Specifications

(Cable installation is quicker if you
already have cable TV; at our testing
household, we didn’t.)
Once connected, we found EarthLink’s
speeds at or near the advertised maximum
of 1,628 Kbps download and 368 upload.
Although EarthLink’s claims of “award-
winning” customer service seem mostly
justified, we found room
for improvement. You can
get 24/7 customer service
via phone, e-mail, or live
chat. E-mail questions can
take up to 24 hours to be
answered. After wading
through a labyrinth of
Touch-Tone menus and
holding an average of 10
minutes, we found the sup-
port people friendly and
helpful overall.
The one exception
came when we called with
a problem viewing Web page photos
(which we had turned off in Internet Ex-
plorer’s options). The tech-support per-
son first suggested it was “a Microsoft
issue.” Then she instructed us to reset
our defaults and enjoined us not to re-
configure our browser again. Our other
tech-support calls were more successful,
EarthLink’s users can configure spam blocking online.
0246810
CONNECTION TYPEISP
Satellite
Fixed-point
wireless
DSL
Cable
modem
56K modem
SATISFACTION WITH:
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is best.
N/A —Not applicable: We did not ask dial-up users this question.
7.6
N/A
8.0
8.8
7.9
8.6
8.3
8.4
6.7
6.9
Why did you decide to get broadband?
Faster access to the Web
File downloading or file sharing
Always-on connection to the Internet
Faster access to e-mail
Freeing up or getting rid of a phone line
Sharing (networking) an Internet connection
Home office/home-based business
Streaming music and video
Telecommuting
Online gaming
Hosting a Web site
Videoconferencing
Provided or requested by my employer
94%
75%
70%
60%
55%
35%
34%
24%
21%
12%
7%
6%
5%
THE SURVEY
Reader survey scores
0
10
20 30 40 50 60 70
Average hours per month
Broadband
Dial-up
61
43
Wireless 34%
Wired 34%
None 32%
BROADBAND USERS
DIAL-UP USERS
None 80%
Wireless 5%Wired 15%
Total respondents with home networks: 56%
How much time do you spend
online at home?
What kind of home network
do you have?
Multiple responses accepted.
PC MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 www.pcmag.com
108
though a question about Web hosting was
relegated by tech support to a sales-
person.—Erik Rhey
Optimum Online
With Cablevision service, $44.95 per month; other-
wise, $49.95. CSC Holdings Inc., www.optonline.net.
Optimum Online’s short fall from
the pinnacle of our survey chart
can be blamed on rising prices and de-
clining service, the only areas where it
doesn’t receive better-than-average
scores from our readers. Last year’s only
A+ was based on scores consistently bet-
ter than average; this year the support
scores drop to average, and satisfaction
with the rates is worse than average. This
is not surprising, given the service’s
major price increases, but it is unfortu-
nate: Last year 37 percent of the surveyed
Optimum subscribers ranked price
among the top three reasons for choosing
the service—the highest such percentage
B