[wwu123]

Coming into Henderson in two weeks to help move my parents in, and will only be there for one week. I kind of need Internet access to keep in touch with my office during that time, so trying to determine whether Centurylink DSL or Cox cable modem offer same-day signup and activation. Can I walk into either one's sales or customer service office on Monday morning, and have service remotely activated at the house the same day? I will be bringing both a DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem and a ADSL modem for self-install with me.

I believe the house, which is 4 yrs old and only one previous owner, has had Centurylink phone service before. However, there is a Dish antenna installed so there may have never been Cox cable service to the home. According to the HOA, the coax is wired to a central distribution panel, and there should be a drop to the panel from the side of the house for cable, plus a drop from the attic to the panel for satellite TV.

[MediocreButArrogant]

I think Cox can flip the switch in one day, but the problem is that homes with no service often get disconnected in the box out by the street (in the ground), so they have to roll a truck to get someone to reconnect your house. This happened to me when I signed up with Cox. The house had service before, but between all the neighbours signing up and terminating service, they had disconnected my house during the period where I was not a customer.

I was able to get Centurylink DSL turned on the same day when I initially signed up, but when I switched to naked DSL after porting my phone # to Vonage, it took them two days to reactivate my service. That was when I signed up for Cox and I have kept both services since then.

If I were you, and had a smartphone, I'd try to see if I could sign up for tethering for one month, just as cheap insurance. I'd put your chances at about 30% for getting service up and working the same day you sign up - and that's if you get to the store by 10AM.

You're sure that you can't get this done in advance by signing up online or by telephone, before you arrive? BTW, Centurylink wouldn't give me service until I could supply two forms of ID, and they would not accept any of the following as my second ID:

1) Grad school ID
2) Employee badge
3) Costco card (with pic)
4) Go-kart license

Luckily I had my passport on me. They would also accept a social security card.

[las vegas drunk]

I do not know about Century Link, but Cox does do instant activation.

[wwu123]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

I think Cox can flip the switch in one day, but the problem is that homes with no service often get disconnected in the box out by the street (in the ground), so they have to roll a truck to get someone to reconnect your house. This happened to me when I signed up with Cox. The house had service before, but between all the neighbours signing up and terminating service, they had disconnected my house during the period where I was not a customer.

I was able to get Centurylink DSL turned on the same day when I initially signed up, but when I switched to naked DSL after porting my phone # to Vonage, it took them two days to reactivate my service. That was when I signed up for Cox and I have kept both services since then.

If I were you, and had a smartphone, I'd try to see if I could sign up for tethering for one month, just as cheap insurance. I'd put your chances at about 30% for getting service up and working the same day you sign up - and that's if you get to the store by 10AM.

You're sure that you can't get this done in advance by signing up online or by telephone, before you arrive? BTW, Centurylink wouldn't give me service until I could supply two forms of ID, and they would not accept any of the following as my second ID:

1) Grad school ID
2) Employee badge
3) Costco card (with pic)
4) Go-kart license

Luckily I had my passport on me. They would also accept a social security card.

Thanks, some very good practical experience there. I do have an older smartphone that I can bring that allows tethering on Edge (2G) - slow but it would work. Will bring additional forms of ID with me as well.

I will call both companies the week before and check whether they have any info about that service address, presumably they would know ahead of time whether they need to schedule a truck roll or not.

[mojavedxer]

Cox can activate instantly once the MAC address on the modem is registered with them. You will have to deal with a possible issue of the cable line connection and line levels that may need correction. It usually take two days wait for installation after calling to setup an account.

[jbov]

Clear wireless broadband is also available instantly, but I can't give them a solid recommendation.

I only use the service because I can't get Cox in my building. It is a marriage of necessity not choice.

Supposedly I am in a prime reception area, but the speeds are very inconsistent.

It is definitely slower and less consistent than cable broadband.

[Rebel_Fan]

Clear would be the clear choice for this type of request. They provide you the hardware, and they have a short-term no-charge trial period (like 1 mnth). But since you will be here for a week you can just take advantage of this offer and pay nothing for your needs.

USB Modems for Wireless Internet Connections | CLEAR.com

[Danknee]

Originally Posted by mojavedxer

Cox can activate instantly once the MAC address on the modem is registered with them. You will have to deal with a possible issue of the cable line connection and line levels that may need correction. It usually take two days wait for installation after calling to setup an account.

Yep. When i moved out here I brought my own cable modem and gave them a week notice for the day I wanted to start service. They came out the requested day to make the physical connection. I did a self install, so a 5 minute phone call to register my modem's mac address and I was good to go. Repeated the same procedure when I bought a house 5 months later.

[BBMW]

Does the computer have built in Wifi (which basically every laptop does)? If so, get yourself a 4G phone with a hot spot, or a hot spot hockey puck.

[wwu123]

Originally Posted by BBMW

Does the computer have built in Wifi (which basically every laptop does)? If so, get yourself a 4G phone with a hot spot, or a hot spot hockey puck.

My work provides my iphone and so I can't change my phone or my plan for this, but as a backup plan, I can take my AT&T SIM card and put it into my old 4 year-old smartphone that has (gasp!) USB tethering and 2G EDGE data speeds!

The Clear mobile thing sounds intersesting, but the new house is literally at the third block north of nothingness down at the lower edge of Anthem. Even the Clear coverage map stops showing signal about two blocks away, so I think the chances of reasonable speed and coverage are suspect...