Well I am pleased to announce that I have now stepped up my internet experience to DSl yesterday and so far I really like it. I can open up Sunday Photo Fun and not have to wait about two minutes plus anymore. I click it and seconds later there are all the pictures I want to see. I do have some issues however.
With Dialup I was able to right click onto a picture and use it as a backround for my computer but I am no longer able to that anymore. that really sucks because I loved to take your pictures and have them as my backrounds every week change them.
Otherwise it is cool and I never upgraded to DSL for one big reason. DSL was historically way more expensive than dialup and not worth the price difference to go to the “fast click service” But I went thru a well known company for only GET THIS!!! $9.99 a month for a year then goes to the regular $22.99 after that. Since I currently pay $9.95 with Walmarts AOL service it was now worth the change.
To end it I want to say it:
I might as well face it I am addict…dict…dict…dict…dicted to DSL
I have the high speed cable service. When I first switched from AOL dial-up to cable, the change was immediate and spectacular!! I felt like I had won a lottery jackpot.
Now, several years later, I still have the same cable service at the same speed, but newer services are offering higher download speeds. I can upgrade with my cable company, but the cost is substantial and lately, their service has been terrible.
I have used a friend’s computer with 3meg downloads and the speed in incredible, especially compared to my home computer.
Unfortunately, when I check online at SBC or AT&T, I am told that the service is not available in my area. Funny, because my son, who lives about 5 blocks from me, has SBC Yahoo.
What a frustrating experience. Addiction is a terrible condition to endure, especially when you can get a bigger “hit”!!!
Darrell, with painful withdrawal symptoms, and quiet…for now
I remember when I made the switch to DSL from dial up. What a world of difference !! Then I went to cable, OMFG! Congrats on the upgrade, enjoy the benefits !!!
BTW, you shouldn’t be having any problems with images(I never did). Contact your DSL provider and get that straightened out ASAP !!
Not funny at all. 5 blocks is a long way when it comes to digital signals over phone lines. It all depends on where the SLC-5000’s get placed. You can tell these units because they look like normal large phone company boxes except they have a power meter on them and humm with cooling fans.
To the overall topic of the thread. High speed connectivity is one of those things that when people get it, they scratch their heads wondering why they didn’t get it sooner. Sort of like indoor plumbing.
If you are using AT&T/SBC Yahoo DSL, you will have the picture issue. Just use regular IE or other browser. You don’t have to use the Yahoo portal, they just want you to use it so you see their ads.
You can test your connection speed here: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
I check every once in awhile to see if I’m still getting the advertised speeds. I just came in at 7.4mbs download and 351kps upload.
I have Comcast Cable connection and they just upgraded everyones speed in the last 6 months or so I think. It went from 6mbs to 7mbs. The monthly price hasn’t gone up yet but they are a cable company so I’m sure it will. I do get a slight price break cause I also have digital cable. Total bill from the cable company is $110 a month which is pretty good as far as I’m concerned.
I had DSL, them moved to the country and couldn’t get DSL OR cable modem. Talk about P_A_I_N !! Finally got DSL again last year. Next door neighbor has so far lost battle with Verizon who say he can’t get it. His phone comes off the same cable, at the same pole, and is actually a shorter run to his house than mine, but I have a lower street address number. But, the computer says it and there is no getting hold of anyone with any brainpower at Verizon. I would be going nuts.
Ya well. There is one slight problem with DSL. DSL is as good only if your Internet provider keeps the system up and running correctly. To many users on line can realy bog the system down big time.
I was one of the first people in town to get hiigh speed about 5 years ago. There was a rumor going around saying DSL would be here any day. I started calling the phone company and got replies ranging from “it’s in the testing mode” to “what’s DSL” When they finally got it, they called me and asked it I wanted it. It took almost a half a second for me to say yes. We had DSL for about 6 months before the phone company started advertising it. We were the beta testers before they relased it to the general public.
Now, if they would learn from foreign countries and start driopping the price instead of gouging us…
So, what do you have to do to get DSL? I live in an urbanized township in northeast Ohio, but AT&T/SBC does not offer it. Something about distance and equipment, which I have never understood. The neighborhood is affluent and quite near a couple of major commercial areas. The phone companies spend an awful lot of time badgering you about complex and arcane cell phone services. I’m not willing to buy a cell; but I am willing to spend my money on DSL, as are a lot of other people in the neighborhood. Go figure.
In order to get DSL you have to be within 18000 ft of your service providers central office. That is the maximum most providers cut it off at 15000 ft. The further away you are from the central office, the slower the speed. Consequently if you are close to the central office your speed will more than likely be much faster than the published speed.
There are a lot of gaps in DSL service areas. For instance, my parents live in a very very rural area. Nearest neighbor is over a mile away kind of rural and they get DSL whereas I live in the Chicago suburbs and I have some friends here that can’t get DSL at all.
Another variable is the type of line that is running between the central office and the destination. The line can’t go from analog to fiber-optic back to analog. There are a lot of reasons why a certain address can or can’t get DSL.
Went over to 2MB broadband from BT about 6 months ago, well worth the extra. What I will say is to make sure you have a good firewall - high-speed connections tend to attract more attacks than dialup. We bought a firewall/router box that when fully set up gives an “invisible” rating from the Shields Up website (a good place to test your online security - it fires dummy attacks at your PC and reports what happened). It couldn’t even see ours!
My new computer has all the geto stuff. Firewall,Virus protection,etc. And I block alot of Spyware cookies. And yet I still keep on getting Spyware. You know that little eyeball that pops up when you put your curser on it says:Privacy Report. I thought that buying WindowsXP would get rid of Spyware. NOT! I realy HATE Spyware. Allan.