Forum archives » General Discussion » To Broadband or Not to Broadband

gabe_billings
June 21, 2001 3:38 PM

I was just curious as to what sort of connections y'all were using.

Mine went down for about five minutes right when I was getting ready to do the wirthling retrospective from one of the other threads, so I tried an old dial-up just to tide me over so I wouldn't have Lowpass withdrawal.

I connected at about 38K and it took about three minutes to load the main comic creator page, and an assload of time to pull up separate strips. And most of these images are probably cached on my machine.

Anyhoo, I got impatient and quit to find that my other connection (784K DSL) was working again.

Life would really suck without high speed access. I had a cable modem in NY, and when I moved here no one was offering cable or home-use priced (<$50) DSL. So I suffered along with a 33.6 modem for a year. And it sucked.

I think the worst part was having been to the promised land and then been kicked out. If I'd never tasted the sweet, sweet lovin' of a blazing fast connection I'd never have known what I was missing.

So whatchoo got? Modems? DSL? Cable? OC-3?

Post #8542link

wirthling
June 21, 2001 4:35 PM

Ohmigod! You were without fast Internet access for 5 minutes?! Is everyone OK?

I have cable (Comcast@home). It rocks, mostly. I'm currently experiencing intermittent service outages (recently, it's down more than it's up), probably due to my neighbor's driveway repaving job done in April. When it is working, however, it's as fast as the T-1 at work...

Post #8547link

ladyjdotnet
June 21, 2001 5:58 PM

I surf at coyote-evading speeds. Yay roadrunner!

For our 2-computer household in Lincoln, NE, cable access is faster than the T1 at work. Of course, cable access in a more internet-savvy area, like NY or Chicago, would be horrendously slow.

Sam and I decided to go with whichever came to our area first - DSL or cable.

Post #8550link

Spankling
June 21, 2001 6:41 PM

I took DSL instead of cable only because we don't use cable TV - barely watch the drool box at all. DSL was cheaper in that instance. And before DSL I always had 2 phone lines, so I balanced that expense vs. plummeting DSL charges and came up fairly close.

Post #8551link

gabe_billings
June 21, 2001 7:07 PM

That's my take on the matter. If you're on the internet all the time, having a dedicated phone line makes sense. Figure at least $20 for the line, plus $20 a month for and ISP, you've got $40, which is the price of a lot of DSL/cable internet services. So why not?

For most things, I can't really tell a difference between my DSL and work, which I think is a T3. Unless I actually have to download something big, in the dozens of MB. Then work smokes my PC.

Post #8552link

gabe_billings
June 21, 2001 7:15 PM

quote:
Sam and I decided to go with whichever came to our area first - DSL or cable.

Sam the butcher? I thought he was sweet on Alice.

Post #8554link

wirthling
June 21, 2001 7:17 PM

You can test the speed of your Internet connection at the following site:

DSL Reports Speed Test

Post #8555link

wirthling
June 21, 2001 7:26 PM

This is actually a timely discussion. I am in the process of buying a new house, and I am trying to decide if I want to continue using Comcast@home (which will be available in the new neighborhood) or if I should go with DSL instead. And if DSL, do I want SDSL or ADSL? (I assume SDSL is too pricey.)

I am tempted to stick with the cable access, because I know it works well (usually) and I am familiar with how to network it with my other PCs. Is it any more difficult to network using DSL?

I know a lot of people point out that cable access is less secure, but I have a software firewall that takes care of that. Also, it has been pointed out that with DSL you have the whole bandwidth dedicated to you; with cable you share the bandwidth with other cable customers (not that that has really been a problem yet).

Are there other things I should consider?

Post #8556link

gabe_billings
June 21, 2001 8:20 PM

I think that's most of what you'll have to worry about. I think for the majority of what the average person does, you wouldn't notice a huge difference between the two.

I've heard the discussion of shared lines for cable equipment, and I suppose that if you move into a congested area it might become an issue. But I think there are a lot of people that just don't care enough to get high speed access (suckers!) just yet, so you may not have to worry for a while.

I've had cable and DSL both now, and been happy with each. I had problems with my DSL for about a month, but that was the ISP dicking things up.

In regards to networking, I can tell you that I did so with the DSL with no problems. They company says you can't use it on more than one PC, which I think is code for 'you can't use it on more than one PC if you're too dumb to buy an extra network card and a hub'.

