Internet providers

[enjoralas]

18 hours ago, JFskiDan said:

When i bought this house, it had the Fios LNT thingy in the basement.  obviously they were not too concerned about getting it back when the PO shut off his service.  i was with Comcast for 2 years, then switched to Fios.  They added some gizmos to the old box when they set up my service.  When i shut off Fios at my old house, i think i had to send them back my router, which was fairly new, but uninterested in the LNT in the basement.  At one point in the old house, i forget if it was DSL, or Fios, but i called customer service for something, and the nice lady discovered i was on set on like super slow mode, based on my (theirs really) old modem.  She upgraded me to a new modem, and started giving me direction as to how to go about sending my old modem back, then she was like, "wait, ok, just throw your old modem away. its not worth the postage."  

 

Yeah, they never want to the ONT back. It’s too much to expect a homeowner to remove and return, and rolling a truck is expensive. Plus they want it there to make it easier for people to switch back in the future. 

[momskeeztoo]

Done with the T-Mobile internet. Worked great  since we got it until about a week and half ago. No internet for past week and a half.  their customer service and tech support sucks. They haven’t been charging us, but still we do need it. I guess it’s back to Verizon 

[enjoralas]

I realize on a forum for a relatively expensive sport like skiing there's probably not much use for this, but everyone's situation is different so figured it was worth dropping a link to the Emergency Broadband Benefit website in case anyone qualifies for it:

 

https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit

 

I know at Comcast, a LOT of people qualify for our Internet Essentials program even with household income you would think would not qualify, and all of those people automatically qualify for the EBB.

[momskeeztoo]

1 hour ago, enjoralas said:

I realize on a forum for a relatively expensive sport like skiing there's probably not much use for this, but everyone's situation is different so figured it was worth dropping a link to the Emergency Broadband Benefit website in case anyone qualifies for it:

 

https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit

 

I know at Comcast, a LOT of people qualify for our Internet Essentials program even with household income you would think would not qualify, and all of those people automatically qualify for the EBB.

Thanks for the info. I wasn’t as upset about it not working, it was their lack of customer service. Never talked to the same tech twice. Asked us the same questions over and over. 

[enjoralas]

35 minutes ago, momskeeztoo said:

Thanks for the info. I wasn’t as upset about it not working, it was their lack of customer service. Never talked to the same tech twice. Asked us the same questions over and over. 

Yeah, sadly that's pretty much par for the course with telecommunications companies, when the starting pay for a call rep is barely above par with a fast food worker. Follow the script no deviation -- never mind how many time's you have unplugged it and plugged it back in. 

[JFskiDan]

5 hours ago, momskeeztoo said:

Done with the T-Mobile internet. Worked great  since we got it until about a week and half ago. No internet for past week and a half.  their customer service and tech support sucks. They haven’t been charging us, but still we do need it. I guess it’s back to Verizon 

Had some weird shit going on at my house in the Poconos Sunday morning.  Watched (streamed) tv sat night, but woke up to like some things not connected to the internet, decided to reboot my router, and that finished everything off.  So, now, no internet, and basically no phone, since Verizon is doing whatever, that renders my phone pretty much useless around the house.  Luckily i had an old router that i was able to hook up and make work.  

I figured out exactly how much i rely on internet/phone just then.  

[Benm]

4 hours ago, JFskiDan said:

I figured out exactly how much i rely on internet/phone just then.  

yesterday i figured out how much i rely on my electric panel.

[JFskiDan]

10 minutes ago, Benm said:

yesterday i figured out how much i rely on my electric panel.

Thats an important one to. You lose pow wow?

[Benm]

10 minutes ago, JFskiDan said:

Thats an important one to. You lose pow wow?

sort of. i lost half pow. whatever uses 240 wasn't working, not enough current. like a bad leg but not really, issue is the main breaker. so, we have power on all of the low voltage stuff so that's good. fortunately the fridges and freezers are still working. no water though is what sucks the absolute most. wait nevermind, what sucks the most is shelling out 2k to replace it.

[JFskiDan]

43 minutes ago, Benm said:

sort of. i lost half pow. whatever uses 240 wasn't working, not enough current. like a bad leg but not really, issue is the main breaker. so, we have power on all of the low voltage stuff so that's good. fortunately the fridges and freezers are still working. no water though is what sucks the absolute most. wait nevermind, what sucks the most is shelling out 2k to replace it.

The no water thing sucks ,as does the huge repair bill. 
in my old house the ground line from my panel to the meter was corroded, things were really weird. Huge surges like lights dimming when something would start, like the fridge, and then the computer speakers would pop and crackle. 

[Benm]

7 minutes ago, JFskiDan said:

The no water thing sucks ,as does the huge repair bill. 
in my old house the ground line from my panel to the meter was corroded, things were really weird. Huge surges like lights dimming when something would start, like the fridge, and then the computer speakers would pop and crackle. 

i just rigged up my gutter to fill a huge bucket. will prob cut down on my toilet fees over hte next couple days.

and yeah, i was hoping it wasn't something weird like that. your shit sounds scary tho, i'd be worried of a fire or something.

[momskeeztoo]

9 hours ago, enjoralas said:

Yeah, sadly that's pretty much par for the course with telecommunications companies, when the starting pay for a call rep is barely above par with a fast food worker. Follow the script no deviation -- never mind how many time's you have unplugged it and plugged it back in. 

Yeah, I get that. We can’t find ER techs to work at our hospital. Starting pay $13 an hour?!  Are you f@cking kidding me?! Aldi starts at $21 an hour.  

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

16 minutes ago, momskeeztoo said:

Yeah, I get that. We can’t find ER techs to work at our hospital. Starting pay $13 an hour?!  Are you f@cking kidding me?! Aldi starts at $21 an hour.  

$13 an hour is what wawa starts at.  Insane...that would barely be walking around money for me. 

[enjoralas]

4 hours ago, JFskiDan said:

The no water thing sucks ,as does the huge repair bill. 
in my old house the ground line from my panel to the meter was corroded, things were really weird. Huge surges like lights dimming when something would start, like the fridge, and then the computer speakers would pop and crackle. 

Seen that kind of stuff numerous times over the years, when houses loose the neutral and their electric service uses our bond as a ground. 

[JFskiDan]

6 hours ago, enjoralas said:

Seen that kind of stuff numerous times over the years, when houses loose the neutral and their electric service uses our bond as a ground. 

I can see that, because once we figured out what was going on, we just ran like a piece of like 12 gauge wire from the panel to the meter, and everything went back to normal.  kept that little jumper on for a day before the cable could get replaced.  

[momskeeztoo]

Ok, time for someone’s expertise here. We had Verizon Fios for years, but it got pricey. Now when I shop for internet, there’s all levels of plans, different prices. At this point maximum number of devices online here would be 3, and that would only be if only if one of the kids were here on their laptop. We basically use our internet for movies, paying bills, buying stuff, phone, my workouts, and I have to do work classes on occasion. No gaming. It’s mind boggling all the choices. Do I really need top of the line for $$$, or can I go with something a little less pricey? 

[toast21602]

51 minutes ago, momskeeztoo said:

Ok, time for someone’s expertise here. We had Verizon Fios for years, but it got pricey. Now when I shop for internet, there’s all levels of plans, different prices. At this point maximum number of devices online here would be 3, and that would only be if only if one of the kids were here on their laptop. We basically use our internet for movies, paying bills, buying stuff, phone, my workouts, and I have to do work classes on occasion. No gaming. It’s mind boggling all the choices. Do I really need top of the line for $$$, or can I go with something a little less pricey? 

I'm not an expert at all, but I have the cheapest internet offered for my area and it is more than enough for anything that I need it for (streaming TV, security, internet, etc.). Not sure if that helps without specifics of upload and download speeds but I don't know that off the top of my head. 

[JFskiDan]

1 hour ago, momskeeztoo said:

Ok, time for someone’s expertise here. We had Verizon Fios for years, but it got pricey. Now when I shop for internet, there’s all levels of plans, different prices. At this point maximum number of devices online here would be 3, and that would only be if only if one of the kids were here on their laptop. We basically use our internet for movies, paying bills, buying stuff, phone, my workouts, and I have to do work classes on occasion. No gaming. It’s mind boggling all the choices. Do I really need top of the line for $$$, or can I go with something a little less pricey? 

I just switched back to Fios.  i have the lowest internet they offer, and internet only, which i guess is like $35 a month, + $15 a month for modem/router rental.  with taxes, its $55.  its not an intro offer (so they say).  

I stream every bit of TV, and have like 4-5 cameras around my house recording to a laptop, and its fine.  The fios router is pretty kick ass too, its in my basement, and i have really good signal yet on the 2nd floor, where the router i purchased for Comcast, didnt do as well even placed dead center in the house.  i am sure i could have gotten a way better router for comcast, but so far, impressed with the fios router.  

I was a big fan of owning my own equipment, but that has since changed, since the router i bought went south, and had to purchase another.  Renting would have pretty much been a wash on that one.  

[Benm]

i'm at 200mbit down and use it heavily imo. never had a problem. you can always start small and bump it up further

[trackbiker]

44 minutes ago, JFskiDan said:

I just switched back to Fios.  i have the lowest internet they offer, and internet only, which i guess is like $35 a month, + $15 a month for modem/router rental.  with taxes, its $55.  its not an intro offer (so they say).  

I stream every bit of TV, and have like 4-5 cameras around my house recording to a laptop, and its fine.  The fios router is pretty kick ass too, its in my basement, and i have really good signal yet on the 2nd floor, where the router i purchased for Comcast, didnt do as well even placed dead center in the house.  i am sure i could have gotten a way better router for comcast, but so far, impressed with the fios router.  

I was a big fan of owning my own equipment, but that has since changed, since the router i bought went south, and had to purchase another.  Renting would have pretty much been a wash on that one.  

You can get a really good router for a lot less than the $180 you are paying per year. I forget what I paid for mine (Maybe $80?) but I've had it for two years and it works through a brick wall and to anywhere in my house.

[enjoralas]

11 hours ago, trackbiker said:

You can get a really good router for a lot less than the $180 you are paying per year. I forget what I paid for mine (Maybe $80?) but I've had it for two years and it works through a brick wall and to anywhere in my house.

With Fios? I’m not an expert on their service, but I thought you couldn’t buy your own router with them because of the fiber feed rather than coax. Even if it’s coax at the router, from their ONT at the point of entry, it doesn’t use the DOCSIS standard so you have to rent their equipment no matter what.

 

Again, what I thought.

[enjoralas]

13 hours ago, momskeeztoo said:

Ok, time for someone’s expertise here. We had Verizon Fios for years, but it got pricey. Now when I shop for internet, there’s all levels of plans, different prices. At this point maximum number of devices online here would be 3, and that would only be if only if one of the kids were here on their laptop. We basically use our internet for movies, paying bills, buying stuff, phone, my workouts, and I have to do work classes on occasion. No gaming. It’s mind boggling all the choices. Do I really need top of the line for $$$, or can I go with something a little less pricey? 

You would be fine with pretty much the cheapest plan they have. If you want to stream in 4K, maybe get the second cheapest. 2-3 devices online and not significant upstream load, you don’t need much.

[JFskiDan]

8 hours ago, enjoralas said:

With Fios? I’m not an expert on their service, but I thought you couldn’t buy your own router with them because of the fiber feed rather than coax. Even if it’s coax at the router, from their ONT at the point of entry, it doesn’t use the DOCSIS standard so you have to rent their equipment no matter what.

 

Again, what I thought.

I think you can.  I'm no expert either, and im super impressed with theirs, managing stuff connecting to it, forwarding ports, etc, its pretty user friendly for a dummy like me.  I moved my Fios router after it was installed, and its connected to the LNT via ethernet.  Honestly, i havent had a router last so long, or something so much better comes along, i end up buying another, which at this point, when the Fios router becomes a brick, i call them, they come out.........

[trackbiker]

11 hours ago, enjoralas said:

With Fios? I’m not an expert on their service, but I thought you couldn’t buy your own router with them because of the fiber feed rather than coax. Even if it’s coax at the router, from their ONT at the point of entry, it doesn’t use the DOCSIS standard so you have to rent their equipment no matter what.

 

Again, what I thought.

Mine is connected with coax. No problems.

[NMSKI]

My Fios is shitting the bed since yesterday afternoon.  It isn't totally down, but slow like dial-up internet.  I think it's related to the storm yesterday.