta doubt it since the whole point is the telephone line. But you never know. I don't really use the phone line either.

[avanutria]

I'm pretty sure you can get Qwest internet with nothing else.

We got cable/basic phone/internet through Qwest. I did an Excel comparison between Qwest and Comcast's prices over five years and Qwest was several thousand dollars cheaper.

[skypros]

2 years ago when I lived in Eugene... I had Qwest internet ONLY.....

[haggardhouseelf]

So I just got off the phone with Qwest... and thought I'd share just in case the OP or anyone else is curious... Qwest prices for internet without having a phone line are:

- 1.5 mbps $30 per month (for basic web browsing, email, online shopping)

- 7 mbps $35/mo (if you play more online games or do a lot of online chatting or IM)

- 12 mbps $45/mo (good for home offices and performing multiple tasks at once)

- up to 20 mbps $55/mo (good for more serious gamers and watching HD movies and heavier multitasking, etc.)

I think we're going to switch! Thanks you guys.

[Mr Eugenified]

My Qwest monthly phone/internet bill is:

Local Phone Service - Qwest Choice Home $25.99
Long Distance Service - Qwest Unlimited * $20.00
Qwest Home Package with Wireless -$5.00
Qwest Unlimited -$5.00
Related Monthly Charges $9.77
Taxes, Fees & Surcharges $9.03
Total Phone Service $54.79

Internet Service
Qwest Connect Silver $28.00
Qwest Connect SLVR w MSFT $16.99
Bundle Savings -$10.00
Qwest Connect Promotion Discount -$10.00
Qwest Broadband Monthly Charges Total $24.99
Related Monthly Charges $5.00
Total Internet Service $29.99

I am not sure what some of those discounts are for...I pay close attention to these things when I sign up and then forget about the details one hour later.

[Annabell23]

Thanks for all the help. Now that I've found somewhere to live, I can start working on this!

[amplee]

So I'm in the same boat as some of you and only need internet at this point. Is Qwest a DSL connection or cable? I'm looking for probably the fastest option with Qwest, would you all recommend their internet? What are the setup charges (modems, fees, etc.) for Qwest?