I have a feeling this may not be a very common problem, but it appears that my new apartment in QV does not have Verizon internet availability. I am guessing this may have to do with it being a rear-court trinity that missed the rounds when they put in high speed wiring but who knows.

Anyway-- I am trying to hook up internet, only internet (no cable or local phone). It doesn't have to be ultra high speed, but I work from home so it has to actually work. Do any of you use Philadelphia Wireless? There are such bad reports about it, that it is spotty, etc., but it may be my only choice short of paying for cable that I do not watch just so I can get internet service. Any thoughts?

If you have a phone line, you should be able to get DSL over phone from Verizon.

I've had it for several years and pay $45/month for DSL, and unlimited phone service. I don't really use the land line, but I don't know if they offer the service without it, and it's cheaper than cable.

It also works all the time and I've never seen a wireless connection that wasn't painfully slow.

Your best options are either DSL or cable internet. Forget about Philly wireless, it doesn't work well. I think you can get a cheap phone line from Verizon that is local calling only for less than $10 a month then get their cheapest internet. You have to ask about the phone line, I don't think they advertise it as an option.

Philly Earthlink Wireless is useless. I had it for my wireless devices and it worked twice in 6months. They gave me a refund, but I'm still a little bitter over the uselessness of their product.

Cavtel is the best dsl I have. I get:
-over 7meg. bandwith
-phone service
-unlimited long distance
-Caller ID, three way calling, voicemail, etc.
for only $50/month.

I have Verizon DSL for my one business. Download speed is at about 2-3meg., but upload speed is horrendous. Very few areas have fios yet, as the infrastructure is still being implemented.

Comcast is comcast. Overpriced, full of gimmicks, and overly underappreciative of their hometown. I wouldn't use a comcast product if it was free. Ok, if it was free, I'd use it. But I would still curse them.

I use Verizon Broadband access and it works fine anywhere there is Verizon wireless access. It works well for me because I travel & I also didn't want to pay for internet access in two homes. I don't download or upload very often so if that is important you should follow up on your own. The verizon store on South street is very helpful,

Verizon offers DSL service without a landline requirement. You just have to have a phone jack. There are two speeds, the higher (what I have) is about $36/month, and a lower which (i think) is around $20-25/month. I haven't had a single problem with it in 1.5 years, even when I moved. Good deal if you have a cell and don't need a landline.

I've tried using our city's Wi-Fi before and honestly, you can never get on. It always goes to "Local" or "Connected with Limited Connectivity". You're better off with Verizon. It's fast and affordable.

Do you need a verizon account with cavtel? Can you use them for a business account? I am taking a commercial lease for my toy shop on weds and I would like to try a different provider than Verizon.

Cavtel is its own company.

cavtel.com . They do have a business service, but its more. If you don't have to be in the yellowpages, just put the phone number in your own name as a personal account. Either way, you can check out their services on the website.

Where did you end up choosing for your business?

We literally were going to be on 4th right off Bainbridge across from famous but the owner of the building was not comfortable with my name DBA my company. He requires insurance so I didn't want to be personally liable - he didn't seem to care so, you know... we got snagged on that and there was some other things that made me very uneasy about renting the space.

We looked at every vacant store front along 4th street but when we compared the start up cost of renovating the spaces we concluded that many of the spaces rents were just too high.

Fingers crossed, we are signing a lease for a place on N 3rd Street in Northern Liberties. Not too far away but I doubt folks will leave their neighborhood to shop with us.

I'll post an announcement when we're ready to open in case folks from QV would like to come over.

It was really ashame. We really wanted to offer our products to the QV neighborhood. There is nothing like us in this city and it just would have been a wonderfull place to be.

Just have to see what happens in the future.