Is Earthlink internet any good ? (1 Viewer)

[Jim Mcc]

I'm looking into switching to Earthlink broadband internet to save some money. I currently have TWC's Roadrunner service. I'm wondering how the quality, reliability, customer service etc. is? Thanks

 

[Jim Mcc]

No one knows anything about Earthlink?

 

[Paul D G]

I didn't even know Earthlink was still around!

They were a major ISP around the turn of the century (ha-ha!) but I think they started to fade when the cable companies added high speed internet.

I'd suggest checking out DSLReports.com. You can enter your zip code on the front page and the type of service you're looking at (cable, dialup, dsl, etc) to get reviews and comments from people in your area specifically.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Yes, still around. I just switched to them today for broadband internet service. I should have dumped TWC a long time ago. I will save $16 per month.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I've been an Earthlink customer since 1996, sort of. Originally it was Netcom, then something else, then something else, and you get the picture.
The one thing that I HATE about Earthlink is that they only give you 100 MB of mailbox space. You can get more if you want to pay a few extra bucks a month! I am constantly fighting to stay under the limit (noting that I've been using the account for over 16 years). I find it incredibly obnoxious that an account that I pay for gives me a tiny fraction of the space I get from any of the free mail providers. And the worst part is that their web mail client is SWARMING with outside advertising.

 

[Jim Mcc]

I've been an Earthlink customer since 1996, sort of. Originally it was Netcom, then something else, then something else, and you get the picture.
The one thing that I HATE about Earthlink is that they only give you 100 MB of mailbox space. You can get more if you want to pay a few extra bucks a month! I am constantly fighting to stay under the limit (noting that I've been using the account for over 16 years). I find it incredibly obnoxious that an account that I pay for gives me a tiny fraction of the space I get from any of the free mail providers. And the worst part is that their web mail client is SWARMING with outside advertising.

Now you tell me !!
I don't know what "100 MB of mailbox space" means exactly.

 

[Paul D G]

Originally Posted by Jim Mcc /t/325650/is-earthlink-internet-any-good#post_4009493
Now you tell me !!
I don't know what "100 MB of mailbox space" means exactly.

Your email takes up disk space. Usually only a few kbs but it starts to add up if you hold on to emails for whatever reason. Someone sends you an mp3 or photos or a pdf then an email reaches into MBs. So 100 MB of space is really small for most people.

But just because you use Earthlink doesn't mean you need to use their email service. Set up a gmail account and it doesn't matter who your ISP is, you'll always have the same email address.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Thanks Paul.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Yeah, if you're just getting the service now, it's not so important. Back in 1996 it was much more common to simply use your ISP email account as your main account. I've been gradually moving things to Gmail for a while now, but it takes time and is a hassle. (I had a Juno free email account as well back then, but of course that's long gone.)
To put this into perspective, an 8 GB memory stick (much more expensive storage than hard drive space), which is 80 times as much storage as 100 MB, costs less than $10.

 

[Jim Mcc]

WE use Outlook Express for E-mail. Does the 100mb of space still apply to us? If so, does Earthlink notify us if we go over? Thanks

 

[Paul D G]

What you use to read your email doesn't matter, it's what's stored on Earthlink's servers.

If you're using a PC based email program you're downloading your email from Earthlink to your PC. I'm not sure if doing so deletes the email from the server or not. If it does then I don't think there's anything to worry about.

I would think Earthlink would start sending you warning emails when you start running out of space so you can delete some old emails.

 

[Jim Mcc]

I'm still confused, but thanks for the info.