[Steel*Faith]

Can anyone recommend or warn us about cable TV and Internet providers? I've had horrible experiences with Cable companies in the past when I moved out of state, so I'd like to hear directly from people living in Vermont what companies they'd recommend for or against. My wife is from overseas, so it's important for her to stay in contact with her family, so reliable internet is important for us both.

My wife and I are planning to move somewhere between Montpelier and Burlington - perhaps somewhere near Waterbury or Middlesex - but we're still unsure. We just want to be somewhere we can commute to work (likely in Burlington) and also be close to the Orthodox Church in Northfield Falls; so I figured those areas would be a perfect in-between?

Thank you in advance for any help or advice!

Edit: Oh, could anyone recommend the best ways to find apartments in Vermont? It seems like not many people use Craigslist, so what are some other good alternatives that most Vermont natives use?

[tkln]

We have been living in Stowe for the last year, where internet is provided either by Stowe Cable, Sovernet or Fairpoint...I've had Stowe Cable all that time - I work from home, so need the fastest connection I can get. Fairpoint was offered here but only at their slowest speed.

I can tell you that the customer service is second to none - they know me, they know I work from home and anytime I have a problem they fix it right away. That being said, during off hours, you get connected to a service and they are totally useless. Price wise, they were a bit high at first, but believe it or not, they dropped their price by $15/month for their highest speed this spring, which was something I've never experienced before.

We just bought a house in Waterbury and Comcast is the provider there. No experience with them yet (haven't moved in yet!) but the speeds they offer are far greater than what was available in Stowe. Unfortunately, I'm sure the customer service won't be as great.

[Steel*Faith]

Thanks for the info mate! I guess when we find an apartment we will just need to find out from the owner what services are available, but Stowe sounds good, and Comcast is affiliated with Cox Communications now, so it must be good.

Anyone know anything about the areas to live between Montpelier and Burlington, and can suggest a good place to live?

[MRVphotog]

Here in the Mad River Valley, just over the hill from NF, we have our own telephone, cable and internet company. It's nice to walk into their office for whatever reason or issue you might have. The company has been here for over 100 years. Since their office is on the way to work, twice a month for the last 15 years I have handed my monthly bills to the same nice lady at the Customer Service Desk.

I know it sounds crazy but that's one of the many things about rural Vermont that I don't mind paying alittle extra for.
Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom

On the hospital thing, being now an official old fart, I think Fletcher Allen, Rutland(lots of friends who have had good experiences their lately, especially orthopedic stuff) and Gifford(my favored Vermont hospital) are fine hospitals. Negetive experiences at CVMC in Berlin tho.

[Steel*Faith]

I ended up going with Comcast - not that there was a choice :P They offered a plan for 40 per month for 20 mgbs download speed. We don't use cable TV, and we're going to use Vonage for our phone. So I'm hoping it all works out fine for us, but I'm disappointed we couldn't use a local company as you two described.