You don't have a high speed Internet connection??

[JerryK]

We had Fortran as an option in 12th grade back in 1966, had to go to the Waterford Township high where they had an IBM computer, think it had like a 4k core memory [ or maybe not that big, it was only a room size unit ] . I remember the IBM guy came in with a set of punch cards that would make a transistor radio play ' Daisy-Daisy, give me your answer, do.. ' from the static in the woven core... That was a long time ago....

 

[RedNeckGeek]

So 'legacy' phone service will soon disappear.

I sure hope that's not the case. The only real time two-way communication I have here is by AT&T land line. I'm in a cell phone shadow, in spite of what Verizon's 4G coverage map says. And my satellite link is too slow for VOIP. Not to mention the $3500 I spent with AT&T to have the copper extended to my easement, and the $600 I spent to trench it to the house from there. That was only six years ago.:irked:

 

[kcflhrc]

I sure hope that's not the case. The only real time two-way communication I have here is by AT&T land line. I'm in a cell phone shadow, in spite of what Verizon's 4G coverage map says. And my satellite link is too slow for VOIP. Not to mention the $3500 I spent with AT&T to have the copper extended to my easement, and the $600 I spent to trench it to the house from there. That was only six years ago.:irked:

It will be around for a long time yet. Lots of copper in the ground and overhead. It will be years and years before you see that technology abandoned. It's expensive to put cable in the ground, fiber or copper. There is still new technology coming out to get higher speeds over copper. Bonding DSL is one where you take 2 copper pairs to double the speed. So no, it's not going away anytime soon, especially in smaller communities.

 

[California]

I don't think copper will disappear but I think it is ATT's plan to sell off their copper plant to smaller firms, maybe ISP's etc, to get themselves out of the PUC-regulated side of communications.

I read this a couple of years ago, then heard it again from the tech who came out to see why my ATT Uverse is so intermittent. He said he would retire in a couple of years when everything he knows will be sold off.

Also that changeover might be the the end of ATT's dependence on union members for the traditional outdoor maintenance roles. I got the impresion that was another thing this tech was planning his retirement around.

 

[ultrarunner]

I hear this from a lot of older workers... changes keep coming with often no rhyme of reason that so many are more than happy to turn over the reins...

I just started a thread on my first visit from the Trash Inspector...

Now, one of my older retired friends I am looking at things all wrong... any time there is change there is also opportunity... even more so when there is confusion and anxiety...

 

[RobA]

Up here in Northern Michigan, it's common to not have choices (or service at all). One company uses Ubiquiti antennas and towers to provide service. I do the same, but privately. I live on hill and have a 10 mile point to point connection that is rock solid and delivers 20+ Mbps. The service on the other end is Charter.

Would love to have someone near me offer that. Ubiquiti looks like a relatively inexpensive solution. There is a line of sight cell tower near me - wish there was a way to utilize it.

 

[California]

... any time there is change there is also opportunity... even more so when there is confusion and anxiety...

That's a sound business principle but you don't always have an opportunity to take advantage of changing circumstances.

Times change, there's money to be made getting out ahead of the change to make unusual markups before the new way becomes commonplace. (Rockets before Musk competed with the traditional vendors and offered better prices). Also the majority of people will pay a lot to have someone else deal with what they perceive as unfamiliar. (Geek Squad).

At the beginning of a new era nobody knows what is a reasonable price so you can set your own price for something that everyone just discovered, and wants.

 

[ultrarunner]

So I'm up in Washington and just did my Internet speed test.

118 up and 24 down...

For the last 20 years in Oakland my DSL is 1.3 up and .6 down

I was expecting lightning fast browsing and really have only noticed ads now load fast.

Using the same 5 year Acer old laptop at both locations with plenty of unused storage.

I don't stream movies... just basic search and TBN for the most part.

Would I notice the faster speed if I upgraded my laptop from the 2 GB memory and AMD V120 processor 2.2Ghz?

DSL runs about $40 a month in California

Comcast Business is $280 per month which was part of the deal to get it put in by horizontal boring 900'

 

[CreekyB]

So I'm up in Washington and just did my Internet speed test.

118 up and 24 down...

For the last 20 years in Oakland my DSL is 1.3 up and .6 down

I was expecting lightning fast browsing and really have only noticed ads now load fast.

Using the same 5 year Acer old laptop at both locations with plenty of unused storage.

I don't stream movies... just basic search and TBN for the most part.

Would I notice the faster speed if I upgraded my laptop from the 2 GB memory and AMD V120 processor 2.2Ghz?

DSL runs about $40 a month in California

Comcast Business is $280 per month which was part of the deal to get it put in by horizontal boring 900'

You will notice a bit of performance improvement with an upgrade. There are machines that are very affordable for your uses now that would be a bit faster. Being as you mainly use it for browsing I would say get a cheap upgrade and keep both machines going until your 5 year old one dies. It might last another 5 years, it might last another 5 days. You are at the edge of laptop life as it is.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

So I'm up in Washington and just did my Internet speed test.

118 up and 24 down...

For the last 20 years in Oakland my DSL is 1.3 up and .6 down

I was expecting lightning fast browsing and really have only noticed ads now load fast.

Using the same 5 year Acer old laptop at both locations with plenty of unused storage.

I don't stream movies... just basic search and TBN for the most part.

Would I notice the faster speed if I upgraded my laptop from the 2 GB memory and AMD V120 processor 2.2Ghz?

DSL runs about $40 a month in California

Comcast Business is $280 per month which was part of the deal to get it put in by horizontal boring 900'

I was fortunate to have worked at a company with very fast Internet connections. During this time my home Internet connection was DSL, and very much slower. At least in the speed tests. In reality, web browsing proceeded at about the same pace at both locations, and I came to conclude that the main bottleneck in most page fetches was the speed at which the web server could respond. Most web servers tend to be loaded at or way over capacity, especially if the web site in question shares hardware with many others. In such a situation you would see very little reduction in web page load times if you were to upgrade your laptop. But it is very easy to see for your self. Go into any Apple Store with a list of your favorite web sites and use one of the machines they have on display to visit them. You'll very quickly see if any improvement is to be gained.

BTW, I would very gladly pay $280/month for Comcast Business, but the only services available here are through either a satellite or an old style 28.8 kb modem.