Broadband Access Without the Pork?

An anonymous reader writes "Like many consumers nowadays, I find more of my time spent on the internet and various wireless devices (e.g. mobile phone). This has gotten to the point where I basically do not use a landline or cable television anymore, and they are essentially pork on my broadband bill, which further subjects the consumer to all sorts of clandestine fees that aren't disclosed until the first bill arrives and add a non-trivial sum (in my case, nearly 100%) to the monthly rate. However, it seems that all broadband access providers have this stipulation, that an internet customer must first have a basic phone or cable TV service in order to sign on for the internet service. Are there any ISPs that can get around this and still deliver broadband internet service at a competitive rate?"

Try Dry loop DSL

[Anonymous Coward]

I got dry-loop DSL through AT&T. It was a pain to convince them why, but after the third time I tried what one of the articles on the consumerist recommended - going directly to retention dept - and that got everything rolling. The price is slighly more without phone for same DSL service, but overall without phone line my total bill is less than what it would have been with phone.

Re:AT&T and DSL without local phone

[maxume]

In my area, AT&T offers to punch you in the face (that is, there aren't enough people around for them to bother upgrading infrastructure to support DSL, so dial-up and satellite are the options; it's hard to complain too loudly, because it is clear that it isn't worth it to them, but that is what those stupid gub'mint fees are for...).

Re:Yeah, there are

[Tuidjy]

You may be onto something. I have never had cable, and I have broadband with Time Warner (used to be something else, but they got bought out). The bill is about thirty bucks and I do not pay for cable, but almost every day around 00:30-01:30, I lose connection for sometimes an hour at a time.

Bandwidth caps?

[Anonymous Coward]

But Verizon is the one who cuts people off for "excessive" usage, but refused to define excessive. And then they "solved" that by telling us that downloading x thousand MP3s or x videos per month would be excessive (but not how much that is in GB).

I'm tempted to switch to them, but I already use 60 GB (30 up/30 down) per month on a 144 Mbps DSL and I can read their idea of "excessive" to be anywhere from 80-200 GB. I'm certainly not willing to join up if all I'll get are headaches.

Sprint Xohm WiMax

[penguinboy]

Sprint Xohm WiMax. Its available in limited areas only for now (Baltimore & Chicago) but it works great. I'm getting 6Mbps download speeds for just $25/mo (6 month promotional period; $35/mo after) with no setup fee, no contract, and no termination fee. Clearwire is rolling out similar/same technology in additional regions.

Re:Yeah, there are

[westlake]

I think the Netshare program my ISP (Speakeasy) runs is cool.

It may be cool.

But when traffic is being routed through my home system - when I am the "upstream provider" - there are questions I need answered:

1 What is my legal exposure?

I am betting I do not have protection as a common carrier.

2 What is my financial exposure?

Is my personal liability limited in any significant way?

3 Who is responsible for physically maintaining the service?

I do not want to be the one on the roof in February running coax, replacing in-line amps and antennas.

4 If my own need for bandwidth increases, how long am I obligated to maintain the service?

bigger problem is SPEAKEASY ARE LIARS

[ClioCJS]

Speakeasy specifically told me in pre-sales chats [flickr.com] that I could run my DSL line at 100% capacity 24/7, then later harassed me saying I was downloading too much, then after that said "100G per month or you're terminated", then after that terminated me. Then they threatened me with a $300 early termination fee if I didn't talk about it online (yeah right). Then it took a few months to get the money they DID owe me back.

Re:Yeah, there are

[Fastball]

I read "...but almost every day around 00:30-01:30, I lose my connection for sometimes an hour at a time.", and I thought to myself you must have Time Warner cable. Then I read your comment again. Sure enough.