• Don't trust offers of unlimited free cable Internet or unlimited cheap cable Internet. Usually that means “unlimited for the first 250 hours.”
• Beware of “free trial offers” that ask for your credit card, and then automatically charge you after the trial period has expired.
• Several scams pose as legitimate cheap cable Internet access providers, similar to “phishing,” the way crooks try to make you believe Microsoft has sent you a security update via e-mail.
• Run the other way if the prices quoted seem unrealistic.
• Beware of offers for a free cable modem or other equipment. Usually you end up paying a fee anyway.

Note that the cheapest high speed cable Internet service in the world won't be entirely ideal, because the federal government steps in. The FCC allows cable operators to charge customers $75 a month if customers want to use their own ISP rather than the provider selected by the cable company in their broadband cable package, and that's before inflation.

Bird Specials on Cheap Cable Internet
You've saved all your life but are on a fixed income, and let's face it, you deserve cheap Internet, if not free cable Internet. But you're wise enough to know there's no such thing as a free lunch—that's what you're always telling your kids, right?

Check out AARP if you're a member, since Earthlink offers cheap Internet dialup access and cheap cable Internet access, as well as a $25 VISA gift card. AOL offers its cheapest high speed Internet plan for AARP members, knocking as much as $28 off your yearly fees with either the Unlimited All-Access Plan or AOL FOR High-Speed plan.

Many independent and assisted living facilities include free cable Internet access. If you don't have it, ask for it. You've earned it.

Equipment Doesn't Mean Cheaper Internet
You may think you're getting as good as free cable Internet by purchasing that modem, network card, router, etc., from your local clearance bin or from your cousin's friend who sells them out of her garage. However, factor in the cost of a service call when the equipment breaks down, the lack of documentation, and the fact that your cousin's friend might go out of business in three months leaving you stuck with a cheap modem. After you incur costs trying to fix problems with your equipment and wasting time, especially if you run a home-based business, the cheapest high speed cable Internet service won't save you as much money as you thought.

This is entirely different from renting/buying and installing your cheap Internet provider's equipment or the approved equipment listed on that cheap cable internet service's Web site. In the long run, not cutting corners can actually cut your cable Internet costs.

Cheap Cable Internet--What You Pay For
Although you get what you pay for, cheap Internet doesn't mean you have to sacrifice tools and amenities that enhance your online experience. You may have to purchase additional anti-virus software, for example. However, most cheap cable Internet services won't cheat you out of Webmail, personalized home pages, parental controls, and so on. Cable carriers often include free cable Internet features as incentives to sign up for what they advertise as the cheapest high speed cable Internet service. Again, cheap Internet is only a bargain if you're getting more than the ability to send e-mail (even if that's all you use your cheap cable Internet for.)

Cheap Cable Internet Goes to College
A Washington Post article reports that 65 percent of college students have broadband, and it's often a cheap Internet service, if not included in tuition and housing costs. At community colleges such as Allen County Community College, students get free cable Internet in their rooms, included presumably in dorm fees, but it's up to the student to supply the necessary networking hardware.

N.B.: free cable Internet or the cheapest cable Internet comes with responsibilities, such as installing anti-virus protection and not doing illegal file-sharing. (University of Michigan, one of the pioneers of the Internet from its infancy, offers its cheap Internet-using students the use of Cgidix, a music download service that costs $2.50 a month.) But since you're in college, you already knew that. See…there are benefits to staying in school, like the cheapest cable Internet access for your tuition dollars.