Broadband Internet Service Providers in Portland (price, contract, moving to)

[J080b]

Hi there

Moving to Portland this summer and am wondering what my options are for broadband... I don't really want cable and definitely not Comcast. What DSL providers do people recommend? I think I saw Qwest services Portland - are they any good? Are there any local broadband providers?

[GB1]

I don't know about local broadband providers.

Quest is a customer-service nightmare (once they have you signed up), and I've heard tell of outages. Comcast has the same problems as Comcast everywhere (most notably sky-high prices), but in Portland it has one thing going for it: a locally based technical assistance line. If you call for help, or with questions, you're usually talking to someone 10 miles away instead of on the other side of the country (or the globe). And I've never had the problems with Portland Comcast that some of my friends elsewhere in the country have had with their regional Comcast. But, oh, man, is it expensive.

Some outlying areas of Portland have Verizon FiOS, and everyone I know who has FiOS loves it (faster surfing, more channels, better picture quality, and lower prices). But it's not in the city core yet.

Bottom line - I'd take Comcast over buggy, slow Quest (if you don't like it, you can always cancel without penalty...they have no long-term contracts). Just be prepared for endless mail solicitations trying to sell you cable and phone service as well. I must get two a week for services I don't want at any price.

[J080b]

Thanks for the information!

The main reason I don't want to go Comcast is they are notorious for throttling certain types of traffic (i.e. P2P traffic). This is a slipperly slope of ISP-level censorship, and I'd rather not support them.. but perhaps I will give it a try, since there is no long term contracts.