I have Cox in Florida and I get around 10.8 to 11.0 Megabits Per Second. I average 900-1300 KB/S on download speeds. It beats my Comcast provider in Virginia by about 67%. Incredibly fast! It's usually pretty constant too.

I've noticed a BIG difference downloading files that take up 300 megabytes worth of stuff. I can download that file size ratio in about 3 minutes. I never want to go back to dial up again

I have Covad, but I don't remember the speeds. It is pretty fast and really stable.

---

Kellie Parker | Online Community Manager | PC World

Hi Aurora, Cable is a bit pricey? Man, the last time I checked it was alot pricey (Comcast). They are still operating in this area as if they are still the only game in town for high speed and TV. In the meantime, Verizon is merrily rolling along stringing their fiber and adding new areas almost on a daily basis. I don't know how far out they'll go, but I suspect it may be further than cable. I have a friend that the cable stopped at the end of his street, so he has dial up only. It sounds like you got the upper end of cable as far as speed goes, and 8Mb. isn't bad at all. It also should be enough for online gaming as well. I got the phone, TV, and internet through fiber. The downside is if you lose power, even if you have a generator, you lose all of it. I'm hoping that Verizon has had the foresight to install some generators for fiber. It wouldn't take much as everything travels by light. Course, I don't have a generator either. I saw one for about $3500 plus whatever the installation cost would have been. That would have like buying Champaign on a beer pocketbook. Oh well. I just got off track. Enjoy the 8 meg connection, it will get the job done as you already know. coastie65

---

eMachines T5212.... Intel Pentium D 945 3.4Ghz..... evga 9800 GT 512 Mb PCI-E video card..... Realtec HD audio......2 Gb Crucial 667 Mhz DDR2 memory..... Lite on CD RW; DVD RW, DL,& Lightscribe optical drive...... Windows XP MCE 2005....... Antec Basiq 500w PSU......200 Gb Parallel ATA HDD.........Samsung 22" WS SyncMaster 2243BWX Monitor.

Hi Aurora, Yeah, that is about what Comcast gets for their triple play ( Phone, Internet, and TV). Usually $99. You read the fine print and find you have to sign for a one or two year commitment and the price is only for the first 3 or 6 mos. The fiber package is $137 per mo. that is with all the taxes and other fees they throw in. At least that is the package I have. I have no long distance charges on the phone within the continental US, everything is same as local. That is good, because all my cousins are either in Calf., Ore., Or Wash. OOPS, I forgot the one in Arizona, but I don't call her anyway. You said you'll probably be moving to a larger area, good for choice, hopefully, but bad for losing peace and quiet. Again, you said you were in the middle of nowhere and could get cable, that's good. In these parts they don't serve rural areas or small towns. They say they have to string too much cable to serve too few customers. Some areas have formed Co-ops and did there own thing. As far as fiber goes, I think they are concentrating on the the larger population areas, but will build out over time. I know in the Southern part of the state, 1 or 2 counties and a town got together and formed a co-op to do the fiber thing. They are paying the costs for building the system and Verizon will let them tie into their main trunk. It's a good deal for the people as Verizon probably wouldn't have built into that area and a good deal for Verizon as they get customers that may well have been left out, and they didn't have any costs to build the system. I've already run into cases where the servers couldn't upload as fast as I was downloading. I forgot what the lower package was with fiber. It was either 8Mb or 10Mb ( 39.95 mo.). I've been thinking about getting a cell phone in case of a power loss. I've got a tower behind the house just across the interstate (64). I guess I've rambled on enough. coastie65

---

eMachines T5212.... Intel Pentium D 945 3.4Ghz..... evga 9800 GT 512 Mb PCI-E video card..... Realtec HD audio......2 Gb Crucial 667 Mhz DDR2 memory..... Lite on CD RW; DVD RW, DL,& Lightscribe optical drive...... Windows XP MCE 2005....... Antec Basiq 500w PSU......200 Gb Parallel ATA HDD.........Samsung 22" WS SyncMaster 2243BWX Monitor.

Hey Coatsie

I totally agree. Cable is downright expensive. I think it's overpriced. My Comcast provider in Virginia was a perfect example. We were paying $80 a month for 5 meg services.. I'm now paying less than that for 10 megs. I haven't really come to a likeness with Comcast.

I'm now trying to remember what we were paying in Alabama for Charter High Speed. Maybe I'll think of it later on.

Hey Techie, You have Verizon FioS? Comcast was the only game in town for high speed internet here in the Richmond area. I got rid of comcast cable TV in Dec. '04 and went with DirecTV on the dish. I kept that until Verizon brought in the Fiber. I got the Internet on 21 Sept. '06 and the TV on Dec. 27 and haven't looked back. I know that NOVA had Fios before we did. I got the 15/2 internet package. Customer service is very good on both the Internet and TV. For those wondering, NOVA ia Viginia thing, not the TV program on PBS. It is an acronym for Northern Virginia, a whole other world from the rest of the state. coastie65

---

eMachines T5212.... Intel Pentium D 945 3.4Ghz..... evga 9800 GT 512 Mb PCI-E video card..... Realtec HD audio......2 Gb Crucial 667 Mhz DDR2 memory..... Lite on CD RW; DVD RW, DL,& Lightscribe optical drive...... Windows XP MCE 2005....... Antec Basiq 500w PSU......200 Gb Parallel ATA HDD.........Samsung 22" WS SyncMaster 2243BWX Monitor.

I have nothing special or even close but it will suffice until college. AT&T Yahoo is my ISP. Pay $24.99 get about 3.2mb/s download.