Posted on 04/01/2010 4:59:41 AM PDT by knarf
While reading about the competition for broadband in South Korea .. I wondered ...
I got my first computer in 1998 and it took two days for me to learn I needed an ISP, which in those days was a dial-up connection. (at a monthly cost, of course)
Since then, I have played ISP tag dropping one for another a little less expensive. The last dial up I had was $9.95 a month ... very slow, but all I did was read FreeRepublic and play Freecell, (with the required Google searches prompted by FR articles)
THEN, folks started posting Youtube links that sometimes I watched the next day after leaving the machine on all night long to download (true story!!)
Now I have Comcast highspeed, which is pretty good except ... I STILL have occasional foul weather issues reminiscent of the old phoneline dial up.
So ... what exactly does one need to go on line without an ISP of some kind?
Is it really so complicated or expensive?
Steal your neighbor’s wi-fi....
p.s., Freerepublic and Freecell are the best things to do with a computer....
Maybe it is only borrowing? Especially if you promise to return it.
Unless you want to shell out some money for a T1, you will need some sort of service provider, be it cable, DSL, or wireless. There are places that provide free WiFi, however, I assume you mean at home instead of trudging to the library every time you want to get online.
move to NY
You’d be amazed at how many of your neighbors have unsecured wifi available.
Of course, that would be stealing...
first off, you've got to be sure you're logged in ... are you?
I admit to having no knowledge of this stuff ... a router makes nice edges on wood, a blade is a shiv and WIFI is the forerunner of stereo.
See?
Absolutely dumb about this stuff.
It just seems that some sort of electronic device can be invented or built that would zap into (like an induction timer light) a telephone line, or satalite dish.
Yes and yes.
I have DSL.
My power went out earlier this week for about 6 hours.
But my phone still worked, so I rigged up stuff to get power to my DSL box so I could get online.
Nix, nada, zip. Even though the phone was working, the DSL subcomponent would not connect.
So there ust be some relay type equipment upstream used by the DSL stuff that runs off of the public power, so it was out also.
What?
Huh?
Wait a minute ... I have soap in my ears ... showering with a moose ....
You can’t.
You’re asking for electrical service without powerlines, prepackaged foods without grocery stores, books without publishers. Ain’t happenin’.
To connect to FR (or whatever website or other internet-connected computer) you need to rent space/time on the infrastructure between FR and you. The owner of that infrastructure, or whatever piece thereof you’re going to connect to, _is_ your ISP. SOMEBODY owns whatever piece of the internet you’re using to connect, and you’re going to have to pay for that connection. Your only alternative is drive to CA, find Jim Robinson, and talk him into letting you plug into the FR computer(s) directly.
Remember: ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. If you want internet service, you’re going to pay someone to provide it to you. “The Internet” is not free; it’s toll roads the whole way.
ISP = Internet Service Provider
If you want to connect to the Internet, you either have to go through an ISP or become one. To become one, there is a whole lot of expensive equipment to purchase, people to hire, connections to be made ... and guess what, you will STILL be connecting to other ISPs.
So the short of it is.... there always has to be an ISP. However the technology on how you connect to that ISP can differ. Generally speaking, your choices are land line, wireless or broadband.
Land line starts at dial up, passes through ISDN, then to DSL and goes up to T1 lines and higher.
Wireless can be mobile phone as a modem, 3G, wifi, satellite, microwave, etc.
Broadband is generally either cable or fiber optic but in some rare instances can be delivered via power lines.
In short... no, you have to have an ISP and you are limited by what they offer and the means of getting that connectivity to your house.
My neighbor borrowed my wi-fi but got in a fender bender on the info superhighway. Got it back all dented....
I thought Wifi was what Diane Feinstein’s husband called her in private?!?
Consider your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to be the paver for the on-ramp onto the information superhighway. The internet is essentially a collection of storage stations where information is made available via web sites. You have to have a connection point to send and receive information over the internet. An ISP gives you that connection.
The cost is loosely governed by the value - which is usually calculated in terms of the speed and reliability.
The reason it isn’t free is that it’s worth something.
See - simple!
(Or was Wi-fi-fo-fum what the giant said when he discovered Jack of the beanstalk fame?) ;-P
The computer is electrons, right?
Cleverly put together, but electrons nonetheless.
If so, are those electrons SO trapped withing a wire or satalite signal they can't be captured some other way?
Yeah ... I guess it IS stealing, in a way .... but like HAM radio and CB's ... a not too expensive outlay gets communication.
