Urban Discoveries Baltimore

There are a few things I take for granted when blogging. One, that you’re reading this blog purposefully, not misguidedly searching for porn or encoded al-Qaida instructions (The rooster crows at dawn, my brothers). Two, that you have regular, and perhaps portable, internet access. But should this second assumption prove wrong and you are in fact stealing whatever spotty wireless signal you can wrangle from your front porch — like, ahem, I used to do — or hanging out at a public library, reading blogs next to elderly grandparents who are fumbling through e-mails with the assistance of some poor librarian – like, ahem, I have also done – then perhaps it’s time to get an actual internet connection of your own — like I eventually did.

The big kahuna of Baltimore ISP’s (internet service providers) is Comcast. A national cable and internet company, Comcast is available throughout the city. Major competition however comes from Verizon DSL, another large national corporation; cell phones are their other primary business (although their customer service occasionally leaves much to be desired).

If, however, you’d like to go local — which would give people in Maryland jobs and help Baltimore regain its economic footing in a small, but pleasant way and be totally awesome of you — Believe Wireless is a full service, locally owned ISP that caters to both residential and business consumers.

Laptops, though, are made to travel, and if you find yourself using the internet away from home more than the average bear, you may want to take a closer look at Clear (formerly Xohm), a mobile internet provider. The simplest way to describe Clear may be to call it cellular broadband. Much like a cellular phone, Clear’s broadband signal is broadcast from transmitter towers (often sharing the towers with Sprint, Clear’s parent company) to individual subscribers; the major difference being that the signal is directed to portable modems about the size of a flash drive, that are plugged into your laptop. Running at 4G speeds, Clear is not available nationwide yet (soon, they promise!), but is available in Baltimore, D.C., and Philadelphia.

And if you’re one of those hippie, beatnik poet types who hangs out in coffee shops, typing your precious, perfect words onto a laptop and can’t afford internet, but can afford a venti nonfat chai, well, there are always places for you. In Charles Village, there’s Carma’s Café or Donna’s. When in Mt. Vernon try Red Emma’s or the City Café. If you’re in Washington Village, Evelyn’s Cafe should have what you’re looking for. And if you prefer tea to coffee, try Teavolve in Fell’s Point.

Any favorite spots to get coffee and internet that we missed?

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