High speed Internet connection question

Yes, a good wired cable or "wired" fiberoptic line is by far the best available high speed internet service. The only downside may be price. Wireless service uses the cellphone networks, and is vastly slower, and is likely to be even more expensive. It is used primarily by business travelers wanting convenient access for their laptop computers. DSL is also much slower than a good cable or fiberoptic connection, and its speed is dependent on your distance from the local phone company station, but it may be significantly less expensive than cable.

In my area (Connecticut, not far from NYC), Cablevision's Optonline "Optimum Boost" service which I use provides 30mbps download speeds for about $55/month. Verizon FIOS fiberoptic service I believe is even slightly faster, for a comparable price. DSL is around 1 or 2 mbps typically, but costs less. Wireless is less than 1 mbps, for around $60/month.

HTH,
-- Al

Thought I'd recommend to everyone the following site as the best way to measure download and upload speeds. Click on the location nearest to you:

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Kurt -- I suspect your numbers are in kiloBytes (or megaBytes) per second, abbreviated kB/sec or mB/sec. In case it's not clear to anyone, I want to clarify that the numbers in my earlier post are in kilobits or megabits per second (abbreviated kbps or mbps), which is how internet connection speeds are most commonly specified (multiply kB/sec or mB/sec by 8 to approximately convert to kbps or mbps).

Even making that assumption, your cable numbers are slowish compared to what is usually available these days. Try the Speakeasy test and see what it gives you -- you may be pleasantly surprised, especially if your numbers were determined by dividing file download times by file sizes (a methodology which underestimates connection speeds because server response times at the other end, and internet propagation delays in between, come into play). These should not be included when evaluating connection speed to your isp.

Regards,
-- Al

I have no knowledge of Charter's software, but I've been very pleased with Outlook Express over the years, and my instinct is to avoid software provided by ISP's.

Regards,
-- Al

I thought what you had been asking was what email program would be best to use. That is separate and distinct from the question of who provides the email account.

Obviously the email account, its associated address, and the associated mail server function, must be provided by either an isp or a web-based email service. But the program you use to access your emails, and to send emails you create, could be Outlook Express, Outlook (which is not the same thing as Outlook Express), Thunderbird, Evolution, or any number of other email programs, or alternatively, email software that Charter may provide.

If you were to use Outlook Express, after establishing the email account with Charter you would set up Outlook Express under its Tools/Accounts menu. You would need to enter certain information such as the Charter mail server addresses for incoming and outgoing emails. These should be stated on their website.

Regards,
-- Al