Uechi-Ryu.com

Ok,

Being every bit a person who procrastinates that I claim to be, I finally anted up and signed on for Verizon DSL service (only took 5 years...). Better value for the money over Comcast cable, I think.

I made the phone call on Monday, and on Friday the package was sitting on the front stoop when I came home from work. Later that day, I got an email saying service has been turned on - they said it was going live next Wednesday. Wicked cool! So I went through the house and installed micro-filters on the phones (See below). Then I went to hook up the modem. Everything went swimmingly. First thing I did was check out www.cnet.com to check out my speed. I'm paying for 3 Mbps, and I want to find out how close I'm coming. Verdict? Right now, I'm clocking out at 2173 kbps. GEM's website loads in a flash, and I'm sitting back, sunglasses on, cruise control set for my drive down the information superhighway!

Now, on to the technical problem: Three of the six phones in the house do not get a dial tone when connected to the DSL microfilters. The other three do. Any suggestions? I have not yet called Verizon. One phone is less than a year old.

Can't believe I waited this long.....

Gene

Thats pretty cool Gene. I get 5mbs from Roadrunner but only ~360kbs upstream. Do you get the same upstream speed as you do down?

A good app for clocking your speed is DUMeter. I've been using it for a long time.

http://www.dumeter.com/

is much faster than DSL in my area:

2005-09-03 10:48:59 EST: 1659 / 241
Your download speed : 1698849 bps, or 1659 kbps.
A 207.3 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 246867 bps, or 241 kbps.

Which is pretty good (I've been told)

However, Susan's old laptop in the kitchen keeps losing the connection because of network problems. (portable phone is near the router)

Every time the phone rings, we lose the connection!

Trying to figure out where to put the phone now.

3MBps Up/786K downstream

wow, that is really good Gene. Do you pay extra for that speed? I heard you can buy different data rates with DSL. I pay 45/Month and it's basically WYSIWYG.

A cool app for checking your download speed is Giganews.

http://www.giganews.com/test_connect.html/

Hi all.

Tony - Thank you for the link to test my speed. I have Comcast Roadrunner Service. I checked out my speed that I felt was running kind of slow. I clocked at 6.2 mbs.

Gene-O: Hope you have been well. Have not seen you in a long time. Good luck with the new DSL service.

I guess I am spoiled. I have at my office at work 100mbs network. I am used to that level of speed. In fact it is being upgraged to fiber /1000 mbs

Take care.

Yes, Jay. I'm doing well. Started grad school this fall even.

I live only a mile or so away from a CO, so I can get faster service generally. Verizon was running a special - $19.95 a month for three months - modem included and $29.95 a month thereafter. They also offer a 786K down/384k up for $14.95 a month.

Comcast was $19.95 for 6 months, then $42.95 after that for 6 Mbps down/385 kbps up, plus $99.99 for the modem and $99.99 to install. Too much up front cost. 3 Mpbs is plenty fast.

The internet at work clocks at 1.1 to 1.2 MBps. Home is now faster, believe it or not.

Found out that 2 of the micro-filters were kaput when I got them. I'll call Verizon on Tuesday.

Gene

Networking!

I don't want to go wireless, and have no problem drilling holes in floors and walls (provided it's done nicely - younger brother is an electrician!). I'll need access for 2 desktops and a laptop (eventually). All will share the DSL connection, so I'm thinking connecting the DSL toa router, and then connecting the three computers to the router.

Any suggestions? And do you all recommend a router or a switch?

Gene

JaySal wrote: I clocked at 6.2 mbs.

Thats pretty good actually!

Gene DeMambro wrote:Any suggestions? And do you all recommend a router or a switch?

Gene

I use Linksys stuff exclusively. I also buy the stuff from best buy with their "extended" warranty so that if I have problems, I can swap it out for new stuff. E.G. I own my own Cable Modem, a Linksys, and if it craps out, I can take it back to best buy and get another one without a problem. it's alot more convinient that taking time off work to go to the cable company to swap one out.

Do your computers have Gibabit Ethernet?

The one I use now does. I do not have any other computers - yet.

Gene

I had to try that link and mine clocked at 8962 kbps, just a tad under 9 mbs.
Didn`t think I was that fast, Eastlink cable was a good move from my previous provider.

Gene DeMambro wrote:The one I use now does. I do not have any other computers - yet.

Gene

Your biggest descision will be to decide on "B" or "G" hardware. You can save alot by going to "B" (even though you don't want wireless, you should get a wireless router anyway so when you have visitors, you can turn it on and they can connect via your router. I shut mine off when not in use). No need to get 52Mbps from a "G" wireless router if your line speed is only 5Mbs. Better off with a "B" and have 11Mpbs with still 50% headroom.