Does any one use Earthink WiFi? I've seen the flyers around the neighboorhood.
Is it any good? Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to drop Comcast..

I've also been wondering what kind of connection people are getting, quality of service so far etc.

I can't see the network in my apartment (near 4th and George) though. But out front I get it mad clear. My phone doesn't work in there either though...okay I rambling.

anybody using it? reliable?

I hate comcast...I have a wireless laptop and am currently picking up a strong wireless signal from Earthlink. I spoke to one of their reps regarding their recent promo...basically, the NoLibs is an 'at risk' area for signal strength and one should test the signal before they take on service. Service is supposed to get better as time goes on and the service area increases. BTW...I am located at 4th and poplar. I would love to hear others confirm signal strengths throughout our hood before dropping comcast for good.

I recently signed on with earthlink. I still have comcast dsl. I wanted to make sure I recieved a good signal in my apartment. They send you a router with an antennae. I am currently getting a reasonable signal inside. I'm near 3rd and Poplar

I checked out the specs for the service, and I personally prefer a higher speed service than the etherlink wireless. But for many people it should be just fine.

An interesting concept would be if you could sign up for Earthlink DSL for home, but also have access to the EL wireless when out & about. But I haven't seen any offer like that yet.

Be careful! Earthlink does not work everywhere in Northern Liberties. I signed up with Earthlink last month, and I was never able to receive a signal (I live on the 700 block of Bodine.) When I signed up, I specifically asked the customer service rep if I could cancel at any time. He said no problem; he also told me that I would have no problem connecting from my home. When I cancelled my service this month, I was told that I would have to pay a $70 cancellation fee (and for a service that I never even had!) After hours on the phone with customer service agents trying to state my case as to why I should not have to pay, Earthlink matter-of-factly informed me that I would still have to hand over the $70. In my opinion, Earthlink is using misleading advertising in Philadelphia (it is definitely a block-to-block type of service,) and I would be very careful about signing up unless you are sure it's going to work. I would recommend sticking to more tried and true services.

Chris,

I had a similar experience with Earthlink: I signed up for the wireless service after Earthlink left a flyer on my front doorknob saying that the service was available on my block.

I called an Earthlink salesperson who assured me that there would be no penalty if I cancelled the service within 30 days. Later that same day, after discovering that the service actually was NOT available on my block I called Earthlink to cancel. I had to sit on hold and get transferred around, but after two hours I was told that the service was cancelled.

Unfortunately when my credit card bill came later that month Earthlink had charged me for the service. Again I called customer service. I got an earfull about cancellation fees, etc. but no satisfaction.

I had to call Earthlink's corp office in Atlanta and speak to some higher-ups in order to be heard. After a couple of weeks of phone calls and emails a refund was applied to my credit card... what a huge pain in the ass.

I'm sticking with Comcast.

By the way, I saw an ad in the Weekly (last week?) stating that Earthlink is now offering the wireless service for free all over the city for a limited time... a great deal if you are on a block that IS truly covered. Be careful about giving them your credit card info or be prepared to listen to a lot of on-hold music.

I have never posted to this site (though I read it on a daily basis) but I HAD to add my two cents to this topic. I too signed up for Earthlink WiFi with assurances that, if I didn't get a signal, I could cancel with no worries and just send back the modem. Well, I ordered the service, got the modem and tried to connect. I couldn't get service from my apartment so I called and cancelled my account (with some hassle but was finally able to get it done). I was told that they would send me a pre-paid UPS slip so that I could return the modem. I was told that I would be charged $70 until they received the modem back then the $70 would be refunded to my credit card. Well, I got the UPS slip, sent the modem back and a month later the $70 charge was never refunded. I called and they claimed that they never received the modem and that they did not have a record of the UPS tracking number to find out what happened to it. So, basically I am out $70 for a service that I never was able to use for even one second. I ABSOLUTELY do not recommend Earthlink.

On another note, Earthlink must farm out their customer service to another country because after 20 minutes of waiting on hold on numerous occasions I have never gotten someone who can fully speak or understand English.

this is why your neighbor's wireless has no encryption, or the password is "linksys", folks!

