My Internet Connection *PIC*

[wisdomkeeper]

Good luck with that concept on this side of the pond. Money talks. Period.

Well, I really don't know how you live in USA in such a situation. American dream and etc. but reality seems to be different... I don't understand how the government could allow such a monopoly to occur. But not only this - to support the monopoly. I really dislike big fat corporations that always try to dictate our lives, to tell us how to live, to require...
Seems like we are thinking the same thing. If so, probably you have a good reason to live in country, in which you dislike the situation. Furthermore, i am really interested in how the people live in different parts of the world. With this posts you confirmed some of my suspicions. Well, how could a man survive in such a economy, in such a situation?

[Puppy]

It's ridiculous to have 2-3 Megabits per 50$ in year 2015, 21 century.

Don't forget that $50 has different value in US and eastern Europe. You always have to compare it with income. They still have at least 2 Mbps by DSL while we have nothing in 2015 over here.

If so, probably you have a good reason to live in country, in which you dislike the situation.

Call it "home". There are many things in this country a don't like and I have understand it will not change soon or rather never (massive corruption, overpriced goods etc). Thanks to (still) open borders I can go to visit Germany anytime I want which is completely different (better) world in many aspects. We go shopping there because food (and almost everything) is cheaper and better quality for last 10 years. I could easily emigrate there but is that a solution ? I don't think so.

[ajkula66]

If so, probably you have a good reason to live in country, in which you dislike the situation. Furthermore, i am really interested in how the people live in different parts of the world. With this posts you confirmed some of my suspicions. Well, how could a man survive in such a economy, in such a situation?

Well, as I put it to my teenage daughter some time ago: we don't get to choose who we fall in love with. Trust me when I tell you that I had no intention of immigrating to the U.S. but...life happens.

This is the third country that I've lived in for an extended period of time and while there are many things that I dislike, there's a lot to like as well. With that being said, once I retire - presuming I survive the next 6.5 years - I'm going back to where I originally came from.

[ThinkPad560X]

I got the Verizon MiFi hotspot and got the cheapest plan, 5GB $50 Mo and used 1.768GB so far not fully using it right now as I use the one at home for now. But is their a Unlimited MiFi carrier "Sprint, AT&T" to pay like $50-$70 a month for unlimited? I use to have unlimited when I had the Verizon PCMCIA card.

I looked on this but it seems to be out of date http://www.prepaid-wireless-guide.com/b ... plans.html

[rkawakami]

As far as I know, there's no major cell company that is currently offering "unlimited" data-only plans for hotspots. And by major, I mean AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. I believe that most everyone in the mobile telecommunications game here in the US will be using one of those four networks. There are some local / regional cell companies that provide service to a small audience so it might pay to ask around your area and see if that's the case.

There are "unlimited" cell plans that are being offered; unlimited minutes of talking, texts and data. However it applies only to a single smartphone as most of the companies frown on using your phone as a hotspot or tethering it to a computer. If they don't object, then they usually charge you extra. Also, "unlimited" data does not automatically mean all the data you want, delivered at the highest speed possible, all the time. If you check the fine print, you will be allowed a certain amount of high speed data but then you'll be throttled down to a much slower speed.

[tarvoke]

not an exactly-derail, but I feel compelled to mention:

a cautionary tale to anyone buying prepaid value for phone or intarwebs-mifi-thing.

GREED.
KILLS.

a couple years ago, I was buying my vmobl top-up credits on fleabay for about 35c on the dollar. I assumed it was probably mafia/gangs/whomever laundering money. never once a problem (other than internal contemplation)

then all of that dried up. eh ok it was probably wrong to be supporting mobsters or whatever.

within the last few months, however, started showing up e.g. VM credit of $55 for "only" usd49.99. I bought one, hey "why not this feebay one is cheaper and no tax" etc. (holy balls am I glad I only bought 1 not 2)

2 months later (i.e. now), my VM cell service becomes instantly suspended with zero warning. I have to talk through 3 days worth of ppl only to find out - the original CC used to purchase the usd55 credit sent to me, was bought using a stolen/fraudulent card. chargeback on the original CC == my cell is suspended without warning.

greed kills.

after finally getting thru to the right phone-person, I had to pay VM the true cost of the usd55 (60.19 - includes TAX ARGH) and then it took somewhat less than 24hrs before the fone started working again.

CAUTIONARY.
TALE.

and, yeah, seems unlikely ebay/paypal will give back my fitty-bucks, but I will keep trying...

