Most cable companies provide an internet only package, IE, putting a filter on your line that blocks everything but the frequency range your modem uses.

I've never heard of such a thing... I must investigate.. Around here they (cable) are promoting the idea of $33 internet, $33 phone, $33 TV. Catch is, you have to sign-up for all three. I'll be damned if I'm gonna blow $100+ (taxes) on "entertainment". If I added $100 a month to my house payment, I could have a freakin' McMansion!

Verizon charges $50/mo for unlimited broadband to your notebook anywhere you get cell phone service. Not too bad.

Slow like one of my farts, though.

You could put a wireless router on your cable signal...poof, cable anywhere in your house :)

That's what I do. One $49 wireless router attached to the cable modem and there ya go. Some days I decide not to go into work, I just get on the VPN from my laptop and don't even put on pants all day. Which is kinda fun.

Here are a few commets on high-speed Internet access:

-DSL is not slow, unless maybe someone has a lousy provider or is in a relatively poor location (which is again just an indication of a lousy provider if they do not improve service to that location). I have had my DSL service since February 1999, and "they will pry my DSL modem from my cold, dead hands". :)

-Cable Internet may be faster than some DSL lines at some times or locations, but if you value reliability, think back on how reliable your wired telephone service was, compared to how reliable any cable-TV service you have had has been. (I suspect your phone service was far more reliable. My DSL service has had maybe four outages of a couple of hours or so each total in the last eight years.)

-Either DSL or cable Internet may be available without the associated phone/TV service; just call your local providers and ask.

-As others have said, wireless Internet service is much more expensive than the above options, and most likely has less consistent speed than DSL (though cable Internet has a reputation for speed problems in prime usage hours as well).

-The last time I asked, Verizon's high-speed cellular data service was US$80/month, unless you also have your phone with Verizon, then the data is $60/month. Verizon does, or did, also have a provision in their terms barring people from using their cellular data service as a home-based substitute (something like not allowing "substantially all data usage from the same cellular tower" or similar).

-Though I do not use either the phone or the data as my "only" source of service, I am having good luck with a Sprint service plan that is offered through employee referrals, along with a Pocket PC phone with built-in Internet browser that can also connect to my laptop computer. Search for "sero" on howardforums.com for the details. The plan is quite inexpensive.

Well, the cheapskate here gets by with the cheapest of phone plans, no options through an el cheapo phone company, and then cheap dial-up. Phone service that you don't use, without long distance, shouldn't be too expensive. I really don't mind living here in "dial-up land". I've been online for close to 10 years with the same company and can't remember the last problem I had. My stepfather, who relies heavily on high-speed internet for work, has trouble with his cable connection almost daily.

Even some local papers quit publishing the local TV listings such as the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Mom was upset at that. At least the Post Gazette still makes one. TV Guide is just a mere shadow of its former self.

====I had quit buying TV Guides years ago, when they stopped including the one thing that made it worth paying for rather than using the free guides in newspapers: Program descriptions for shows in non-prime time====

There's always the tv guide of sorts that comes in my newspaper, I've always used that for primetime. Yeah TV guide is stupid now, just a repetitive listing of show titles that is the same from day to day and week to week, what a waste of paper. As for just watching what is on instead of looking up something in TV Guide of old, I prefer just using the Direct TV guide when I sit down to watch tv, or use the DVR to find things automatically that I know I like already and record them and watch later if I want.

Now that's a show that was before my time! I used to watch that show a lot on TVLAND when I younger but I don't now because it's kind of annoying. Epecially the theme song! :yikes:

What I liked best about TV Guide was the little "R" next to a show that denoted it was a RE-RUN.

Now about Green Acres. I'd dissect that show and re-use the characters if the actors were still around. Pat Buttram's "Mr. Haney" would be waaay more entertaining than Anderson Cooper. And you'd know he wasn't being forthcoming most of the time. Oliver Douglas, whom was always a gentleman when flustered, could replace foul-mouthed Bill O'Reilly, Lisa Douglas could replace the even more foul-mouthed Ann Coulter, Mr. Drucker could replace Billy "Oxy Dude" Mays, Mr. Ziffel could replace Alan Colmes, and, IMHO, Arnold the Pig would be a most suitable replacement for Sean Hannity.

I also remember when TV guide would put a star or asterisk to show that a program was broadcast in color or as time when on, they would use a little "BW" for a black and white program.

As to your l ttle assessment there, myself, I'm burned out from politics myself.

Over the past couple years, i've had maybe 3 outages w/ our Cable (internet only) that lasted 10mins or so.

IMHO, the Cable vs DSL debate is a matter of location and carrier, not the service itself.

Basically, I only watch TV because I have a Tivo. (Tivo Brand Tivo).

I've got certain shows I record daily, maybe watch 3 episodes of each per week.

We pay ~$145/mo to the Cable Company for the TV, phone, and internet + another $20ish to Sprint for unlimited long distance.

Out of 900 some odd channels, I only watch maybe a dozen. :(