How to Get the Most Out of ATT DSL Internet Service

Posted by Dave on March 8th, 2008 No Comments Printer-Friendly

(Feel free to read this piece, but new info: as of Oct 2008 you can get ATT DSL for 14.95 again and in certain areas 10.00 a MONTH for people who have never had the service). You can get a good deal if you know about their different price plans. And if it goes out you need to know how to get free repairs. AT&T DSL used to be SBC DSL service, and at one point I think was ATT Yahoo internet service-now its only ATT. Whatever you call it, it’s one of the cheapest DSL plans making it one of the most affordable isp’s for broadband out there. But it can be kind of tricky if you’re not careful. And it can be an erratic service in comparison to cable high speed internet. But the prices of someplace like Comcast can be outlandish!

I used to have broadband cable access, but after my special introductory offer ended it was no longer the cheap cable internet plan I signed up for. I actually had cable high speed twice here in Chicago and once in LA. The first time I had tons of connection problems and it would go out and I had to learn all about it to figure out how to get it working again. But today we’re here to talk about ATT internet service, which I’ve also had twice in Chicago and once in LA. Why all these switches. Well I’ve moved at least once in both cities AND I bought my own equipment for AT&T and for Comcast, so I can switch depending on whose got a better deal, it really only involves a phone call.

And a few years ago SBC would offer the internet service for one year at a special price before going up to its regular price. Now they just have flat rates with particular speeds you can buy. And my broadband cable access had a similar deal, in fact that’s what happened; they had a plan that came with a hundred dollar rebate, plus the 42 dollars a month rate also had a 10 month/20 dollar discount. But once the 10 months were up that 42$ just didn’t seem bearable. Certainly not in the face of old Yahoo internet’s 14.95. Now make no mistake, cable internet gets at least 1.5 mb of speed and the ATT yahoo plan starts at 768 kb of download speed. WOW!!!! Hold the phone! That USED to be the price! As of 2 weeks ago that was the price, and I JUST went to the website to make sure and they’ve CHANGED THEIR PLANS. Holy crap. Ok here’s the current situation; 19.95 then 25$ then 30$ and 35$-those plans are called ATT Basic, Express, Pro and Elite. That’s very important to know when you order because the lowest price, as I said, has a 768 download speed, then 1.5 m (that’s 1500 kbs), then 3.0 and finally 6.0. And as you can see all of those are still cheaper than cable internet.

So let me tell you a couple of short stories. My sister has ATT DSL internet but was having problems downloading stuff. First I decided to check her modem and see what speed she was getting. You can do that by typing 192.168.0.1 into your browser. Then I sent her to the ATT DSL speed test site . Because you see there are 3 factors you need to consider. 1) The speed they promise on the website “up to” 768 download speed. 2) The speed your modem is actually reading from the phone company. 3) The speed you are actually getting as far as the internet is concerned. So I ran these test for my sister and she was only getting 384 download. Because ATT only promises “up to” 768 and I guess we can assume the “at least” is 384 because they were definitely giving her the bare minimum. But here’s the catch; she was PAYING for the 19.95 plan, which meant she was getting the 14.95 service. So I told her to call them and either take her down to the cheaper price or provide the speed of the service she was paying for. In part 2 of this piece I’ll talk about what to do when your service gets interrupted.

I’d also like to mention that the new DSL only service is out. No phone if you don’t want it. It’s been a long time coming, but finally you have a fast internet connection and use THAT to get a really low cost VoIP phone service like Vonage.

Share and Enjoy: