What's broadband like?!?

[Distress]

Feed up with my connection; slow, timing out, high-resolution pictures freeze half way sometimes :( I did the might and checked to see if DSL was available at my house. It is not from what I concluded, but I did stumble across the monopoly Comcast cable; it's available!

For sure I thought it would cost me a good amount monthly, but is it worth it? I bet it is. Turns out that I will be paying less than I am on dial-up for the "first 6 months"! $20 month (6months), and I get a free cable modem as well (not rented, two mail in rebates totaling $80, but I paid for $9 shipping). There is also a $50 mail in rebate. Heck, I actually get $30 paid TOO ME for the first month. Of course, after that its jumps to the regular cable-broadband price, but hey, I bet it's worth it.

3MBps download and 256kbps uploading! Well, of course this is maximum and not guaranteed. Comcast gets good reviews in my area, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Hopefully, in two weeks I will be a happy camper :) Anyone else riding the wave of broadband? How do you feel?

ps: My dial-up connection timed out three times during my online-order :| Can't wait.

[driftnWRX]

I have Comcast cable. It kicks ass. Super fast DL and UL. You will enjoy!

[@wall]

what's cable like... hmm i think my pic pretty well sums it up...

i am uncapped for d/l's :D 512 up u/l's

[danno]

broadband is so much better than dialup its not funny. if i had to go back to dialup now i would die.

[blackcat77]

It's addictive. I've had it for 5 years now and can't even imagine life without it. My connection is 4000 down and 256 up.

[Matt]

2 in 5 internet users now have broadband. Over 50% of internet users in our age bracket (Matra and Henk excluded) use broadband.

[Blue Supra]

i have BB, bare minimum, 256kps down 64 up and its soooooo much better then 56k i nearly died! thats bare min broadband, you guys are talkin like cable speed connections :eek: fastest broadband availavble here is 1.5mps, thats EXPENSIVE, at work though, we have a 5 MEG pipe, it rocks:D

[drakkie]

well, ive had it for 9 months now, and i cant do without it.
i download two cds and i earned it back for the month.it absolutely rocks !!!btw my connection= 1.1 Mbps and a download speed of 120 kb/s and maximum sometimes 200 kb/s.

[fa22_raptor]

I have 1.5Mbps cable and now I can't live without it. Reverting back to 56k on friends' computers is hell.

[henk4]

2 in 5 internet users now have broadband. Over 50% of internet users in our age bracket (Matra and Henk excluded) use broadband.

Me too on broadband :)

[NoOne]

I wouldn't go back to dial-up after 7 yrs on cable .....

2004-10-23 08:56:11 EST: 4569 / 347
Your download speed : 4679421 bps, or 4569 kbps.
A 571.2 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 356305 bps, or 347 kbps


I've seen faster d/l speeds but this was a random test :)

[Matt]

Me too on broadband :)

Well, to be honest, it doesn't surprise me that you step out of your age bracket on things like this. You're too hip for you age, Henk.

[quattro_20v]

I got cable for almost 4 years now, it started with like 1,5 mbps up and 256 down
it had an upgrade it's 2,5 mbps and 384 up. for around 55-60$ a month (50 euros)
I cant even imagine dail-up now altho I also started with that.

[Blitz_]

broadband is the bomb, so fast, but if u have a download limit be careful, u get carried away wif the fast loading speeds.

[danno]

haha yeah, for the first few months i went way over our 6gig limit :D

[Blitz_]

indeed, i was on 200mbf or 2 months!!!!!

[Matt]

I'm so glad I don't have any d/l or u/l limits. I wouldn't be able to survive with all these people siphoning vids off me. ;)

[danno]

wow thats crap. i probably do more than that by just browsing/emails!!

[danno]

I'm so glad I don't have any d/l or u/l limits. I wouldn't be able to survive with all these people siphoning vids off me. ;)

haha yeah thats right, you have a whole pile of top gear videos :)

i have a 12 gig limit now, and usually i use up around 8 gb, but if i find a site with heaps of good videos i usually get pretty close to the 12 gig limit :D

[xDRAN0x]

4.1 Mbps connection, 5.1 in november ;)

download top at 600 kb sec, upload at 100kb/sec.

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Broadband is fantastic. Much better than dial up, doesn't tie up the phone, faster...

[pimp_squeak]

broadband is dialup on steroids...I detest cable, in my area there's only one provider for cable internet and the service is down 2 or 3 times a month...

[henk4]

Well, to be honest, it doesn't surprise me that you step out of your age bracket on things like this. You're too hip for you age, Henk.

If it weren't for UCP I probably would still be on VHF. I just had to hike along :)

[Distress]

How do they install it?


broadband is dialup on steroids...I detest cable, in my area there's only one provider for cable internet and the service is down 2 or 3 times a month...

Yeah, I've read reviews online about cable being down. Comcast here in Indianapolis gets good/great reviews from what I have read; every now and then they are down, but overall no problems. Besides, my dial-up times out so many times some days I just about through they darn modem out the window...lol.

As for limits, it seams that there aren't any in the US and Korea; I could be wrong. I don't have any limits, but that’s a bummer :( Dial-up also doesn't drive up are phone bill, all us American people have to pay is the Internet Service Provider, and there are no-limits as well..at least in my part of town. It seams like you Australians get the grump, high taxes to?