Not sure what you mean, nm. If you're being sarcastic and saying people can just jump on unwitting neighbors' networks, that's one thing. But as far as I know "linksys" doesn't mean earthlink, it's just the default for routing tech when your neighbor doesn't set up a personal network name and security/encryption protocols.

I love when people complain about Comcast and its rates and its horrible customer service. A lot of these new companies try to position themselves as a new, better alternative and then in reality, they suck WAY worse than the existing players. Satellite radio made the same claims. One year after initiating service with a satellite radio service, I have a broken satellite receiver, a charge that appeared on my credit card for another year of service without approval, and an unclaimed gift certificate which the provider basically refuses to honor, in spite of countless calls. Guess who's listening to standard radio now?

How is it that you think Earthlink can afford to charge $30 a month for wireless service?

1. Low grade equipment and poor infrastructure investment
2. Customer service representatives based in India who don't know the 700 block of North Bodine from Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Good "liberals" (i.e. the proclaimed affiliation of most people in this neighborhood) should be supporting American jobs.
3. $$$$$ spent on advertising to get your business, which leaves little $ for the important things, like equipment and service reps.

I'll stick with Comcast. Sure, it's not cheap, but I certainly get more use out of my internet and cable connection than virtually any other utility I pay for. When I've had problems in the past, Comcast has been WAY more responsive than virtually any other utility I've dealt with.

Finally, even if Earthlink service were good, their top connection speed is actually quite low...considerably lower than cable modem which is why I've never entertained switching.

What about Verizon DSL? It is a cheaper alternative, but is it any good?
i just HATE giving Comcast one more dollar than I have to..

There's no earthlink signal on the 900 block of New Market, otherwise I may have been tempted to try it out. I'm not sure if the city didn't eff up by signing on for this earthlink business. I'd much rather see verizon running fiber down my street (not that I'm a huge Verizon fan - I just jonesin' for that sweet fiber goodness). Verizon doesn't seem to have made Philadelphia a priority in its plans to roll out FiOS.

We used to have business DSL over Verizon lines via a third party (I'm blanking on the name). It was slower (and more expensive) than Comcast. Customer service was abysmal. The service was spotty due to some incompetently installed underground wiring near our exchange (our phone and DSL would go out during heavy rains).

While I have had problems with intermittent outages from Comcast recently (last Friday to Monday, in particular - supposedly they're doing work in the Fairmount subnet), overall the experience has been better than DSL.

After my whole Earthlink fiasco I signed up with Verizon and have had no problems. I would definitely recommend its service and Comcast's as well (which I have used in the past.) They are both reliable and fast.

I wanted to make one other point about Earthlink. I think it is such a shame that such an exciting experiment in Philadelphia (wi-fi everywhere) has turned out like this. I feel like the concept has such amazing potential, and it is my hope that in a few years Earthlink will be able to work out its problems. Until then, though, I think I will sit this one out...

This is a little misleading.

I'm happy with Verizon. When I was pricing, Comcast was more expensive unless you "bundled" it with phone and cable, which we didn't need. Only time it went out was during a power outage when the modem lost power.

3rd and Brown's hit on Earthlink isn't entirely accurate or fair.

For one Earthlink isn't a new player in 'net service provision. In fact it's involvement with internet traffic predates Comcast's.

The estimation of Wireless Philly's network having a poor infrastructure isn't really Earthlink's fault. Wireless Philadelphia was drawn up long before Earthlink was brought in; and who hear really thinks a city can set up an affordable and high quality / competitive city-wide wireless service with one of the largest cable internet providers headquartered inside it. The network's flawed by political haggling not Earthlink incompetence.

There is a good point on the outsourcing. Comcast is a good regional employer and contractor (a lot of their call services are run through Unisys), depending on who you're talking to. Maybe NL residents are a bit more conscious of this sort of issue, but I don't think it'd be a deciding factor for a lot of people.
On the other hand, Earthlink seems to be aware they're operating Wireless Philadelphia ultimately so that those who can't afford "top flight" 'net access can have an affordable option, whereas Comcast's idea of community service leads to Philadelphia being the only major city in the country without a community access cable station.