Why couldn't a HAM operator "get" the signal?
Ya think that wi-fi and wifey are related, etymologically speaking? Just saying....
What you would like to become is a “peered” ISP.....
I own a small wireless ISP in SE Florida, we’ve invested close to $3.5M for this network.
Not to mention the re-occurring cost or human overhead necessary to manage it.....
Find a reliable ISP in your area and pay your $45/mo.
The computer is electrons, right?
Cleverly put together, but electrons nonetheless.
If so, are those electrons SO trapped withing a wire or satalite signal they can't be captured some other way?
Yeah ... I guess it IS stealing, in a way .... but like HAM radio and CB's ... a not too expensive outlay gets communication.
Why couldn't a HAM operator "get" the signal?
Hey, it is April first, I’m not buying it. LOL.
was the moose eating cheese? ... did it bite your sister?
A T1 line is only 1.544 Mb. Any cable internet service built in the past 10 years should put that to shame.
Never ever goose a moose.
Goosin' them huge moose,
Goosin' them tiny,
Goosin' them meadow-moose
In the hiney.
Look at Them Moose Goosers,
Ain't they dumb?
Some use an umbrella,
Some use a thumb.
Them obtuse Moose Goosers,
Sneakin' through the woods,
Pokin' them snoozy moose
In the goods.
How to be a Moose Gooser?
It'll turn ye puce.
Gitchy gooser loose and
Rouse a drowsy moose!
Mason Williams
$30/month form Quest. $70/month Blue Sky or Hughs net.
See, the internet isn't just some etherial substance which you can just "get" (a la growing your own vegetables, home solar power, etc.), it's the cooperation of lots of people (to wit: their computers) passing messages around. When you type "http://www.freerepublic.com" and hit enter, your computer creates a message addressed to freerepublic.com and hands it to another computer you're attached to. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. Eventually, in something akin to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, some computer hands that message to the FR computer. Jim Robinson's brainchild then gathers the data for the home page, stuffs it back in a virtual envelope, and hands it to another computer it's attached to. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. That computer hands it to another one. Eventually, in something akin to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, some computer hands that message to your computer, which displays the web page on your screen.
The problem is that along the line of those connections, most of those computers are paying to connect to each other; some connections are free, but most aren't. And YOU need to connect your computer to one of them, and you'll most likely have to pay for the privilege by hiring an ISP to give you that connection; if you don't, you'll be connecting to someone who does.
Eat well
LOL .... its always good to start a day with a laugh.
Obama’s gonna give you free broadband. Of course he’ll be sure that the internet is scrubbed of any undesirable content and the IRS will be there to tax your hard drive content.
Do you use a laptop or a desktop? I think you can even use wireless internet on a desktop with some cell phone providers and weather isn’t too much of an issue. You are always going to be paying SOMEONE for the connection. It’s like saying “I want to be able to call people, but I get sick of paying the phone company.” I mean unless you want to hook a line up directly to everyone you might call, you are going to have to use SOMEONE’s service. Might as well pay the company that has the infrastructure up already.
However there are satellite internet companies out there. But even then you will have connection issues if a heavy storm is in the area.
It’s not stealing if you use your neighbors WI FI in my opinion. It’s floating around in the air for God sake. On my wifi/wireless router in my house, I have it designated to to stop 20 feet beyond my walls (takes some calculations, but can be done) as the router is in the center of my house and just have a radius it covers. That way I can use the laptop on the porch. But if you are in a neighborhood with houses close together or an apartment, you could probably pick up on that.
Just hope the neighbor pays his bill, LOL!
Well, okay, I suppose you could make yourself your own ISP, but the cost would be prohibitive.
DSL still uses the same copper POTS did, and if you didn't switch to VoIP, that's why your phones (the hard wired ones) still work. If you switch to VoIP, then your phones will be down when the power goes out because they need power just like you DSL modem needs power.
yuze guys iz great!
Ummmmm... I ain’t like 12 years old.
I have a 450 watt inverter and three 6-8 hundred CCA auto batteries stashed.
It had plenty of power.
Now if they were running solely on UPS then I could see them shutting off the DSL equipment to save power for telephone service equipment. But the backup generator should have kicked in long before the UPS batteries expired.
I suppose there might be (probably are) interim hubs between you and the CO that need AC power, and may not have UPS backup. But who knows. Ma Bell ain't what she used to be.
Guess I coulda just plugged in a 56K modem and gone back to like the Bronze age or something!!
;-)
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