New Internet?

I got an email from my ISP telling me that my service runs out in a month or two, and asking if I want to renew. This time I'm not so sure.

See, I used to have Joi Dial-up, which was pretty much the best thing ever since it only cost SIX DOLLARS a MONTH. And you paid by the month too, or by a few months, which was great. I'd get my "You'll expire soon" email, and then I'd send them six more dollars.

And then, Joi shut down all their dial-up or something, and sold all the dial-up users to Earthlink, and we got to keep our pricing for the first six months or a year, I'm not sure, before they hiked it a bit and changed the payment schedule.

Now, I'm on Earthlink and I have to pay by the year and it's Ten dollars a month, which hits the bank hard because they take all that money at once.

And after two years of Earthlink Dial-up I'm not so sure I want a third year. I mean, the service is great, I've never been cut off or unable to sign on, it's just that... I go to the college and the internet is fast. I go to work and the internet is fast. I go to my friend's house and the internet is fast.

I go home, and I call my friend with the fast internet when I see something big I want to download.

Which is fine, I guess; I loaned him my other portable drive and he's using it for whatever, besides all my downloads.

So, I did a search yesterday for newer internet, and I have no idea what to get. Or how to search for it, evidently. I sifted through all those "Cheap Price for the first Six Months" ads, looking at the fine print, and that internet isn't cheap at all, and there are all these fees they mention, and I'm not sure if I have to buy a router...

I realize that I'm going to have to spend more money, but I'm throwing myself on the mercy and knowledge of my readers here: what internet should I get?