As for the advertising? Seems everyone's familiarity with Earthlink comes from one print ad run to announce an introductory offer on Wireless Philadelphia. Whereas anyone who watches television should know "the deal" where one guy asks "what's the deal?" and his buddy explains to him all the coolness Comcast is selling to get you into their fold, and then in turn is countered by his questioner who says something like, "No, I mean what's the deal with us debating internet service providers with an unhealthy sandwich."

There's also the "deal" where Comcast is fighting FCC and FTC regs so that they'd be forced to make their cable box monopoly a competitive market where you don't have to "rent" a setbox exclusively from Comcast, a regulatory move that would hurt Comcast's pockets but would also lower customer's bottom line.

Basically I don't think the current botched or at least not very satisfactory wireless network Earthlink's managing is entirely Earthlink's fault. It's more a political/regulatory than a technical mess, and is probably more kindling to fire up those on an anti-comcast burn.

I've been using the cheap-o Verizon DSL (768K $18/mo or whatever) since June and haven't had a problem with it. Worked out of the box and have had zero downtime since I got synch (that I have noticed - I don't know what happens while I'm not at home).

Obviously I went for the lowest cost option rather than the fastest option, but it's been fine for my web surfing/MP3 downloading/youtube watching ... slow for uploading 7 megapixel pictures to flickr, but that's been about it. In various places I've lived in since 2000, I've had 1.5MB DSL and and 1.5MB and 3MB cable modem. It is occasionally noticeably slower than that, but not for most of my everyday uses. (Odds are the network bottleneck is not the last hop between you and the ISP.) It is slow if I'm doing streaming audio or downloading something large on my desktop and then try to browse the web from the laptop downstairs, but that doesn't happen that often. If you've got multiple computers on a router that frequently get used at the same time, you probably want something faster.

Works great for me as someone who didn't want to spend $50/month for internet access if I didn't have to. If you're a serious web gamer or something, you may want something faster. I suspect Verizon's higher bandwidth options are just as reliable.

http://www.dailyherald.com/business/story.asp?id=282773

Citywide Wi-Fi not so hot, nor so wide

By Deborah Yao
Associated Press
Posted Monday, February 19, 2007

Cities from here to San Francisco are planning wireless Internet networks that would blanket their territories, turning whole towns into gigantic hotspots.

I imagined being set free from the confines of living room Internet surfing. I saw myself watching a YouTube video on my Wi-Fi phone by the banks of the Schuylkill River, checking movie listings in line at Subway, video-chatting with a gal pal while I wait at the bus stop.

It would be tres, tres cool.

I decided to give the citywide Wi-Fi a test run, to see if reality lived up to the hype. In short? Nope.

•Þ•Þ•

EarthLink Inc. is building Philadelphia’s Wi-Fi network and has a 15-square-mile test area is up and running.

A map shows Chinatown as one area of connectivity. Perfect. What could be better than roast duck at my favorite Chinese restaurant washed down with the witticisms of Jon Stewart of The Daily Show?

But getting a connection wasn’t so easy. I placed my Mac iBook next to a pot of jasmine tea and searched for “FeatherByEarthLink,” the network.

Nothing happened. I called a toll-free number for assistance. A cheerful voice said I was at the edge of the coverage area. I have to move two blocks east to get a better connection. The map was wrong.

I walked the two blocks. At a bus shelter, I propped my Mac against the glass and tried to scan for EarthLink. My Mac finally found the network.

The struggle didn’t end there. I tried connecting to Gmail. It took a minute and a half to load the page. I looked at my connectivity bars, and they were three-quarters lit. I wasn’t getting the network’s full strength. I wasn’t close enough to the nearest Wi-Fi hub.

Since I needed to take the bus home, I logged on to get schedules. It took me two and a half minutes to load the home page and more than five minutes to get the bus schedule after typing in my address.

Connecting indoors also can be a problem unless customers have a router to bring in the signal, EarthLink said. And the network might have trouble reaching customers higher than the third floor, since Wi-Fi antennas placed on lampposts have limited reach.

An EarthLink spokeswoman said reviewing the network was premature since the test area still needs to be evaluated.

