Hi! My name is Dave, and below is original piece I wrote about Dry Loop from ATT that I wrote in March of 2008. But now it’s 2010, so I thought I would update the post by streamlining the information. You’re welcome to read the whole thing, but let’s see if we can answer a few key points right off the bat. And PLEASE EMAIL me or just leave your questions in the comment section below if you want more information. I’m a real person who will really answer you.

Ok before I get to the DSL talk I do want to let you know about these deals from ATT. They’ve got the $100 back and the $400 back. Generally these UVerse deals are pretty good because you can mix and match house phone, cell phone, TV, Internet. Plus they give out a lot of stuff like gift cards and digital TV recorders.

The deal about includes things like your cell phone and the other deal is more about total house coverage.

1. Ok, “ATT DSL” is the current name so just do your best to forget any other names you might have known it by.
2. Dry Loop means DSL withOUT the phone service. Just plain high speed internet with no dial tone. A lot of people are confused and think you “get dry loop” with your phone service. Nope. You get Dry Loop INSTEAD of phone service. Either you want phone service and DSL or you want DSL by itself. Right?
3. You can also get ATT phone service with Dry Loop. And it’s probably possible to have phone service from one company and Dry Loop internet from ATT. I wouldn’t really recommend it because of the technical complications. But I use AT&T DSL with an internet phone service and think it’s a good deal; 20 dollar phone from MagicJack
4. The PRICES IF YOU ORDER ONLINE (meaning, if you CALL you might not get the same offers since those 2 ATT departments compete with each other) of Dry Loop (also called Naked DSL sometimes) starts at $19.95. Pay more and you get faster speeds $35.00 $40.00 and $45.00. It’s not available in every state you can click below to check.

This was supposed to be the technical part of this series, but that will be my next and final part in 2 days. And in part one I mentioned speed. And the reason that’s important is because I use Vonage. An inexpensive VoIP service, so my landline is the CHEAPEST deal ATT has, called a dial tone only, no bells and whistles it’s JUST enough phone to make DSL work. When you ask for this they MIGHT try to tell you, you can’t have it with DSL. That will be a lie (and/or incompetence). So that basic line here in Chicago is $6.53 a month, but when you add in ALLLLL the taxes and fees it’s a little over 15 dollars. To recap; I pay $14.95 for 768kb of DSL and the phone line to make the DSL function $15 for a total of $30 and change. Is that the best deal? No, not by a long shot. (keep in mind that part was written in March of 08, they now offer cheap DSL with no phone). I did some more research today. Ready to have your mind blown?

Right now if you sign up for ONE FULL YEAR, you can get that 768kb (that I should remind you is currently selling at $19.95 because I got the $14.95 deal before they changed the price) for TEN DOLLARS A MONTH . If you’re a new customer you can get this special just ONLINE. Over the phone and internet sign ups are NOT the same. Just put in your address (sometimes you have to do it twice because the first check to see if you’re in the service area).

But that’s not all. I went to this guy’s and this other guy’s website this morning and read about something called Dry Loop , also might be known as Naked DSL , or Dry Line or DSL Direct . And what it is, is ATT DSL without the ATT phone line. Just plain DSL. I don’t think it’s in every state, but I checked Illinois, and we’ve got it. I called and I spoke to the lady and she said I could NOT get the $23.95 I heard about because as of February 16^th the price had changed to $34.95. As you can see that’s only 5 dollars more a month and she said it would be like 1500 kb upload and 3 gigs down. I think she meant to say 3mb download. “Shared line” means that your phone and DSL are on the same line and this new kind of DSL Direct is dedicated. I’m almost positive you wont find this deal on their websites. At all.

So I called back. This time I was told the Basic speed of 768kb download and 368 upload was $19.95 a month with a year commitment and a $99 fee for early termination. And the next plan was $29.00 a month at 1.5mb download and still 368kb upload but no annual contract. As you can see, with that plan I would pay the same or a little bit less with a faster speed. And since I don’t use the land line at all that would be a good package for me. Now you may be wondering WHY I got these different prices. Earlier I told the first lady I was IN Chicago, but I gave the second lady my exact address/account information. I’m making a shrugging gesture right now. But she did say the service was US wide but they have to check individuals in their service area.

One last thing. Now I’ve written a few times about “handling” customer service people. And today I actually had to talk to Comcast (hopefully) one last time. See I turned OFF my broadband internet service with them and they sent me a bill when they actually owed me money AND they tried to charge me for my own cable modem-yet they had $3.00 a month modem rental fees on 2 years worth of bills. Now I’m a bad guy on the phone . I will not call a person a name or shout, but I will eat their lunch. In the end, that got squared away and they’re sending me my $9.50 as of today’s call. But I want to talk a little about those ATT DSL one year contracts and termination fees. On the website it says $50 fee and on the phone she said $99. So I also called two more times and talked to two separate guys to see if there was any way out of that fee. What if I totally disconnect the service? Loose my entire house even-have no phone service or DSL anymore? Am I still liable for the termination fee? And despite making them VERY angry by asking them to get second opinion and check with a manager or supervisor all three said no matter what the fee will be attached to my account. So, I am positive you get a better deal by signing up online than in person. Positive.

Related posts:

1. So Far I’m Pretty Satisfied with Vonage
2. Cheapest Phone Service in America 2009 is Called MagicJack
3. How to Get the Most Out of ATT DSL Internet Service
4. I Had ATT DSL Dry Loop Installed Today. DSL with No Phone Line
5. How to Talk Tech Talk with ATT DSL to Get Good Service