Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jough]

I am sorry for calling you a dickhead.  I couldn't think of anything that would be insulting but not sound like I was angry at you, which I wasn't.

Yeah, satellite is silly expensive, especially considering it's not all that fast. It does work pretty much anywhere in the world, though, and as long as you don't have to upload (it's asynchronous) the download speeds are more than sufficient for surfing and e-mail.

[CortJstr]

Yeah, satellite is silly expensive, especially considering it's not all that fast. It does work pretty much anywhere in the world, though, and as long as you don't have to upload (it's asynchronous) the download speeds are more than sufficient for surfing and e-mail.

? I thought the current crop of satellite connections were 2 way. Or is that not what "asynchronous" means?

At my previous house neither cable nor DSL were available until recently so a pretty decent wireless service sprung up all on its own. People might want to look into that non-traditional "forgotten" broadband option.

[jough]

Asynchronous in terms of bandwidth means that the connection speeds are slower out than in.

Most DSL is really "ADSL" (sometimes you'll still see adverts for SDSL, which is more expensive).

For instance, most cable modem connections are 128Mbps upstream and 384Mbps when downloading - DSL is often faster, but results vary, whereas cable modem offers fairly consistent mediocre speeds (as high speed goes, I mean).

And DSL may come in tiers of service - the 768Mbps speed may be $20-40 cheaper than the 1.2Gbps speed - at least it is with Verizon DSL.

DirectTV DSL (formerly Telocity) is no longer a factor, as they've gone out of business.

Verizon just resells DSL service for two or more companies anyway - Qwest and... I can't remember the other choice that was available at the time.  They may have added further choices since then.

[Choop]

? I thought the current crop of satellite connections were 2 way. Or is that not what "asynchronous" means?

Nope, sorry.

a- : prefix, from Greek, meaning without
synchronous : from Greek, approximately meaning "at the same time"

Converted into bandwidth-speak, "asynchronous" means "different speeds in different directions." "Synchronous" would mean "same speed, all directions."


This lesson has been brought to you by Tiger Beer. Rawr!

[AugustWest]

Please don't be sorry for calling me a dickhead, it would totally change my opinion of you.  Calling me a dickhead is an essential part of the Joughness we've all come to know and love!

You know, after years of thought and study I've come to a few conclusions.  Here's one:  In any group dynamic there must be at least one Moe.  Somebody to slap people around, poke 'em in the eyes and call them a mallethead so as to preserve some semblance of order.

Jough, you are this board's Moe, and I appreciate it.  In real life I spend much of my time being the Moe, both in my professional and personal life.  It can be wearisome.  Folks are always blundering around and bonking you in the head with lead pipes, setting your ##### on fire with blowtorches or feeding you cakes with potholders baked inside.  As Moe you gotta take it in stride, knock some heads together and straighten things out.  

It can be wearisome.

Thanks for being the Moe around here.

You muttonhead.

[AugustWest]

Also, to stay on the topic of the previous hijack --

It's somewhat ironic that satellite internet is so expensive, especially since satellite TV is such a good deal compared to cable.

I've had DirecTV since '96 and I'm pretty sure my rates have never been raised.  How many cable customer can say that?

[jough]

Yeah, but you can't watch tv when it's raining, or so the cable company's ads have said.

When I apologised for calling you a "dickhead," I meant I was sorry I wasn't more original, like calling you an "assface" or "Limbaugh Brain."

And Choop, re: asynchronous - jinx.

[AugustWest]

That's mostly bullshit.  Yeah, if it's pouring down rain (like buckets, not drizzle or even plain ol' steady rainfall) I used to get some interruption.  I can't recall ever being out more than 15 minutes.

Now they got the oval dishes that are a little bit bigger which are supposed to solve this problem.  I've only had mine for about 3 months and I haven't had any rain delays yet.  We have had some serious rains in that time, for what it's worth.

Also, if you called me a "Limbaugh Brain" I would be inclined to search you down and place a flaming bag of dog feces on your front porch, then ring your doorbell and run.  Unfortunately, my dial-up internet connection makes it far too time consuming and inconvenient for me to do the research to track you down, so you are safe.

[doomglobe]

I like the other thread on today's strip better.

[slink]

Skipping lightly over the more intense stuff, and into geekdom again...
Satellite broadband does come in both two and one way service.
I am currently looking at one way, since I can't afford two way. One way can be done at cable type speeds for around £25 a month. The same as cable. Downside being that the upload speed is whatever shitty speed your current modem gives you.
I would love to get two way, but alas it would mean waiting for a decent income. Which... We'll see...
If I lived 6 miles closer to Berwick I would have DSL right now. Only getting speeds of around 60k/sec, but then compared to what I get now...

[CortJstr]

When I lived with my parents I had DirecTV and they had cable. DTV won overwhelmingly both in overall picture quality and uptime. There was really no contest. Especially during last winter's practical blizzard. I lost service for a totally of maybe 4 hours while the cable was out for a day or more. Plus picture quality over DTV rocks, especially if you use DirecTiVo vs. regular TiVo.

Couldn't the Verizon install signal amplifiers for DSL just like they use for voice and make that service available to everybody instead of just the choosen few close to a switching station?

Also, remember when Roast Beef was "the other cat" now Pat is? Wasupwitdat?

[jough]

Broadband Wireless would be wonderful, since I use a laptop primarily.

However, even the fastest wireless available now (realistically, 802.11g) is still far slower than even cable modem (which isn't really fast enough for any "broadband" uses), let alone high-speed DSL.

But that's the way the market is going to go, eventually.  Within 5 years I can see T1 speeds for wireless - there's a huge market for broadband on the go - money just waiting to be collected.

[Noah]

I'm pretty certain it's AmINakedOrNot.

[CortJstr]

I'm pretty certain it's AmINakedOrNot.

Good call! That was one of Achewood's top referers a while ago. I should have remembered.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Comcast also pisses me off with it's regional pricing structure. In Arlington cable is way more expensive than DirecTV. But at my soon-to-be in-laws Comcast is way cheaper. And the problem is that appts in Arlington never have balconies.

If I understand it right the phone companies could fix a lot of DSL's speed/reach issues if they felt like it. But they're willing to deal with the signal loss. Plus, I hate Verizon even more than Comcast.

Doesn't Cox operate in Arlington as well?