The next day, at downtown Philadelphia’s Love Park, my Sony Clie handheld found the network, but then gave me an error message. EarthLink said that the Wi-Fi networks it’s building don’t yet support handhelds or Wi-Fi-enabled phones.

As my handheld worked just fine at other hotspots all over the city, it was a major letdown. I don’t want to lug my laptop all over the city, unless I’m planning on staying put somewhere for a few hours.

Without the handheld feature, I won’t ditch my DSL anytime soon. The dream of ubiquitous Internet surfing will have to wait.

people who are having customer service issues should consider contacting a city council member; the city is working closely with Earthlink on this project - as opposed to earthlink doing it on their own - and therefore I feel that the city should be protecting the consumers who are getting bad service

I can't find city council's position on this, but the city executive's "position" can be found through perusing here:

http://www.phila.gov/wireless/faqs.html

From the press releases, it looks like Street's letting Earthlink set up the system on its own dime. Keep in mind that the contract with Earthlink is barely a year old, and most small college campuses require at least a year to get its wireless infrastructure up and running. I'm surprised Earthlink is charging full rates while still in such an "experimental" stage, but I don't know what people are expecting. I'm also confused why they're apparently using WiFi instead of WiMAX.

Also keep in mind, if I remember my news correctly, Earthlinks picking up the pieces of a program that was in shambles after a high up in the Wirless Philadelphia nonprofit (set up by the city) literally left town after pocketing a hefty salary with little to show.

WOW !! I must agree w. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE !!!
I went through the same problem !! They kept putting me through INDIA !!! It was alot of back and forth and hunged up on !!! I kept asking for a manager in the US !! NOPE Well finally thinking that I was being helped !! I noticed on my charge card that they charged me $70 !! When I called to find out ..again the freaken run arounds !! I ******* and ******* until I turned blue and spoke to a so called higher technician supervisor and found out that INDIA created a 2nd account and sent me a wireless modem which didnt work in the 800 Hancock !!! so i kept insisting to credit back everything from Jan through now March because I wasnt able to use it !! Well they credited back the $21.95 from creating the second account (WHICH THEY OWE ME MORE !! ), she also mentioned that she created back from Jan. through now..and until they receive the wireless modem they'll be able to credit everything back!! so now i have a pending charge until they receive the modem!

Just now I received the UPS ticket to sent back!! NOw if I do return it!! I'm afraid that the will say THEY NEVER RECEIVED IT !! WHAT THE **** W/ THESE PEOPLE !!! I CAN BELIEVE WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS !!!

Freaken Frustrated !!!

What to do ????? Do i have to keep ******** till i turn blue !!??

Just ordered it, I have logged on for free in the past, service was great! contract is for one year, 17.95 for first month, 21.95 after

the whole wireless philadelphia was pure PR fluff from the Street administration... while he and his staff have hemmed and hawed for years about setting this up other cities have already implemented citywide wireless networks that work. the usual 'politics' of this city have hindered how this all is playing out... unless your using a SINGLE computer at home and are in a block with strong signal stick with Comcast. unless you are poor and get a voucher the earthlink wireless is not that cheap, and as said before it is for one computer so if you have 2 or 3 setup in your home network then your outta luck.

Don't believe the hype. Earthlink's WiFi service is not reliable in NoLibs, and their customer service is horrendous. I have spent countless hours on the phone, after being trasnferred from one department to the next, attempting to reconcile charges to my credit card for equipment that was promptly returned after cancellation. The set-up process was quite lengthy, and cancellation was even worse. Go for Comcast instead - at least you can get through to their customer support.

I am in Anaheim, CA the other sucker city Earthlink WiFi has installed service. I have all the same problems people here have had. I ordered the service instead of sending me a wifi modem, they sent me a laptop wireless card at $75, it took me a month to get that charge refunded to my credit card. Earthlink then sent me a peplink wifi modem, but guess what, it would not work, it could not get a signal. I complained to the headquarters in Atlanta and was told there is service where I live. I bought a Ruckus wifi modem which is better than Peplink off ebay, it could sometimes connect to the Earthlink wifi network but not often. My computer can see 3 nodes in the area but the signal strength is very low -95 db on all nodes. I did email Earthlink and request that ship back the equipment and cancel my service. My prediction is that Earthlink will be bankrupt within a year, because their WiFi service doesn't work well and their customer service is just horrible. Oh by the way, the whole system was down in Anaheim for 4 days last month and the people in India refused to believe that it was down. Keep your DSL and cable modems, Earthlink is just not worth the hassle.