[rkawakami]

So it really doesn't matter how little I pay, DSL is not the answer for me.

For the same $65 a month, I can sign up for Xfinity Performance service from Comcast and get up to 50Mbps download and 10Mbps upload speeds. Even if all my neighbors are sucking up the bandwidth at the same time, I should be able to get 1/10th my rated speed.

Well, I finally bit the bullet. Ordered Comcast Performance package last week and it was installed today. With a little bit of re-configuration to my home network, this is what I'm getting:


Bought my own DOCSIS 3.0 modem (Motorola/Arris SB6141 $90 @ BestBuy) as I think the rental charge was $10/month. We'll see how the service changes over the next month but it certainly is a lot better than the 1.2M/384K DSL I've been experiencing for the last 15 years.

Edit: Removed dslreports.com speed report graphic as they changed it to an advertisement.

[TTY]

Well I got even more bad news today. They came out to replace with a new new box router and told me they are going to charge to RENT the boxes now "started at beginning of the year". I asked about the internet lags and completely no internet and said they probably don't have any plans to upgrade their local office hub around me and no fiber lines.

I would still talk to the windstream customer service hotline. It just might be that the hotline person is more willing to help than the guys who came to your house.

...and finial they cant lower my bill since its the lowest...

That is just not true. Their 6 Mbps high speed internet and phone bundle is $54.99 a month.
http://www.windstream.com/High-Speed-Internet/

[ajkula66]

I would still talk to the windstream customer service hotline. It just might be that the hotline person is more willing to help than the guys who came to your house.

While a customer service rep might be more willing to help in certain respects, it's the field techs who know the condition of the OSP through and through and are usually the best resource in getting the straight answer on what is actually doable vs. what is not.

That is just not true. Their 6 Mbps high speed internet and phone bundle is $54.99 a month.
http://www.windstream.com/High-Speed-Internet/

Now that's a *very* solid argument that one could use to lower their bill...

[AIX]

Right now I'm somewhere in the middle of Carpathian Mountains, in a short vacation, in a small hotel that isn't connected to the electricity network, but with its own electric generator. Also, no GSM/3G network here, though, it does have a satellite internet connection:

>tracert www.ripe.net

Tracing route to www.ripe.net [193.0.6.139]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 192.168.0.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 646 ms 678 ms 760 ms 10.130.130.9
4 1662 ms 677 ms 696 ms 10.130.130.162
5 661 ms 842 ms 717 ms 88-202-127-77.ip.skylogicnet.com [88.202.127.77]

6 730 ms 759 ms 718 ms 192.168.66.10
7 724 ms 690 ms 677 ms 10.130.2.42
8 1095 ms 689 ms 669 ms 10.130.1.2
9 688 ms 680 ms 681 ms 10.130.1.18
10 710 ms 799 ms 751 ms openpeering.franceix.net [37.49.236.68]
11 720 ms 717 ms 719 ms nikhef.openpeering.nl [82.150.154.25]
12 750 ms 720 ms 732 ms openpeering.nikhef.jointtransit.nl [82.150.153.9
0]
13 1170 ms 718 ms 714 ms jointtransit-rt.kpn.com [213.207.8.44]
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 gw.amsix.nikrtr.ripe.net [80.249.208.68] reports: Destination net unreacha
ble.

Trace complete.

Isn't that cool?

[Puppy]

Right now I'm somewhere in the middle of Carpathian Mountains, in a short vacation, in a small hotel that isn't connected to the electricity network, but with its own electric generator. Also, no GSM/3G network here, though, it does have a satellite internet connection

Nice It is actually better than what you can get in many villages over here - GPRS only having 3000+ ms response time and 30% packet loss (we have been selected as the worst EU country regarding mobile internet coverage)

[ThinkPad560X]

After using the Verizon MiFi "MIFI5510L" for about around 2 months, this month I've been using a lot and at 4.XXXGB used and coming very close to the limit of 5GB and I was trying to limit watching certain review videos and online viewing and still going for the rest of the month. The MiFi may not work out. If it was Unlimited like my Verizon PCMCIA card was back in the mid 2000s it would be ok, but they don't offer unlimited anymore, Plus I was the only one using this device to test in the house. The next step up is 10GB witch ups to $100 a month "Charge $10 per GB" If I remember it was 5GB, 10GB, 15GB & 20GB for their plans. I still kept my $81 DSL in case this didn't work out. So I'm now at the point of either go to $20 more of internet to get 10GB and still be limited or keep with the $81.00 unlimited DSL. The other bad is I had to rig my desktop to read my PCMCIA WiFi card to work with the MiFi and I still use all Ethernet for all my devices as I don't use WiFi for anything and my desk is setup with CAT6. The MiFi also only uses 1 Micro USB port and no other ports or plug ins. The other bad I also noticed that the verizon bill comes in really fast every month and wanting it all the time the 28th of the ending month and not the 10th or 20th of the next month like all my other bills are witch is nice for me with getting another paycheck in. So my next thoughts are to see if their is a prepay device like the cellphones are or were and see if you can buy a card to loadup, And also heard of hughesnet. I heard of it along time ago and heard it was really slow, so dont know how it is now.

