Broadband information needed

tiltjlp

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I can get 0.5 MBPS broadband service at a price I can barely afford. By that I mean it's only $9.00 a month more that my dial-up service costs me. The thing is it's called Value Service, and they say the speed is Up To 0.5 MBPS. Now that sounds to me that it could end up being hardly any faster than my dial-up service is now.

Could someone who uses broadband explain this all to me without any hype? If I can get service that will really be faster, and that will allow me to upload large files without timing oit, that will be nice. But since it's called Value Service, will it be worth it? Is 0.5 MBPS that much faster than dial-up? And remember I'm a real technical nitwit.

Now, I don't download music and videos, all I'm really concerned with is being able to upload VP table zips here without timing out. Download speed will simply be a bonus, because I have all the time in the world to wait for tables to download if I have to.

John
 
.5 mbps is 500kbps, your modem is 57kbps. So it would be roughly 10 times faster then dial up. Plus its allways on, doesnt tie up your phone line.

Its a whole different ball game, and it makes your computer MUCH more usefull!

Thats my opinion, anyway.

Kurt
 
Yeah it would more then likely be worthwhile, no dailup fees cost per call, always on. The up to figure is no doubt hinting at capping which downgrades your connection once your download cap is exceeded, though even at capped speeds it should still be faster then dialup. So I'd say it's worth it, you would most likely spend that extra $10 a month in call charges. Anyhows John you got a link, most ISPs have links to the services they offer, no real way of knowing for sure without reading the fine print.
 
Thanks guys. I'm lucky that I don't have any extra fees beyond the ISP charge. In other words it's a local call to connect. Another question. An ad for a competing cable Internet service hints that broadband service is shared by everyone online, which sounds like the more people using it at any one time, the slower the service. And at least for me, tieing up my phone line with dial-up is a plus, since that way I don't get junk calls.

And what's this about always on? If my computer is on but I'm not online, is my computer still open to other computers. And does a firewall protect me even when I'm not online. Probably dumb questions, but like I've said, I'm a tech dummie. Thanhs again.

John
 
Esentisally, yes, you computer is always open to other computers. You shoud use a fire wall. Software at the least, and the best would be a router. If you have just one computer at your place, you can get a single port router for about 40 bucks. It will act as a hardware fire wall. Anyone scanning your address will just see a router, and NOT your machine. If you combine that with a software firewll, like zone alarm, or the one built into windows XP SP2, your machine is hardened against most problems( but a determined hacker can still get through..).

I use Zone alarm, and have it set to sever all network connections when the screen saver comes on. This is effectivly like "hanging up the phone", completly un-networking your computer.

Kurt
 
Thanks for the info Kurt and Steve. I just signed up, and they're send me the hardware Monday. At least I know who to blame if I don't like it. :p

John
 
Welcome to the 2000's John.

I think no one in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Finland use a dialup anymore. It's ancient history here, like typewriters and wire phones. You won't be disappointed.

PS: How much do you pay for your DSL connection? I get 1 Meg connection for 24 Euros / month. That's roughly 30 dollars.
 
I drunik yo

I say go broadband big boy

fat cheese

cheddn
\
nvemind

go
f
likewind

go fsat
fast

go

just go

:D
 
kristian said:
Welcome to the 2000's John.

I think no one in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Finland use a dialup anymore. It's ancient history here, like typewriters and wire phones. You won't be disappointed.

PS: How much do you pay for your DSL connection? I get 1 Meg connection for 24 Euros / month. That's roughly 30 dollars.

I'll be getting a 0.5 Meg connection for $19.95 US. I should get the hardware this coming Wednesday or Thursday. I've alreay downloaded their antivirus/anti-spyware/firewall software, so I'm all ready to roll.

John
 
Pacdude said:
I drunik yo

I say go broadband big boy

fat cheese

cheddn
\
nvemind

go
f
likewind

go fsat
fast

go

just go

:D

I took your advice Dude, and signed up for speedy service. Please don't delete your post when you get back to normal. It's funny as hell, and will be a good reminder to you not to get soused again.

John
 
No offence but can you make the Dude's post a sticky :lol: :lol:


As far as Broadband goes I'm on 512k download and 128k upload. It certainly is far better than dialup.

btw, what is your download limit and does your uploads count in the tally. Something to be aware of at least.

Enjoy your new freedom.
 
No, I don't think I'll make the Dude's post sticky. as I'm sure he's rather forget about it, though he has taken it all very well. I didn't know there was any download or upload limits with broadband. I'll have to check that out. I guess if and when I hit their limits I'll simply wait for the month to end and start over again. AFAIK, there are no limits on dial-up, or else I don't UL or DL that much.

John
 
John, I'm beginning to wonder, do you read my posts?

The up to figure is no doubt hinting at capping which downgrades your connection once your download cap is exceeded, though even at capped speeds it should still be faster then dialup.
 
It's a hard cap. I have the same thing on a cable modem. $25 a month for 512kbit down and 128kbit up. $40 would get me 2MBit down, although they cap the up at 128kbit still I think. It sounds like they're covering their butts with the "up to" business, though. I always get 512k down unless the sending site is too slow. That is kbit not Kbyte, though so figure 64Kbyte/sec maximum download speed. It's still vastly superior to a 56k mode, which was lucky to get 40kbit on a good day and line noise would choke it up, etc. Plus it doesn't tie up your phone line.

