What is a good "high-speed" internet provider?

[Z]

Yo answers community,

I'm looking for a good "high-speed" internet service. I live in Northern California (if that helps) and I currently have at&t's 12mb/s download and 3mb/s upload plan. Needless to say, I'm no happy camper. I used to have surewest's 16/5 plan. I'd like to avoid old and dirty companies like at&t and comcast (too much bad experience with both). I also want to avoid companies who do internet at a side job like Dish and DirectTV.

Now, when I say "high-speed", I'm talking relative, hence the quotation marks. I'd like above 20, but I can like with ~15...price is of course an issue. Surewest is still an option, but I'd like others to choose from.

So I'd like answers based on 3 factors: speed, reliability of service, and cost (I know you may not have this on hand). Use personal experience, or word of mouth from a trusted individual for answers please.

[Chris]

Typically, for residential Internet, you'll get the best speeds from cable broadband, unless you have a fiber-based provider in your area (e.g., Verizon FIOS or Google Fiber). I live the Washington D.C. suburbs, and all my friends and colleagues who have Verizon FIOS Internet are very pleased with its speed (several levels are available) and reliability. Assuming you only have access to Comcast as a cable provider, and you want to stay away from Comcast, then you should look into FIOS to see whether it's available in your area. I believe both Dish network and DirecTV offer satellite-based Internet service, but that has additional built-in latency of about 1/4 of a second due to Earth's distance from the satellites and the speed of light, so it isn't ideal if there are other options.

[Vic]

I'm from the Bay Area and AT&T and Comcast are the only HSI options. I'm amazed Google hasn't hooked up Fiber in it's home territory. You can try Sonic.net and see if their Fusion service is available at your location. I hear they have excellent customer service and reliability.