I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (Full Version)

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littlesarbonn -> I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 1:54:49 PM)

I'm to the point where I don't care anymore. I'm in one of those demographic areas of the country where we live right on the edge of a technological city hub but we're just far enough away to be somewhat of a third world country. If I lived 50 miles to the west, I'd qualify for all sorts of great Internet services from companies competing against each other. Instead, I'm stuck with either Comcast or AT&T. And because we're part of that third world country mentality out here in the crime capital of America, or is it the literary nadir of America (I forget which accolade we're embracing today), if we want Internet service we have to pay out the a** for it. You can't even touch Internet service out here without a HUGE "fee" for not also having digital cable services (no, not the simple plans either, but the ones that run at minimum of about $70), and THEN you can pay for high speed Internet. If you decide to go all Che Guevara and choose AT&T instead, you can't get "high-speed" Internet without first having a data phone plan, although you CAN choose the $10 line, which after taxes, weird unexplainable fees and mole-bashing charges, comes to $32, and THEN you can get the high speed Internet. But that "high-speed" Internet from AT&T tends to last about an hour before it just stops working. But that's okay, because you can then call AT&T and have them come out and find out what's wrong with it, BUT they'll have to charge you a $150 visit fee if by some chance the fault isn't AT&T's (which for the record, if the modem turns on, the technician determines it's YOUR fault, and he doesn't have time to wait an hour for the connection to stop working again, so cha-ching, that's $150, thank you). So, I now have a service called Clearwire, which is about the same price as the others, but it has no "you have to have cable or phone service" in order to use this wireless tower service. The only problem is: The high-speed for this service isn't really all that high, as I keep discovering every time I try to watch a Netflix movie online, because the movie starts up, plays twenty seconds and then has to refeed the connection for 7 minutes and thirty-eight seconds, before playing for two minutes and doing it again. Same thing with You tube.

So, you might get an idea why it just doesn't matter to me anymore if they want to charge for how much bandwidth you use. Right now, I've become one of those grandmas only checking email (and IGN) because I really can't do anything else. Yesterday, I found this paper thing on one of my shelves and opened it. It was this really old technology we used to refer to as "books". I downloaded some of this information for about a few hours yesterday and wondered how this new technology had gotten past me while I was so busy dealing with Internet, porn and American Idol.



ownedgirlie -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 2:18:47 PM)

You don't live very far from me - I'm close to Sacramento.  I used AT&T until it just stopped working entirely.  They kept telling me the problem was with my computer, and if I wanted better support I could purchase their high level support plan.

I called on Earthlink, although everyone was telling me they might go belly up soon.  I have had impeccable service, and at amazingly discounted rates.  You might want to try them.

http://www.earthlink.net/access/




littlesarbonn -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 2:28:55 PM)

Thanks, but like I said, I live in a third world country in comparison. The only service Earthlink offers my area is a wireless satellite service which is actually slower than the ho hum service I have now with Clearwire.



faerytattoodgirl -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 2:30:52 PM)

AT&T has support levels???bahahaha no wonder the company SUCKS...they dont care who you are they just want your $$$$ and your only a # to them.

i personally would never get any type of phone line internet connection.  it is nothing compared to any cable connection.  i have never had any slow downs never had any disconnects unless there's a bad ass storm outside like tornado like weather or bad snow storm and power goes out...and even then its only happened like 3-5 times in the 6 years on rogers cable (canada's comcast).  with being on the vip package i can download up to 100gb per month..which is a shit load and i average about 50gb/month which is even getting lower cause i dont download much anymore.  i split with 3 other people the cost for cable/tv(every channel not just basic)/phone (free long distance included to can/usa) all on rogers its less than $50 each after tax for all 3 things.  we all have computers and our own tv-digiboxes which we are changing to HD this year when we get our new tv's.



SageFemmexx -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 3:05:41 PM)

I sympathize, I live in third world country conditions myself. I can't get ATT to even consider doing something DSL out here so I have plain ole dialup and a dedicated line.

But you know what? Even without Utube and fast downloading etc etc, I've finished three degrees online and starting my fourth. I don't play wow or everquest, I just have offline hobbies like reading and quilting.

I check my email, post thoughts on message boards and say hi to people on my buddylist. Research is abit slower and I print alot of things and run. But hey, it is what it is.

So, look into satellite dishes--my best friend has one so she can play online games and/or look for something else. There's always another provider coming up.

Be Well and Blessings,



GoddessDustyGold -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 11:16:29 PM)

Hughes Net, wherein, so they claim, all you need is a clear view of the Southern Sky?
http://www.nationwidesatellite.com/HughesNet/service_plans/HughesNet_plans.asp
 
Another possibility is Wild Blue
http://www.wildblue.com
 
But I couldn't check that one out further for ya, since My high speed connection was taking too long!  [;)]
 



Asherdelampyr -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 11:20:54 PM)

Satelite radio is disgustingly expensive in most cases, because the tech is soo new... As for AT&T they are already on my personal shit list for their outsourcing and hiring policies...



petdave -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/18/2008 11:56:34 PM)

Whatwhatwhaaaat? You can get cable Internet AND DSL and you're complaining? [:D]
Until about 3 weeks ago i was on 33k dial-up... same baud rate i had in 1997, because it was either that or HughesNet. Or pay $100+/month for 128k ISDN (again, hot shit for 1997). i looked into EVERYTHING else, meaning up to and including getting carrier-grade service to a vacant office in the next town and staring my own WISP to resell service in my town (couldn't get confirmation one way or the other that the ILEC wouldn't provision the CO for DSL and make my hardware worthless overnight).

We're talking 18 MONTHS with NO pr0n, brotha! Then, *poof*, VZN lights up the local tower with EVDO, and i'm paying $70/mo for ~400kBps with a 10GB monthly cap and i'm DAMN glad to be getting THAT.

So, smile, things can always get worse!



Asherdelampyr -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 2:14:10 AM)

Back in my day all we had was 27.7k and we were GRATEFUL!



Honsoku -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 2:16:28 AM)

Bah, you piker. I remember 900 baud! Don't forget about when we had to feed the electrons into the wire by hand!



Asherdelampyr -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 2:18:24 AM)

YOU LIE!!! YOU LIE!!!



Fnordstrum -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 7:40:37 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: faerytattoodgirl

AT&T has support levels???bahahaha no wonder the company SUCKS...they dont care who you are they just want your $$$$ and your only a # to them.

i personally would never get any type of phone line internet connection. it is nothing compared to any cable connection. i have never had any slow downs never had any disconnects unless there's a bad ass storm outside like tornado like weather or bad snow storm and power goes out...and even then its only happened like 3-5 times in the 6 years on rogers cable (canada's comcast). with being on the vip package i can download up to 100gb per month..which is a shit load and i average about 50gb/month which is even getting lower cause i dont download much anymore. i split with 3 other people the cost for cable/tv(every channel not just basic)/phone (free long distance included to can/usa) all on rogers its less than $50 each after tax for all 3 things. we all have computers and our own tv-digiboxes which we are changing to HD this year when we get our new tv's.



Most companies only care about your money and not you as a person, that just tends to be how it works (Moreso the larger the company is)...

Also as far as Cable vs. DSL, really what it comes down to is your ISP (or, at least, the ISPs you have available), which one is better... It can also vary by location even with the same ISP, sometimes you hear about DSL going out all the time, sometimes you hear about cable going out all the time, it just depends on the situation/location/ISP.

But I've been fine with cable (Charter) for years, sure it's $10 on top of the internet charge because I don't also get cable TV (Or any TV, but they of course only care about cable), but it's not really a big deal, cable gives me a halfway decent speed and more importantly a static IP without spending a ton of money...


Really though, what will be awesome is whenever FIOS/FTTP/FTTH (whatever you want to call it) finally gets more widespread... Who knows how long that will take, but, yeah.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤



HaveRopeWillBind -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 8:52:31 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Honsoku

Bah, you piker. I remember 900 baud! Don't forget about when we had to feed the electrons into the wire by hand!


