As our service provider reviews start to near the end of the alphabet, Qwest stands out.  Sure, Qwest is one of the few nationwide companies that starts with “Q”, but that’s not the only reason.  Homes from coast to coast can take advantage of Qwest bundles using the industry leading Qwest fiber-optic network.

Utilizing the power of their fiber-optic Internet, Qwest bundles come equipped with “Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet – Any Speed”.  You can even setup Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet as a standalone product with speeds from 7mbps all the way to a blazing fast 40mbps!  Even from their low end, Qwest high speed Internet allows you to download music, watch movies and upload pictures with ease.

You can also rely on 99.9% “up time”, so you have fewer interruptions, Qwest @Ease online backup for easy, off-site storage, and Norton™ AntiVirus Online to keep your computer disease free.  Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet also comes with a 30 Day, 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

To see if Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet or which Qwest bundles are available in your neighborhood, just enter your address in the “Find Savings” widget at the top of the page.

We spend a lot of time discussing high speed Internet service, but what do you do when high speed isn’t available?  What about if you so seldom use the Internet that the cost of high speed Internet just doesn’t make financial sense?  We live in such a high speed, hyper-connected world that we sometimes forget dial-up Internet access is an option for many homes.  As we take some time to look at dial-up Internet options, our ongoing service provider discussion naturally moves to People PC.

I don’t know that any  company would want to advertise “cheap Internet access“.  Surely, that’s why People PC boasts its “low cost Internet access”.  The term “cheap Internet access” could convey a sub par service when, in reality, People PC is anything but “cheap”.  Does People PC provide low cost, affordable  Internet access?  Absolutely, but don’t confuse People PC’s low costs with anything other than reliable dial-up Internet access.

In reality, PeoplePC Accelerated™ dial-up Internet access is actually up to 7x faster than regular dial-up services.  Their “smart dialer” chooses the fastest connection in your area using one of thousands of nationwide dial-up numbers.  People PC even offers free Internet call-waiting, email virus protection from Symantec and multiple email addresses all with unlimited dial-up Internet access.

Not exactly what you might think of as “cheap” Internet access, but People PC certainly is affordable Internet service.  Enter your address in the “Savings Widget” at the top of the page to see which People PC plans are available in your area.

Continuing our closer look at our providers, today’s focus is on Mediacom.

While they may not be as well known as some of the larger cable companies, Mediacom is proud to focus its efforts on the smaller towns and cities across the country.  According to their own website, Mediacom has invested millions of dollars building a nationwide fiber optic network to deliver the Mediacom VIP pak to communities all over the country.  Areas typically viewed as “smaller” by some of the larger cable companies benefit from Medicaom’s efforts by enjoying the savings associated with phone, TV, Internet bundles.

Medicaom’s cable TV bundle is known as the VIP pak and, like most bundles, it offers phone, TV and Internet with savings for combined services and a single bill.  The draw is the combination of monthly savings and convenience.  Of course, you also get Mediacom cable TV, home phone and high speed Internet.

One of the highlights of Mediacom cable TV is known as “Family Cable”.  Family Cable, as the name implies, offers something for every member of the family. From educational TV for the kids, to a variety of sports, food and news channels Mediacom Family Cable even offers your favorite local shows.

In addition to Family Cable, Mediacom cable TV also offers up to 28 commercial free channels from Starz, Encore, Showtime and TMC, as well as Starz & Showtime On Demand.  You also get an interactive on-screen program guide and over 4,000 On Demand shows and movies every month.

If you sign up for the Mediacom VIP Pak  you could get an automatic upgrade to VIP Online with 15Mbps as well as Web Boost, which delivers short bursts of web browsing speed to load web pages at up to 30 Mbps.

Mediacom home phone service offers a variety of features, including unlimited local and long distance, three way calling, call waiting, call forwarding and more.  If you’re switching existing phone service from another phone or cable company, you can also keep your current phone number.  Plus, you know you’ll pay the same price each and every month.

Mediacom’s high speed Internet, known as Mediacom Online, is built for speed.  Mediacom Online users can see speeds up to 12 mbps.   That’s more than enough to stream online movies and TV episodes.  Uploading pictures to share with your family is a breeze.

Continuing our provider spotlight, we visit one of the Southeast’s prominent cable TV providers - Knology.

Recognizing the need for a balance between everyday communication and common budgets, Knology offers cable TV service starting as low as $20 a month.  You won’t get the bells and whistles that come with the Knology Digital Preferred Plus, but you will get your local channels, news, weather and sports.  However, if you are looking for more from your cable TV, the the Knology Digital Preferred Plus package is only $20 more than their basic cable package.   Those are reasonable prices for any budget.

Knology high speed Internet is available in similar varieties.  Offering various speeds, Knology is actually in the process of upgrading its entire network with a “significant technological advancement in speed, security, reliability and performance.”  When the upgrade is complete, the Knology Edge network will reach speeds up to 25 mbps while varying speeds will still be available in the Knology Intronet, high Speed, Edge and Edge Plus packages.

Of course, you can also bundle your services with the Knology Digital Trio.  The Digital Trio combines the Knology High Speed Internet, Digital Preferred Plus and SmartChoice Phone with unlimited long distance.

See which Knology bundle or stand alone services are available in your area by entering your address in the “Savings Widget” above.

Providing phone, TV, Internet packages to customers throughout Kentucky, and parts of Ohio and Indiana, Insight Communications has grown into its own since its 1985.

