Cable/Internet/Phone Providers (homes, neighborhoods, subdivisions)

[hadleyzoo]

From what ADT told me...if all they were monitoring is the alarm system for just break-ins then we could get digital phone. But since we have fire alarms tied in to the system we can't. This isn't the fire or police panic button. We upgraded our system to have fire alarms installed and those too are monitored by ADT--so when the fire alarms go off, ADT is alerted--so yes, I have numerous smoke detectors in the house. I have the ones that were installed by the builder in addition to the ones ADT put in to tie it in to the monitoring system. Texas law requires the system to go through a landline phone. I know when we looked at the digital phone a few years ago there was some $300 filter you had to put on the system but TW did say that wasn't necessary anymore. But if you have your fire alarms monitored as well, you can go with a digital phone but will have to give up having your fire alarms monitored. For my peace of mind...I'll pay the $30 a month to AT&T on top of my TW bill.

[firstclassflyer]

Sounds good. I considered having the fire alarm tied in as you have, but my wife is a stay at home mom. Between the (numerous) smoke alarms and her being home...I think we're OK for now. Saves us the $30 per month as well.

[rd2007]

hmm, was considering the fire alarm thing and I have Brinks. The digital phone works just fine and I know that for a fact.. ops: I don't see why the fire thing wouldn't work as well. The only difference between the phone types are the transmission method: VOIP for TWC and standard CAT1 for the analog phone company.

[OzzyRules]

I heard that analog cable is going away in about a year. My parents just switched to digital cable because you can't even buy a new DVD/VCR player that will record analog cable anymore.

I pay Time Warner about $27 for my monthly internet. Can you get high-speed internet any cheaper?

[The Man in SATX]

ADT fed you a line.. I have ADT and have Digital Phone. There is no law that requires you to have a "Land Line" Cable is as much a land line as is at&t. Instead of getting your signal through twisted pair you are recieving it over a cable line.

Analog cable is supposed to be gone by 2009. And Iwould assume you can get internet cheaper.. but not sure how fast it would be. $27.00 is pretty good in my book.

[cwh]

Originally Posted by The Man in SATX

ADT fed you a line.. I have ADT and have Digital Phone. There is no law that requires you to have a "Land Line" Cable is as much a land line as is at&t. Instead of getting your signal through twisted pair you are recieving it over a cable line.

Analog cable is supposed to be gone by 2009. And Iwould assume you can get internet cheaper.. but not sure how fast it would be. $27.00 is pretty good in my book.

Only analog OTA broadcast is required to go away in 2009. cable can still broadcast in analog if they wish, however they will probably go all digital as well as it makes better use of their coax. For every analog channel, they can have 10 sd or 2 HD channels.

[hadleyzoo]

Well, this is what they told me (about a year ago when we inquired) and my husband and I even googled the web to confirm it and found the info somewhere. I'll call ADT again tomorrow to see if there's been some change.

And I'm not sure where you got that I have analog cable...but whatever. I like my wireless internet through TWC too.

[johnsonkk]

I subscribe to Dish and for basic service it runs about $40 a month (with a $10 off each month, year-long special). AT&T basic phone (for the alarms, etc) is at $25 a month and for internet, have a USB/Verizon card that runs about $65 a month. Although in San Antonio, DSL is not available in our area. The Verizon card works off cell towers and runs around ~400 kbs. No modems or wireless routers to worry about and you can take it with your laptop everywhere.

[motown mary]

No DSL in San Antonio? How can that be?

[Insomniac]

DSL is available in San Antonio, what John is saying is that it's not available in the area where he lives.