Are Verizon, Comcast & Dish really the only internet in town? (rent, credit)

[greg42]

Clear is not satellite. Clear is WiMax. (Without getting too technical, it's a technology like WiFi but can be used at a distance similar to other cellular signals.) Users are grandfathered, no new users are being signed up.

[cooky01]

Just be glad you can choose from Verizon & Comcast.
I'm in the northern region (Cranberry/Warrendale), and our only choices are Armstrong or Consolidated.
Their Internet service is ok, but no where near Verizon & Comcast.

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by Hopes

It seems you are grandfathered in (for now), and they're not taking new customers.

Yeah, the whole WiMax thing sucks overall. I'm a Virgin Mobile user on my phone, signed up for $35 a month on a 4G phone (I can't do the $100+ contract things, makes my skin crawl even if I can afford it)... except it's 4G WIMAX, not 4G LTE. Very happy with the WiMax personally, but it lost the war, and it's all Sprint has around here. They don't have LTE coverage. If my WiMax phone breaks, or they decide to pull their coverage completely, people like me are SOL I guess. Same reason why Clear isn't offered now, Sprint is gradually pulling their support of it.

As far as I know, NetZero is still taking customers though, and it works off of Sprint's WiMax network. Their download caps are low though (maxing out at 8GB a month).

[BarqCider]

dial up on todays web is like saying you want to drive a model T on the autobahn. this isn't the 90s. the content alone of the internet has vastly evolved since aol was popular, or even erols. please don't say youd love to use netscape again(the older Mozilla web browser of the 90s).

dial up would take ages to load even CD.

[BarqCider]

dish btw for the most part, is verizons crap DSL internet. ill gladly pay Verizon for fios over crap DSL. then again if you want 90s technology internet, go DSL!

[mckeesport_alum]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I searched the old threads for other options. Two I saw mentioned were windstream and clear.

Windstream isn't available in Pittsburgh. Clear is no longer offering home internet service.

Are these really the only internet options available?

Dish is $49

Comcast is $39

Verizon $34 (with required regional home phone service)

You can't even really switch to dial up because Verizon's unlimited phone service is $44.99.

Am I missing something here?

$39 for Comcast internet? Must be a promo special. My research shows Comcast internet costs $60/month. Getting high speed internet for $40/month is a great deal in this market.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by mckeesport_alum

$39 for Comcast internet? Must be a promo special. My research shows Comcast internet costs $60/month. Getting high speed internet for $40/month is a great deal in this market.

They don't advertise it but Comcast has an economy internet at lower speed for $39. That's not a promo but everyday price. Comcast Performance is close to $70 if you have it standalone with no TV service.

[gabber1127]

Is there a big difference between the economy speed and the performance?

[greg42]

Originally Posted by gabber1127

Is there a big difference between the economy speed and the performance?

I believe it's 3Mbit/sec on economy. I think it's up to 15 or so on Performance these days. That's off the top of my head though, I didn't check anything.

[mckeesport_alum]

If you use streaming video services such as Netflix, 3Mb/sec will not cut it.