I Have Officially Joined Civilization

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I Have Officially Joined Civilization

September 03, 2008, 03:19:10 PM

Bye-bye, ~15 years of dialup...

...hello, broadband! :D

The cable company, after 13 months of upgrades, finally began installing this week. I'm one of the first in my part of the area (rural) to get a high-speed connection. To say that I was 'patient' is the Understatement of the New Millenium™.

And the best part: it's an all fiber optic system, and fiber line from the pole to the house. I'm told it's the most advanced system in the area.

Was I one of the last regulars here still on dialup?

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #1 – September 03, 2008, 03:24:10 PM

Dang, took ya long enough! I bet it's worth it now, though. Congrats, and enjoy those fast pr0n...i mean...Fox Tbird/Cougar related downloads!

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #2 – September 03, 2008, 03:31:58 PM

Quote from: EricCoolCats;234762

Was I one of the last regulars here still on dialup?

I went to cable in '00, then earlier this year switched to Verizon's FiOS fiber optic system...

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #3 – September 03, 2008, 03:32:46 PM

Eric..welcome to the Future! lol

looks like good speeds...then again, what i know about fiber optic systems could fit in a teaspoon..

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #4 – September 03, 2008, 03:45:38 PM

Me and Tom are basically on the same timeline. Welcome to the new millenium!

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #5 – September 03, 2008, 04:10:03 PM

Congrats, Eric! I know when I was finally able to get [reliable] high speed I was happy as a pig in shiznit!

I was probably one of the only ones to start out with dialup (mid 90's), then get high speed (1998, I can still remember being amazed at how fast I could download Netscape, which was about 14MB at the time), then go back to dialup (2005), back to high speed (2006, for about 6 months before I got tired of extremely unreliable service), then back to dialup, and finally back to high speed (2008). I will NEVER go back to dialup, except for the odd trip to the cottage...

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #6 – September 03, 2008, 04:49:53 PM

Eric, which ISP do you have? I'm not familiar with your area, but I'd thought I'd mention that with the "fiber" hype, there has been some known borderline, and/or false, advertisp00gets from companies to try and compete and make the customer think their provider is at the same level, or better, than the competition.

pen 15s, Time Warner and Cablevision are three cable companies that have been known, recently, to try and confuse customers into think that their hybrid coax/fiber system is true fiber like Verizon's FiOS.

To be honest, while those speeds are good, they aren't exactly fiber speeds, so that's also why I'm asking. Those speeds can be achieved via the normal hybrid coax/fiber through most major cable companies, and even old DSL technology.

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #7 – September 03, 2008, 05:54:38 PM

Alright,
Can you say "video chat". :D
Now you can also view my project in the comfort of your own home. LOL

We'll see you in a few days when the novelty wears off.

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #8 – September 03, 2008, 06:04:23 PM

i cant wait for fios....its going to be awhile though in my area. cable it has been and cable it will be till then. my mother has dialup. its torture using it.

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #9 – September 03, 2008, 06:31:49 PM

Thanks guys! It's way cool...the computer can actually do things it's meant to do now LOL.

In a month or two I'll be going in for LASIK eye surgery so it's important that this hurdle was cleared, so that I can work at home before and after the surgery. Already got approved at work, and also got Remote Desktop Connection working perfectly. Actually it worked fine on dialup too. That is one amazing piece of software, one of the few things that I can truly say that Microsoft absolutely nailed. It's going to pull me out of a jam, that's for sure.

Quote

Eric, which ISP do you have? I'm not familiar with your area, but I'd thought I'd mention that with the "fiber" hype, there has been some known borderline, and/or false, advertisp00gets from companies to try and compete and make the customer think their provider is at the same level, or better, than the competition.

pen 15s, Time Warner and Cablevision are three cable companies that have been known, recently, to try and confuse customers into think that their hybrid coax/fiber system is true fiber like Verizon's FiOS.

To be honest, while those speeds are good, they aren't exactly fiber speeds, so that's also why I'm asking. Those speeds can be achieved via the normal hybrid coax/fiber through most major cable companies, and even old DSL technology.

