We recently updated our Internet Service Provider (ISP). Worldline set us up with unlimited 6 Meg DSL Internet plus phone plus Canada long-distance service for $50.00 a month. Yes, you read that correctly. If you take the link and decide to sign-up, tell them that Brian Mahoney sent you. We’ll get a discount for that just as you will when you refer people to them. Today was our first day and, touch wood, so far so good. The phone service is crystal clear and the Internet is super fast! We’ll let you know if anything changes over time.

Before you dive into this, we should let you know that your phone won’t work if the power goes off. Everything goes through a Thomson router, both Internet and phone, so if the power is gone, so is your phone. You can get a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) and plug the router into it for complete protection but if your electricity goes off for long periods of time, this may not be the option for you.

Secondly, the 911 service cannot locate you as it can with a regular phone. Sure, you can keep your old number, but you have to tell the 911 operator your location. Again, this may not be for everyone. If you have some chronic condition that limits you from speaking in an emergency, stick with your normal landline.

In the last month, we’ve also switched to using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on some of our computers and entertainment consoles. We like to kick back with a movie during downtime and Netflix is our main choice for that. But, since we are in Canada, we are in awe of the superb offerings on the American version of Netflix. In order to connect to the U.S. Netflix, we have to use a VPN which shows us as coming from inside the U.S. instead of from Canada.

This is not illegal, by the way. Once you have a Netflix account, you can access any Netflix offering in any country where they operate. This is convenient if you travel, for instance. If you have a U.S. or Canadian account, you can access Netflix in Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, England as well as in the U.S. and Canada. We pay $5  a month for this service, using a VPN provider right here in Canada.

The process is simple and explained on the provider’s site. You can either set up each computer or entertainment console individually or you can change the settings on your router which feeds out the Internet to all of your various computers/consoles. Each situation is different but they are all explained on the provider’s site. Here’s the link: http://www.unblock-us.com/  In this case, we don’t get any referral fees but it’s only $5 a month anyway.

Lastly, we are not connected in any way to either of these two companies. With Worldline we get a $5 kickback if you mention Brian’s name and for Unblock-us, we get nothing. But we like to give credit where credit is due and both of these companies provide good service at a very decent price. If any service problems crop up, we’ll let you know.

Thanks for reading!