I just hooked up Earthlink and I am not happy at all with the service, my lap top has vista windows and it keeps shutting down, I called Earthlink and downloaded software and it worked for one day. In addition, it won't connect to my desktop. I believe the contract is for one year, when you sign on, my advice would be to get a day or week pass and try it out. I was confident that it would work, but so far it is a nuisance.

i have comcast currently, which i pay $45 a month for but only works 25% of the time.

when i search for connections, the wireless philadelphia one connects with full strength. i'm at randolph & cambridge.

i was thinking of switching, but after reading this i think i'll try a three-day pass first before cancelling comcast. i did after all yell at them until they removed the charges for all the months where my internet hasn't worked.

"Mayor John Street said he's delighted that Philadelphia is setting the standard by going wall-to-wall wireless."

"Everything performed as it should in the network's 15-square mile test zone in North Philadelphia."

hmmmmmmm......

#########

Wireless Test Goes as Planned

by KYW's Steve Tawa

Another major hurdle has been cleared for a wireless network that is expected to make the entire city of Philadelphia connected to the web later this summer.

Everything performed as it should in the network's 15-square mile test zone in North Philadelphia.

Mayor John Street said he's delighted that Philadelphia is setting the standard by going wall-to-wall wireless. "I know we'll be the largest and first city in the country to be a 135 square-mile hotspot."

Wireless Philadelphia CEO Greg Goldman said his non-profit group is setting up programs to help low-income families bridge the digital divide.

"we're actually going to begin to provide Internet access, low cost computers, training, education and technical support."

Atlanta-based Earthlink's Don Berryman said the company will move quickly to blanket Philadelphia by August, and go live in September in what he calls a dynamic city. "You have visitors, you have low income households, high income households. it's a huge opportunity for us."

Earthlink intends to spend nearly $16-million for the infrastructure, putting nodes up on upwards of five-thousand telephone poles and transmitters on 28 building tops.

http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/502998.php?contentType=4&contentId=540975

This is what happens when journalism devolves into reiterating press releases. WHYY said the same thing yesterday with a little bit about Earthlink not releasing its number of subscribers. Kind of interesting not a single user of this was mentioned in any of the coverage I've read.

At least The Inquirer made a couple of phone calls (even if they didn't get answers):

"EarthLink said it did not know which outside company had been chosen by the city to test the system, and city officials did not return calls seeking comment, even though the project is one of Mayor Street's major initiatives."

###########################

Advance for Phila. wireless network
By Miriam Hill
Inquirer Staff Writer

The wireless network that is expected to blanket Philadelphia by the end of next year is another step closer to completion.
The city and Wireless Philadelphia, the nonprofit group set up to make wireless-fidelity service, or Wi-Fi, available to lower-income residents, have approved the network's 15-square-mile test area built by Atlanta's EarthLink Inc. That means the city and Wireless Philadelphia believe the system works well enough to proceed with building the rest of it.

EarthLink said it did not know which outside company had been chosen by the city to test the system, and city officials did not return calls seeking comment, even though the project is one of Mayor Street's major initiatives.

The test area stretches from North Philadelphia south to the edge of Chinatown and from the Delaware River to parts of Strawberry Mansion and Hunting Park.

EarthLink is marketing its services at special introductory rates within the test area. Consumers who sign up for EarthLink Wi-Fi will enjoy download and upload speeds up to one megabit per second at a promotional rate of $6.95 a month for the first six months. The cost rises to $19.95 a month after the introductory period.

The company also is offering three-megabit download speed and one-megabit upload speed for $9.95 a month for the first six months, with a recurring rate of $21.95 a month thereafter.

Customers may need to buy extra computer equipment to use the service, and an early termination fee could apply to some subscribers, EarthLink said.

"We expect to have about 5,000 customers paying by July and 12,000 by the end of the year," EarthLink Municipal Networks president Don Berryman said.