Or how about when it was 300 baud and you had to pay 12 cents/minute just to be on-line? I remember many who reached their Credit Card limits in a month on-line back in those days. 



petdave -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 8:54:47 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Fnordstrum

Really though, what will be awesome is whenever FIOS/FTTP/FTTH (whatever you want to call it) finally gets more widespread... Who knows how long that will take, but, yeah.


Hell, our ILEC won't even provision our CO for DSL... by the time they roll fiber out to areas like ours it'll be obsolete by two generations! [:D]
They sure do spend a lot of money on advertising for it, tho...



faerytattoodgirl -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 8:57:44 AM)

10 gb limit?? wtf is the pint in that???

i remember 300 baud when using my hot awesome c64 in the mid 80s!

it was an amazing C64 because i had the origional stand alone pioneer LDV 1001 player and dragons lair and space ace programmed into the C64 using the pioneer player and an atari joystick to play  which saved tons of $$$ at the arcade since i had the exact same thing at home.   no i didnt do the genius  programming that it took to run this.




Real0ne -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 9:00:21 AM)

Hey if you think thats bad I remember when 300 baud was rockin!   Saved me amny trips and disk mailing! That was long before www and back in the bbs and direct connect days!  LOL



quote:

ORIGINAL: faerytattoodgirl

10 gb limit?? wtf is the pint in that???

i remember 300 baud when using my hot awesome c64 in the mid 80s!




Ou! day it is!  and I just got my shiny new upgrade 286 from a 8088 too!





ghitaPVH -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 9:17:12 AM)

Im still on 33K dialup. The phone lines here wont handle anything else. So no highspeed for me. Even if there is a company willing to sell it to me, the phone lines wont carry it. There isnt any cable out here either. There actually is a cable line running down the first portion of my road, but it is only for cable TV, apparently its too old for cable internet too. THe cable compnay and the phone company both say its not financially feasible for them to upgrade their lines anytime soon. We tried satillite internet, but its $80 a month, and not any faster than dialup. And it goes out everytime theres a cloud. And let me tell you, I may live in the sunshine state, but we seem to have clouds almost daily. I cant download or upload anything, so that means no emailing pictures of the grandkids to my mom, and no downloading video clips off the internet that my oldest needs for school. It takes hours everytime I need to upload a new picture to my fairly lowtech website. Its insane honestly.



Honsoku -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 10:03:20 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: HaveRopeWillBind

quote:

ORIGINAL: Honsoku

Bah, you piker. I remember 900 baud! Don't forget about when we had to feed the electrons into the wire by hand!


Or how about when it was 300 baud and you had to pay 12 cents/minute just to be on-line? I remember many who reached their Credit Card limits in a month on-line back in those days.


I considered pulling out the 300 baud and the bbs days, but I didn't want to seem too ostentatious [:D]



pahunkboy -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 10:15:04 AM)

I moved to the poor side of the river. Now I can get DSL, at a cheaper price but by no menas is it a steal.  Local cable is so boring one has no chance  in it- so I get sateliite. This is a red necked area- abit of the bible belt here. Luckily the area univeristies add some sanity to the locale.  It floored me that verison would not update my phoneline so as to get DSL. i did some digging and found if i got 50 signatures they would HAVE to serve me. when i told a rep that she said it did not apply since i already lived in its serving area!!!  the neighbor 15 feet away could get it but not me. the wiiring in snyder county are so old the lines crackle.  anyhow then one wonders why i am so down on the establishment.....  dont tell me the sky is red when it is blue.  simple. [i also layed into them over 200 lobbiest in Washington!!] 



ThinkingKitten -> RE: I think I'm giving up on this new fad thing called The Internets (1/19/2008 12:24:31 PM)

We all have our crosses to bear. Mine's called "Bell".
(don't have a cable TV connection, so cable 'net isn't an option).



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