# What kind of internet connection do you have?



## callieX (Sep 26, 2003)

I was wondering today all the cool stuff that Apple has come out with lately (.Mac. iChat Av, iSight and iTunes Music Store) all require a fast DSL or cable modem connection.  What are people using out there.  I know here were I am the cable costs about $45/month and we can not get DSL. 
I wanted to buy some of my distant relatives an iSight camera for Christmass so that we could video conference but alas most can not justify the cost of broadband along with all their other exspenses.  
I was wondering what are most people doing these days. It could hurt Apple sales especially the iSight camera.


----------



## cfleck (Sep 26, 2003)

i dont think that the connection speed is the biggest barrier.  its getting people to shell out the extra $129(i think) when a large chunk of their friends own a windows box.


----------



## Vard (Sep 26, 2003)

Hello callieX...nice to see another PA rep around here.  

I guess I just don't buy the 'afford it' thing anymore.  That said, I do realize that in parts of the country and the rest of the world, connection cost for Broadband may be much more than you or I pay, and for that, I do understand.

Mine is $40 a month--but then they get me with $10 a month for the super-ultra-mega-basic-cable tv-you-have-to-have-if-you-want-cable internet clause.  So I am paying just hair over $50 [Uncle Sam needs his taxes too] and while I admit that this can be as high as 2 to 5 times a dialup account, it just doesn't seem to be a cost issue when you way the advantages.

My wife thought it was too expensive and let me try it for a couple of months to see if it was worth it.  If I tried to get rid of it now, she would shoot me.

It's just one of those things.  You just adjust where your money goes and over the course of a month, $50 just doesn't seem to be that much of hit.

But that's just me I guess,
Eddie


----------



## bobw (Sep 26, 2003)

Can't beat cable. I pay $39.00 a month for Comcast.


----------



## callieX (Sep 26, 2003)

Vard I know what you are saying.  In my case my wife refuses to use computers or the internet.  I have a fast connection at work and after working 9-10 hours a day in front of computer I do not think I would the connection at home enough to justify the $50.  I bring my laptop to work when I want to update .Mac or use the iTunes store.  If someone has thier wife  and 2.5 kids using it then I can see userfulness of it.  
What really gripes here is that Verizon offers DSL for about $30- $35 a month.  I can't get in my area yet and Verizon can not tell me when or if I will ever be able to get it.  I do not like giving the cable company any more money than I have to.


----------



## JetwingX (Sep 26, 2003)

<----- 56k@28.8  

and for me it's not a matter of cost, it's a matter of location. i am too far away from a sub-station for DSL, the 802.11b network hasn't reached this far west yet(Think of me being in the next map to the left), Cable won't run down my road because it is a privet road and there are too few people on it. And satellite  (from what i found) only works on PCs
so till i move, i am damned


----------



## Vard (Sep 26, 2003)

Verizon is reading from the same script in my area too.  I see more advertisements for every day, but it's still not happening here....and not in Pittsburg is just a joke.  We may be a small market, but Pitt has to have enought people to make it worth their time to get it done.

I am happy with my cable and even happier cable modems are pretty interchangable.  Having to use a specific DSL modem that cost over $200 would just suck.

I like my cable, just wish it was faster--and yes, there is no such thing as fast enough!

Later,
Eddie


----------



## bobw (Sep 26, 2003)

Satellite system do work on Macs, you just need a Cheap PC to route through. I know Starband works fine on a Mac;

http://starband.com/requirements.asp


----------



## crash (Sep 26, 2003)

bobw - as a fellow resident of philadelphia, i'm curious about your comcast service. any details you can provide would be super helpful. 

i've been using earthlink DSL for more than a year now, but i don't have cable. i can get it in my area, and was wondering if it would be cheaper for me to switch to cable internet/TV

i currently pay $50.61 per month for earthlinks service.

if i switched to comcast, would it be 39.99 for JUST the internet service? how much extra would it be fr the super cheapo TV service on top of that?

hm. i guess i should just call comcast.


----------



## bobw (Sep 26, 2003)

Crash

Comcast, without their TV Cable is $49.00 a month. If you have the TV service, it's $39.00 a month.

I think the cheapest TV service is probably around $22.00, not sure though. Yes, just give them a call.

I've had it since it was available in my area, almost two years and have had three outages lasting about 2 hours total in that time.

Excellent customer support also, even on a Mac.


----------



## crash (Sep 26, 2003)

so, 

internet alone = 49/month

TV alone = 22/month

but TV + internet = 39/month?


so then the total i would pay per month is like, 60 something for both internet and TV? i guess that'd be worth it.


did i get that right, or am i majorly confused?


