I just want to share this with you. It is funny and sad at the same time. This came in mail last week, NOT TEN YEARS AGO...I though it was a joke. How anyone can call 256k Internet a High-Speed at 2009? LOL!!!
256k "High-Speed" Internet?
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Well it is obviously their bundle package for cheapskates. I would hope they have faster speeds available. If not, that's just pitiful.
I agree, looks like a budget package. In fact it says so.
Almost certainly a higher tier to go to
Almost certainly a higher tier to go to
I think the FCC actually considers anything above 200k to be "Broadband/Highspeed" or at least they did a couple of years ago.
256 kbps may be pitiful to you folks who have nice DSL or cable or fiber systems.
I'd trade my "1.6 Mbps" satellite system at $90 per month for their "256 kbps" cable (it appears) system at $50 per month - in a heartbeat.
The downloads for big stuff may not be as fast for the "slow" system, but it would be worth it to eliminate the latency for everything else.
FWIW
I'd trade my "1.6 Mbps" satellite system at $90 per month for their "256 kbps" cable (it appears) system at $50 per month - in a heartbeat.
The downloads for big stuff may not be as fast for the "slow" system, but it would be worth it to eliminate the latency for everything else.
FWIW
Kinda, considering
(a) it's a bundle (TV/phone/internet) , and
(b) it's Alaska
//greg//
I remember a 300 baud modem... When 1200 baud modems appeared - that was High-Speed!!!
It's all relative...
I had a 110 baud teletype at work. Programmed it to print banners on the paper tape.I remember a 300 baud modem... When 1200 baud modems appeared - that was High-Speed!!!
It's all relative...
We used 110 bps/baud teletypes in college in the early 70's. They were great - they gave you plenty of time to drink beer while your stuff was printing.
However, if you really want SSLLOOWW, google around for QRSS. QRSS is a ham radio method for sending "absurdly low-speed Morse code". Dits are as long as 90 seconds each. That gives a speed of 0.8 words per hour. Figuring a word is five characters, that's four characters per hour. Torturing the numbers a little, we reach the absurd speed rate of 0.00888 bps (eight bits sent in 900 seconds).
However, if you really want SSLLOOWW, google around for QRSS. QRSS is a ham radio method for sending "absurdly low-speed Morse code". Dits are as long as 90 seconds each. That gives a speed of 0.8 words per hour. Figuring a word is five characters, that's four characters per hour. Torturing the numbers a little, we reach the absurd speed rate of 0.00888 bps (eight bits sent in 900 seconds).
Some people could get more use out of 256K if it has good ping, good quality and no limitations than service that is 2-4 times that fast (500K to 1 MB) that has ping issues, limitations and is not consistant on speed.
Even being 2010, my CURRENT dial-up can barely achieve 28.8
--and that is only with a really good hardware modem.
Apparently the issue is miles of crappy, corroded copper phone lines... which the phone company says they will NEVER replace.
BTW, DSL is available in my town... but not to me. I am "too far from the central office". ???
Cable is also available in my town... less than 3 miles from me. But they won't run the cable up my road. They say there aren't enough houses on my road to make it profitable.
Finally got fed up, and sick of waiting, and had WildBlue installed just last Saturday.
$50/month for 512/128 service. Too bad they've totally oversold their bandwidth, so I only get ~90K - 120K during any "normal" usage hours. If I wait until after midnight I can usually get full 512K download, but still only ~50K upload.
I am totally disgusted right now.
(oh, btw, I'm only 50 miles from Boston, MA. It's not like I'm hundreds of miles from nowhere.)
There is some type of box/hub where they split the phone line pairs up to make more room for more customers cheaply. Each time they split it up it cuts the speed in half. 56K goes to 28K then that goes into 14K when they split it in half. I have heard of some that had it as low as 7K!!!
7 miles is far enough away to not get broadband from a city let alone 20-50 miles.
7 miles is far enough away to not get broadband from a city let alone 20-50 miles.
OUCH!
DUH!
I don't expect to actually get service from the city, lol.
My point was that, although people from THIS area consider my town to be "in the sticks"... the reality is, by geographical proximity of less than 20 miles from three different cities, and a mere 50 miles from Boston, we are technically still a "suburb".
You know... as opposed to living in the center of a 100,000 acre farm in the middle of Montana...
There is just no reason to not have even 10 year old technology (DSL or Cable)available.
The phone companies in some areas will bring DSL to an area if there is enough "work" in that box that you are getting service from. If they do not have enough people getting service from that box that live within a proximity of it then they will not see a return.
WISP is the way to go if DSL/cable is not available in your area. You could also create a point to point link if you have line of site to someone that has DSL/cable.
WISP is the way to go if DSL/cable is not available in your area. You could also create a point to point link if you have line of site to someone that has DSL/cable.
