Broadband/DSL Service

[Shard]

I'm looking for a little advice from people who are more technically proficient than I am. I'm looking into getting broadband or DSL for my apartment. The municipal cable provider offers three speeds (of broadband) at three price ranges:
256up, 512down $30
512up, 512down $50
1056up, 1056down $80

I don't use my home PC for heavy-duty uploading or downloading, nor to play graphics-intensive PC games, so I doubt I'd make much use of the upper levels, but my sister (and soon to be roommate) is pursuing a media/animation degree and may have need of higher speeds. Anyone about who does that sort of thing and if so what speed would you recommend?

[thetruecoolness]

Re: Broadband/DSL Service

Well from what I see those are pretty overpriced. I think it is mainly because they offer the same up/down speeds which most HighSpeed internet providers do not. I get like 6Mb/s down and 500Kb/s up for around $45, with Comcast Cable. So I would try to shop around a bit and look to see if there is another provider in your area first, as you really don't need the up speed unless you run an ftp or http server, which most providers won't allow anyway. I know even Bellsouth had 6Mb/s down DSL and probably the same up (around 500Kb/s) for around $50 as well.

Go to http://www.dslreports.com/ to find broadband companies near you, with hopefully much better prices and service.

As for speed, really 1.5Mb/s down should look pretty fast, you could get away with half that 500Kb/s down, given your low need for big downloads but I would never go lower than 500Kb/s unless there is just nothing cheap around you.

[Shard]

Re: Broadband/DSL Service

When I saw the pricelist I thought it was a bit steep. This is a muni service in San Bruno, but I've had Comcast before and they offered better deals for lumping services together. Thanks for the info and link.

[thetruecoolness]

Re: Broadband/DSL Service

No problem. When it comes to computers I know way too much, and since I never have a lot of money I'm always looking for deals.

Super Computer Guy, away.