----------



## bobw (Sep 26, 2003)

Not quite. I think the base TV charge is about $22.00 a month. I have more than that so I pay more. If you have the TV service, then you add another $39.00 a month for Cable internet. If you get the Cable internet without the TV service, it's $49.00 a month.


----------



## callieX (Sep 26, 2003)

I also have comcast here in Pittsburgh. Here are the rates.  They seem higher than yours in Philly.  Guess that is because the governor is from Philly

Basic cable TV here $42 a month.
Digital cable TV here is 54 a month.
Internet with cable TV is $43 plus leased modem.

Internet without cable TV  $60 a month
Basicly about $100 or so a month for both.


----------



## UNIX X11 (Sep 26, 2003)

Cable ::love::


----------



## Alex (Sep 26, 2003)

We have cable here, its about 40 a month... It's actually not that bad when you think about it...

if we had dialup, ours was 20 a month, then we'd have to have a second phone line which plus the local charges would cost us around 30 a month if not more... It comes out to be more realistic to have cable, expecially with the amount of time I spend on the net.


----------



## Arden (Sep 26, 2003)

Earthlink DSL.  No cable access in Modesto (possibly until recently), but I wouldn't want it anyway.  I've never had a bandwidth outage.

Nobody's using a T1 or T3 from a dorm room or something?  No one for other yet....


----------



## Darkshadow (Sep 26, 2003)

Cable...plus I have my own cable modem.


----------



## legacyb4 (Sep 26, 2003)

About $35/month for 12megabit DSL (12 down, 1 up) and no bandwidth caps.

I'm possibly moving back to Vancouver, Canada next year and am dismayed to hear that DSL options are few and most have bandwidth caps... 

Any recommendations?


----------



## callieX (Sep 26, 2003)

I am shocked that so far most people have dsl or cable.  I thought there would be more dial up people.  I guess maybe I thoughts are wrong about this issue.


----------



## Captain Code (Sep 26, 2003)

3.5Mbit/800Kbit DSL.  $70 Canadian/mo.

Worth every penny.  Always getting 350-400 KBytes/sec down & 70-80 KBytes up.


----------



## fryke (Sep 26, 2003)

Cable here, too, in Switzerland. Our DSL-services can't keep up, they suck. ;-) It's still too expensive, though. I'm paying 80 CHF a month for 600/200 Kbps. That's a bit less than 60 USD at the current exchange rates, I believe. However, they also offer phone service through cable, which is nice and good. I certainly hope to see prices go down once more, however there doesn't seem to be a big reason of why right now. You can get DSL for about the same price (with more problems, though).


----------



## tsizKEIK (Sep 26, 2003)

i dont know what my speed is exactly.
im connected through ethernet.
the connection is free(actually included in the rent)(but still is very cheap)


but i do have this screen capture from network utility:


----------



## Zardoz (Sep 26, 2003)

I have a 512 DSL connection, but I'd like to get at least a 1meg, with fixed IP, I work from home (as a developer) so speed is kinda important. The faster the better.


----------



## monktus (Sep 26, 2003)

I'm on 512k ADSL for about $47. There are slightly cheap services about but Lavron are very good. Excellent support and fixed IP. I'm a bit annoyed that I'm not in the same cable area I used to be in as I could have got 1Mbit cable for about $62.50. Any DSL above 512 is still quite expensive here. BT suck, they still haven't unbundled the DSL loops so they still have a wholesale monopoly. And we don't have PPPoE yet even though the swines invented the technology. I'm so used to broadband now, I couldn't go back to dialup.


----------



## applewhore (Sep 26, 2003)

In Bangkok, I pay US$50 per month (512/256) for 30 hours - then additional per hour thereafter...  I normally pay US$100 per month...

In Dubai I pay US$50 per month (1MB+) unlimited...

It seems a lot until you factor in international phone calls (my businesses are predominantly based in the UK) - and using iSight, I save a bundle...

Annual cost is now about what I used to spend every two months on phone bills...

Thanks again, Apple!

Ed


----------



## Cat (Sep 27, 2003)

I've got a 512/128 (IIRC) cable for  29,95 a month (Casema/Wanadoo). Fast enough, cheap enough. There's some ADSL offerings (Tiscali) that give more speed for less price, but not available yet ... I'll wait and see.


----------



## pds (Sep 27, 2003)

Egypt has ADSL, but it sucks big time. The ISPs do the Egyptian thing, ignoring the standards and running local loops that are 15 and 20 km long. We have it at work - sometimes up most times down and they charge a yearly subscription in the $1,200 dollar range for 256K, cash .   


