Hi - I'm paying about $65/mo total for phone/internet as follows:
....
Can I substantially beat this down, or best to just leave it?
There's potential for a bit of tweaking and massaging on the total cost. It's a decent rate, but you might be able to shave off another $10-20 a month with the right available options.
$48ish landline + DSL internet. Slowish (tests at about 1 Mbs down/380k up) but sufficient for what I do.
One significant way to cut costs is to eliminate the traditional landline and just go with straight internet access and migrate your home phone to a VoIP provider.
Who provides DSL service in your area? If it's AT&T, you might be able to get 3Mbps dry loop from them for that price, though I'm unsure of what their new official prices are... site redesign has gone and hidden everything of value. Shock. If you're in an AT&T area, you will not be able to get dry loop access from anyone but AT&T. If you're in a Verizon area, look into dry loop service through
DSLExtreme... if it's Century Link or Frontier territory, look into
Toast.net. (Not 100% certain those local CLECs will provide dry loop access to third party ISPs, but it doesn't hurt to ask!) You'll just have to crunch numbers on alternative broadband connections and tack on about $8 for something like VOIPo or VOIP.ms. If that total gives you more for the same money or less without any real investment, pull the handle... otherwise, stay put.
You said your cable is free. Is there any way to get cable internet? Excuse Comcast, that's usually a cheaper and easier internet-only option.
Others have suggested arguing to get your rates down. It's an option, but I typically don't bother recommending it as an option unless you grossly undervalue your time or you have no other recourse and enjoy arguing on the phone. The one thing they fail to mention is that if you want the threat to be real, you have to be willing to follow through. Best to make sure you're not in a monopoly situation first.
$15 prepaid "dumb" cell phone (10 cents per min or text; rarely use all but it rolls over)
Sounds like you're with NET10, which is a GSM MVNO (and a ripoff). If you're in an area covered well by T-Mobile, you could half that cost going with Platinumtel instead. If there's good AT&T coverage, Airvoice will shave off about $5/month. Added benefit? Greatly improved customer support. Carrier unlocked GSM dumbphones can be had for under $35 easy, and you can switch to any other GSM carrier you like without investing in another phone. ROI on making the switch should be roughly six months or less. If you are with NET10 (America Movil), the handset is proprietary and locked in. It's dumpster fodder unless you can find someone else to buy it off you. (Good luck, I couldn't even
give away our old Tracfone/NET10 handsets).
$2-3 long-distance (use Costco 2.9 cents/min card)
If you're able to switch your home phone to VoIP, this should disappear. Alternatively, if you switch to P'tel, this too could still disappear if you continue spending the same amount of money a month on cell service.
Must haves = reliable home internet access, ability to receive simple text messages, some kind of cell phone.
If your DSL service is already reliable, then if you can go with an alternative carrier, it should still be reliable. If it's reliable and you aim for the 1.5-3Mbps service range, VoIP service should be solid as well.
Been reading "The ISP, VoIP and Cellphone Superguide" (thanks Tech Meshugana!) but it's not clear to me how much I'd save by redoing everything - or whether the effort would be worth it.
Thanks!
You're welcome, and glad to have helped! :)