From its humble beginnings as a local cable operator, Insight now offers total telecommunications solutions, including money saving bundles.  Insight customers can take advantage of comnbined services with the Insight Double Play or the Insight Triple Play.  The Insight Triple Play, according to information on their website, can save you up to $575 per year (as of October 2010).  That’s a significant amount of money added back to your bottom line.

Along with saving money on cable TV, Insight also offers superfast high speed Internet.  Insight broadband comes in three tiers:

• Broadband 10.0 with top speeds up to 10 mbps
• Broadband 20.0 with top speeds up to 20 mbps
• Braodband 30.0 with top speeds up to 30 mbps (not available in all service areas)

Each tier represents quality high speed Internet download speeds.  Even the lower tier, Broadband 10.0 represents quite an improvement over dial-up or even DSL high speed Internet.  So why would you want the 20 or 30 mbp services?

Think of it this way.  If you stream video using Broadband 10.0, you should have no problems.  However, you’d get twice the performance and enhance your ability to multi task by using Broadband 20.0.

See which Insight bundles are available in your area.  Simply enter your address in the “savings Widget” at the top of the page.

After acquiring local phone services from Verizon, Frontier Communications now offers phone, TV, Internet packages to more than 4 million residential and business customers in 27 states.

Through a partnership with Dish Network, Frontier offers bundles services to compliment their existing unlimited calling and DSL high speed Internet.  Known as “Frontier Fast”, Frontier high speed Internet offers speeds up to 6mpbs that Frontier claims will not “bog down” during peak hours.   The high speed service also comes with anti-spyware software from CA, Inc and an online portal powered by Yahoo!.

To see if Frontier high speed Internet or digital phone is available in your area, just enter your address in the “Savings Widget” at the top of the page.

Dish Network completes the pair of well known satellite TV providers. Battling with DIRECTV for you entertainment budget, Dish Network satellite TV packages offer another choice in competitive digital TV provider markets. Satellite TV also allows customers in more rural areas to enjoy premium TV and sports packages by delivering the signal where cable sometimes can’t.

Dish Network customers can enjoy over 200 all digital channels, including 31 commercial free premium channels.  You can also keep up with your favorite sports teams with football on the NFL channel, basketball on the NBA channel, and hockey on the NHL channel.  Regional sports channels are also available based on geographic location.

See which Dish Network packages are available at your house by entering your address in the “Savings Widget” at the top of the page.

Continuing with our discussion of service providers, we’ve moved into the arena of satellite TV providers, and an arena is actually a good starting point.  There are really only two major players when it comes to satellite TV service, Dish Network and DIRECTV, and they’ve been battling it out for years.  With similar products and alphabetic proximity, we’ll discuss the two providers over the next two reviews .  DIRECTV is first on the list, alphabetically, so we’ll start there.

Unrestrained by the physical cables that tie cable TV providers to individual service areas, DIRECTV has a nationwide presence.  However, that doesn’t mean they don’t compete in cable TV markets.  While Dish Network is the only major satellite TV competitor, DIRECTV does have to compete with local cable TV providers throughout the country.  But they’ve got some help.  DIRECTV offers satellite TV bundles by partnering with several traditional phone companies.  Working with phone companies like AT&T, Qwest and Verizon allows DIRECTV customers to take advantage of satellite TV bundles with phone service and DSL high speed Internet.

You’ve probably seen the commercials on TV, but one of the main selling points for DIRECTV is its unmatched sports coverage.  Offering near total sports coverage, DIRECTV customers can sign up for sports packages, like NFL SUNDAY TICKET™, NASCAR HotPass^™, and wide ranging International soccer coverage.

There’s also been a lot of on-air discussion about HD channels.  When it comes to full-time HD channels, DIRECTV has over 160.  That means DIRECTV offers more HD channels than any other cable or satellite TV provider.

Is DIRECTV satellite TV right for you?  Enter your address in the “Savings Widget” at the top of the page to compare plans and prices.

Moving right along in our review of service providers, we come to Cox Communications, a cable TV provider known for pioneering the now familiar “bundle” – phone, TV, Internet packages.

According to their website, Cox is the third-largest cable provider in the country.  Claiming excellence in customer care as a hallmark, Cox appears to be content in the number 3 spot as it continues its pursuit of excellence over enormity.  Still, Cox cable customers receive top tier services.

Coming in multiple forms, Cox cable bundles offer a variety of cable TV, home phone and high speed Internet services.  Currently, Cox high speed Internet customers can expect speeds up to 15 Mbps using PowerBoost® while enjoying hundreds of digital TV channels, On Demand video and unlimited calling plans.

While Cox doesn’t offer cable TV service in every city across the country (and who does?), Cox bundles are available in several states.   Enter your address in the “Savings Widget” at the top of the page to see which Cox bundles are available in your area.

Comcast bundles have been around for a while now.  Through products like the Comcast Triple Play, you could bundle your phone, TV, Internet services to take advantage of lower prices from a single provider.  Well, the next wave of Comcast bundles has arrived.  Say hello to the Xfinity™ Triple Play.

So what is Xfinity™y?  According to the Comcast website, the Xfinity™ Triple Play is phone, TV, Internet service brought to you through Comcast’s all digital network.  The benefit to you is faster high speed Internet, “triple the HD channels”, and thousands upon thousands of On Demand titles.  You can even watch some TV online, anytime, with Xfinity™.tv and Fancast.

You don’t even pay more for the “all digital network”, but there is a catch.  Xfinity™ is also not available in all areas just yet.  As of this writing, you can get Xfinity™ in Atlanta, Augusta, Baltimore, Boston, Chattanooga, Chicago, Denver, Harrisburg, Miami, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle.