losing connection

[Rob Z]

http://www.freakygamers.com/smilies/s/contrib/edoom/cussing.gif

Recently, I have been getting kicked off my connection with the modem. Is this something I can remedy by checking the "settings" in the confuser, or is this a phone company thing?

It may be a phone company thing, because I recently had to change the set of phone numbers that is in the confuser . AOL sent me an email telling me to do this, and I clicked on the easy to follow instructions that changed the numbers.

The getting kicked off thing didn't exactly correspond to the change in numbers , so I am not sure that is it.

Yes, I know AOL sucks, but that's what I am stuck with.

[Sponsored Links]

[John Bridge]

Getting kicked off or "booted" is an aol thing in your case.

And no, you are not stuck with aol. You can have a faster Internet provider and aol, too, for less money than you are paying now. How do I know?

In Houston, at least, and I think everywhere, you can get a dial up account for about $10 per month. These are much faster than aol because they are direct to the Internet. I get disconnected once in a while, but nothing like on aol.

AOL has an option whereby you use your own dial up to connect, and then log onto aol. They have several plans. The one I have is unlimited and costs $10. That's twenty bucks total.

If I am not mistaken, you are currently paying $24 to aol each month, and you are using their screw-up browser.

I wouldn't even have aol, except one of my boys really likes it -- and I have a web page out there that all of the millions of aol subscribers can see right on aol. They don't have to venture out into the big bad internet without someone holding their hand. ;)

Don't mean to be hard on you, Rob, but for a smart guy you're not up to speed here. :D

[Rob Z]

John

I am the first to admit that I am not up to speed with all things related to this computer or my internet connection. How do I go about finding one of these other providers? I just want a recommendation from someone that has one that works and they are happy with.

It would give me great pleasure to call AOL and tell them to stuff it.

Z

[John Bridge]

Rob,

The direct providers are regional. Mine is pdq.net, for example, but it only covers the Houston area. There are hundreds of them. It's how most people access the Internet. Ask someone in your area who they use, and don't pay more than about $10. I hear ads on my car radio all the time for various services.

There is one here for $10 that gives you a free web page to boot. It's called Everyone's Internet. http://www.ev1.net/english/index.asp

Then, like I say, you can keep aol for $10. I think they even have a limited plan for less than that.

Or, you can quite aol but download the Intant Messenger and still use it even though you don't have an aol account.

[Edited by John Bridge on 10-28-2001 at 10:14 AM]

[Cami A]

Rob, can you get a connection through your cable company? My SIL has that- very speedy. My dial-up isn't too bad. I don't get disconnected now that I have it set to check e-mail every few minutes to keep my connection active, but I signed up for a provider that was a little more expensive ($15/month) than the one my sister had($9.95/month), which booted her off at busy times. There's good ones and bad ones; even this far in da boonies, I have a choice! As for browsers, I'll keep everyone updated in that thread....but I'm loving Opera!

[Rob Z]

Ok, I'm finally motivated to start doing some homework on this. Our local (Loudoun County , VA) cable company leaves a lot to be desired. I'll see what their deal is. Do you have to buy separate equipment to hook up through the cable company? The reason I ask is that when we lived in Fairfaz County, the cable company sent out adds for their service, but there was a piece of equipment to buy or rent to be able to use the service. That was a year ago, so that may have changed.


Cami, I have a vague idea of what it is, but what is a browser, exactly? And what is the one you switched to?

I'll keep looking...

Rob

[JC]

Rob as John and Cami stated the first thing to do is

GET RID OF AOL!

Trust me they are bad!

You are the unsuspected victim of pre-installed maliciuos advertising or else the infamous 'get a year free internet and save money if you buy a computer deals'.

If that is the case you might be stuck paying for AOL even if you don't use it....I feel for and have seen many newbies get stung this way.

What to do is just find a good local provider. Local because that is a local call through your modem.
And good because many of the cheapo 10 a month deals are overbooked and have many busy signals. Spend the extra 5-10 bucks and get faster connectionjs and no busy signals.
Another benifit to local providers is that you can recieve Telnet access(shell accounts) and many other features that Big names won't give you because of ..well lots of reasons.

It seems very odd to me that considering your location you cannot get a cable modem.
If at all possible GET ONE!.
MAny time there are special offers of first month free and 19.95 a month for six months etc..
Mine just jumped to 45 a month so I am getting it shut off and re-join under my wives name..Hey that 25.00+ a month savings..every penny right?
Setting up a differant dial-up provider is as easy as punching in one phone number and if you use there e-mail account writing in a few mail prefferances in your browser.
I never bother to use any disc that any providers give you coz they are totally uneccessary and will only give you un-needed and un-wanted junk with them...do it manually..easeir less BS

Get cable you should have it isn your area it is not like you live in Nebraska or somewhere you should have a choice.

[Cami A]

Rob, I don't want to bore everyone with more on the browser, so check out the thread titled "New Browser" or something very similar.

JC can give a much better definition of browser than I can... :D

[Bud Cline]

OK I heard that!

I have dial-up, it sucks. For dial-up I have two choices, the local ISP (19.95 mo) or the local telephone company (19.95 mo).