[ThinkPad560X]

Just did the HughesNet http://internet.hughesnet.com/plans-and ... erviceable check and I came under low Again.. Prime or Choice and all say Only good for viewing emails and browsing webpages and photos, No Video watching quality I guess. The Equipment is $300 to own too, so It looks $$ for low internet for me.

[ThinkPad560X]

I just chatted with comcast and complained that I've been waiting over 10 years and they are putting me at the top to come out to check serviceable area. They said reason why the online checker was saying not available is because my house was never serviced by them. So hopefully this can work out and get at least a good smooth speed internet.

[TTY]

I just chatted with comcast and complained that I've been waiting over 10 years and they are putting me at the top to come out to check serviceable area. They said reason why the online checker was saying not available is because my house was never serviced by them. So hopefully this can work out and get at least a good smooth speed internet.

Sounds good!

[ZaZ]

I just chatted with comcast and complained that I've been waiting over 10 years and they are putting me at the top to come out to check serviceable area.

In a somewhat similar story, I tried for two years to get CenturyLink to sell service to me cause they're about half the cost of the local cable company and offer three times the speed. Plus, I can buy a router on eBay for $20 instead of paying the cable company $5 a month to lease theirs. I heard every excuse from I was too far from the router, they don't offer service in my area(though I could see several CenturyLink routers from mine), there's no ports available in my area, etc. CenturyLink has webpage that tells you what service is available by address. I tried the houses across the street and on both sides. All could receive the 40MB plan, but a tech told me sometimes they can't serve a single house. Finally, in desperation, I posted on their Facebook page and got hooked up with the right person. It was solved in two days. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

[ThinkPad560X]

Bad news.... received this in email.

Thank you for choosing Comcast. We have double checked the address: XXXXXX, New Alexandria, PA 15670 and I'm afraid that your address is currently not serviceable by Comcast. Our network engineers are constantly expanding our network and we hope to be servicing your area soon so please check back often.


If there is anything else we can help you with, please do not hesitate to contact us

They said that like 12 years ago.

[ZaZ]

Ask them to have an engineer look at it.

[ThinkPad560X]

They said they were coming out to look and would take up to 10 days. So I dont know.

[ThinkPad560X]

Are their any prepaid MiFi WiFi you can buy and load up any time you want? Im on my DSL right now and it is taking over 5min "Dialup speed" to load a page and sometimes not even loading it. The Verizon MiFi is at 4.XXXGB right now, so i can't use it anymore.

[rkawakami]

If you mean that you want to be able to buy another months worth of data when your current allotment runs out, then yes, Virgin Mobile (on the Sprint network) does this with their Broadband2Go system. When you run out of your plan's allotment, if you try accessing any web page you are automatically directed to their site so you can buy more data. This happened to me once and it was a little confusing at first when it appeared that I had lost my connection since a site wouldn't load. But then I was prompted with the virginmobileusa.com page. I thought I had set up my account to auto-renew so I didn't think this would happen. I would think that Verizon would also allow you to "buy early" if you run out. Either by changing your monthly renewal date or by offering you a 1GB or two of extra data until your plan restarts.

If you want to be able to load up your account with more data before you have used up your allotment, then I don't know if you can do this with any service. In either case, your best bet would be to call up Verizon and talk to their Support center and see what they offer.

[jdrou]

With Verizon pre-paid you can always renew early if you run out in less than 30 days. With my pre-paid tablet plan I can also get to the verizon site to renew even when I have no data remaining (although hotspot and tethering don't work in that situation). When I discussed their contract plan with them they also said you can change the plan parameters without penalty.