Now if that is DSL you're talking about, the "up to" probably means if you're too far from nearest junction box, it might go slower. I know my regular phone line has some kind of persistent line noise that comes and goes and that they never do anything about, so I'd hesitate to go with DSL, myself. It can depend on your line quality.
 
StevOz said:
John, I'm beginning to wonder, do you read my posts?

The up to figure is no doubt hinting at capping which downgrades your connection once your download cap is exceeded, though even at capped speeds it should still be faster then dialup.

Yes I do Steve, but I know less than zero about technical stuff. And now Dude tosses out DSL, as if I'm supposed to know what that means. I though you were all talking about upload and download limits every month, so I wrote and asked them, and below is their reply. I figure I don't have a problem there, since my HD is only 18 GB.

There is a limit which is based off of the service plan that you have. For the plan that you are on there is a limit of 50 Gigabit per month. If you have any questions please feel free to call us at the number below.

All of this is like a foreign language to me, so if it seems like I'm not reading your posts, it's more a matter of being utterly confused. I only hope I can hook everything up when I get it Wed or Thurs. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

John
 
50 GB, yeah that should be heaps, heck you could download over a dozen movies and still not hit your limit.

DSL (Digital Subsciber Line).

I'm on the cheapest I could find here, though being out of the big cities and our telco here having a virtual monopoly, your deal is much better, here's mine....

$39.95 Australian per month
DSL 256k/64k (down/up)
5 GB per month limit
 
StevOz said:
50 GB, yeah that should be heaps, heck you could download over a dozen movies and still not hit your limit.

DSL (Digital Subsciber Line).

I'm on the cheapest I could find here, though being out of the big cities and our telco here having a virtual monopoly, your deal is much better, here's mine....

$39.95 Australian per month
DSL 256k/64k (down/up)
5 GB per month limit

I take it that DSL is the dame as cable. which is $50.00 a month here. Standard broadband is $29.95 and goes all the way up to $49.95. The phone company also offers high speed service, but I don't know anything about that.

What gets me is all the ads about bundling services and saving money. I can't afford cable TV, and spend modt of my time on the computer anyway, and I hardly ever make long distance calls, so for maybe $125 plus another $10-15 in hidden charges and taxes, I could only eat once a day but ,ake all the long distance call I want while watching some junk I don't care about on cable, while surfing the web. Sounds like the deal of a lifetime.

But I take it what you really had asked me about before was the upload and download speeds I'll have. I don't think I'll even ask, because after all there years on dial-up. it'll probably be faster than I can comprehend. And as a going away present, my dial-up is moving even slower than it usually does the last few days, unless that's my imagination. I just hope I don't kill my computer trying to hook everything up.

The speed will be so fast I'll probably feel a bit like the Dude the night he was juiced.

John
 
50 Gigabit=6.25 Gigabytes

Does that include uploads as well as downloads?
 
That means you can transfer 208 Megabytes/day and still be within their limit
 
Hey I have a question as we are looking at getting broadband when we get a new computer. I know that broadband is always connected but what happens when you turn your computer off? I am reasonably tech savvy but unfamiliar with broadband. I know that no-one could look into my hard drive while the computer is off as it will have no power to run. But do I have to reconnect every time I turn my computer on or is it just a bad idea to turn off the computer with broadband?

Thanks
DS
 
Nah no problem I turn off my external DSL modem all the time, when I close down. It's just a modem, just the line is always active , so whenever it is powered on it does a handshake with your ISP and connects.
 
I configured it to only have connection if I want.

You can always deaktivate the network connection to your dsl modem.

I got this very nice and recommended piece of hardware gratis. It's dsl modem, router and
telephone system in one.

Get it if it's offered to you too.
http://www.avm.de/FRITZBox_Fon/service/index.html
Probably the same like this, it's in english.
http://www.avm.de/en/index.php3?Produkte/FRITZBox/FRITZ_Box_Fon/index.js.html

VoIP offers me cheap telephon connections. Connect your phone to the box and phone through internet without starting pc. If you phone with anyone who have the same provider it's for free.
 
Well. I got the broadband modem and the line to hook it to my computer today. The only problem is there is no ethernet connection on my computer. So I need to wait until the end of next week, until my friend who knows something about all this gets back from vacation. So I might end up being offline for a short while, since I'm going to cancel my dial-up the end of next week. Bow I wish I was computer savvy like all you geeks.

John
 
You just need to get a PCI ethernet card and open your PC, plug it into a empty PCI slot, they are usually white and there will be at least 3 of them maybe 5 or 6, off course you do this without the power on. Then close her up, connect all your cables and power her up, then windows should detect the new hardware and ask for the drivers location, then you just direct it to the CD of floppy that came with the ethernet card and your done, simple hey. :)
 
Yeah, nice and simple. I think there is a UBS port on the computer, and an adapter would be cheaper. Either way, I'll wait and let my friend do it for me. I'm all thumbs and a clutz, and son't want to screw anything up.

John
 
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