Why is DSL & Cable so expensive?

[Minni]

Doesn't Cable & Dialup all go over the same phone lines? So why does merely connecting a cable make it six times as expensive each month?

Because my Dialup has become ever slower over the past decade due to astronomical population density, this resulted in overexposure to my computer due to the sheer slowness. So I've become electrosensitive due to EMFs of computer fluresence.

Why isn't the playing field leveled so everyone can afford high speed internet?

More than 10 years ago, I didn't suffer so much with dialup, due to much less competition.

On a tangent, my HDTV just lays around uselessly, due to non-reception. I tried various indoor antenna's but none worked.

[Xin Lu]

Cable does not go through phone lines. They are different things. DSL goes through phone lines but it's a digital signal. These utilities companies are really selling their bandwidth and infrastructure they built up. Dial up is too slow these days because the internet just delivers so much more data.

[hermione]

I agree that the price of high speed internet these days can be ridiculous. I'm currently paying $58/mo. for my internet, but that's the highest bandwidth option (20MB) my provider has since I do everything online - work, socialize/communicate with friends and family, and watch TV.

What I would suggest is calling your local cable internet providers and asking about promotions. My provider, Charter, is always running some sort of promotion, and prior to my current rate, I had 10MB service at $22 for a whole year. Before that I had it for $19.95. When a promotion you're on ends, call them up and see if they have another one.

If you live in an area with many providers, you will have more options and opportunities for promotions. Where we live, Charter is our only choice so we go through spells when we have to pay more.

And with your cable internet service, buy a VGA cable (I got one for about $12), hook your computer up to your HDTV and you can watch a whole bunch of shows and movies on it through sites like Hulu.

You'll also find yourself surfing the internet much faster and your attitude toward the internet much improved.

[moon02]

Its lack of competition pure and simple. The cable and dsl companies have been taking in rising profits with lowered costs to infastructure. Since there is no real competition between them, we need to regulate this market more.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...p-argument.ars

[SouthShoreGirl]

I pay close to $160.00 a month for all 3 under a "basic" plan. It's disgraceful, but DH and I rarely go out to dinner/movies/etc. so this is where our "entertainment" $$$ we budget for primarily goes. Yeah, I agree with the person who said lack of competition probably has something to do with it.

[Minni]

First, Xin Lu responding re: bandwidth:

I never in my life played video games, just used the www to browse sites.

I've also never used it for HDTV.

I do often like to watch video-demo's connected to sites or Youtube, but it's way too slow till I get to watch. It can take 2 hrs for a tiny video to load. Not worth it.

So, considering the not-such-heavy usage for people like me, why should it cost so much? Why can't it cost $5 per month like my dialup?

After all, people who use less water, gas, or electric, pay less to utility companies than those who use more (not that the utilities aren't gross ripoffs as well!)

Finally, I'm confused - hermione - do you mean you paid $22/per/month for a whole year - for a total of $264 per year? Or - did you mean $22 - for a total of $22 per year?

Anyway, I'm not good at finding promotions - and there's usually strings attached. I've never even owned a credit card, so never learned any gimmicks connected with those.

BTW, when I complained to a girl at an online bank I use, re: the slowness of banking websites & the torture it causes me, she said she knows all about the Digital Divide because she doesn't even have internet at all! So what's worse - my SL-LL-OWWWW dialup causing me premature aging from fluresent EMFs? Or NO internet at all - like the girl at that bank?

P.S. Is there any forum for people with slow dialup to rant & rave? I came to this forum since I thought frugal-living people might possibly be in a similar area of the Digital Divide - but whoa! Compare $160 to the $5 that I pay per month... how can I relate to anyone?

[bhkyra]

Dial-up is all but extinct these days. Most websites that have added content recently are not going to be dial up friendly. They likely have a lot of images, or even videos/flash. Few cater to those who still have dial up because most people can (and do) get higher speed internet.

From the sounds of things, you WOULD benefit from high speed internet. YouTube becomes quite a bit more entertaining when you can watch the whole video at once, instead of a 2 second clip every five minutes+.

If you don't want to pay for it, maybe you could visit a library where they have internet? Or connect to a wireless hotspot if you have a laptop.

Your internet won't get any faster ranting or raving If dial-up works for you and that's all you need, that's awesome. If you feel like you're missing out on things like youtube, or the sites with fancier graphics.. upgrade.

[macro01]

bhkyra is right, if you wouldn't like to pay an internet services like dial-up may be you should go to a location were there is a free internet connection or a hotspot area near at your location.
Or you can choose among the fastest internet service providers at your location.

[Minni]

I don't own a car & need to walk approx. 1/2 a mile to catch the unreliable bus to the library. Then once there, there's so much fluoresence (& ultrabright screens) all over the place, that it's a system shock to my already prematurely aged body.

What I don't get is why there's rants & raves all over the place re: the millions who can't afford health coverage (btw that includes myself), yet barely any rants & raves re: the Digital Divide.

Is it because most people never even heard of the term Digital Divide - to actually give it a name & therefore be able to browse for sites devoted to the issue, in order to rant & rave? That's quite probable.

[hermione]

Originally Posted by Minni

Finally, I'm confused - hermione - do you mean you paid $22/per/month for a whole year - for a total of $264 per year? Or - did you mean $22 - for a total of $22 per year?

Anyway, I'm not good at finding promotions - and there's usually strings attached. I've never even owned a credit card, so never learned any gimmicks connected with those.

I paid $22 per month for a year. To get that promotion, I just got on live chat with my cable company and asked if they could lower my rate because the rate they had me on was a little high ($58, which I'm back on now that the promotion is over but I'm getting 20MB now as opposed 10MB for the same price last year).

Originally Posted by Minni

P.S. Is there any forum for people with slow dialup to rant & rave? I came to this forum since I thought frugal-living people might possibly be in a similar area of the Digital Divide - but whoa! Compare $160 to the $5 that I pay per month... how can I relate to anyone?

Have you considered that we (members of this frugal living forum) have already thought all this through and based on our decisions on factors other than the face value of the service because it enables us to save elsewhere.

I pay a lot for internet right now, but I use it all day for 4 businesses, blogging, entertainment and communicating with overseas relatives -- and from 2 computers. I was on dial-up for 3 years and the first 4-5 months of our first online business and it was a nightmare.

Frugal living and personal finance is different for everyone. That's why it's called "personal finance." Just because someone can afford to pay $160 for internet & cable doesn't make them un-frugal. One night out for entertainment in some places can probably cost almost as much as a whole month's cable or internet, so they are saving by staying home with the telly, YouTube or Hulu.

P.S. Ranting/raving just makes you unpopular and your life unpleasant. I suggest you save your dial-up minutes and find something else to do.