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Randy

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Topic: CenturyLink..dead horse too?
Posted: 05 Apr 2013 at 4:34pm

Don't blame you. I'd do the same.

Bob

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Location: Piney woods Tex
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Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 9:07pm

Yeah, it's like holding something valuable for ransom. I'da paid probably more to not be offline for that length of time. I view it as "My window on the world" and it's valuable to me. So yeah, I'm payin'!

Karl_db

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Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 9:01pm

Don't blame you Bob. Two days without internet...wow...been there...still got the shakes. HeeHee

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Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 6:24pm

I know how you feel...I detest overage charges no matter how little they are. Go figure.

Updates can indeed be HUGE.

Bob

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Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 6:16pm

Speaking of internet connections my personal hot spot is on a 5GB monthly usage cap. I ordinarily don't use half that but as I mentioned in another thread I have two days to go to it's month's end and I'm getting perilously close. Like 4.978GB close. I have been trying to economize but decided to heck with it. I'd have to shut down for two days. I think they charge in 1GB increments for overuse at $10 per GB and I can handle that rather than shutting down. I believe setting up my sis's computer with all the updating and downloading probably loaded me up this month. Full speed ahead!

Randy

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Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 7:59pm

I'm not touching mine right now, even though I'd like to play with Tomato firmware. It's the best it's ever been in reliability. Cable may have been faster but it was not reliable.

Karl_db

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Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 4:51pm

I've done some reading. More to do. Kind of trying to read up a little for the next time it gets real balky. Found some tutorials on how to bridge it. (Thinking that's what I'd need to do to play with it and use my own wireless router.)

Randy

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Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 11:16am

I'm not sure what the old one was but this one is a Netgear B90-755025-15.

Karl_db

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Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 7:44am

Do you have a ZyXEL PK5001Z ?

Randy

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Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 7:48pm

I'm not too keen on their combo gadget either. It came in the mail, so I used it. I had another router plugged into it but it's just sitting idle since narrowing things down for the tech to do his diagnosis. I wound up having enough wired connections with the one router. The second router served as an access point for 802.11n devices so they would get the benefit of a faster connection.

Karl_db

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Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 5:58pm

Hmm. I haven't got that far along yet (to call).

Randy

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Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 4:40pm

That's what we had problems with, one of those all-in-one thingies. Had the tech check it out from his end and he had me walk through some stuff on my end then had a new one sent to me. We've had no problems since.

Karl_db

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Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 4:03pm

To tell the truth...I'm not quite sure how that works. It's an all-in-one thingie supplied by CenturyLink. A combination "modem" and router. And there was a frustrating setup (including telephone call) to get it all working correctly. Goodness...that's one thing I miss about dialup. Nobody cared what modem you had as long as it meet the technical requirements. And there was no drawn-out process to get your equipment and it's serial numbers, address and preferences for either original or crispy KFC registered with the ISP before being allowed internet access.

Randy

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Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 3:54pm

Maybe a wired connection directly to the modem would be good so that the router is dropped out of the equation?

Karl_db

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Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 3:25pm

Not a clue. I've rebooted the router with no effect. And it does that even with myself being the only user. And I've cross-checked with a laptop using Win7 against one using Pinguy (no difference). The only thing I haven't done is tested by wired connection. Lazyness due to router location.

Randy

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Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 1:07pm

Based on a recent situation we had here, what you describe makes me wonder if it's the router or one of the computers causing a problem.

Karl_db

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Posted: 27 Mar 2013 at 3:19pm

CenturyLink is really weird. Inconsistent. Not quite sure what to make of it. It's much better than it was when I was grumping about about it. Most of the time. But it's odd. Pages can be very slow loading. Sometimes not load at all (timed out). Yet at the same time...even after a site is maddeningly slow...a streaming video from the same site may play just fine and dandy.

Or the opposite may happen. Sites and pages are snappy (normal anyhow). But a streaming video just won't cooperate. Often the first 2 to 2.5 minutes will play just fine and then...nothing. Just stops. Have to refresh the page and start over again. Weird.

Bob

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Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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Posted: 09 Mar 2013 at 6:32pm

Correction - I had need to change the location of the hotspot to mess with a desktop this afternoon. It was at it's outer limit of about 50' or so from the laptop and the connection speed of the laptop jacked waay down. The receiver was receiving just a fair signal at the time. I didn't run a speed test but you could just tell from the time to go from site to site on the web.

Randy

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Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Location: USA, Georgia
Posts: 15275

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Posted: 09 Mar 2013 at 12:19pm

Yeah, I was thinking the hotspot might give you a better connection if it was placed in an area where it gets the best reception.

Bob

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Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Location: Piney woods Tex
Posts: 11149

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Posted: 09 Mar 2013 at 12:16pm

I don't take the laptop away from it's usual spot too often but I've had it up to 50' to 60' away and laptop will connect to the hotspot (even tho specs say 33' range) and if connected the laptop gets what the hotspot gets (Educated and little experience guess/statement, I haven't done a lot of testing). As to moving the hotspot, my best cell coverage is around the perimeter inside and it might get a little iffy in the center of the house. Metal roof might have some to-do with that.

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Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Topic: CenturyLink..dead horse too? Posted: 05 Apr 2013 at 4:34pm
	Don't blame you. I'd do the same.

