I'm trying to make a decision, and keep vacillating back and forth on it, so I thought I'd get some input.
Okay, Earthlink has been my ISP since the '90s. When I wanted to upgrade from DSL to cable, they explained that the service would be provided over Time Warner's [now Spectrum's] cables, and billing would come from TW. But it was still an Earthlink account, and my primary, personal e-mail address would be unaffected.
I recently spoke to Spectrum about an ad I've seen which doubles my speed--and costs $1 a month less! They said that even though no physical changes would occur, if I made this change to my service I'd no longer have an Earthlink account; it would be well and truly Spectrum.
They explained that they bought out Earthlink and, as a courtesy to its customers, grandfathered us in without forcing us to change to Spectrum e-mail addresses--but any change to service would trigger that.
I've had my personal my_full_name@earthlink.net address for 25-ish years, and get virtually no spam--because of how carefully I've shared it; only my closest friends and relatives know it. I don't want to lose it! But, damn!, doubling my speed with no rate increase is really enticing.
Until my live-in helper moved in, my 50/5 plan was more than enough for the way it was being used: web browsing, e-mail, up- and downloading things, Twitter, banking, forums. But she streams. A lot. Her use affects mine, negatively, by slowing things down.
So what do you think? Should I stick with my decades-old account so I can keep its e-mail address, or upgrade--and kiss it goodbye?
I recently checked my router's specs, and it can easily handle the higher speed, so I won't have to buy a new router. But I'm not sure about the modem.
PS As I've been writing this, it's actually become pretty obvious what I should do. But what the hell? I'd still like to hear opinions.
Okay, Earthlink has been my ISP since the '90s. When I wanted to upgrade from DSL to cable, they explained that the service would be provided over Time Warner's [now Spectrum's] cables, and billing would come from TW. But it was still an Earthlink account, and my primary, personal e-mail address would be unaffected.
I recently spoke to Spectrum about an ad I've seen which doubles my speed--and costs $1 a month less! They said that even though no physical changes would occur, if I made this change to my service I'd no longer have an Earthlink account; it would be well and truly Spectrum.
They explained that they bought out Earthlink and, as a courtesy to its customers, grandfathered us in without forcing us to change to Spectrum e-mail addresses--but any change to service would trigger that.
I've had my personal my_full_name@earthlink.net address for 25-ish years, and get virtually no spam--because of how carefully I've shared it; only my closest friends and relatives know it. I don't want to lose it! But, damn!, doubling my speed with no rate increase is really enticing.
Until my live-in helper moved in, my 50/5 plan was more than enough for the way it was being used: web browsing, e-mail, up- and downloading things, Twitter, banking, forums. But she streams. A lot. Her use affects mine, negatively, by slowing things down.
So what do you think? Should I stick with my decades-old account so I can keep its e-mail address, or upgrade--and kiss it goodbye?
I recently checked my router's specs, and it can easily handle the higher speed, so I won't have to buy a new router. But I'm not sure about the modem.
PS As I've been writing this, it's actually become pretty obvious what I should do. But what the hell? I'd still like to hear opinions.