Type of internet service

[Gordon Maney]

Are there many still on a dial-up connection, or do you most of you now have high speed connections?

[gmharris]

Among those that use the 'net at home, 79 percent have a high-speed connection and 15 percent use dialup, according to a new survey by Pew.

The only people that I know who use dialup are in rural areas.

[Charles Talbert]

We are on a DSL connection, better than dial up, most of the time. We are rural and really too far away from the source to get good DSL service according to some phone Co maintenance guys I know well. They have actually done some things at the exchange that have helped some, but it still leaves a lot to be desired at times. I am however very thankful we have what we do instead of dial up. It is our only choice other than satellite service such as Hughs Net.

[712edf]

I am totally wireless & mostly clueless!

I have a Dell laptop that I plug a Verizon Wireless "WWAN" device into. Its basically the same thing as an antenna for a cell phone, in fact it actually has a cell phone number to it. I can send/receive text messages from my laptop. If some one I don't care to speak with asks for my phone number, I give them the cell number for the computer. All they will ever hear is a ringing, I will never know anyone called.

With being totally wireless, I can take this laptop ANYWHERE. But despite the fancy commercials on TV not everywhere has a signal, plus weaker signal means slower downloads. Also it works extremely fast during "off peak" hours & just as slow as dial-up during peak usage times.

Bucky

[The Other Ross]

I have a Dell laptop that I plug a Verizon Wireless "WWAN" device into. Its basically the same thing as an antenna for a cell phone, in fact it actually has a cell phone number to it. I can send/receive text messages from my laptop. If some one I don't care to speak with asks for my phone number, I give them the cell number for the computer. All they will ever hear is a ringing, I will never know anyone called.

With being totally wireless, I can take this laptop ANYWHERE. But despite the fancy commercials on TV not everywhere has a signal, plus weaker signal means slower downloads. Also it works extremely fast during "off peak" hours & just as slow as dial-up during peak usage times.

Bucky

Same thing here but I actually use my cell phone as a modem,a technology that Verizon no longer supports but I'm grandfathered as my plan is so old.

[Kevin Mienke]

The information from this poll is relevant for posting pictures.

The maximum size for attachment on the forums is 128k and the maximum suggested pixel dimension is about 800 pixels wide. I have always hesitated to post photos this large for fear that those on dial-up might become frustrated.

As my eyes have begun to show some age, I prefer to look at photos in the largest possible dimensions, but the idea that there might be several dial-up members has caused me to downsize photos or, in many cases, not post photos at all.

I would encourage anyone using a dial-up connection to take part in the poll.

[Gordon Maney]

One suggested guideline. If your posted photo causes a need to scroll sideways to see it all, that is too big. Experiment to see what size does not require scrolling sideways, and leaves a bit of margin. Someone else may have a monitor smaller than the poster.

[Kevin Mienke]

This one is actually 800 x 600 pixels. It seems to be better

.

[Paul Cook]

Dial up = slow

Almost everything else is faster than dial up. As presented, the choices in the poll are "Dial up" or "Other".

Is that the distinction you are looking for?

Would breaking "Other" down into the other types of access be more useful?

[Gordon Maney]

Almost everything else is faster than dial up. As presented, the choices in the poll are "Dial up" or "Other".

Is that the distinction you are looking for?

Would breaking "Other" down into the other types of access be more useful?

Your question is good. I admit to needing some help in knowing definitive terms and concepts relating to the alternatives to dial-up. I can certainly modify or simply replace the poll to get a better idea. Perhaps you and others can explain how much performance difference there is between the various alternatives to dial-up?

Good idea.

[Gordon Maney]

This one is now 640 x 480 pixels. It seems to be better

.

Let's try an experiment. I say that because on my 2-page monitor it still requires some scrolling. One of the dynamics is how the viewer has chosen to set their monitor resolution. The chosen resolution will determine image size.

Kevin, would you be willing to start a new thread called image posting & pixel dimension ? In that thread you could post a series of images over a range of sizes. Viewers could comment on how the sizes fit their screens. I think, truly, some very useful information could be gained.

[Doc Dave]

Your question is good. I admit to needing some help in knowing definitive terms and concepts relating to the alternatives to dial-up. I can certainly modify or simply replace the poll to get a better idea. Perhaps you and others can explain how much performance difference there is between the various alternatives to dial-up?

Good idea.

Gordon,
My wife and I live in a semi-rural area on a dead end road. The only options for us are dial up or satellite internet. There are two satellite services I know of, wildblue and hughes.
The performance of satellite to me seems to be between that of dial up and high speed, more on the high speed end of the scale as far as speed. It is certainly not as fast as high speed but much better than dial up IMHO.
The commercials for hughes imply that their product is just like high speed. That is a significant exaggeration and is annoying to me. However, I would not go back to dial up if I could help it; the extra cost of satellite is worth it to me.
One other caveat. If you get snow on your satellite dish, your internet goes down. That is not a problem if the dish is on the ground and you can clean the snow off. But in my case the satellite had to go on the roof.

[Gordon Maney]

Gordon,
My wife and I live in a semi-rural area on a dead end road. The only options for us are dial up or satellite internet. There are two satellite services I know of, wildblue and hughes.
The performance of satellite to me seems to be between that of dial up and high speed, more on the high speed end of the scale as far as speed. It is certainly not as fast as high speed but much better than dial up IMHO.
The commercials for hughes imply that their product is just like high speed. That is a significant exaggeration and is annoying to me. However, I would not go back to dial up if I could help it; the extra cost of satellite is worth it to me.
One other caveat. If you get snow on your satellite dish, your internet goes down. That is not a problem if the dish is on the ground and you can clean the snow off. But in my case the satellite had to go on the roof.

That whole snow thing could be a real problem.

[712edf]

Dave, could you spray something on the dish to prevent the snow from sticking? WD-40, diesel, Rain-X? I am assuming the dish is at some angle & not pointed straight up.

Just a thought.

Bucky

[712edf]

Attn Kevin Mienke

Of those 3 pictures that you posted in the "size" thread that got deleted, the middle sized one I believe would work the best. While my screen/format handled the larger one easily, I'm sure my Dad's old Compag monitor wouldn't w/o a scroll.

Just thought I'd throw that here since "there" is no longer "there".

Bucky