Best DSL Internet Service

AT&T has the best DSL Internet service

Reviews say most DSL service isn't as fast as a cable Internet connection, and some surveys of satisfaction show cable subscribers as happier overall. Still, DSL is often less expensive, and since it works through phone lines, it's available in areas where cable networks haven't been laid. Slower, lower-cost packages can be an attractive option -- many times faster than dial-up, but much less expensive than the fastest DSL and cable services. Most ISPs provide a free DSL modem with a one-year contract, along with a trial period during which you can return the modem without a charge.

In some areas, you can also get standalone DSL -- running through a phone line already wired into your house, even if you're not subscribing to a landline phone service. Several providers offer this.

The fastest such provider is Speakeasy. Speed tests at PC Magazine give top rating to Seattle-based Speakeasy DSL, finding its average speed close to that of the fastest cable provider tested, Optimum Online (Cablevision). The drawback is the price difference. Its pricing is higher than average for DSL -- ranging from 1.5 Mbps (*est. $50 per month) to 6 Mbps (*est. $100 per month).

Speakeasy provides both shared-line and standalone DSL, via a private fiber-optic network that extends to the East Coast, serving most metro areas. Though the company earned the highest satisfaction scores of any DSL providers in PC Magazine's 2006 Customer Satisfaction Survey, it received too few reports in the 2007 survey to make the list. For what it's worth, when we called Speakeasy to get more information on pricing and availability, we were quickly and courteously helped.

AT&T also offers both standalone and shared-line DSL. PC Magazine's 2008 Reader's Choice award for DSL provider goes to AT&T South, formerly BellSouth, with speeds ranging from a slow 768 Kbps (*est. $15 per month) up through several steps to 6 Mbps (*est. $35 per month). In the reviews we surveyed, AT&T gets more recommendations, overall, than any other DSL provider.

AT&T's basic 768 Kbps DSL service is also available in 13 states as AT&T Yahoo! with the same speed and pricing options. At PC Magazine, customers rank it a bit lower than AT&T South, but still higher than Qwest, Windstream, EarthLink or AOL DSL. The most recent J.D. Power survey ranks AT&T Yahoo! above average in all four geographic regions, but doesn't rate AT&T South.

Second ranking at PC Magazine goes to Embarq (a Sprint spinoff), but its pricing isn't competitive. For example, Embarq's slowest service, 768 Kbps (*est. $30 per month) costs twice as much as AT&T. Third ranking goes to Verizon DSL (*est. $20 to $43 per month). Embarq offers a maximum speed up to 7.1 Mbps, and also gets good ratings at another large survey of subscribers, but costs more than AT&T South.