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Hi all. Just bought a house in Durham (Hope Valley North) and so excited to move in! My real estate agent gave me the info on utilities, but nothing on internet. I hoping for some quick advice.
- I am looking for Internet only (no TV or phone land line, so no package deals)
- I do a lot of streaming video on Hulu and Netflix (so bandwidth chokers are no good)
- I heard Time Warner is down there, but I read consumerist.com and therefore have a VERY negative impression of TWC
So my question is, what other options are out there? I already checked Verizon Fios and they don't service Durham, it looks like. Is there another DSL provider that's any good? Or is TWC not actually as bad as people say? How much do you pay for just internet?
I am moving from NJ and pay about $40/month for internet now, and have never had a bandwidth problem.
Any help the locals could provide would be greatly appreciated! THANK YOU!!
Time Warner is OK, probably the best choice for broadband if you're doing heavy uploads/downloads. I've actually had very reliable service and good speeds.
Verizon is doing no new FiOS anywhere and actually divested NC and most of their other non-core landline states. VZ's presence in NC was the old GTE, which had roots in Durham and covered...well, Durham and not much else. Which means AT&T is not in a hurry to get here for U-Verse FTTH.
Clear (nee Clearwire) is a choice but talk to people in your area to see how good the coverage is. Having tested performance of Clear throughout Durham in the winter, including Hulu tests, I was not impressed.
I have a dry loop (naked) DSL with Frontier (formerly Verizon). I'm paying 31.99 monthly for the faster of the two speeds. (As of now, they aren't changing anybody's previous rates, so my rate probably won't apply to new customers.) I have no problems viewing videos with my service. However, my older computer made video viewing nearly impossible and as soon as I upgraded, it was smooth sailing. I've been happy with my service for several years, both here and in NJ. No frequent outages and customer service phone hassles like what is common with TWC customers.
Frontier has just recently switched over, so I can't comment on how they are as a company. I just know that my service has been stellar. I won't know unless a problem arises.
Here's their website. I think it's still undergoing a transition from Verizon to Frontier, so you may see some Verizon text and graphics.
Frontier | Residential & Business High Speed Internet/Broadband (DSL), Fiber-Optic and Satellite TV (FiOS and DIRECTV), Phone Plans and Bundles (http://www.ncnetwork.net/Residential/internet/ - broken link)
Time Warner charges a premium for Road Runner if you don't have a cable TV package. Sign up with Earthlink Cable, which is Road Runner Standard rebranded, and you'll pay $41.95 instead of $57.95 for the same speed (7/384), and $29.99 for the first 6 months. This is one advantage we have being in an Earthlink area.
Thanks everyone, for your replies. Much appreciated!
Bullcity - Glad to hear at least one person is not angry with TWC! I read your review of Clear actually, when I did a google search for internet options in NC. Sounds like it's not going to cut it. BTW, your blog was a big help to me when considering neighborhoods and getting a feel for Durham before I moved. Thanks for all you do!
Mia - good to know you've been happy with Frontier, I'll check it out.
Aldamon - I'll also check out Earthlink. I figured TWC might penalize for not being in a package; Comcast and Cablevision have similar habits up in NJ.
Definitely check out Earthlink. You still end up paying TWC, and dealing with their technical customer service, but it is cheaper if you sign up directly through Earthlink. On TWC's materials they say Earthlink high speed is the same price as theirs, but if you go through earthlink directly it's less.
I just had a chat session with Earthlink sales and in addition to the 7/384 package for $41.95, we can switch to Cable Max Internet (10/512) for $51.90. It used to be over $70 the last time I checked, which was higher that TWC's price, so I never switched.
Cable Max is the equivalent of Road Runner Turbo, which would be $67.90 at TWC without TV:
TWC
Road Runner High Speed Online (7 Mbps download)
Standalone: $57.95/mo
Road Runner Turbo (10 Mbps download)
Requires subscription to Road Runner at 7 Mbps: Additional $9.95/mo
Frontier is supposed to be upgrading their services very soon - Not sure what that means, but that's what their CEO said a few months ago. I'm still hoping...
I have TWC internet at $67.90 a month and find it very reliable, very fast, and very expensive. But where I live there are no viable alternatives. I tried the TWC "television" but they could never get it to work so I switched to Dish.
The absolute worst internet I have had in NC was the DirecTV ( HughesNet ). Extremely slow, and extremely unreliable.
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I read your review of Clear actually, when I did a google search for internet options in NC. Sounds like it's not going to cut it. BTW, your blog was a big help to me when considering neighborhoods and getting a feel for Durham before I moved. Thanks for all you do! 
