Infrastructure Improvement

[giza]

And by that, I mean I got Comcast Internet over the weekend. (FIOS isn't available here) I'm seeing about 14 Megabits down and somewhere around 5 Megabits up.

Don't get nervous, folks. After I cancel DCANet ($55/mo for 1.5 Mbps down just isn't worth it anymore) I'm going to get Basic DSL from Verizon for about $17.95/mo to use as hot backup. It'll be nice to have two different wireless networks running here so I can just switch if Comcast starts acting up.

Along with the Comcast Internet service, I also broke down and got basic cable TV, for the first time in about 8 years. It's nice to be able to channel surf through 2 digits worth of channels and not worry about static or a complete lack of signal.

I then spent the rest of the weekend doing cable management of all the computer cables at my place. I actually ran out of wire ties on Sunday afternoon and ran over to radio shack to get more. I'm afraid I didn't get any before/after photos, but take my word for it, the area behind and under my desk is much less cluttered than it was before. :-)

On Sunday night, omnibahumut and I met xshengx and two of her friends at a local Chinese restaurant for some cheap food.

And that was one of my most stress-free weekends in awhile.

Comments

[talvinm.livejournal.com]

Not IF Comcast starts acting up.

WHEN.

I crave FIOS, desperately.

[omnibahumut.livejournal.com]

Granted, I haven't used Fios, but I have yet to be convinced that Comcast is any better or worse than Time Warner or Verizon.

[athauglas.livejournal.com]

Comcast > Time Warner.

Comcast may have had that sandvine bullshit that turned their entire user pool into one giant bit torrent leech, they may have legendarily bad tech support and service calls, BUT. Time Warner had all of that plus:
- tiered internet pricing with unreasonable monthly caps and costly overages
- laughably expensive phone service
- decade-old upload speed caps, which they refuse to increase
- regular monthly fee hikes
- complete refusal to roll out DOCSIS 3 hardware
- complete removal of usenet access, which I complained about immediately and loudly (they responded with 'nobody uses it, or cares, sorry. have a rate increase.'

FIOS has been here for a year now, and time warner simply does not care. I can't wait to move.

[rickwoods.livejournal.com]

Aw, you mean Anthrocon isn't 100% stress-free? :-P

[two-pi-r.livejournal.com]

It's nice to be able to channel survey through 2 digits worth of channels and not worry about static or a complete lack of signal.

Yeah, now you have to worry about everything ON the channels being complete shit.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Basic cable is still out of budget here, but we bought a $10 antenna! We'll see how that works. :)

[meow-tuna.livejournal.com]

Nice upgrade, and also on the stress-free weekend. I need me one of those. THough at least my internet service is uncapped now!

[andrew7782.livejournal.com]

Remind me never to move to Philly. I like $35/mo. for 6mb DSL.

[staghorne.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on finally having a usable home Internet connection!

[music4fun.livejournal.com]

OMG, you actually broke down and are using Verizon? Could it be you need to use their MAC tech support? And, cable TV too!! Now you'll never visit your parents to watch their TV ;-(

[athauglas.livejournal.com]

"I then spent the rest of the weekend doing cable management of all the computer cables at my place."

I think I may have discovered the cause of your baldness.

Also why does everybody have better upload speed than me? God damn.

[giza.livejournal.com]

ISPs are stingy about offering users high upload speeds for a number of reasons:

- It will encourage users to run services on their own machines (potentially impacts ISP revenue if they're also into hosting)

- It will encourage users to run Bittorrent (impacts ISP revenue if they're like Comcast and sell TV shows or movies on demand)

- At the Tier 1 level, where major ISPs interconnect with each other, billing is based not on how much data is received, but how much is sent. Many users uploading means higher bills that the ISP has to pay other ISPs to carry their traffic.

[athauglas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I realize how peering and transit schemes work. But 384kbps was too slow 6 years ago, and it's too fucking slow now.

"Order prints of your photos online in seconds!"

Yeah, right. A "roll" of 24 photos would be close to 140 MiB. At 384kbps, I'm ordering photos in seconds for nearly an hour. And if I happen to be making a phone call at the time, I might as well leave it running overnight. TW needs to get real.