The topic says it all. I'll be moving into an apartment in a few weeks and will need/want cable internet access. Fidelity isn't really an option with their outrageous speeds to price ratios.

Are there any other cable ISP's serving Rolla? What are your experiences with them, etc?

I will not have local phone service, but DSL is an option assuming a land line could be had cheap in conjuction with DSL service.

As far as I know, sprint(now known as Embarq) is your only other option. Stay the fuck away from them!!! Trust me. Both sprint and fidelity have the same base prices but sprint will rape you on taxes. We paid around $75 a month for 1.5mbps with sprint DSL.

Satellite

Fidelity is really not all that bad, all things considered.

http://www.fidnet.com/cablemodem.php

$59.99 a month for 3 mbps. That's way cheaper than Sprint. Plus, if you go for a package:

http://fidelitycommunications.com/fidel ... ackage.php

$102.95 and you get everything.

Expensive & slow.

I'd suck it up and go with Fidelity. Their prices used to suck a lot more (before they offered a 5mbit package), but now they really aren't that bad. Broadband is expensive, it happens.

If you want super cheap you can get a dial-up package from Fidelity for $10 a month, or you can build a cantenna and try your luck joining some wireless networks.

I was actually thinking about trying that. I'm living right across 63 from campus (11th Street), so it wouldn't be entireley unreasonable to get UMR's wireless. It may be spotty.

Might not be a bad idea if you live close to campus and can pick up the UMR wireless network.

Broadband isn't always expensive. In St. Louis, where ISPs actually have competition, they're always reducing their prices to match competitors. DSL can be had for under 20 bucks a month. But in Rolla, where Fidelity and Sprint have monopolies, they really have no reason to lower their prices.

I just got Sprint/Embarq DSL and it's $14 for phone line, $35 for 1.5/384 DSL. $14+$45 if you want 3.0/512 DSL.

Wow... you are in Rolla right?

They have 5.0 for $45+

They say they serve our area by their site. http://www.embarq.com/residential/internet/hsi.html

I was curious... called them up.

Yes they do sell 5.0 for $45 if you get the premium phone plan (caller ID, ect)

Otherwise it's $55. For the lesser speeds it's the same $10 increase in price. Unlike Fidnet, you have to have a home phone to get the internet. So it's actually much more then this. It sounds like it's 10-13 bucks to have an access line (phone number) then it sounds like they rake you with additional fee's and taxes on everything (internet, phone, services) each month. From the sound of it... it's alot of additional hidden fees.

In the end it doesn't look any cheaper. I think I estimated it to be around $75 for a 5.0 Internet connection with a basic phone plan @ 17 cents minute.

The only thing that's nice is that the Upload is alot higher then Fidnet. For the 5.0 it's nearly 3x higher upload.

There's also additional fee's for starting it up. $50 setup fee, $13 router S/H fee and who knows what else. They do give you a $50 rebate, probably for the setup cost.

In the end, if you already have a Sprint phone setup, it's probably worth checking out. Otherwise it sounds like it's mostly going to be for those who want the higher Upload speed and possibly higher cost.

Our "Hidden Fees" with sprint/embarq was around $17 extra a month. Also you get a 12 month contract so if you cancel early it's $100.

Is that $17 including the phone line?

Here is what we usually paid. The is a very close estimate +/- a few cents.

Internet-1.5mbps-$34.99 a month
Basic phone (no fancy caller id or voice mail- $12.99
Taxes ( 911 tax,county,state..etc)-$16-$17

We also had to pay $50 to get the phone line activated/installed

Total a month for internet and phone (around $65)

It looks like they lowered their price but if you do decided to go with Embarq make sure to ask about every possible charge. Those fuckers will try to rip you off. Make sure to ask them if this is a 12 month contract as well. If it is then it costs $100 to cancel service early.

Thanks for the info. I am thinking about switching from fidnet to embarq, and will need to take that into consideration.