Back again..

ET2SN · 09-13-23, 08:14 PM

No, I wasn't in the hospital or jail.

My ISP crapped out on the 27th of last month and its been an adventure since then to get the bozos to FIX THEIR @#$&.

That finally happened today, but it gets even better. I'm switching carriers (this time local with a real office in town and everything) next Monday and getting the casa wired for real broadband with real fiber optics and the whole she-bang.

For like 20 cents more per month than the original bums.

For those who might have been worried (and I know who you are

), fear not. I spent the down time deep cleaning this rig and dumping some old "gold standard" programs that no longer work while getting this rig optimized to work with its 'new-ish' SSD.

So, in order-

- #%$& Century Link and the horse they rode in on.

The service side of things has really gone downhill in the last five years and now the crows are starting to perch. I *think* the whole issue came down to someone rewiring the phone and data nodes because they got bored.

They said they ran fiber three years ago and that they were "getting around to" getting the high speed stuff into the houses any month now.

Ever experience DSL on copper wires? Yep, it don't work.

- Other stuff I trashed and purged from the rig:

AVG Antivirus. Nothing says "OLD" like AVG. It really doesn't protect anything since it now runs Windows Defender "automatically".

CCleaner. This was one of my "gold standard" programs since, like, 15 years ago. Just run it once or twice a year. Only, now they are really pushing this cloud hoo-hah and I finally checked my 'net logs and this thing was uploading 90 Gigs of something each month.

Acronis cloning software. Their old stuff might still be handy for cloning and maintaining old school hard drives but it isn't worth "Richard" on SSDs. Their newer software is (again) very dependent on uploading your stuff to a cloud somewhere.

For what purpose, who knows?

Maybe I was sharing pound cake recipes with an alternate Universe, or maybe not..

August · 09-13-23, 08:26 PM

Welcome back!

Onkel Neal · 09-19-23, 05:55 AM

Welcome back, sounds like an adventure.

Aktungbby · 09-19-23, 09:57 AM

"misadventure" U mean

...my ISP, Xfinity, totally sucks particularly with my television which pixilates constantly, then tells me to 'check my connectionsc"-when not outright stating: "we are experiencing difficulty"; and my WIFI which I lose consistantly while on my tablet or computer. An actual visit by a company serviceman was to no avail after he checked all connections...

ET2SN · 09-19-23, 12:00 PM

Yep. I'm on Day Two of the local utility company figuring out how to replace the old one.

The stumbling blocks are how to bring in a broadband connection without using duct tape and coat hangers and how to rig the land-line phone wire.
They started talking about mounting a wifi hub in a closet (not really what I had in mind) while they were stumped about how to wire the two land line phone connections in the living room and bed room.

The wifi I could do with no real issues but I'd rather have a fiber connection on a wall jack and two phone jacks so I can avoid Aktung's problems. They were stumped on the phone lines but it only took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to plumb it using a 1-to-2 splitter jack working in reverse.

I'm trying to avoid the more Rube Goldberg solutions so they don't have to punch holes in the walls or ceiling (which I can't authorize since I don't own the building).

"Guys, think about it like this.. I might not live here forever. Someone else would then move in and who knows what they'll need?"

mapuc · 09-19-23, 12:16 PM

First time I see an American version of such a gizmo.

Markus

09-13-23, 08:14 PM	#1
ET2SN ET2/SS Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,547 Downloads: 58 Uploads: 0	Back again.. No, I wasn't in the hospital or jail. My ISP crapped out on the 27th of last month and its been an adventure since then to get the bozos to FIX THEIR @#$&. That finally happened today, but it gets even better. I'm switching carriers (this time local with a real office in town and everything) next Monday and getting the casa wired for real broadband with real fiber optics and the whole she-bang. For like 20 cents more per month than the original bums. For those who might have been worried (and I know who you are ), fear not. I spent the down time deep cleaning this rig and dumping some old "gold standard" programs that no longer work while getting this rig optimized to work with its 'new-ish' SSD. So, in order- - #%$& Century Link and the horse they rode in on. The service side of things has really gone downhill in the last five years and now the crows are starting to perch. I think the whole issue came down to someone rewiring the phone and data nodes because they got bored. They said they ran fiber three years ago and that they were "getting around to" getting the high speed stuff into the houses any month now. Ever experience DSL on copper wires? Yep, it don't work. - Other stuff I trashed and purged from the rig: AVG Antivirus. Nothing says "OLD" like AVG. It really doesn't protect anything since it now runs Windows Defender "automatically". CCleaner. This was one of my "gold standard" programs since, like, 15 years ago. Just run it once or twice a year. Only, now they are really pushing this cloud hoo-hah and I finally checked my 'net logs and this thing was uploading 90 Gigs of something each month. Acronis cloning software. Their old stuff might still be handy for cloning and maintaining old school hard drives but it isn't worth "Richard" on SSDs. Their newer software is (again) very dependent on uploading your stuff to a cloud somewhere. For what purpose, who knows? Maybe I was sharing pound cake recipes with an alternate Universe, or maybe not.. Last edited by ET2SN; 09-13-23 at 08:22 PM.

09-13-23, 08:26 PM	#2
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 22,706 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Welcome back! __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

09-19-23, 05:55 AM	#3
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,293 Downloads: 534 Uploads: 224	Welcome back, sounds like an adventure. __________________ SUBSIM - 26 Years on the Web

09-19-23, 09:57 AM	#4
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 27,961 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	"misadventure" U mean...my ISP, Xfinity, totally sucks particularly with my television which pixilates constantly, then tells me to 'check my connectionsc"-when not outright stating: "we are experiencing difficulty"; and my WIFI which I lose consistantly while on my tablet or computer. An actual visit by a company serviceman was to no avail after he checked all connections... __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness; and I'm not too sure about the Universe" Last edited by Aktungbby; 09-19-23 at 10:13 AM.

09-19-23, 12:16 PM	#6
mapuc Fleet Admiral Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 18,084 Downloads: 37 Uploads: 0	First time I see an American version of such a gizmo. Markus __________________ My little lovely female cat

09-19-23, 12:00 PM	#5
ET2SN ET2/SS Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,547 Downloads: 58 Uploads: 0	Yep. I'm on Day Two of the local utility company figuring out how to replace the old one. The stumbling blocks are how to bring in a broadband connection without using duct tape and coat hangers and how to rig the land-line phone wire. They started talking about mounting a wifi hub in a closet (not really what I had in mind) while they were stumped about how to wire the two land line phone connections in the living room and bed room. The wifi I could do with no real issues but I'd rather have a fiber connection on a wall jack and two phone jacks so I can avoid Aktung's problems. They were stumped on the phone lines but it only took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to plumb it using a 1-to-2 splitter jack working in reverse. I'm trying to avoid the more Rube Goldberg solutions so they don't have to punch holes in the walls or ceiling (which I can't authorize since I don't own the building). "Guys, think about it like this.. I might not live here forever. Someone else would then move in and who knows what they'll need?"