I bought a home networking kit from 3Com that had two NICs, a 4 port hub and some software from MS. The software, rather than installing anything, basically walked though setting up internet connection sharing and mapping network drives. Which must not have been too difficult since I did it and my networking skills are equal to that of my dog.

The hardest part was drilling a hole through the floor to get the cable into the basement. If I were going to buy again I'd spend extra and get wireless. Then I could drag a laptop around the house and surf anywhere I wanted to. Like on the roof.

Which leads me to another question I was going to ask earlier. Though it has nothing to do with broadband, I don't feel like starting up yet another thread.

How many of you own homes? Or rather, live somewhere where yardwork is a priority. 'Cause having a house is sweet, but I'm really getting sick of mowing the lawn and trying to keep vegetation from dying.

I want to hire some of the ubiquitous retired men from my neighborhood and have them keeping everything looking tidy. I haven't reached that point in life yet where I'm at all interested in making my yard look nice.

Post #8570link

Spankling
June 21, 2001 9:26 PM

Yard work bites toads. I have a bit over a 1/4 acre and we never keep up with it. We planted veggies this year and we have berries, so gathering food is cool. But the lawn and flowerbeds suck. I mow, but I leave the flowers to my wife. Fortunately for me, I have mild allergies - gives me an excuse.

We're thinking about moving soon and I'm recommending we shrink down to about 5 or 7K Sq Ft.

Most of the old guys in my hood don't do plop. Their wives keep up the lawns.

Post #8574link

evil_d
June 21, 2001 9:33 PM

56k at home, T1 (I think) at work. I'm only recently out of college and am just about to move to a new apartment. They didn't mention anything about expecting me to help out with the groundskeeping. I may look into high-speed access there, depending on the cost.

Post #8576link

boorite
June 22, 2001 8:31 AM

God damn, you people ARE colossal geeks.

Anyway, I work at a university, and I have three computers on my desk, all hooked up to some kind of commie government fast fast connection.

When I go home, I am not usually interested in the internet. To make sure I stay that way, I refuse to upgrade my P-90 and crap modem. It is for emergency use only.

No internet at home? So what in Beelzebub's nutsack do I do for fun? Well, last night, I drank a bunch of whiskey and rigged a tarp in the living room. The cat was quite stoked over it.

Post #8597link

gabe_billings
June 22, 2001 9:13 AM

quote:
God damn, you people ARE colossal geeks.

Anyway, I work at a university, and I have three computers on my desk, all hooked up to some kind of commie government fast fast connection.

When I go home, I am not usually interested in the internet. To make sure I stay that way, I refuse to upgrade my P-90 and crap modem. It is for emergency use only.



It's good to know that the hours you spend wasting away on this site are being funded by your university.

quote:
No internet at home? So what in Beelzebub's nutsack do I do for fun? Well, last night, I drank a bunch of whiskey and rigged a tarp in the living room. The cat was quite stoked over it.

And upon adding some couch cushions and a few blankets, the fort was complete. At which point the good lady Boorite was invited inside and a snogfest ensued.

Post #8607link

boorite
June 22, 2001 9:16 AM

I wish! She fell asleep in the middle of Vertigo.

....The MOVIE Vertigo.

Post #8608link

boorite
June 22, 2001 9:17 AM

quote:
It's good to know that the hours you spend wasting away on this site are being funded by your university.


You sound like you've been working in the private sector too long.

Post #8609link

boorite
June 22, 2001 10:42 AM

quote:
You can test the speed of your Internet connection at the following site:

DSL Reports Speed Test



Wow, 1538 kbps down and 2367 kbps up. My upload speed is designated "insane."

Post #8625link

wirthling
June 22, 2001 10:42 AM

quote:
You can test the speed of your Internet connection at the following site:

DSL Reports Speed Test



I just ran a test to the LinkLine server in Los Angeles to test my cable access speed (the cable is up at the moment). The results were 724 kbps downstream, 68 kbps upstream. Not too shabby. The downstream speed is actually a hair faster than the results I got at work, where we have a T-1. I was told by the most recent cable tech visiting our home that my upstream bandwidth may suffer due to whatever is causing our cable problem. Apparently, the upstream portion of the bandwidth is in the lower end of the spectrum, which is also where the interference is worst.

Has anyone else tried out the speed test?

Post #8626link

Spankling
June 22, 2001 10:58 AM

quote:
Has anyone else tried out the speed test?
Work: 872 KB down, 3203 KB up

My home DSL was significantly lower. If I recall it rated around the ok to fast range.

Post #8635link

gabe_billings
June 22, 2001 1:48 PM

2.34 TB down, 512 GB up.

Post #8652link

gabe_billings
June 22, 2001 1:49 PM

Oops. My bad. I was dreaming.

Home:

Megapath - 506 down; 270 up
Linkline - 440 down; 483 up

What's up with that? This was supposed to be ADSL.

Post #8653link

Brad
June 23, 2001 4:19 PM

I connect at 26.4 or, when I'm lucky, 28.8. Thank you very much.

Post #8701link

Spankling
June 23, 2001 4:23 PM

quote:
I connect at 26.4 or, when I'm lucky, 28.8. Thank you very much.
I couldn't gain your quality so I went with quantity.

Post #8702link

Brad
June 23, 2001 6:11 PM

quote:
quote:
I connect at 26.4 or, when I'm lucky, 28.8. Thank you very much.
I couldn't gain your quality so I went with quantity.
I've always been behind everyone else. When everyone was at 2400 baud, I was at 1200. I was at 2400 when everyone had a 14.4. 14.4 when everyone was at 28.8. And now the horrible country phone lines here have kept me stuck at 26.4 and 28.8. For several years I could only get 14.4 in the spring because floods would make all the phone lines buzz. Sad me.

Post #8703link

gabe_billings
June 23, 2001 9:40 PM

But look what you've done with it.

Post #8705link

skagg
June 24, 2001 6:09 AM

and then theres the waste of a DSL that is me

ive done nothing with my internet life but consume

Post #8715link

gabe_billings
June 24, 2001 8:48 AM

I use my internet saavy to provide quality pornography to hundreds of thousands of satisfied users.

Post #8722link

skagg
June 24, 2001 8:50 AM

aah, so youre captain colonic

Post #8724link

gabe_billings
June 24, 2001 11:42 AM

That's Colonel Colonic, squidbait.

Post #8726link

Spankling
June 24, 2001 2:34 PM

23514

Post #8733link

Spankling
June 25, 2001 2:31 PM

And speaking of yard work (and we were)...
23524

Post #8779link

bunnerabb
June 28, 2001 4:47 PM

I have a crap 56.6 V.90/2 dial up on AOL. There is a reason for this: I'm on an island about 7 months out of the year, and it's the fastest ISP option here. There is no DSL, Cable, T-1, or any-bloody-thing else available. There's one local ISP up here called Third Planet.Net, and you can hit the ramp at about 26kbps and stay there for about 19.95 a month if you're stupid enough to use them. When I get back to Cleveland in November, I am getting a Verio business level ADSL and paying for the whole year just to use it over the winter. Why? 512kbps down, 128 kbps up on asynchronous lines. In writing. That's why. Beats the crap out of 44 down 22 up on a shitty, off the backbone, portal driven, bug riddled, $25.00 a month AOL dial up. Unfortunately, most of my spod time will be spent on a 56.6 until the island gets ADSL. I have gotten a couple of good strips out of it, though.
9890

Post #8925link

bunnerabb
June 29, 2001 3:36 AM

You had a shack? Cardboard??

LUXURY!

Post #8950link

gabe_billings
June 29, 2001 4:00 AM

We used to live in a paper bag in a sceptic tank.

Post #8953link

Spankling
June 29, 2001 8:46 AM

Michael Palin: My old dad used to say to me: "Money doesn't bring you happiness, son!"

Eric Idle: He was right!

Michael Palin: Right!

Eric Idle: I was happier then and I had nothing! We used to live in this tiny old tumbled-down house with great big holes in the roof.

Graham Chapman: House! You were lucky to live in a house! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture, half the floor was missing, we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of falling.

Terry Jones: You were lucky to have a room! We used to have to live in the corridor!

Michael Palin: Oh, we used to dream of living in a corridor! Would have been a palace to us! We used to live in an old watertank on a rubbish tip. We'd all woke up every morning by having a load of rotten fish dumped all over us! House, huh!

