Best options for high-speed internet/DSL in SLC? (Salt Lake City, Tooele: apartment complex, rental)

[ChicFox]

Looking for high-speed DSL service, preferably without having to bundle with other items; will consider cable bundle but cable is not necessary at all. Verizon is my cell phone provider at present.

Hopefully this is not too vague. Thanks!

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

In SLC itself your choice is Comcast or Qwest's DSL. Come to think of it, they both have new names, but that's who they are. Xfinity and CenturyLink, I think.

[Calibelle]

Your main options are Xfinity or Century Link. Xfinity is Comcast, CenturyLink used to be Qwest. Century link claims to be cheaper for internet, but what they don't tell you up front is that they will lock in that price for 5 years IF you also get their phone service. IMO home phones are useless, you can do everything on a cell, why waste the extra money? Also, CenturyLink is so stinking SLOW. We were getting just under 2.0 per second. With Xfinity we get 36.0 per second. A HUGE difference in speed. I literally felt like I was doing dial up again.....

Comcast has different packages. We have cable bundled with our internet, only because were were new customers, and at the time the internet only promotion was not available. Just call comcast (xfinity) or go online and type in the address where you are interested in having service. You can do the whole thing online if you want to. They show you all the packages, and promotions. I have found that calling is usually better though, because they are more willing to help you out, and can make tweaks that you can't make on the website alone.

Good luck.

[Hivemind31]

This sounds like par for the course, but when I moved here and had to set up internet, I had TERRIBLE experiences with both companies. Ended up with Comcast, but they're basically the lesser of two evils in this case.

First tried Comcast. Got the home install kit and set everything up. There was a broken connection from my apartment building to the street (or something to that effect), so I'd need a technician to come out. I work 9-6 (pretty standard), and I don't know if this is actually true or not, but the rep on the phone straight out told me that "our technicians don't come out after 5 or on weekends." Great, cancel my service.

Then CenturyLink. As mentioned before, much lower speed options. Price was SLIGHTLY cheaper. Told I would get two different $5/month discounts (based on packages and contracts). Didn't get them. Spent hours on the phone "negotiating" these discounts that I was told I'd receive. At the end, I was told I'd get "$50 off, and that's our final offer" (even though I planned on signing up for over 10 months). So they told me I'd get a discount, then took it away? No "you don't qualify" or any other pretense...just "here you go.....nope, just kidding". Got so insulted, went back to comcast.

Different rep told me the technician could come out and handle my previous issue, then they billed me $120 dollars for it! (Note that this was a street connection issue, not anything on my end). I called and said I shouldn't be responsible for this charge. Rep told me "you ARE responsible, as it was a cost associated with getting your access working". Oh really?

Our apartment complex has our own comcast rep that acts as kind of a "middle man" for these kind of interactions. After 3 months, finally got that charge removed, and paid a few others I don't think I should have received (billing for home install? modem rental when I'm using my own? etc) in the interest of expediting the process. But if it wasn't absolutely vital for me to have Internet access, I wouldn't use either company. I imagine that's a popular sentiment.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

A few years ago, comcast was terrible about appointments. Recently, like the past 6-8 months, I have had better experiences. They will set a 2-hr window and schedule later in the afternoon. It's not perfect, but much better than it used to be (I've had them since 2002).

[dcisive]

I've been with Qwest/Centurylink now for at least 8 years. Overall it's been fine. I have annoying issues with the modem from time to time but otherwise it's reliable. I use the 12mps service and it's quite fast. Comcast however is probably the most stable as it is cable. I would think their pricing is similar. I'm at $40 for the 12 meg service. We use Comcast at our congregation to do live internet broadcasts on Saturday's and it has been rock stable. Anyone who is out in the Tooele valley don't even think about using Wireless Beehive. They just flat out suck.

[mlb]

There needs to be more competition.

Comcast just jacked our rates up to $60 a month...

We screamed. They backed off to $42.99 a month.

[CCSLC]

It really is a "lesser of two evils" situation; I've had shockingly bad service from both companies. I'm currently with CenturyLink, and my last interaction with them, over a technical issue, was alternately pleasant and horrible, depending on with whom I was speaking.

[kavm]

We just moved here earlier this week. My thoughts and experiences are:

• The choices are rather depressing. I am really sorry that the city politicians did not opt for Utopia - as that looked really good.
• We went with Comcast. Had mixed experience so far. I had a problem with my connection (which was a self-connect as the apt/building was already wired). On telephone support, I literally had to be transferred across at least 5 different 'support' personnel that would spend some time and then transfer me to someone else - and it took me hours! However, finally my last person was very helpful. Although she could not solve the issue, she said arranged for a technician to come in. She also, post fact, signed me up with the some type of line support agreement where the fee for the tech to come in was covered if I paid about $5/month for a min of 2 months. The tech came in on time and was very competent and made sure everything was working. The speed I am getting is actually higher than promised (around 35 MBPS).

I would urge anyone who is unhappy with the internet service options to write to the city council directly / through Utopia to reconsider the decision concerning Utopia or another fiber optic internet option. [That said, I know nothing about Utopia except from what I have read from their website.]

[RockRat]

I've only lived in Salt Lake City for a little over a year and I have been satisfied with my CenturyLink DSL service. I know you stated you weren't interested in "bundles," so I won't mention that CenturyLink offers bundles with Verizon Wireless

Good luck on picking the right provider, since my own personal experience (and opinion) are that all providers are equally competent, or not, based on the day of the week you need something fixed, modified, or cancelled.