So I tough it out with a 56k dialup.


----------



## TommyWillB (Sep 27, 2003)

My work has been paying for my internet connection for years. This started out as a 14.4 modem and the ISDN. both sucked, but were free.

A few years ago I was upgraded to the business class A-DSL which comes with 5 static IP addresses and 5 email addresses. 

A-DSL is faster downloading than uploading, but it is still so much better than ISDN that I am actually hosting my personal Web site from home!

I have been thinking how lucky I am, but I just recently started re-reading about that Internet 2 thing that is 3,500 times faster than DSL... I wonder how I get work to upgrade me to that.


----------



## TommyWillB (Sep 27, 2003)

> _Originally posted by callieX _
> *Vard I know what you are saying.  In my case my wife refuses to use computers or the internet...*


 Upgrade to Wife v2.0


----------



## TommyWillB (Sep 27, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Jet _
> *...my road ... is a privet road and there are too few people on it...*


For a second I thought you meant it was a road used as a privy. (Which I wouldn't want to go on either)


----------



## hulkaros (Sep 27, 2003)

> _Originally posted by tsizKEIK _
> *i dont know what my speed is exactly.
> im connected through ethernet.
> the connection is free(actually included in the rent)(but still is very cheap)
> ...



You have a 10Mbps connection! You must be downloading between 600-900 KB/s!

WOW!

WOW!

WOW!

Then again I shouldn't be surprised because you are living in Sweden 

Currently, I have an ISDN 64 but hopefully this will change in the days or weeks ahead with a DSL 512... AT LAST! 

Wait a minute! This is 0.5 Mbps! I still have 9.5 Mbps less than you! DAMN! 

I must move to Sweden or something


----------



## hulkaros (Sep 27, 2003)

> _Originally posted by fryke _
> *Cable here, too, in Switzerland. Our DSL-services can't keep up, they suck. ;-) It's still too expensive, though. I'm paying 80 CHF a month for 600/200 Kbps. That's a bit less than 60 USD at the current exchange rates, I believe. However, they also offer phone service through cable, which is nice and good. I certainly hope to see prices go down once more, however there doesn't seem to be a big reason of why right now. You can get DSL for about the same price (with more problems, though). *



You call that expensive? See below DSL prices here in Greece and enjoy for your country 

Installation prices (only once):
384 & 512 download / 128 upload = 118 euros
1024 download / 256 upload = 118 euros
In the above prices the price of DSL modem is additional...

Standard prices each and every month into the main telephone company:
384/128 = 32.45 euros
512/128 = 59.59 euros
1024/256=111.51 euros

Monthly fee each and every month into the ISPs:
384/128 = 81.81 euros
512/128 = 134.15 euros
1024/256=258.52 euros
The above prices coming from the cheapest ISP!

So, basically if I want to have a DSL connection even at the "low" 384/128 I have to pay each and every month a price of 114.26 euros for crying out loud!!! 

The average monthly payment here in Greece is almost 585 euros with the average monthly rent coming up at 300 euros!!! I hope that you can get the picture!


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Sep 27, 2003)

> _Originally posted by hulkaros _
> *You have a 10Mbps connection! You must be downloading between 600-900 KB/s!
> *



I think he's probably connected to some sort of shared T-1, and that's the link speed that he's connected to the network with.  I highly doubt he's seeing an actual 10Mbit connection to the internet, but we'll let him answer that one!

I'm in Texas -- San Antonio to be exact, and both cable and DSL are pretty cheap.  I've got 1.5Mbit down/128k up DSL right now, for $40 a month.  Cable is the same, although in apartments (like I'm in) if you go with cable, be prepared for the most unstable connection you've ever seen -- sometimes it'll download at over 300k/sec, sometimes it slows down to 15k/sec.

Both cable and DSL companies (Roadrunner for cable, SBC/Yahoo! for DSL) offer one year at $30 and then $40 after that.  Cable DOES require cable TV service, which they'll tell you is around $40 a month, but there's an unadvertised package for $18 a month that only has 18 channels.  You have to ask for it specifically, and don't give in to their upsells.

T-1 access, full blown, 1.5 down/1.5 up, no bandwidth limits can be had for $400 a month, $400 one-time setup charge from a company called Birch, which is trying to force SBC out of South Texas.  We've got it at work, and it's cheap and fast.


----------



## Arden (Sep 28, 2003)

Some of you guys are lucky, getting 10+ Mb/s over DSL... I don't know what it is here, something like 384 probably, but it's nowhere near that fast.

Hulk & PDS: Ouch!  Poor you guys... 