With the Walmart/Truconnect "Internet on the Go" plan (http://www.internet-go.com/ ) you used to be able to get service similar to the Tracfone model where you could buy 0.5/1.5/3GB of data and use it whenever you needed with no monthly fee or expiration which is perfect for this type of "emergency" situation. They recently added 4G service but now there's a $5 monthly fee on top of the per-GB cost to keep the account active. I haven't tried my old 3G hotspot lately to see if it still works. The 3G service used the Sprint network but I'm not sure about the new 4G. EDIT: based on the LTE frequency bands listed for Truconnect's 4G hotspot it looks like that is also Sprint network.

[ThinkPad560X]

Well I ordered this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/231491549390?_t ... 101wt_1105


I also did a speed test, 3:00AM right now, and I got this 0.58Mbps download and 0.22Mbps Upload. It seems the Windstream keeps getting worse every day, about 2 months ago it was down at 1.XXMbps. I guess this is why my internet is not loading at all now, Im probably canceling the internet tomorrow since its a waste of $80 a month.

A lot of stuff is a requirement for internet today, even companies/stores are moving to online. I don't use it much but just to order parts and stuff online and watch news/reviews/talks on youtube. I dont play games online and still play the single play like I done back in the 80s and 90s, Even my games on steam are just valves titles witch required steam when I bought Half-Life 2 in 2004 "Miss the simple of installing and then play" If I didnt buy all my valve games at the store it would take along time to download, but im guessing in the next year or 2 PC is going to be completely gone in retail stores. Even consoles are going to be internet streaming only really fast soon. So I guess if all these companies want everything to be connected how does it work for people that dont live in the middle of no where but just dont get the service.

[Puppy]

I just don't understand why the competition have not worked, you have big names there

Slovakia has fourth data-only operator called Swan. LTE download up to 50 Mbps with 100 GB / month for 5 EUR, then capped to 1 MBps.

[ThinkPad560X]

So I contacted Comcast and Verizon today again to bother them and still no luck, It seems they are getting angry, verizon hungup the chat after saying the Verizon Fios is not available in your area, We checked 3 times. The Verizon MiFi is alright at 4.0Mbps speed but a Data cap sucks and then the home is getting worse 0.52Mbps, Im still hanging with it as Im at 8.XXGB of 10GB on the MiFi now.

Here's a map of my area of ISPs

[ajkula66]

^^^^^^

You're really stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Forget FiOS, you'll never see it anywhere outside of Verizon's mainstream area at the time of the original draft from 2004 or thereabouts.

Comcast...maybe, if a large enough number of your neighbours start pressing them to bring the service into the area.

Going back to Windstream and harassing the living daylight out of them until your service actually improves - including writing complaints to PSC and what not - might be your only viable option at the moment.

Good luck.

[ThinkPad560X]

Im trying to get ahold of Windstream now, but my Internet is at 0.34Mbps and I don't have dial tone on the phone anymore nor does it ring. It just keeps getting worse, probably next week i'll be in the teens mbps. Also im the only one that uses Internet in this area. I can tell because their are all older people that live in this area that don't even own a PC.

Update: After they did something called Rebuild, I dropped to 0.30Mbps now and said they are coming out Tuesday to check the lines Again..

[ajkula66]

Im trying to get ahold of Windstream now, but my Internet is at 0.34Mbps and I don't have dial tone on the phone anymore nor does it ring.

The copper pair that your DSL is sitting on is on its last leg somewhere along its path, which may actually be good news, since they'll have to switch you onto a new - hopefully better - one.

Good luck.

[ThinkPad560X]

Yea hopefully, Most ISPs that I hear about online don't want to upgrade or maintain their lines because then they lose money. I think after this and it don't work, I may just cancel this service. It's too much money a month for 0.30Mbps "Dialup Speed" to be paying. I think Im going to bother Comcast today again, Verizon was yesterday.

[wisdomkeeper]

It is actually better than what you can get in many villages over here - GPRS only having 3000+ ms response time and 30% packet loss

It's so tempting to visit your country and install some wireless access point/antennas, so the so isolated villages in your country could be connected to the global network with fast broadband connections. Pure profit. Can you imagine - one wireless directional antenna on license free frequencies could provide as much as 60mbit connection. With more expensive equipment like UBNT Air Fiber it could be as much as 1Gigabit!
p.s In other bulletin board I heard comments like "Only in underdeveloped countries the 802.11b/g is still being used widely. In US now 802.11n/ac is widely used" But wait. There is one question. Why would I need newer equipment if I have a slow internet connection? I can use even 10 years old 802.11b equipment and fully utilise the miserable speed that your ISP's provides you.