Quick downloads, Fast online game playing, Webpages instantly pop-up, No dialing in, Frees up the phone line, etc... All those things sound great, right? Well, depending on the company you can get all of that or at least some of it and still be happy.

Thankfully in my area I have a choice between DSL or Cable internet for high-speed "always on" type connections. Originally I picked DSL through Pacific Bell who is my local phone company... that turned out to be a bad mistake. At first the service was great, but then I started to notice numerous billing errors, poor tech support, e-mail outages, and the list goes on. I was fed up and finally canceled PacBell DSL and called up my local cable company, Charter Communications, and placed an order for Charter Pipeline cable internet.

I was surprised to find out they could install the service in two days from the date I called (unlike 2 months with DSL). After those days passed two cable guys showed up at my house. One ran a new cable line to where my computer is located. Tip- Be sure to watch when they do this because they might take the "easy way" and run cable in a location that looks bad. I asked and made sure they put the jack behind my desk where it comes out of the wall.

The other installer installed the eathernet card in my computer and then connected the cable modem (Motorola SurfBoard 3100 brand). I could tell he has done this many times because he quickly ran though all the network settings, restarted my computer and I was on the net in about 10 to 15 minutes. The internet service provider they use is EarthLink, which provides e-mail, webspace and all the tech support type things just like you would get if you had an EarthLink dial-up account.

In my area of Riverside, California I pay $29.95 a month for the service and $5 a month to 'rent' the cable modem so the total is $35 per month.

Features of the service are:

·One EarthLink account including dial-up incase the cable goes out or to use in a different location where ever EarthLink has a dial-up number.

· 6MB's of webspace for a website or files

· Free personal start page

· 1 e-mail account ($4.95 per month for extras)

· 24 hour tech support

· B-Link, EarthLink's monthly free magazine about the internet

· Dynamic IP address

· Supports PC (Windows) and Mac computers

Speeds are the only thing I hope Charter will improve to compete with other companies. I normally get about 500kbps download and 130kbps upload. I am happy that it's faster then 56k dial-up modem, but other cable ISP's such as @Home or Road Runner offer even faster speed then what I get. In my area there isn't to many cable modem users so I can't say how well the service would hold up if a lot of people were using it. Charter tells me they are prepared for any amount of new customers without the speed slowing down or network problems.

Since cable is another always-on connection I highly recommend installing a firewall program which blocks out unwanted visitors from trying to 'hack' or get in your computer. Zone Labs makes a great free firewall called Zone Alarm for download at www.zonelabs.com

Cable internet service providers can really vary depending on the area you live in. As you can tell by the other reviews in this category some people have a good experience, and some don't. Be sure to check around locally and see what type of service is available to you. It might be a little work to 'research' your cable company, but it's worth it in the long run if you do.

-Wes
Wesley815



Recommended: Yes