Bob Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: Piney woods Tex Posts: 11149	Quote Reply Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 9:07pm
	Yeah, it's like holding something valuable for ransom. I'da paid probably more to not be offline for that length of time. I view it as "My window on the world" and it's valuable to me. So yeah, I'm payin'!

Karl_db Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 29348	Quote Reply Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 9:01pm
	Don't blame you Bob. Two days without internet...wow...been there...still got the shakes. HeeHee

Don Watkins Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Admin Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 22304	Quote Reply Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 6:24pm
	I know how you feel...I detest overage charges no matter how little they are. Go figure. Updates can indeed be HUGE.

Bob Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: Piney woods Tex Posts: 11149	Quote Reply Posted: 04 Apr 2013 at 6:16pm
	Speaking of internet connections my personal hot spot is on a 5GB monthly usage cap. I ordinarily don't use half that but as I mentioned in another thread I have two days to go to it's month's end and I'm getting perilously close. Like 4.978GB close. I have been trying to economize but decided to heck with it. I'd have to shut down for two days. I think they charge in 1GB increments for overuse at $10 per GB and I can handle that rather than shutting down. I believe setting up my sis's computer with all the updating and downloading probably loaded me up this month. Full speed ahead!

Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 7:59pm
	I'm not touching mine right now, even though I'd like to play with Tomato firmware. It's the best it's ever been in reliability. Cable may have been faster but it was not reliable.

Karl_db Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 29348	Quote Reply Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 4:51pm
	I've done some reading. More to do. Kind of trying to read up a little for the next time it gets real balky. Found some tutorials on how to bridge it. (Thinking that's what I'd need to do to play with it and use my own wireless router.)

Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 11:16am
	I'm not sure what the old one was but this one is a Netgear B90-755025-15.

Karl_db Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 29348	Quote Reply Posted: 29 Mar 2013 at 7:44am
	Do you have a ZyXEL PK5001Z ?

Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 7:48pm
	I'm not too keen on their combo gadget either. It came in the mail, so I used it. I had another router plugged into it but it's just sitting idle since narrowing things down for the tech to do his diagnosis. I wound up having enough wired connections with the one router. The second router served as an access point for 802.11n devices so they would get the benefit of a faster connection.

Karl_db Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 29348	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 5:58pm
	Hmm. I haven't got that far along yet (to call).

Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 4:40pm
	That's what we had problems with, one of those all-in-one thingies. Had the tech check it out from his end and he had me walk through some stuff on my end then had a new one sent to me. We've had no problems since.

Karl_db Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 29348	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 4:03pm
	To tell the truth...I'm not quite sure how that works. It's an all-in-one thingie supplied by CenturyLink. A combination "modem" and router. And there was a frustrating setup (including telephone call) to get it all working correctly. Goodness...that's one thing I miss about dialup. Nobody cared what modem you had as long as it meet the technical requirements. And there was no drawn-out process to get your equipment and it's serial numbers, address and preferences for either original or crispy KFC registered with the ISP before being allowed internet access.

Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 3:54pm
	Maybe a wired connection directly to the modem would be good so that the router is dropped out of the equation?

Karl_db Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 29348	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 3:25pm
	Not a clue. I've rebooted the router with no effect. And it does that even with myself being the only user. And I've cross-checked with a laptop using Win7 against one using Pinguy (no difference). The only thing I haven't done is tested by wired connection. Lazyness due to router location.

Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 1:07pm
	Based on a recent situation we had here, what you describe makes me wonder if it's the router or one of the computers causing a problem.

Karl_db Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 29348	Quote Reply Posted: 27 Mar 2013 at 3:19pm
	CenturyLink is really weird. Inconsistent. Not quite sure what to make of it. It's much better than it was when I was grumping about about it. Most of the time. But it's odd. Pages can be very slow loading. Sometimes not load at all (timed out). Yet at the same time...even after a site is maddeningly slow...a streaming video from the same site may play just fine and dandy. Or the opposite may happen. Sites and pages are snappy (normal anyhow). But a streaming video just won't cooperate. Often the first 2 to 2.5 minutes will play just fine and then...nothing. Just stops. Have to refresh the page and start over again. Weird.

Bob Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: Piney woods Tex Posts: 11149	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Mar 2013 at 6:32pm
	Correction - I had need to change the location of the hotspot to mess with a desktop this afternoon. It was at it's outer limit of about 50' or so from the laptop and the connection speed of the laptop jacked waay down. The receiver was receiving just a fair signal at the time. I didn't run a speed test but you could just tell from the time to go from site to site on the web.

Randy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Location: USA, Georgia Posts: 15275	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Mar 2013 at 12:19pm
	Yeah, I was thinking the hotspot might give you a better connection if it was placed in an area where it gets the best reception.

Bob Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: Piney woods Tex Posts: 11149	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Mar 2013 at 12:16pm
	I don't take the laptop away from it's usual spot too often but I've had it up to 50' to 60' away and laptop will connect to the hotspot (even tho specs say 33' range) and if connected the laptop gets what the hotspot gets (Educated and little experience guess/statement, I haven't done a lot of testing). As to moving the hotspot, my best cell coverage is around the perimeter inside and it might get a little iffy in the center of the house. Metal roof might have some to-do with that.