Our area is mostly Time Warner, some Comcast, and the rest is Armstrong, located in western PA. They have existing infrastructure (hybrid systems) in the community with some of the larger towns/townships. Last year they purchased our (lame-ass) old cable company and immediately set about doing upgrades to the old copper cable system. I have a dish so it didn't affect me, but my parents live next door and still had cable, and they said even those changes made the picture quality a lot better. So then we got word that they were re-stringing the whole township with fiber optic lines. They were out in the snow doing that, in fact. We have been waiting for about 4 months for them to start hooking us up. We found out that they were told to do other outlying areas of our community before us, because there were more customers there.

About 3 weeks ago we got a letter in the mail that everything was done, and that we'd have a salesperson coming around to every house to offer services. He actually drove up to the house about 10 minutes after I opened the letter! This past Saturday a technician hooked the line up to the box on the side of the house. I watched him strip the line and knew instantly what it was. He showed me the actual fiber strand. So there is definitely pure fiber from the pole to the house. He told me that it was actually cheaper to do it that way.

Now Armstrong does not offer a FIOS-type of system yet, and in fact they don't advertise using the fiber line at all, just that you'll have a high-speed cable connection. Eventually they probably will offer a pure fiber system, at which point I am already hooked up and ready for the extra bandwidth and speed. Their main concern is the hybrid systems which are already at their maximum capacity. They have no idea when/if those will ever get expanded. So...I get what those communities get, even though I have the infrastructure for a lot more.

We never had ANY options other than dialup and satellite out here. DSL would be a big hit, especially since AT&T is very competitive with pricing. But unfortunately we're tied in with a neighboring town's phone system and we are too far away from their central switching station to actually attain any kind of steady DSL speeds, even if they offered it. It has the equipment for it, and the capacity; all AT&T would need to do is install some boosters and turn on the system remotely. But, we live in what's basically a farming community that is a speed bump between Youngstown and the PA border. Everyone forgets about us out here. AT&T doesn't really care to invest in our area in general, let alone where I live. So...I am now a slave to the cable company LOL.

Hey, it's a write-off anyway, doesn't matter how much they charge me...

I think I'll take the convertible out for a spin and get me some ice cream now...

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #10 – September 03, 2008, 07:55:07 PM

congrats man

here is a little gift (also, to anyone else who does not know about these sites)

http://www.free-tv-video-online.info/internet/

a load of streaming TV shows and movies.

here is another

http://www.ovguide.com/

have fun utilizing your broadband! :hick:

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #11 – September 03, 2008, 10:30:04 PM

Que up Lawrence Fishburne (Morpheus)

"Welcome to the real world"

:hick:

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #12 – September 03, 2008, 10:37:43 PM

Quote from: EricCoolCats;234801

I watched him strip the line and knew instantly what it was. He showed me the actual fiber strand. So there is definitely pure fiber from the pole to the house.

You didn't stick it in your finger did you? :hick:

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #13 – September 03, 2008, 11:38:54 PM

fios is cool stuff, but they have to slow it down to a coax system eventally, unless theres some way to get a fiber system inside of your computer. Your still only as fast as the slowest computer in your connection.

Out here, quest is advertising 20mb download speeds. I'll belive that when I see it. The system that comcast uses out here is a 750 system and is capable for up to 40 mbps, or so I've been told. I did a couple of cable system upgrades (All the way up to a 450 system running at 30 to 60 volts... yawn. With no reverse channels, so no internet.) in wyoming. Generally there is only about 1500 feet max of coax cable after the fiber in the suburbs, and in the bigger/older city area's there are alot more.

Right now were running all those stupid business hook ups for comcast. There is nothing stupider then actually running the cable inside of buildings, or right to the side of them, when its only a one story building, or there's poles/underground sections ran right along the back side of the buildings we build new cable systems to. Off of the same cable ran right through the back alley or under ground cable already existing.

I Have Officially Joined Civilization

Reply #14 – September 03, 2008, 11:46:34 PM

comcast is my third largest customer, we have been getting them ready for telephoney delivery for about 3 years. honestly, the phone companies cant stop whats about to happen.,,only grow with it.

Once the Cable coms have thier own switch and mainframe, its going to be a market of more choices. Many cable companies and co-ops do have thier own switch from the DMS to 5ESS, Alcatel ect. For those remaining in the big names who do not have thier own switch, they are still leasing facilities such as up / downstream t1's, t3's or at very best OCxx. The fastest leased fiber i have seen to date is an OC796 (thats 796 T3's= a lot of data!!!!)

The big push now a days in the cable coms is video on demand by yours truly, a little unknown company called Broadbus which was shortly ago aquired by moto.