Winky, I'm paying $26.95 a month for my DSL (I've seen cable offer deals where you get a month free or something but oce that's over the monthly cost is around $40 to $50) and my speeds are pretty consistent. I believe I'm supposed to be at 1.5M down/384K up. I've been too lazy to check my real speeds in quite a long time, but my speeds were pretty respectable if I remember right. Plus, DSL has quicker ping times than cable, which is better for gaming. I don't game much but it's nice to know it's there. It also helps to have SBC Yahoo because RadioShack sells that and it's good to have some product knowledge.
SL, if that were to happen, I still know the login and password for my parents' internet account. That's how I connected after I got my apartment but before the DSL got turned on. I just had to make sure to log on at a time when I was sure my dad would be offline, and life was good.