The entire project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007. It will blanket all of Philadelphia's 135 square miles.

Municipal wireless networks were all the rage a few years ago, when Philadelphia and other cities began discussing them as a way to bring Internet service to the masses at relatively low cost. In recent months, however, news articles have raised questions about how well the networks will work and how well they will compete with costlier but faster services.

Glenn Fleishman, editor of the Wi-Fi Networking News site, said it would be years before such questions were answered.

"There's always this cycle of hype and disillusion," Fleishman said. "I think this technology may have a longer term of adoption than people thought."



http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20070523_Advance_for_Phila__wireless_network.html

Cheesesteak, good call regarding the press release regurgitation.

Full press releases are on Wireless Philadelphia's website.

What I don't get. Is it really that hard for a local news outlet to say walk down to the LOVE sculpture and see if anyone out there's using a laptop and ask them about Wireless Phil?

so i was thinking about signing up for this. has anyone actually had a positive experience? the earthlink said i would get service on the third floor at my address

the earthlink website*

I'm a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer who is looking to interview people who have tried the EarthLink service. If you have tried it, I'd love to talk to you. Please contact me at 215-854-5520 or hillmb@phillynews.com.

Thanks.

Miriam Hill

Would this service work with Dell PDA?? Is so...how do I set it up if my PDA came WiFi compatible?

Local Foundation Awards Grant To Wireless Philadelphia

by KYW's Mike Dunn

Philadelphia’s effort to blanket the city in wireless Internet is cruising along, and getting a bit of boost from a local foundation.

Wireless Philadelphia completed its 15-square mile test zone in late May and construction since then has sped along (see related story), according to CEO Greg Goldman:

“The build-out has covered about 45-to-50 percent of the geographic area of the city, and 60 percent of the households are in a place where they ought to be able to get Earthlink service.”

Although Goldman admits kinks in service are still being worked out. The William Penn Foundation, meantime, has awarded Wireless Philadelphia a $250,000 grant for its digital inclusion program, which gets Wi-Fi and laptops into the homes of lower-income families.



http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/742749.php?contentType=4&contentId=740718

I have had earthlinkwifi for 2months, I've had a couple of kinks to work out. Like signal fluctuations, and signal lose, at least 3 times a day. I have my peplink surf hardwired to my playstation 3, my web browser works fine most of the time. The playstation network is a different story, I can only play multiplayer online games between 2am and 6am with smooth operations. During other times I constantly get signed out from the playstation network every 5 min, browser works fine. Oh did I mention I cant connect wirelessly to my peplink router, but my playstation 3 can connect directly to earthlinkwifi signal without router perfectly, but it shows nat type 3, and that means no online gaming or video chat. IM a half a block from transmitter, it's on 10th and Rockland in the logan section of the city. So I use the peplink router to get nat type 2, but how do I get earthlinkwifi to change there nat settings on transmitter, cause I wont need router, the signal now is 95% strength. My router shows -70dbm ???????

Earthlink Layoffs Raise Concerns About Wireless Philly

by KYW's Mike Dunn

Is Wireless Philadelphia in danger? A city councilman wonders if that's the case because of financial problems at the company building that network, and he plans hearings to find out.

"This is something that could be embarrassing to the city."

City Councilman Frank Rizzo says it could be egg on Philadelphia's face if Wireless Philadelphia collapses. Earthlink, which is constructing and will operate the network, is laying off half its workforce nationally and scaling back other projects. Rizzo will hold a hearing to hear first-hand from Earthlink:

"Obviously when a company lets 900 people go, abandons other municipal Wi-Fi systems, that's not a good thing. So I need to get the people in the room and discuss where this project stands."

Mayor Street, though, says he has received personal assurances from the new CEO of Earthlink that the Wi-Fi network will e built and that Earthlink will remain as its operator.

http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/954018.php?contentType=4&contentId=924027

How was Earthlink chosen in the first place? Any geek (including me) would've advised otherwise.

IMO I would stick to Comcast if you need highspeed (music/file downloads or online video) or Verizon DSL if you're just a web surfer with little or no need for large downloads. Also note that you need a phone line for dsl service. I have to mention this since I've noticed an increase of homes with no landlines (like me, I just need my cell).

