Specifications

www.pcmag.com SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 PC MAGAZINE
107
BROADBAND
speeds, confirming our readers’ impres-
sion of good throughput. And tech support
did better on our staged problems, an-
swering calls quickly, understanding our
questions, and fixing each of our problems
in less than 10 minutes.—M. David Stone
Cox High Speed Internet
With Cox Cable Television, $39.95 per month;
otherwise $49.95. Cox Communications Inc.,
www.cox.com/highspeedinternet.
Number one with a bullet, Cox
High Speed Internet shoots to the
top of our broadband ISP ratings in its
first appearance. Like Road Runner, an-
other Readers’ Choice–winning cable ser-
vice, Cox proves that it’s not the extras
and add-ons that make a service great; it’s
the basics—reliability, service, connectiv-
ity, and speed.
Like Road Runner, Cox’s offering is
sparse: no antispam or antivirus tool, no
parental controls, no pop-up blocking, no
firewall. Its seven e-mail addresses per ac-
count are backed by just 10MB each of
storage space. One bonus: Those planning
to create large personal Web
pages will enjoy the gener-
ous 70MB Cox provides.
We had considerable
trouble finding a qualified,
remotely located staff mem-
ber or volunteer who could
try installing Cox’s service. Cable—in-
herently restricted to the geographic
areas where a cable company is located—
is always a bit of a challenge for testing.
Even opening the field to cooperative
(read daring) readers who’d let us use
their systems for testing didn’t turn up
anyone qualified who did not already
have a high-speed service.
We wanted to experience installation,
service, and support without getting pref-
erential treatment, so calling the company
for help wasn’t an option. Near press time,
however, we found a test household. By
the time you read this, we’ll have each
posted its experiences in an updated ver-
sion of this review online at www.pcmag
.com/broadband.—Sean Carroll
EarthLink
Cable, $41.95 per month; DSL, $49.95 per month.
EarthLink Inc., www.earthlink.com.
Once an alternative to giant ISPs,
EarthLink has itself become a Go-
liath—a well-liked Goliath. Readers’ eval-
uation of the broadband service has shot
from a C+ last year to an A-.
The only areas where Earth-
Link scores no better than
average are satisfaction with
rates and with connection
speed. The rates score is
hard to explain, as Earth-
Link’s rates seem competitive for both
DSL (the more common EarthLink setup)
and cable (a newer service).
EarthLink broadband service is avail-
able via DSL, cable, and even satellite. We
tested with cable. The service offers eight
e-mail addresses and 10MB of storage per
box, as well as a proprietary pop-up
blocker, an antispam program, and parental
controls. EarthLink also offers backup dial-
up numbers, as well as significant dis-
counts for the first six months of service.
EarthLink reels you in with free instal-
lation and modem, contacting a local
cable or phone company for you. Beyond
that, you’re at the mercy of local
providers for installation. It took us about
a week to get connected after placing the
order, and installation took an hour.
A+
A-
Where’s the Butterfly?
33.6K modem or slower 3% 2% 1%
56K modem 49% 32% 24%
Cable modem 30% 42% 50%
DSL 17% 21% 22%
Wireless local loop 1% 1% 1%
Satellite 1% 1% 1%
ISDN 0% 1% 0%
Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.
12/01 12/02 6/03
Percent on broadband: 48% 66% 75%
If broadband were available in
your area, would you get it?
Yes No
81% 19%
If you can get broadband,
why don’t you?
I don’t need it
It costs too much
I have a bad impression
of the service
I want it but haven’t
gotten around to it yet
24%
77%
6%
18%
THE SURVEY
What kind of access do you use?
Multiple responses accepted.
After a huge advertising push for Microsoft’s MSN broadband
service, readers might be surprised not to see MSN for Broad-
band reviewed here along with AOL and SBC Yahoo!, two similar
ISPs. Toward the end of the testing phase of this story, Microsoft
announced that MSN for Broadband was being restructured.
Where previously MSN was your ISP and main point of contact for broadband
service (it collected your payments), now MSN is included as an optional client
and service for other ISPs, which will serve as your main point of contact (and
collect the money). Subscribers still get the browser MSN Explorer, with strong
parental controls (including e-mail– and IM–blocking abilities) and improved
spam filtering. For more on MSN 8.0, see our online review at www.pcmag. com/
article2/ 0 ,41 49,63463 7,00 .asp.—S C