Spinout007
Spinout007 GRM+ Memberand Reader
11/1/09 9:31 a.m.

OK so another thread on here got me interested in looking at VQ swapped rx-7's. I know, I know, this place is a bad influence. Now anything that is flash, or graphics based takes FREAKING FOREVER to load, in fact I'm waiting on two other windows to load while typing this, IT's NUTS! gah, gotta do something about this, I guess we're getting satellite internet access as our christmas gift to ourselves this year.

Sorry had to rant a bit.

cwh
cwh SuperDork
11/1/09 9:53 a.m.

We are totally spoiled by cable internet. Loads almost instantly, no waiting at all. B TDT with dial up and dsl. They suck. I run my business via internet, if I had to deal with the others there would probably be blood.

SkinnyG
SkinnyG Reader
11/1/09 10:00 a.m.

The 2400baud modem I used back in '94 put text on the screen only slightly faster than you could read it. Pictures? What pictures? Downloading 1 MB took 1 hour.

alex
alex Dork
11/1/09 12:26 p.m.

I remember those days. Made magazines a viable source for por-- er, I mean, car pictures.

93gsxturbo
93gsxturbo Reader
11/1/09 1:22 p.m.

Do you get EV or 3G cell signal by you? If so, you could tether your cellphone. I do quite a bit with my Blackberry, and its as fast or faster than my DSL was. Roadrunner Turbo cable modem ghetto stomps DSL in my area though, so I switched.

Blackberry with unlimited* data plan is only like $50some through Sprint, which considering a barebones cell plan is that price on any other network, its a good option.

Appleseed
Appleseed Dork
11/2/09 12:51 a.m.

I remember switching from 56k to DSL. It was a revelation.

mrhappy
mrhappy New Reader
11/2/09 12:57 a.m.

The local power company just finished running fiber optic lines. I havent looked at the price yet so i dont know how much there plans are.

MitchellC
MitchellC HalfDork
11/2/09 2:16 a.m.

It was such an epic feeling when I successfully dowloaded the Counter Strike expansion (~90 MB) over dialup. Now, that same download would take maybe ten minutes.

Spinout007
Spinout007 GRM+ Memberand Reader
11/2/09 9:14 a.m.
93gsxturbo wrote: Do you get EV or 3G cell signal by you? If so, you could tether your cellphone. I do quite a bit with my Blackberry, and its as fast or faster than my DSL was. Roadrunner Turbo cable modem ghetto stomps DSL in my area though, so I switched. Blackberry with unlimited* data plan is only like $50some through Sprint, which considering a barebones cell plan is that price on any other network, its a good option.

Nah nothing, I get a tiny bit of cell signal in my front yard, but I'm not dancing around with a laptop in the front yard every time I want to get on the web.

RossD
RossD HalfDork
11/2/09 10:08 a.m.

when 4G rolls out, it should be close to Cable modem speeds, depending on load.

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/2/09 10:10 a.m.

I remember making web-design decisions based on people that had dial-up. We used to avoid large photos and such because it would load too slowly. Today, we just assume that everyone has high-speed and put streaming videos and flash everywhere!

You could try the mobi version of a site, designed for phones with a web browser.

JetMech
JetMech New Reader
11/2/09 10:38 a.m.

Satellite Internet might not be a bad idea--but the signal might come and go with the weather. If so, then it'll give you time to work on the car!

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/2/09 11:05 a.m.

I just found a Cable/Internet offer through Broadstripe for $75/mo. Now to tell Mrs. Brown that I will be having cable and internet ;)

JetMech
JetMech New Reader
11/2/09 11:09 a.m.
John Brown wrote: I just found a Cable/Internet offer through Broadstripe for $75/mo.

Never heard of Broadstripe--hope they're better than Comcast.

jrw1621
jrw1621 Dork
11/2/09 11:21 a.m.
Spinout007 wrote: Nah nothing, I get a tiny bit of cell signal in my front yard, but I'm not dancing around with a laptop in the front yard every time I want to get on the web.

Do you get nothing at your house from all the cell companies or just the one that you currently have?

You may want to visit the cell phone companies and check "coverage." Most of the websites will give coverage right down to your address.
www.sprint.com
www.tmobile.com
www.att.com
www.verizon.com

I personally use Sprint's cell phone card slid into the side of my laptop and it works very good. It can be slow on some video downloads (sometimes) but I do use it effectively for online calling and collaborative conferencing.

DirtyBird222
DirtyBird222 Dork
11/2/09 12:01 p.m.

dont verizon, sprint, and at&t all have those usb wireless broadband cards? http://direct.digitallanding.com/?promoid=5005023&gclid=CMbDg8Py7J0CFcgn2god3wm_Lw

jrw1621
jrw1621 Dork
11/2/09 12:12 p.m.

^^^^^^^^^ Yes, that is the type of thing I am talking about.

Flynlow
Flynlow New Reader
11/2/09 6:19 p.m.

From a guy who lives outside of town and uses satellite, some thoughts:

It's not that fast, pictures and large files take a looong time to d/l. And we have the $80/month big bad mama-jamma package. Coming from dialup it'll seem like lightspeed, but stepping down from cable it is kind of painful.

Quick up/downloads, like Xbox live, online gaming, etc. is a big no-no. It takes quite a while to fire the request off to the satellite, back to earth, out to the web, and do the whole thing again to get it to your computer. You won't notice browsing forums, but your buddy sniping you in Halo 3 sure will.

For the $40/month for a cell phone broadband card, I think that's the better option. Between Sprint, ATT, and Verizon, one of them should have 3G by your house. I have ATT for my cell phone, and they don't have 3G at my house, but Verizon has full strength. Worth checking into as an alternate.

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