I went out on a limb and ordered the earthlink wifi when I moved a week or so ago. It showed up recently and no luck.... it doesn't work for me. I don't know if its my building (lots of concrete) or just a crappy signal or both. My friend who lives in Fishtown now, gets a decent signal and is currently using it though.

I'm going to go back to good ol' faithful: verizon dsl... the "higher" speed of the two versions works pretty darn well and a lot more reliable than comcast. And you only need a "naked" phone line or whatever... meaning one you can't call or on and is used solely for the purpose of the verizon dsl internet.

I have EARTHLINK and it is sketchy, sometimes I cannot log on and the service at peak times is brutally slow. Not worth the cost.

I just canceled my earthlink service after reading the horror stories in this forum. I hadn't even set up my service yet! The customer service was fine. I was on hold for about ten seconds and was off the phone in less than five minuets. I was charged for the rental of the modem though but the return shipment is pre-paid...

From Philly.com

##########################

EarthLink May Exit Wi-Fi

GREG BLUESTEIN
The Associated Press

ATLANTA - EarthLink Inc., which has been a chief evangelist for blanketing cities with wireless Internet service, said Friday that it plans to consider "strategic alternatives" for that business.

The company "decided that making significant further investments in this business could be inconsistent with our objective of maximizing shareholder value," Chief Executive Rolla P. Huff said in a statement.

Huff in August said the company would study its business of building citywide wireless networks , a project he said "morphed into larger commitments."

The company later bowed out of a deal to provide Wi-Fi access throughout San Francisco, and Cincinnati shelved plans for citywide wireless Internet after noting EarthLink's difficulties in the field.

Chicago officials abandoned their effort to install municipal wireless in conjunction with Earthlink because of the cost the city would have incurred. But about 175 U.S. cities or regions have citywide or partial systems.

Atlanta-based Earthlink said it is looking at "strategic alternatives" for the division, which it said was worth about $40 million, but did not disclose what those might be. As it considers the alternatives, the company said it would work closely with cities like Philadelphia that have embarked on wireless projects with it.

Cities have complained about high costs and less enthusiasm than expected from residential customers. And service providers paying for the networks have questioned whether they will generate enough revenue to justify spending many millions of dollars to build and maintain them.

EarthLink had to pay Houston $5 million for missing deadlines, and Philadelphia lawmakers want to call a hearing on delays and cost overruns stemming from the company's attempt to launch a wireless network there.

Huff, who was named chief executive in June, leads a company that has struggled to generate revenue as dial-up customers turn to high-speed services from cable and phone companies. In August, the company said it would cut 900 jobs , or about half its work force , and close offices in four states to reduce operating costs.

As EarthLink's tradition dial-up business started shrinking, the company started searching for new revenues. It brokered a joint venture with SK Telecom to form wireless company Helio and launched its municipal wireless service.

It has also been gradually scaling back its ambitions as it decided it can no longer afford to foot the bill for citywide wireless Internet services by itself.

Analysts say the business model attracted few businesses or higher-end residential customers who could have supported the service.

"The company was looking to find a new strategy, and municipal Wi-Fi was an unproven but promising strategy," said Michael Balhoff, former telecom equity analyst with Legg Mason Inc. "But we're seeing low subscriber counts because municipal Wi-Fi is appealing to a part of the clientele that would not generate the kind of revenue necessary to support such a service."

The company's decision was "long overdue," said Anthony Townsend, a research director at the Institute for the Future, a Silicon Valley think tank.

"It was pretty clear that it was going to be a long road," he said. "It's a fragmented market. You're dealing with clients and governments that move slowly and are very risk averse. They really didn't have a lot of options, and it turned out to be a lot harder than they expected."

EarthLink shares gained 5 cents to $7.32 in after-hours trading, after finishing regular trading at $7.27.

,,,

Associated Press Writer Deborah Yao in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/features/high_tech/11492081.html

Everyone's right about Earthlink and Comcast doesn't always have the best customer service. I recommend Verizon's DryLoop DSL. I doesn't need a phone line for us cell phone users and is still cheaper than Comcast. Plus they definately have the best customer service out of the three.