[xDRAN0x]

what's cable like... hmm i think my pic pretty well sums it up...

i am uncapped for d/l's :D 512 up u/l's


it's a proven fact that Opera can't analyze the download speed right (see picture)

[pimp_squeak]

I live in southern Ontario (Canada) so things might be different where you guys are, sorry I didn't mention that in my first post. And with the timing out thing, it's not that big an issue, I think I work my modem too hard because for the last couple days it's been overheating...I need to mount another heat sink on it methinks.....

[cls12vg30]

I've been on cable from Time Warner for about 3 years now, can't imagine life without it. I've got two laptops (one mine, one work, soon to be 2 for work), so I have a wireless network in my apartment with a Netgear router so that all the computers can be online. Nothing like sitting on the couch surfing on one machine while the other downloads....ahem....large media files. Of course a setup like this would be impossible on dialup.
Having instant access to email, weather, etc., and having IM up all the time, it spoils you quick.

[crisis]

I was paying around $40 per month for dial up. My wife found a deal where you get your phone bill at a certain rate, which she said was chaeper than what we currently paid, and 500mb (which aint enough) at 128mbs for an additional $14 per month. Although I eat up the 500mb quickly it reverts back to dial up after that and it costs no more for the use.

[Entropyman]

I've had the cable modem for about 4 years. It costs me about $45 a month. My longest outage during our three hurricanes was about 3 hours. I have nothing but good things to say about my service.

[Supercarfreak123]

3 words: Couldn't Live Without!

[Distress]

AGAIN, how is it installed? My house is a rental, but the landloard is slightly worried about the issue for some reason. Do they put the cable through the phone plate area?

I'm not asking about connecting it to the modem, or computer installation.

And for those on broadband, please remember and be curtiouse to people on dial-up. Don't post rediculously amounts of large photos, or a whole bunch of em. Don't use stupid picture signatures like a spoile 12year old...of course no one will listen.

[SlickHolden]

They stick it in the wall from near a paytv box its much the same, ADSL is on the phone line, He wouldnt know it was there and it would make the rented house more atractive if you moved out,,,,
3 Bedroom house with cable internet access:D


What the soooking latley with the sigs pics and dial up ??? come on paaaaalease:p

[Rockefella]

I wouldn't go back to dial-up after 7 yrs on cable .....

2004-10-23 08:56:11 EST: 4569 / 347
Your download speed : 4679421 bps, or 4569 kbps.
A 571.2 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 356305 bps, or 347 kbps


I've seen faster d/l speeds but this was a random test :)

I get like 7-8,000 kbps down on good days and average about 800 up

[Distress]

*cough*4 bedroom house*cough*

Ok, AGAIN, how do they install it...getting sick of asking this, but no one seams to know.

paytv box, you reall maye since :rolleyese:; we have no cable.

[SlickHolden]

ADSL works right off your phone line..
Cable underground or PowerLines runs like a paytv cable, Through the roof down and out in the wall like a tv atenna point in the wall simple and easy, Then it connect's to a external modem, Bang your off:)

[DarkPhenix]

i have a friend who is in dial-up. He wants broadband but it's unavaliable where he lives. what can he do??

[SlickHolden]

Nothing i'm in the same situation. I have no underground cable for internet, No ADSL phone line access, No Satalite access, Get rich and pay for the cable to be layed down to his house thats all i can think of, Cause if it's not there they wont pay jack shit for anything:(

[Distress]

Thanks SlickHolden. Maybe they can run it beside the satelitte cable, if it's not to tight :p


i have a friend who is in dial-up. He wants broadband but it's unavaliable where he lives. what can he do??

Browse in Mozilla Firefox browser; it's noticeably quicker, and you can't beat tab browsing (at least I think). There is the option of accelerator programs (not sure if they work in Firefox?). I use to use Earthlink's accelerator in Microsoft Internet Explorer, it really speed things up; what it does is blur images so they load much quicker. It's noticeable on highly graphical websites (GameSpot.com), and if you want to view a image clearer just right click and "refresh", but yeah, it's not pretty.

Satellite broadband should be available in most areas (here in the US and other countries). Although, I don't know how well it works, it's less secure, you can't play games, uploading is a "pain" I hear, and its not cheap ($80 a month, and $380 in equipment here, that's why I didn't get it).

He/she could also try taking yoga classis and eating more vegetables…:confused:

[SlickHolden]

They might lay it down there, I have just had satalite paytv installed and it's all in the roof till it come out the wall it's not very intrusive, Your landlord must think they smash a hole in the wall or pull half the roof off lol:p

[Distress]

It's up!

Now I just have to cancel my Earthlink account; Earthlink is a good service provider, shouldn't have any trouble canceling unlike with AOL...rather not go there.

I'm having problems accessing my eMail, so anyone have recommendations on a free online eMail provider?

There is no difference on basic pages, it seams just as fast as my dial-up oddly (on Firefox), but when I go to graphically demanding sites and large/medium photos there is quite a difference!

[Z0RR0]

I got cable and it rules. I can' understand how I didn't commit suicide on 56k. With the wireless b, I get around 450kb/s (bytes, not bits), so it's fast enough.
Cost is a whopping 45$CDN/month ... but since I download music, movies and software, its more than worth it. Haven't bought any soft since I got cable (2 years agp), and I must have in the thousands worth on my PC right now!!! LOL

Free online email? GMail!!! 1Gb of space, you can search through your email ... very cool. PM me, I got invites I can send to you (or anyone, actually). Hotmail isn't that bad now that they increased to 250Mb (free).