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dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in DIRECTV General Forum
CEO Randall Stephenson seemed to fire a noisy warning shot at the FCC this morning as regulators consider President Obama's appeal for them to adopt tough net neutrality rules. "We can't go out and invest that kind of money deploying fiber to 100 cities not knowing under what rules those investments will be governed," the AT&T chief told investors at the Wells Fargo Technology, Media and Telecom Conference according to a Reuters account.

Is this an example of the chilling effect on investment that broadband companies warned would follow if the government claims the power to oversee Web practices?
Possibly not. "AT&T's fiber investments weren't particularly impressive to begin with," Broadband DSL Reports' Karl Bode notes. What's more, AT&T "has used network investment as carrot on a stick with regulators for most of the last decade, promising to withhold or accelerate network infrastructure investment only if government does their bidding." AT&T and DirecTV promised in May — when they announced their merger plan — that "AT&T will use the merger synergies to expand its plans to build and enhance high-speed broadband service to 15 million customer locations, mostly in rural areas where AT&T does not provide high-speed broadband service today." (The deal is being reviewed by the FCC and Justice Department.)

Source & More at deadline.com
110 Replies · 9071 views
N
What I find hilarious about the whole argument that the phone companies have is that Comcast (of all the evil companies) and most all major cable companies strung fiber up along their entire networks YEARS AGO. Comcast bought up AT&T Broadband in late 2002, and then immediately after for most of 2003 into 2004 had trucks everywhere in the streets as they were putting up fiber -- consequently you can now get a 50 meg Comcast connection practically anywhere in their footprint for $60 per month, and 100+ megs if you pony up for it -- they just doubled it from 25 megs at that price point, and now they are in trials in some markets of making 100 megs the 60 buck plan and 200 megs the expensive one.

The phone companies have wider networks, better facilities, better rights-of-way, more revenue (especially from all the business customers -- we pay over a grand a month for Metro Ethernet at work -- I somehow doubt the phone company isn't making a pretty penny) and could bring fiber to the curb (it doesn't HAVE to be to the premises -- although Verizon proved that they can actually pull that off and the results are pretty sweet) if they wanted to the same way the cable guys have -- but they'd rather whine about how providing a basic service they way they made their billions off phone service just doesn't bring them enough money.

As much as I love to hate on Comcast, their internet service is pretty good considering the competition I have -- which is Centurylink, who loves to send me fliers saying that 40 meg internet is available for $29.99 for the first year -- except it's actually only 1.5 megs here, it tops out at 8 megs in the middle of the city (Olympia, WA), and the only 20 and 40 meg connections to be had are in the surrounding suburbs of Seattle and parts of Tacoma -- their latest marketing scheme on radio and TV is that they offer GIGABIT internet -- and plaster advertising about it everywhere... which would be cool, except it's basically only in limited neighborhoods near downtown Seattle, even less available than their 20 and 40 meg VDSL... but from hearing and seeing the ads you'd think it's practically everywhere. Really the only way to get "decent" phone-system based internet here is if you were lucky enough to be in a GTE area... Verizon picked them up, really did a good job pushing FIOS out to most of the area -- but then sold off all their markets in the NW to Frontier Communications. In other words you now have a mid-sized ISP who owns an amazing network -- it's like having all the benefits of Verizon's massive wallet, without having to deal with Verizon.

So I have absolutely no love for phone companies... I have very little love for Comcast, but at least they provide me with a reasonable connection -- and lately they've gotten MUCH better about not dropping down considerably during prime time (I get my full 50 megs now, and drop to around 30 during heavily congested times... it's much better than when it was supposed to be around 25 megs but peaked at 14 and dropped as low as 2). But AT&T in particular has absolutely no excuse -- from what I understand UVerse is a network that was done on the cheap, has limited bandwidth for multiple DVRs and shares the TV bandwidth with the internet. At least Verizon tried with FIOS, and did their fiber network right the first time... as for CenturyLink, they are absolutely worthless to me -- except I can call up Comcast like clockwork and say "CenturyLink sent me a flier that says 40 meg service is now in my area" and I get $15 bucks off for 6 months...

The internet is a UTILITY just like phone service. No one can say at this day and age that it isn't -- it should be regulated the same way phone service is. Tack on $5 for a "universal broadband service charge" the same way the phone service has, and require that at least the minimum standard of "broadband" (I think it's 6 megs now) across the entire network -- which means even if you live in the middle of nowhere you'll still get 6 megs -- in the areas where they have to compete with cable (who gets franchise fees) that's the incentive to provide faster service. Whoever it was at the FCC that let them change internet service from "common carrier" to "information service" was an idiot.

I'm not a huge "government regulation" type of guy either -- but even I can see that the internet is right up there with phone service as far as an essential utility. In fact since you can actually use the internet as phone service without actually subscribing to phone service means it might even be a little more useful and essential than phone service at this point. I'm all for a USF fee for the internet -- the phone companies LOVE their USF money because even though it's a large capex up front, it's money they get from everyone continually... with everyone dropping their landlines, it's a great way to ensure they continue to get their USF money -- and that (selfishly) I can find a nice place in the country where I would actually have a reasonably priced option and not have to choose between satellite internet (never again) or dropping $250 a month on a T1 line that, although only 1.5 megs would be rock solid (I'd take the T1). When real estate agents are now being asked "What sort of internet can I get out here?" (and it's not just I who ask this question) I'd say you've crossed into "essential utility" territory...
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D
What I find hilarious about the whole argument that the phone companies have is that Comcast (of all the evil companies) and most all major cable companies strung fiber up along their entire networks YEARS AGO. Comcast bought up AT&T Broadband in late 2002, and then immediately after for most of 2003 into 2004 had trucks everywhere in the streets as they were putting up fiber -- consequently you can now get a 50 meg Comcast connection practically anywhere in their footprint for $60 per month, and 100+ megs if you pony up for it -- they just doubled it from 25 megs at that price point, and now they are in trials in some markets of making 100 megs the 60 buck plan and 200 megs the expensive one.

The phone companies have wider networks, better facilities, better rights-of-way, more revenue (especially from all the business customers -- we pay over a grand a month for Metro Ethernet at work -- I somehow doubt the phone company isn't making a pretty penny) and could bring fiber to the curb (it doesn't HAVE to be to the premises -- although Verizon proved that they can actually pull that off and the results are pretty sweet) if they wanted to the same way the cable guys have -- but they'd rather whine about how providing a basic service they way they made their billions off phone service just doesn't bring them enough money.

As much as I love to hate on Comcast, their internet service is pretty good considering the competition I have -- which is Centurylink, who loves to send me fliers saying that 40 meg internet is available for $29.99 for the first year -- except it's actually only 1.5 megs here, it tops out at 8 megs in the middle of the city (Olympia, WA), and the only 20 and 40 meg connections to be had are in the surrounding suburbs of Seattle and parts of Tacoma -- their latest marketing scheme on radio and TV is that they offer GIGABIT internet -- and plaster advertising about it everywhere... which would be cool, except it's basically only in limited neighborhoods near downtown Seattle, even less available than their 20 and 40 meg VDSL... but from hearing and seeing the ads you'd think it's practically everywhere. Really the only way to get "decent" phone-system based internet here is if you were lucky enough to be in a GTE area... Verizon picked them up, really did a good job pushing FIOS out to most of the area -- but then sold off all their markets in the NW to Frontier Communications. In other words you now have a mid-sized ISP who owns an amazing network -- it's like having all the benefits of Verizon's massive wallet, without having to deal with Verizon.

So I have absolutely no love for phone companies... I have very little love for Comcast, but at least they provide me with a reasonable connection -- and lately they've gotten MUCH better about not dropping down considerably during prime time (I get my full 50 megs now, and drop to around 30 during heavily congested times... it's much better than when it was supposed to be around 25 megs but peaked at 14 and dropped as low as 2). But AT&T in particular has absolutely no excuse -- from what I understand UVerse is a network that was done on the cheap, has limited bandwidth for multiple DVRs and shares the TV bandwidth with the internet. At least Verizon tried with FIOS, and did their fiber network right the first time... as for CenturyLink, they are absolutely worthless to me -- except I can call up Comcast like clockwork and say "CenturyLink sent me a flier that says 40 meg service is now in my area" and I get $15 bucks off for 6 months...

The internet is a UTILITY just like phone service. No one can say at this day and age that it isn't -- it should be regulated the same way phone service is. Tack on $5 for a "universal broadband service charge" the same way the phone service has, and require that at least the minimum standard of "broadband" (I think it's 6 megs now) across the entire network -- which means even if you live in the middle of nowhere you'll still get 6 megs -- in the areas where they have to compete with cable (who gets franchise fees) that's the incentive to provide faster service. Whoever it was at the FCC that let them change internet service from "common carrier" to "information service" was an idiot.

I'm not a huge "government regulation" type of guy either -- but even I can see that the internet is right up there with phone service as far as an essential utility. In fact since you can actually use the internet as phone service without actually subscribing to phone service means it might even be a little more useful and essential than phone service at this point. I'm all for a USF fee for the internet -- the phone companies LOVE their USF money because even though it's a large capex up front, it's money they get from everyone continually... with everyone dropping their landlines, it's a great way to ensure they continue to get their USF money -- and that (selfishly) I can find a nice place in the country where I would actually have a reasonably priced option and not have to choose between satellite internet (never again) or dropping $250 a month on a T1 line that, although only 1.5 megs would be rock solid (I'd take the T1). When real estate agents are now being asked "What sort of internet can I get out here?" (and it's not just I who ask this question) I'd say you've crossed into "essential utility" territory...
That has been my thinking from a layman's point of view, the Internet so resembles the function of telecommunications which is already regulated so why not just adopt those same regulations by just classifying these providers as public utilities? I & several people I know, even bookmark these sites as "Utility Bills"! These utility regulations seems to have worked for the consumers over the decades but not for the companies that saw their ridiculous super profits disappear to only making good, solid profits, which is always a no no for greedy companies like AT&T & Comcast.
mike123abc
That has been my thinking from a layman's point of view, the Internet so resembles the function of telecommunications which is already regulated so why not just adopt those same regulations by just classifying these providers as public utilities? I & several people I know, even bookmark these sites as "Utility Bills"! These utility regulations seems to have worked for the consumers over the decades but not for the companies that saw their ridiculous super profits disappear to only making good, solid profits, which is always a no no for greedy companies like AT&T & Comcast.

Most opponents fear what has happened to the phone bill... Your line may only be $30/month, but with taxes and regulatory fees it manages to be $75. I know that taxes and fees are not required to be put on regulated "utilities", but once they start, they just keep adding them slowly over the years, all seemingly good causes.
N
Most opponents fear what has happened to the phone bill... Your line may only be $30/month, but with taxes and regulatory fees it manages to be $75. I know that taxes and fees are not required to be put on regulated "utilities", but once they start, they just keep adding them slowly over the years, all seemingly good causes.

I think a lot more of this has to do with how the phone companies market their plans -- since more people are moving to broadband, it is very hard to get a clear "basic line" rate from them... it almost always includes "unlimited long distance" for a $20 upcharge, "line protection", calling features etc... which is what leads to inflated bills when you call up and just say "I want phone service".

If you know what your asking for, it's completely possible to get just a regular phone line... You just need to be adamant that you just need a BASIC LOCAL LINE. My mom has her basic local phone line, it's $18 for the basic charge, about $25 and some change after taxes and fees. She doesn't care about caller ID, has an answering machine built into her phone (remember those? It's much easier for her to use than voicemail), and has a local calling area that has expanded widely over the years ("local" calls are now about 40 miles in every direction), and a 5 cent/minute long distance plan from Sprint when she actually needs to call long distance (which isn't that much).

So I don't think it's so much a case of all the fees increasing as much as it is the phone companies trying to bundle in higher margin products and marketing these packages as the "basic" line if you don't really need them all -- but, due to the regulations, they HAVE to offer you a basic line. You just have to ask for it...

N
dishcomm
I think a lot more of this has to do with how the phone companies market their plans -- since more people are moving to broadband, it is very hard to get a clear "basic line" rate from them... it almost always includes "unlimited long distance" for a $20 upcharge, "line protection", calling features etc... which is what leads to inflated bills when you call up and just say "I want phone service".

If you know what your asking for, it's completely possible to get just a regular phone line... You just need to be adamant that you just need a BASIC LOCAL LINE. My mom has her basic local phone line, it's $18 for the basic charge, about $25 and some change after taxes and fees. She doesn't care about caller ID, has an answering machine built into her phone (remember those? It's much easier for her to use than voicemail), and has a local calling area that has expanded widely over the years ("local" calls are now about 40 miles in every direction), and a 5 cent/minute long distance plan from Sprint when she actually needs to call long distance (which isn't that much).

So I don't think it's so much a case of all the fees increasing as much as it is the phone companies trying to bundle in higher margin products and marketing these packages as the "basic" line if you don't really need them all -- but, due to the regulations, they HAVE to offer you a basic line. You just have to ask for it...

N
$26 per month for basic POTS...That's absurd.
N
$26 per month for basic POTS...That's absurd.

How much is it where you're at? It's always ran about that much here... its went up about $6 over 20 years -- and every time it goes up it's because Centurylink has added interchange agreements with local independent phone companies for local calling. Mom's local area gets expanded which may or may not be a direct benefit to everyone (although when TDS's areas were added in it was a huge savings for our entire family--some of the others, not so much) -- but it's a HUGE benefit for those on TDS as well as the truly independent companies we have around here if those people haven't moved to a cell phone only.

When TDS added local calling to CenturyLink areas about 12 years ago a number of people griped because their bill went up from around ~$11 total to ~$23 total, and it was all-or-nothing (we had to write our local representatives to support it) -- but in the case of my grandma, my dad and uncle they were ecstatic because their long distance went down from ~$100 a month to a few bucks for any "true" long distance they made. Since telephones came to their area, their local area had previously been 3 exchanges in the middle of BFE from a company called McDaniel Telephone before TDS bought them out. A number of those still stuck with truly family ran independents were even worse with their local exchange being the only local area (we still have a number of these in some truly tiny cities). I think mom's CenturyLink (er Qwest er USWest at the time) bill went up around $2.50. Since then, CenturyLink has even added some more since they merged with CenturyTel who had some of the tiny little cities before they merged with Qwest as were previously isolated as well, and all of the little companies who used to have just their own exchange as "local" have got interchange with them over the years.

Not that I defend it much -- I'm just saying that to me it doesn't seem too unreasonable -- especially when it's your only option (in the case of my mom, she lives in a true cell phone dead area -- if she had service she'd drop the landline just like everyone else seems to be doing, including myself).

N
G
CenturyLink customer here. Is Comcast still throttling down speeds during congested periods? Are they capping data? I get 10 megs here in East Tennessee, which is plenty fast enough to stream high definition content to my Roku or tablet. If Comcast didn't throttle down or cap data and didn't charge me an arm and a leg for internet only, I would consider them. But, if there's data caps and throttling down, it makes no sense to me, because I don't have either of these issues with CenturyLink.
N
CenturyLink customer here. Is Comcast still throttling down speeds during congested periods? Are they capping data? I get 10 megs here in East Tennessee, which is plenty fast enough to stream high definition content to my Roku or tablet. If Comcast didn't throttle down or cap data and didn't charge me an arm and a leg for internet only, I would consider them. But, if there's data caps and throttling down, it makes no sense to me, because I don't have either of these issues with CenturyLink.

I don't think it's ever been a case of them purposefully capping data -- it's just that cable is set up in a "trunk and branches" sort of way, usually by neighborhood -- if everyone is online downloading, it can pull bandwidth down to the entire "branch". That's why it can seem like you are being throttled during peak times -- it's just a matter of the cable company increasing the overall bandwidth to support their number of subscribers. Comcast has been really great about this lately... they seem to keep on top of it. This will usually happen for a few months, they fix it, it works great for a year then slows down and they increase it again -- I'm currently getting the full 50 megs, 30 during peak times. Not too bad -- when they first increased it from 25 to 50, I got around 30 / 15 but they fixed that in a couple months...

DSL is "direct to the central office" so if you pay for 50, you'll get 50 no matter what... problem is, the areas where they offer higher speeds are so limited... I can get 1.5 meg here. I checked again the other day when I first noticed this, and their online tool actually said I could now get 7... I figured I'd follow their checkout through since $19.99 for a year seemed like a great deal and I'd try it... well, I got to the end of the checkout, and on the very last screen it said there was an errorand I'd have to call in -- called in and they said nope, I can only get 1.5 and their online system malfunctioned... so I'm still sitting on Comcast; even if it's "up to 50" I'll still take it since Centurylink can't even offer 7... let alone 10, 20, or 40...

N
coolman302003
Is Comcast still throttling down speeds during congested periods? Are they capping data? I get 10 megs here in East Tennessee, which is plenty fast enough to stream high definition content to my Roku or tablet. If Comcast didn't throttle down or cap data and didn't charge me an arm and a leg for internet only, I would consider them. But, if there's data caps and throttling down, it makes no sense to me, because I don't have either of these issues with CenturyLink.
You said your in East Tennessee, well that does cover a rather large area but if your Comcast market is considered part of the Knoxville system then yes they are one of the handful of markets trialing the caps. 300GB included with additional gigabytes in increments/blocks of 50 GB for $10 each. 3 courtesy months where you can exceed in a 12 month period and not pay the additional charges.
More info:
http://customer.comcast.com/help-an...trials-what-are-the-different-plans-launching

http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/data-usage-trials/

http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/data-usage-trials-exceed-usage

Huntsville and Mobile, Alabama; Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah, Georgia; Central Kentucky; Maine; Jackson, Mississippi; Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; Charleston, South Carolina; Tucson, Arizona are the markets listed

Oh and yes they still charge a rather large premium for having internet only. Usually ~$15-17 more and that is if you purchase your cable modem.
dishcomm
How much is it where you're at? It's always ran about that much here... its went up about $6 over 20 years -- and every time it goes up it's because Centurylink has added interchange agreements with local independent phone companies for local calling. Mom's local area gets expanded which may or may not be a direct benefit to everyone (although when TDS's areas were added in it was a huge savings for our entire family--some of the others, not so much) -- but it's a HUGE benefit for those on TDS as well as the truly independent companies we have around here if those people haven't moved to a cell phone only.

When TDS added local calling to CenturyLink areas about 12 years ago a number of people griped because their bill went up from around ~$11 total to ~$23 total, and it was all-or-nothing (we had to write our local representatives to support it) -- but in the case of my grandma, my dad and uncle they were ecstatic because their long distance went down from ~$100 a month to a few bucks for any "true" long distance they made. Since telephones came to their area, their local area had previously been 3 exchanges in the middle of BFE from a company called McDaniel Telephone before TDS bought them out. A number of those still stuck with truly family ran independents were even worse with their local exchange being the only local area (we still have a number of these in some truly tiny cities). I think mom's CenturyLink (er Qwest er USWest at the time) bill went up around $2.50. Since then, CenturyLink has even added some more since they merged with CenturyTel who had some of the tiny little cities before they merged with Qwest as were previously isolated as well, and all of the little companies who used to have just their own exchange as "local" have got interchange with them over the years.

Not that I defend it much -- I'm just saying that to me it doesn't seem too unreasonable -- especially when it's your only option (in the case of my mom, she lives in a true cell phone dead area -- if she had service she'd drop the landline just like everyone else seems to be doing, including myself).

N
Windstream basic POTS is $16 plus taxes and fees.
Unlimited POTS is $40....LD, caller ID, etc
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68492 Replies · 2670125 views
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ClarkGable
Rock And Roll All Nite - Kiss
harshness
Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution - AC/DC
Bobby
Kiss - The Art Of Noise
long_time_Dish
Beautiful Noise - Neil Diamond
sdfntx
White Noise - Jessie Baylin
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Can't help but wonder if a worker overlooked checking the harness. I rarely ride a roller coaster anymore but when I do I check the harness myself pretty aggressively.
Can't imagine what the son is going through.

24 Replies · 186 views
Jimbo
dishstaller
Had no idea there were that many redundancies built into those restraints.
Jimbo
Had no idea there were that many redundancies built into those restraints.
It makes sense, however, I would want more types of restraints, so if one doesn't work, the other does ... the restraints coming over the shoulder I would have expected ... with a Seat belt as last resort.

Fwiw, I inquired with what they use on Coasters at Cedar Point, various Coasters, different restraints according to what the car and track requires ...

NONE of the Coasters at CP use THAT particular system :)
I'm glad to see ...
dishstaller
with a Seat belt as last resort.
According to the article, when you see a seat belt on a ride like this, it is basically used as a way of making sure the rider isn't too large/fat to safely ride the ride.
Jimbo
According to the article, when you see a seat belt on a ride like this, it is basically used as a way of making sure the rider isn't too large/fat to safely ride the ride.
Well, the over the shoulder support is better, but would require reconfiguring the cars.
Jimbo
Heres an article from the Akron Beacon ... seeing Six Flags has bought Cedar Point and Kings Island, they are included ...
I said earlier that Cedar Point doesn't use this type of seat restraint ... well, it does use it, But the difference is, the ones up here ALSO have the Over the shoulder restraint as well ... like I was suggesting that they should have used with the Goliath.

One of the new(er) one at Cedar point the Gate Keeper, uses the Clam shell .. I have rode it many times and have Mostly felt secure, that ride will stop you part way on the ride and you just hang, till the ride is ready to continue ... I typically ride the Front Car ... when its getting ready, you ARE hanging, in the car, looking down .... it would require 2 separate restraint systems to unlock at the same time to possibly get out of it.

meStevo
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
Schedule drops tomorrow. Mandatory mini camps in June. Hall of Fame game August 6th.
108 Replies · 1551 views
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Y
Selfish Drake Maye holds back on giving the ball to Bills unlike Jags game, gets the win on the road.
zippyfrog
That image is so true - especially after that Giants/Commanders game yesterday.
dfergie
Some tight games that went to the wire...
Y
Selfish Drake Maye holds back on giving the ball to Bills unlike Jags game, gets the win on the road.
A big win for the Patriots, and they are now 3-2.

Browns lose a close one with... The Jets. That is a classic Browns loss (granted, any loss is a classic one it seems). 49'ers, Vikings, and Chiefs remain undefeated. The AFC north have a three way tie at 3-2 for second place. :eek:
osu1991
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M
Hopefully nowhere near a microphone.
Ramy
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
134 Replies · 1287 views
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Foxbat
I noticed you missed last week's… Much like the SEC Shorts!😉
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osu1991
I noticed you missed last week's… Much like the SEC Shorts!😉
I thought I posted it as I usually have nothing to do but sit at my desk in the morning scrolling the interwebs , but my mom passed away the day before so my mind was mush.
Ronnie-
I thought I posted it as I usually have nothing to do but sit at my desk in the morning scrolling the interwebs , but my mom passed away the day before so my mind was mush.
Sorry for your loss.
Y
24 team playoff seems to be real close.

Are we really that far from a 64-team tournament?

The benefit of the 24 team playoff:
  • All the cartel teams that cartels want in playoff are in playoff
    • Independent of record too! Bonus.
  • MONEY!!!!! for the cartels.
  • I'm out of ideas.
Cons
  • Regular season really doesn't matter now other than the rivalry games
    • Top cartel teams can lose three games and still make the playoff
  • Going to start resting players?
    • The playoff is going to be *checks notes* several games!
    • Resting players could make games dumb.
    • Maybe even restrict NIL players from games played.
  • How much are streaming sub costs going up a month to pay for this?!
osu1991
AZ.
AZ.
24 team playoff seems to be real close.

Are we really that far from a 64-team tournament?

The benefit of the 24 team playoff:
  • All the cartel teams that cartels want in playoff are in playoff
    • Independent of record too! Bonus.
  • MONEY!!!!! for the cartels.
  • I'm out of ideas.
Cons
  • Regular season really doesn't matter now other than the rivalry games
    • Top cartel teams can lose three games and still make the playoff
  • Going to start resting players?
    • The playoff is going to be *checks notes* several games!
    • Resting players could make games dumb.
    • Maybe even restrict NIL players from games played.
  • How much are streaming sub costs going up a month to pay for this?!
One of the pro's I see is in a year with so many undefeated teams they have a good chance of an opening. Few years back you had lower divisions that didnt get a shot. I love collage football and I have no problem with that addition.

We are in what week 5 now? Been two real good ranked games to watch.....Other than that top 25 teams are playing nothing.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
Wasn't exactly sure where to post this. Just had a customer come in inquiring about internet. He has HughesNet and had heard good things about mine. He asked if we provided email addresses and it kinda caught me off guard. I said he should be able to keep whatever email he had been using....my sister in law is still using a BellSouth email addy and they haven't been around here for many years. He said he had gotten a letter from HughesNet stating that they had until Nov 16th to save, move, forward, whatever, their Hughesnet emails because they would lose them after that date.

I have never heard of a company simply mass-deleting email accounts (the customer still has his HughesNet service). From what I understand, in the past, the company who was ditching their email service simply sold the customer base to a company like Google.

Anyone else getting this letter. He said he would show it to me tomorrow when I go out there and set up his internet.
6 Replies · 88 views
Foxbat
Doing a Google of the HughesNet Email notice, it seems that HughesNet has been trying to eliminate hosting emails since 2019. And with HughesNet filing Chapter 11 back in August, it would be a smart move to switch to a more stable Email provider. Even AT&T farmed out their Email to Yahoo! years ago.

SpaceX's Starlink and the Cellular 5G Home Internet solutions have pretty much relegated HughesNet and its high latency, low bandwidth Internet service to History. If Earth had shorter days, maybe a Geostationary Internet Solution might have stood a fighting chance…
dishstaller
Well, I helped him set up a gmail acct....I actually wanted to see what the new process is for setting up a gmail acct since it had been years since I set mine up. Anyway, I showed him how to forward the emails he wanted to keep over.
navychop
If Earth had shorter days,

Wouldn't we then die of old age sooner?

🙄
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Foxbat
Wouldn't we then die of old age sooner?

🙄
Still the same number of years, just more Sunsets…😉
K
Even AT&T farmed out their Email to Yahoo! years ago.

I still have one of those although I've been trying to wean myself off it.
JSheridan
Among my many email accounts I still have a .netscape.net which AOL assimilated a while back.
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dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Hard getting used to the new younger Gibbs, Mark Harmons son had the right look but I understand he didn't want the role.
Still I'm enjoying, pretty good job with Franks.
62 Replies · 4173 views
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"MysteryMan"
Best episode ever.
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Jimbo
Best episode ever.
I actually think the very first episode was One of the Best ...
S1 E1 Yankee White
Where it all started in what was it, 2003 ?

edit:
Sorry, I got the shows mixed up, were talking Origins ...
I've liked Most of them once we've gotten past the 1st 3-4, getting to know who was who took a bit in the beginning.
It's a bit harder seeing we already Know the person, then go back and see how they became that person.
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KAB
KAB
Mark Harmon is coming back as Gibbs in Origins, for the full season. Just saw, Dinozzo too, on NCIS . That will be an interesting writing project.
dfergie
Really good one with OG Gibbs bookending it...
R
Really good one with OG Gibbs bookending it...
Will the OG Gibbs be on NCIS or will Tony be on NCIS Origins?
TheRatPatrol
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Anyone else watch this show? Any guesses as to what was in the box Gibbs gave to Abby that was on her desk? It look liked it was glowing.

I also heard that someone was leaving the show at the end of this season. Any guesses as to who thats going to be?
2130 Replies · 214632 views
Jimbo

Howard ...
You don't like Tony, or Tony as the Director (he's only been there for 30 seconds now) or you don't like NCIS ?
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Howard Simmons
Howard ...
You don't like Tony, or Tony as the Director (he's only been there for 30 seconds now) or you don't like NCIS ?
Tony as the director.🙄
Jimbo
Tony as the director.🙄
Would you rather have LaRoche ???
dfergie
I liked this episode and a toned down Tony...
H
Last reply · posted in FTA Receiver / Equipment Support
I just received 6 receiver 2 port mini Multiswitch and it work great, no external power need it, and you can connect 6 receiver instead of 4 on most Mini Multiswitches... If anyone is interested in where they can get one PM me....
IMG_1786.webp
3 Replies · 54 views
Titanium
Have you tested using external power? Over the years, have found unpowered polarity switching to be unreliable. Especially problematic when used with DiSEqC motors or switch stacking.
H
No I have not. I just got it the other day and it is connected to six receivers working just fine. What I do is non power mini multi-switches work best with LNBF's and with LNB's
H
It also has a IPS and a OPS switch on the side of it with a power led light showing when is on. It seems to be very nice build switch
Bobby
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
This is a thread that will keep you apprised of 4K events that will be showing on Dish channel 540. Keep looking here for information.

As of today, 9-27-17, there are no scheduled events posted for the next 2 weeks. That is subject to change on a daily basis.
761 Replies · 166965 views
Bobby
MLB, Brewers at Dodgers, Wednesday 10-14, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-02.
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Bobby
MLB, Brewers at Dodgers, Thursday 10-15, 6PM PDT, Channel 148-02.
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Bobby
CFB, Notre Dame at BYU, Saturday 10-27, 4:30PM PDT, Channel 148-03.
Bobby
NASCAR, Freeway Insurance 500, Sunday 10-18, 12PM PDT, Channel 148-04.
Bobby
CFB, Ohio State at Indiana, Saturday 10-17, 9AM PDT, Channel 148-01.
CFB, Arizona State at Texas Tech, Saturday 10-17, 12:30PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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Former member 209992
Last reply · posted in SatelliteGuys Support Center
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
524 Replies · 17850 views
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Foxbat
Yeah. It's probably something going on with the MacBook as my iPhone has been pretty snappy.
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Scott Greczkowski
I have been optimizing the site the past few days... and got us here now. :) We are rocking now!

Screenshot 2026-10-15 144737.webp
Foxbat
Yeah. It's probably something going on with the MacBook as my iPhone has been pretty snappy.
I rebooted my MacBook Air and it's zipping right along. Sorry, but it was taking over 20 seconds to load pages, with the pulsing blue bars so it was munching on something.
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Scott Greczkowski
Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. :D
Foxbat
Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. :D
WTF… …What the Foxbat!😱