Broadband for dummies

[Alf]

I see Woodcentral are going to start putting video clips on their site on popular subjects-Charley any chance of this happening here? Hows your bandwidth?

What a terrible idea. <kicks dial-up connection pointedly>

Admin: Split from Trimming lipping with hand tools thread.

 

[ike]

Hows your bandwidth?

About 36" the last time I measured it. :shock: :lol:

 

[Adam]

What a terrible idea. <kicks dial-up connection pointedly>

Come on ALF, you need to pull you finger out. Walk out the front door, across the field, and wind one of those big dishes (a.l.a BT Goonhilly)round your direction a bit and voila, instand broadband!

Alternatively, get a WiFi card, and a highly directional antenna, and see if you can get a signal straight from the roof of your house?

Perfect.

Adam

 

[Alf]

Alternatively, get a WiFi card, and a highly directional antenna, and see if you can get a signal straight from the roof of your house?

Perfect.

Can I have that again in English please? :? :lol:

Cheers, Alf

Losing the battle to convinces TPTB that broadband is an essential upgrade.

 

[ike]

and a highly directional antenna

Something like this?

:lol:

 

[Alf]

and a highly directional antenna

Something like this?
:lol:

ROFL :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: The galootish option.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Adam]

and a highly directional antenna

Something like this?

:lol:

Err, well, actually yes. Apparently "Pringles" tins are perfect. They have a metallic coating on the inside...(for a commercial version) .... http://www.cantenna.com/

or for a make your own........ http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

or reposted below....

How To Build A Tin Can Waveguide WiFi Antenna

for 802.11(b or g) Wireless Networks
or other 2.4GHz Applications

Got no dough for a commercial WiFi antenna? Looking for an inexpensive way to increase the range of your wireless network? A tin can waveguide antenna, or Cantenna, may be just the ticket. This design can be build for under $5 U.S. and reuses a food, juice, or other tin can.
I am not an electrical engineer, nor do I have access to any fancy test equipment. I've built some antennas that worked for me and thought I would share what I learned. I have no idea if this is safe for your radio or wireless network equipment. The risk to you and your equipment is yours.

Building your Cantenna is easy, just follow these steps.

Collect the parts
Drill or punch holes in your can to mount the probe
Assemble the probe and mount in can

>>The rest of this article is available on the website link above....

 

[Adam]

Losing the battle to convinces TPTB that broadband is an essential upgrade.

I can, without a shadow of a doubt, tell you that for the amount of time you spend online, Broadband is essential. I've got the "mini-broadband" service - about £15-£17 a month - and it's superb.

I wouldn't buy a house now if it wasn't in a broadband area :shock: :?

Adam

 

[Alf]

the "mini-broadband" service - about £15-£17 a month - and it's superb.

Feel free to tell me more...

 

[ike]

Off the Web somewhere........ wrote:

"...I have no idea if this is safe for your radio or wireless network equipment. The risk to you and your equipment is yours. ..."

I think it was Professor Bunsen, ably assisted by Beaker. :shock:

 

[Adam]

the "mini-broadband" service - about £15-£17 a month - and it's superb.

Feel free to tell me more...

BT - 17.99 a month.. http://www.bt.com/broadband/bb_info.jsp
(that's 512K bandwidth)
Free online help and support
1GB monthly usage allowance

etc, nearly all the big providers run a service at between 128K and 500KBPS for about £17/month.

Adam

 

[Noel]

Adam,

1 GB a month? What does that relate to in old money? Like hours?
Broadband reached us last week (something to do with new fangled local exchange). I want to stay with virgin or can I use same mail address with BT. Daily useage about 4 or 5 hours (all work, honest...)

Noel

 

[Philly]

I have this deal at home-Never gone over the 1 gig limit yet, and my Missus works from home so She uses it all the time.
If you do go over the 1 gig download it's only 3 or 4 quid for the 2nd gig anyway (i.e. cheaper than the full deal!!!)
regards
Philly

 

[gidon]

1 GB a month? What does that relate to in old money? Like hours?

You'd have trouble going over this limit unless you get into downloading lots of music, game demos or videos. Doesn't really equate to hours because your connection is always on - so unlimited hours. Unless of course you wanted to listen to the radio (streaming) online ...

If Virgin has web access to your e-mail account you should be able to still keep your address and check it - but you would need to double check. It's unlikely you would be able to get POP access (ie through outlook express or whatever) to your Virgin account if you move to BT.

Cheers

Gidon

 

[ike]

If Virgin has web access to your e-mail account you should be able to still keep your address and check it - but you would need to double check. It's unlikely you would be able to get POP access (ie through outlook express or whatever) to your Virgin account if you move to BT.

Eh, wha.. :? Dunno 'bout you Alf, but I'm struggling 'ere! :roll:

 

[Philly]

Ike,
One of the things they dont tell you about broadband is that you probably CANT use your old email accounts (except web-mail) unless you dial up!
cheers
Philly

 

[Alf]

Eh, wha.. :? Dunno 'bout you Alf, but I'm struggling 'ere! :roll:

Sssshhh, Ike. I'm trying to stay very quiet and unnoticable in the hopes they'll forget I asked... :shock:

Adam, ah, the £18 a month I was aware of, although the 1Gb had me stumped too. It was the £15 I liked the sound of. :wink: A jump from £13.49 to 18 a month isn't too popular you see. Certain persons round here have a nasty habit of totting it all up and delivering huge figures for the year and saying "Hah". Now if only I'd stuck with AOHell it wouldn't have seemed so bad... D'oh. :roll:

Cheers, Alf

 

[dedee]

This review site may be of interest

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/broadband.shtml

Andy

 

[Pete W]

A gigabyte is (roughly, ignoring the technical niceties) about 1,000 megabytes. For comparison purposes, a standard 3-minute music track at reasonable quality recording rates will be about a megabyte a minute, or 3MB per track.

So your 1GB download limit would let you download, say, 10 music tracks every day of the month and still leave plenty of room for e-mail, web-browsing and the rest .

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Philly. with NTL I was able to keep my old e mail when I went from dial up to Broadband .
Could never go back to 56k dial up