Eric Idle: Well, when I say a house, it was just a hole in the ground, covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a house to us!

Graham Chapman: We were evicted from our hole in the ground. We had to go and live in a lake!

Terry Jones: You were lucky to have a lake! There were 150 of us living in a shoebox in the middle of the road!

Michael Palin: A cardboard box?

Terry Jones: Aye!

Michael Palin: You were lucky! We lived for three months in a rolled-up newspaper in a septic tank! We used to have to get up every morning, at six o'clock and clean the newspaper, go to work down the mill, fourteen hours a day, week in, week out, for six pence a week, and when we got home, our dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!

Graham Chapman: Luxury! We used to have to get up out of the lake at three o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, work twenty hours a day at mill, for two pence a month, come home, and dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were lucky!

Terry Jones: Well, of course, we had it tough! We used to have to get up out of the shoebox in the middle of the night, and lick the road clean with our tongues! We had to eat half a handful of freezing cold gravel, work twenty-four hours a day at mill for four pence every six years, and when we got home, our dad would slice us in two with a breadknife!

Eric Idle: Right! I had to get up in the morning, at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill and pay millowner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves, singing Hallelujah!

Michael Palin: Aah. And you trying to tell the young people of today that, and they won't believe you!

All: No, no they won't!

Post #8968link

bunnerabb
June 29, 2001 4:42 PM

I simply do not know how to thank you for chewing through the next 8 posts of stolen material I had planned to use on this thread. Seriously. I don't know how.

(Photographs of gabe's mom typing disarming emoticons here)

Love,

bunner

Post #9023link

Spankling
June 29, 2001 5:05 PM

quote:
I simply do not know how to thank you for chewing through the next 8 posts of stolen material I had planned to use on this thread. Seriously. I don't know how.

(Photographs of gabe's mom typing disarming emoticons here)

Love,

bunner


It just seemed like the direction we were going - why not cut to the chase.

Post #9026link

gabe_billings
June 29, 2001 5:30 PM

Gabe Billings: My old dad used to say to me: "Lots of characters and fancy backgrounds don't bring you happiness, son!"

Big Evil Dan: He was right!

Gabe Billings: Right!

Big Evil Dan: I was happier then and I didn't have all these poses you have now! We used to try to use Maura with only two lousy poses to choose from! She didn't used to close her eyes, or pout, or nothin'!

Bunnerabb: Two poses! You were lucky to have two poses to use! We used have to put those damn Asian girls on the left side of the panels or else they'd look stupid since they only faced one way!

DexX: You were lucky to have an Asian girl! We used to have to use that stupid dog on the ball and pretend his underwear was a pair of hot pants!

Gabe Billings: Oh, we used to dream of a dog wearin' hot pants! Would have been like fifteen poses of Snoopy to us! We had one lousy rabbit, and he could do naught but sit on this little stool. He couldn't even look behind him!

Big Evil Dan: Well, when I say Maura, it was just feetforears with some extra makeup and a push-up bra, but it was Maura to us!

Bunnerabb: We weren't allowed to use our feetforears in drag. We had to make do with a beatnik poet!

DexX: You were lucky to have a beatnik poet! We had a donkey we had to dress up like a poet!

Gabe Billings: Pink donkey?

Terry Jones: Aye!

Gabe Billings: You were lucky!

Post #9028link

Spankling
June 29, 2001 8:27 PM

quote:
...

Gabe Billings: Pink donkey?

Terry Jones: Aye!

Gabe Billings: You were lucky!



Spankling: Right! While you were living the life of Riley on CSC with 3 lovely backgrounds and exotic Asian girls I was stealing newspapers from the shacks of the homeless just so I could cut out Nancy and Sluggo and prance them about on a filthy sidewalk while legions of adolescent neophytes took turns chopping off my hands with the edge of their skateboards. And I had to pay them to do it! And for a woman, I had to use crabby!

Post #9032link

boorite
July 2, 2001 7:44 AM

quote:
And for a woman, I had to use crabby!

You and the rest of the Navy.

Post #9096link

Forum archives » General Discussion » To Broadband or Not to Broadband

stripcreator
Make a comic
Forums
featuring
diesel sweeties
jerkcity
exploding dog
goats
ko fight club
penny arcade
chopping block
also
Brad Sucks