Computer/Tech Questions

[ccbatson]

May have jumped the gun as fiberoptic is the next wave and hold a lot of promise.

[Corn.Bot]

Based on how they could/would not replace 45-yr-old phone lines directly adjacent to where they were already stringing up new wires anyway, AT&T apparently still adheres to their old slogan of, "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company." [[TY, Lily Tomlin.)

I just plain didn't have the time or the patience anymore to keep waiting for them to get around to bringing us into the new millennium. They lose.

Comcast might maintain a similarly annoying level of corporate arrogance, but at least their service was already underground here; and the price was right They win.

If at some point in the future, fiber optics find their way into my microcosm, who says I couldn't change back, or up?

[ccbatson]

Understandable frustration, to be sure, however, a huge company like AT&T is not likely to have the people in the field "caring". At the same time, only a huge company like this can strategize and implement a plan that actually gets the fiberoptic pipeline to your front door [[which they are). Patients is the virtue here.

[vetalalumni]

Anyone worried about President Obama owning the internet?

[gazhekwe]

No. Is that a tech question? If he will come to my house and help me dig my cable modem out from under my desk, untangle and reroute all the wires, and install my new printer, I would welcome him!

[cheddar bob]

No. Is that a tech question? If he will come to my house and help me dig my cable modem out from under my desk, untangle and reroute all the wires, and install my new printer, I would welcome him!

Davidhall is looking for work.

[gazhekwe]

Which one? Send him here. I have the dickens of a time getting down to floor level these days. Anyone willing to crawl around under my desk sorting wires and rerouting the dang modem and router would be golden!

[cheddar bob]

Which one? Send him here. I have the dickens of a time getting down to floor level these days. Anyone willing to crawl around under my desk sorting wires and rerouting the dang modem and router would be golden!

I doubt that he's allowed "here", per se.

[Ragtoplover59]

May have jumped the gun as fiberoptic is the next wave and hold a lot of promise.

I have been using Fiberoptic for internet through my electric company for about a year or more now. I was using the Charter pipeline before that, With Charter I was paying for the faster 10 kbps speed, I would get 10 down and about 3-6 up on a good day.
The Fiberoptic gives me 10+ up and down always!

My services are all over the place.
AT&T for cell phones,
Charter for Digital/HD Cable
and Local Electric Co. for Internet

I just did a test and had 10254 down and 10082 up [[see below)
Speed test here >> http://speakeasy.net/speedtest/

[ccbatson]

Dang...I get no better than 7K.

[gnome]

ragtop, cc ... are you wireless on a laptop, or at a workstation? My laptop is poking along in the left lane with its blinker on...

[Ragtoplover59]

gnome,
I am on a laptop. getting the signal to the house is one thing, I bought a mid price-range Belkin extended range wireless router to get the signal to me.
We have a game computer [[Desktop) that is still setup with a wired connection. The kids will have gaming sessions and will have several laptops and the desktop all working off that one router. Never have any issue with signal loss at all, they play those online war games and the action makes my head spin, but the system handles it all?

[gnome]

yikes, I'm at 1285 and 386 with at&t dsl

[Bobl]

Happy with our new Comcast phone, cable, and internet service [[crystal clear phone conversations after years of intermittent static), we are unhappy that our wireless network was given our last name.
How do we change the name of the network?

Any other security suggestions?
We use Norton, and have not downloaded the free Mcafee.

[Stosh]

Happy with our new Comcast phone, cable, and internet service [[crystal clear phone conversations after years of intermittent static), we are unhappy that our wireless network was given our last name.
How do we change the name of the network?

Any other security suggestions?
We use Norton, and have not downloaded the free Mcafee.

Change your wireless network settings through your router.
That address is dependent on the make and model. For some, typing 192.168.1.1 into your IE bar will get you into your wireless router setup. Hopefully the tech didn't set up a password. You can then set your wireless router to whatever name you would like to call it.

Wireless security settings are also a must if you don't wish passersby into your system, that's fairly easy, there's lots of help for that online. WEP is one, WPA2 is better. Also don't broadcast your network name if you can help it.

[Stosh]

Download Speed: 8474 kbps [[1059.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1106 kbps [[138.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

[ccbatson]

Wireless N, and ethernet 1000 hardwired hit 7000 Kb/sec.

[cheddar bob]

Laptop on N wireless router, Comcast's economy internet:

22916kbps Download

4322 Upload

I'm I winning the download speed contest now?

[vetalalumni]

No. Is that a tech question? If he will come to my house and help me dig my cable modem out from under my desk, untangle and reroute all the wires, and install my new printer, I would welcome him!

A facetious question gazhekwe. There are already various entities [[people and roles) that are on the multiple switches of the internet machinery, so to speak.

Go wireless. Including the printer.

[ccbatson]

At what point does the speed stop mattering I wonder?

[jiminnm]

D/L - 14,737 Kps
U/L - 2,682 Kps
These are from the Dallas server. The LA server is about 30% faster.

I'm on Comcast internet and cable. Our neighbors have the phone package also, and every time I'm on the phone with them it sounds like they're talking from the bottom of a barrel.

[ccbatson]

For downloading big files, the speed helps a lot and is noticeable. However, for surfing, I believe other bottlenecks make the experience slower and indistinguishable above about 5K download speeds.

[PCE]

Greetings all,
I have a question for the group if I may. I often read articles online that this forum may be interested in but I can't figure out how to post the link. I would be grateful for a little guidance.

Signed,
Big Computer Dummy

[PCE]

Many of us, especially older folks, are not as tech savvy as we should be.

I resemble that remark!

[gazhekwe]

PCE, just copy the link in your address window and paste it into the Reply window. Or, to start a new thread, hit Start a New Thread, just above the list of threads on each page, Detroit, Non-Detroit, Connect.

If it is a particularly long link, please shrink it first at www.tinyurl.com.