The local phone company also offers DSL (I think) for $40 a month and you have to buy a $300 gizmo unless you take advantage of their ongoing special then the gizmo is $195 with a two year obligation.

Then I also have access to wireles which is on line all the time, problem there is: $60 mo.

No cable here in the country but when I was living in town two months) the local cable company hadn't yet heard of the internet.

My ISP drops me after being idol for ten minutes. It sometimes takes that long to write these words of wisdom. Not all dial-ups are created equal, some connections are better than others, I know not why. The busy's don't occur as often as they used to but usually around four o'clock when school is out you can't get a connection right away.

I spend too too much time here and a lot of it is because of the slow reaction times, very discouraging.

I've heard there is sattelite service available but haven't checked into it.

[flatfloor]

Rob, another vote for cable. I pay $29.95/mo, plus I paid on a promo deal $99 for the cable modem it is the greatest, fast, always on and no disconnects. Consider also, you don't pay for a phone call every time you dial up. That saved me about $5/mo. Plus I no longer have a separate phone for the net (it did double duty as a fax line.) When Jana gets a little older you may appreciate that, like next week!:) Been there, done that.

Here's a satellite http://www.starband.com I know absolutely nothing about it.

[John Bridge]

Okay, I don't know anything about satellite, but I've heard not-so-good things about it. DSL, if you can get it is great. Wireless depends on whether the provider has a transmitter (repeater) close enough to your house.

Rob,

The folks didn't get basic enough to answer your questions, I think. If you go with cable, you have to buy the new equipment. It's called a cable modem. That's the thing Jim was saying there aren't any deals on, and that's because you get it from the cable company itself. I would have cable here if the stupid cable company would get the cable (fiber optic) in, but I even quit cable TV because they are so lousy. I now have DISH for TV.

In your area, you probably have 30 to 50 basic Internet providers.

One other thing. AOL is the hardest outfit in the world to quit. You can't do it online. They actually make you talk to a representative on the phone.

The "browser" is the page you look through when you are online. The AOL browser "window" is smaller because it has to leave room for all the aol garbage. You can download a new browser for free at several locations. The browser is simply a software package that lets you view pages on the Internet. The browser deciphers all the coding for you and gets it into plain text and pictures.

Bud, you can't compare your service with that in the big markets. Geez, people out there are still getting electricity on the Rural Electrification act. Do y'all have private lines yet, or are you still on party line telephones. (I'll bet that affects your dial up service).

[Edited by John Bridge on 10-28-2001 at 06:19 PM]

[JC]

You can get DSL where ever your at though third party outfits.
I had it but hated it because it was thourgh Verizon and they had the whole system so over-booked(too many doubled up lines into the main router) that it was slow and only a fraction of the advertised speed.
Also had to buy one of them gizmos(300.00) that I am now stuck with.
My cable company ATT did not charge me for the cable modem instead it works on a lease the same way your tv cable box works so I don't pay for it but they get really upset if you don't return it to them. I like ATT and would reccomend them good service and updated system works pretty good, oh and quick customer service to boot, don't think I ever waited more than 8 minutes yet.

Not sure about wireless or satellete so i'm leaving those alone with why pay more money for what cable can offer?

[flatfloor]

John, you can buy the cable modems from other than the Cable Cos. I did a search, "cable modems" before I signed up. Price 2 years ago was $300, so your better off buying from the Cable Co. during one of their promos.

[JC]

if they even charge you that is.

[SteveN]

John, I just jumped over from the tile board. I appreciate all the advice. I currently am using a cable modem. I get an average 3 meg upload / download speed. This costs $29.95 in my area. If your cable company offers it, you need a network card (~$50) and a cable modem (I use a 3COM, ~$150). Each of these can be bought in an electronics store like Best Buy, or Circuit city. If you don't have one in your area, each has a web site that you can order from and often run Internet specials. Hope this helps.

Steve

[Bri]

Hi
I have high speed access through my phone company....the $49 a month CDN also covers the modem rental...it's fast and always online and I don't have a separate phone line..works great. The cable company has the same deal...though I hear it slows down the more people who are using the hub in the local area. I could never go back to dial-up...it's horrible/slow.....I've tried a few of the FREE access sites such as Excite...which has local dia-up numbers...it worked pretty good for dial-up. Just remember to join before you cancel what you have..it's the only way to download the softeware needed....and yes your browser is full of adds....what do want for nothing!...but Rob...just check the yellow pages under "Internet Providers"

[iconfab]

Get DSL or get a cable ISP. Time is money as all you tile setters know. If you have a wicked fast service that won't clock you off in the middle of posting here for example and wasting your time, you would have more time to finish that tile backsplash honeydo thisnthat stuff. Using a slow ISP is a tremendous waste of your time and energy, It will cost you less than a cup of coffee a day or about .67 cents a day more than your already spending on your 56k service. You can see more hear more and get more done with way less wait time and aggravation.
Frankly If I had to do without high speed internet I would not even bother, well maybe just e-mail, but that's it. As it is what they call high speed isn't fast enough yet, but at least it changes your experience with web browsing from a down right frustrating waste of time, to an ecceptable media format.