NYC - internet / phone

[mathman]

Moving from Toronto to Manhattan end of Oct 2013.  Any advice for best deals on home internet service in NYC?  We would like to pair this with either home phone or mobile phone (2 adults).  We are clueless, having never owned or used mobile phones before!  Thanks for any advice!

[naners]

Welcome to the city! I lived many years in TO and am now also in NYC. Check out the IP Daley's guide for some general advice:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/communications-tech-isps-voip-cell/

I personally get my cell service from PlatinumTel on an unlocked iphone that I already owned. Internet I get from the local cable company (which will depend on where you live). DSL from a reseller like DSLExtreme will be cheaper; for a variety of reasons (no phone jacks in the apartment!) I didn't go that route right away, but you might consider signing up for Verizon and then switching.

Good luck!

[Daley]

Verizon and TWC seem to be the predominate providers in the greater NYC area. Knowing that, you can potentially take advantage of either DSLExtreme or Earthlink there in the area if there's no good service deals. Just remember, you don't actually need much more than 3Mbps. Check out the guide Naners linked.

As for wireless, again, check out the guide Naners linked... and remember that nobody needs unlimited anything, paying for huge wads of data with cell phone service will lead to spending too much on cell phone service in general, and the best way to keep cell phone calling needs to a minimum is to supplement with VoIP home phone service. All covered in the guide. :)

[RhythmKats]

As a former Earthlink customer in NYC, I would NOT recommend their services...and I use that term loosely. A few years ago they outsourced their customer service and it's awful. I actually canceled my service with them because of it. If you do a web search for Earthlink and customer service you'll see that many have been unhappy with them.

[mathman]

Thanks all of you for the advice.  The IP Daley guide was quite worthwhile read. My main goal is to reduce the monthly bill, even if it's a bit more expensive initially, because over time that should lead to lowest overall cost. Unfortunately in my building, the regular copper was cut to install FiOS. That limited the options.

The best deal seems to be TimeWarner cable ($30/month) paired with MMM-recommended Republic Wireless ($20/month * 2). This biggest disadvantage is the $200/person phones for RW and the $130 modem for TWC.

Your suggestions were helpful. Thanks!

[Solo]

I have FiOS, and I have to say that while it's a little pricier, it is very reliable, probably the most reliable internet service I've ever had. I have friends who use TWC and wish they could change, but FiOS hasn't reached their neighborhood in Brooklyn.

As far as phone service, most people nowadays have just a mobile phone, and I was one of them for about 10 years, but I recently picked up an Ooma for the home to lessen the number of mobile minutes my wife and I need to use so we can get less expensive mobile plans. The device is normally about $130, but can be found for $99 when on sale. The best part is that the service only costs normal phone taxes, which in NYC is less than $4/mo.

While I haven't settled on a mobile plan yet, I'm looking at Ting mobile. It has quite a unique pricing structure. You pay for what you use for voice, txt, and data, with each having multiple tiers. I won't get into the nitty gritty here, but I calculated a total of $30/mo. combined for what my wife and I will wind up using now that we have the Ooma (500min, 1000txt, 100MB shared). If you don't use any of the three, you don't get charged for that particular portion of the service. All of it is automatic. You can BYOD too, though it's limited to Sprint phones.

Good luck!

[Daley]

Thanks all of you for the advice.  The IP Daley guide was quite worthwhile read. My main goal is to reduce the monthly bill, even if it's a bit more expensive initially, because over time that should lead to lowest overall cost. Unfortunately in my building, the regular copper was cut to install FiOS. That limited the options.

The best deal seems to be TimeWarner cable ($30/month) paired with MMM-recommended Republic Wireless ($20/month * 2). This biggest disadvantage is the $200/person phones for RW and the $130 modem for TWC.

Your suggestions were helpful. Thanks!

If you actually need mobile phone service, don't bother with Republic. There's plenty of documentation as to why in the guide, but I'll reiterate in a nutshell for the sake of argument: it's overpriced as a home VoIP service, and it's not very competitively priced to what's available on the MVNO marketplace without any of the horrible service caveats. Save yourself the money and the grief, you can get better for equal or less elsewhere and shop for phones that actually meet your needs... they're like the Ooma of mobile phone service (which isn't saying anything very nice, sorry Solo, but the math just doesn't add up) so just don't. The superguide's chock full of superior alternatives on both the MVNO and VoIP ends.

You also don't need to spend $130 with TWC for a modem. Bring your own modem.

[Solo]

Apologies. I wish I could have been more helpful. Good luck mathman.

[mathman]

Thanks everyone again.  All your comments were helpful. Special thanks to Prof. Daley!

Very helpful website I found regarding what's possible with Ting, after who-knows-how-many-clicks:  http://mreverydaydollar.com/a-review-of-ting-disrupting-the-mobile-phone-market/

[Daley]

Thanks everyone again.  All your comments were helpful. Special thanks to Prof. Daley!

Very helpful website I found regarding what's possible with Ting, after who-knows-how-many-clicks:  http://mreverydaydollar.com/a-review-of-ting-disrupting-the-mobile-phone-market/

Yup, Mr. Everyday Dollar's Ting write-up did address a simpler and more modern approach to what I'd originally proposed and outlined as an alternative to doing the Republic experience yourself. I think I even eventually linked it myself off that post a few months back. Eh. *waves hand* The important thing is you found it! :)

Just remember, you're not just limited to Ting when pulling that setup, any reasonably priced MVNO will work.