EDIT:  Almost forgot!  Those of you with broadband, be sure to optimize your connection: http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=242087


----------



## tsizKEIK (Sep 28, 2003)

> _Originally posted by hulkaros _
> *You have a 10Mbps connection! You must be downloading between 600-900 KB/s!
> *


my fastest download speed from a server (specifically from apple/trailers) has been 800 kb/s.
but the interestin part is when i download more than 1 file.
for ex. 1 day i was downloadin a file at 600 kb/s and at the same time another one at 400 kb/s.
i would have posted pics but i dont think im aloud..... ....
anyway
. i love it..


----------



## Arden (Sep 28, 2003)

Why wouldn't it be allowed?

A lot of the time, that comes from the server.  If the server is really quick, you can download files at a possibly capped rate, but they're all really quick.  You may download one file at 500 K/s, or you might download 3 files at the same speed simultaneously.  It depends on the server speed and your own pipeline.

Does anyone know a good online utility for checking your (ideal) connection speed?  I think there's one on DSLReports.com.


----------



## hulkaros (Sep 28, 2003)

> _Originally posted by tsizKEIK _
> *my fastest download speed from a server (specifically from apple/trailers) has been 800 kb/s.
> but the interestin part is when i download more than 1 file.
> for ex. 1 day i was downloadin a file at 600 kb/s and at the same time another one at 400 kb/s.
> ...



Only one word:

WOW!


----------



## bobw (Sep 28, 2003)

Bandwidthplace 
Me - 1.4 megabits per second

CNet Internet Services
Me - 1184 Kbps 

DSLReports 
Me - 1351 kbps

MSNTech&Gadgets 
Me - 1139.7_kbps

A list of tests


----------



## iMan (Sep 28, 2003)

I've got 1.5/128 DSL with SBC/Yahoo, and I pay 35 bucks a month. It's alright, I haven't had any problems but I don't really see the max speed. Guess I'm too far away from the switch station. I'm in San Francisco but I'm from Sweden, also lived in Italy until I moved here recently.
As for Sweden they are ahead of the States as far as speed and price for internet connections. My Brother is getting a 26mbps line for the same price I pay for my 1.5. The infrastructure there is a lot more modern and updated compared to the States. As far as Italy goes, they are way behind in computer technology in general, as I would guess is the case in the Mediterranean area as a whole, but Hulkaros and other could correct me on that. 
I've heard that in Japan you can get really fast connection for nothing.

Viktor


----------



## ApeintheShell (Sep 28, 2003)

56k modem............ 0$
28800 bps...............10$
Still Downloading.......priceless


----------



## tsizKEIK (Sep 28, 2003)

from dslreports.com

my download 2427 kbps
my upload 1330 kbps


----------



## Arden (Sep 29, 2003)

iMan, the posts of many users to this thread definitely back up your assertions.  Hulk and PDS, from Greece and Egypt respectively, have horrible DSL services, so they use dial-up.  Legacy4B and TzeizKeik, from Japan and Sweden respectively, have orgasmic services.  Those of us in the States have okay service, but it could definitely be better.


----------



## hulkaros (Sep 29, 2003)

> _Originally posted by tsizKEIK _
> *from dslreports.com
> 
> my download 2427 kbps
> my upload 1330 kbps *



That picture of your speed reminded me of a movie called SpaceBalls where at one scene they wanted to make fun of Star Trek Warp Speed thing.... At that scene the captain says "Put us into insane speed" or something like that 

Still, your Internet speed my friend is beyond that! It is Paranoid Speed 

Can I move at your house?  Do you need a servant or something?


----------



## Arden (Sep 29, 2003)

"Take us to... Ludicrous Speed!"  *Gasps*

Hulk, you can come to my house if you'll pay for your own food.


----------



## iMan (Sep 30, 2003)

The only thing that worries me is the trend towards monopoly for internet services, one is Comcast here in the USA who has a very large pice of the cable market.
Can your ISP block certain sites they don't want you to visit. I've heard that it's possible with cable but not with DSL, is that so?
How free and unrestricted is internet really?
Maybe I'm starting a new thread here 

Viktor


----------



## ElDiabloConCaca (Sep 30, 2003)

I'm tempted to say that ANY ISP can block ANY website, regardless of what kind of service they offer.  The way that the internet is delivered to your home/work has nothing to do with what the ISP can and can't do with that connection.

Just look at this site -- at the top of the page yesterday was a big link about how RoadRunner (cable) blocked a certain IP range trying to get rid of some spammers on the network, and inadvertently blocked some email accounts from here.


----------

