Broadband services available in downtown Santa Clara?

Kompu Kid

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Jul 25, 2006, 12:47:51 AM7/25/06

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Hello:

Anyone out there aware of special deals from broadband providers these
days?

I am helping a friend price a broadband service in downtown Santa
Clara.

She got on DSL about six months ago with my help. She started at around
$16/month and ATT just increased it to $30. With the telephone service
that she had to get --she uses her cellphone-- the effective cost of
DSL is now $42.

She called ATT and they are willing to go down to $19/month, but I
believe this is the lowest speed DSL. She still has to pay $11 for the
phone service.

We looked at the Comcast site, but nothing reasonable, especially for
non-cable TV users.

Any wireless services?

Thanks!

Deguza

John Navas

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Jul 25, 2006, 1:40:35 AM7/25/06

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On 24 Jul 2006 21:47:51 -0700, "Kompu Kid" <deg...@hotmail.com> wrote in
<1153802871....@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>:

<http://www.comcastoffers.com/1/?_ck=1&cid=53069>

--
Best regards,
John Navas

Graham Freeman

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Jul 25, 2006, 3:19:44 AM7/25/06

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It'd probably be worth sharing a single DSL line with a neighor or two via
wifi. Arrange for each participant to pay the primary DSL accountholder
3-6 months at a time, and you're set.

-G

(null)

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Jul 25, 2006, 3:52:55 AM7/25/06

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In article <1153802871....@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>,
Kompu Kid <deg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Any wireless services?

www.metrofi.com

John Navas

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Jul 25, 2006, 9:27:01 AM7/25/06

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On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:19:44 -0700, Graham Freeman <gra...@jahiel.net>
wrote in <Pine.LNX.4.64.06...@enhance.cernio.com>:

>It'd probably be worth sharing a single DSL line with a neighor or two via
>wifi. Arrange for each participant to pay the primary DSL accountholder
>3-6 months at a time, and you're set.

To do that safely, you would definitely want a router with Wireless
Isolation, which lets wireless clients access the Internet but not each
other.

Likewise if you have a wired LAN, then you would definitely want a
router with Wired from Wireless Isolation as well.

If you want file and/or printer sharing on your own WLAN (Wireless LAN),
then you'll want either a router with configurable VLAN capability, or a
separate wireless access point for your own WLAN.

There are commercial hotspot-type routers with these capabilities (e.g.,
SonicWALL TZ-150 Wireless -- see wikis below for more), or you can use
third-party firmware in a suitable standard low-cost wireless router
(e.g., Linksys WRT54GL -- see more info in wikis below).

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

SMS

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Jul 25, 2006, 6:33:23 PM7/25/06

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Kompu Kid wrote:
> Hello:
>
> Anyone out there aware of special deals from broadband providers these
> days?
>
> I am helping a friend price a broadband service in downtown Santa
> Clara.

You should see if she can get a decent MetroFi signal. If she can see
their network at all, then you can do some things to increase the signal
strength. Buy one of the high power wireless adapters that they
recommend (I like the Buffalo WLI-TX4-G54HP hooked up to a wireless
router). The MetroFi web site also has recommendations for an outdoor
solution (http://www.metrofi.com/outdoor.html) which has an antenna
built in. You can also hook an antenna onto the Buffalo device.

All of this will require an initial outlay, but if she doesn't care
about blazingly high speed, MetroFi is adequate. She should get an iPig
account (http://www.iopus.com/ipig/download/) or use some other VPN
service in order to ensure security (as an added benefit, using a VPN
service eliminates the advertising on the free MetroFi accounts).