Rant about technology

[westend]

I need to share this and I've picked this Forum for sharing this. Sorry if it isn't exactly RV related but it touches on some of the things we do with our RV's.

This morning, I installed a new modem and router at the house for Internet service. I'm now wise enough to break out the instructions and follow the set up steps to better complete the process. The modem also has a wireless and wired connections for access.

Everything actually went fairly well, I only needed to move a few boxes of ancient electronics and wiring that was stacked in front of our "computer center". Modem configuration over a wireless connection and the Motorola browser interface was again, fairly painless.

Why it didn't work was a mystery but I was confused if I had entered the correct PPP.e info into the correct place. Again, wisdom and research had showed me that manually entering this user name and password was essential. I obtained it by a call to Century Link's CS phone number and a few transfers to the tech dept turned up the info.

I called Century Link and verified that the DSL connection was live to my location. In the conversation, I was offered the PPP.e user name and password info again. I already had what was given to me written down but told the CS rep to give it to me again. This password is a combination of letters and numbers in both upper and lower case. It turns out, I had one letter wrong from my first conversation. Changing the password in the modems PPP.e settings enabled the modem to reach the Century Link servers. Success, back onto the web and able to do all that I do while on there.

Here comes the rant part: I'm growing really tired about all the devices and electronics I need, both in the house and while on the road. There are just too **** many intricacies and security issues with operating all these gizmos.

One of my hobbies is making and fixing electronics, mainly stereo stuff and mainly, the older stuff. This Internet and electronic complexity is dampening that hobby. Maybe I need to get back on the bench with a soldering iron in hand.:? That is, if I don't need to spend time on configuring my new phone or downloading apps, and making sure that it's all synced. Yes, some of it makes life easier but some of it is beginning to be a burden. I think I'll spin a record. 😉

That's it--too **** much complexity with gizmos and I need to remove a few boxes of old stuff we'll never use. The good news is that I'll be outside with roof rake in hand removing a foot of snow from my trailer. We are expecting some mixed rain and sloppy snow in the next few days. 6" of that on top of what's already up there will start bending the roof. Come on Spring, I want to get traveling and working on the old Starcraft!

[wa8yxm]

Well TiVo's were always behind ReplayTV. they copy all the best features of RePlay.. Replay was the best till they stopped production.. But you know that.

[vjstangelo]

I still enjoy reading the newspaper on paper!

[austinjenna]

Way back around 2003 I picked up a couple of REPLAY TV units. back then they let me record on one play back on the other. Download to a portable device. Stream from a computer and the stuff the ads say can only be done if you subscribe to the expensive over priced subscription service (AND MORE) ..

They still do.. Only now I have to use a "Digital front end" (Set top box to convert ATSC to NTSC because the replays are NTSC only)

What's more if I am in a park with ANALOG cable I can download both the OTA and Cable guides and the REPLAYS will automatically choose the source.. picking the DIgital input on line 2 or the RF (Analog cable) in as needed

I had a few Replays as well, they were ahead of their time and loved the commercial skip feature. Now we run a Tivo OTA and love it, it also has the commercial skip feature. I also have a tivo stream and tivo mini on the other tv. I can watch any recorded show from my tivo wherever I am at.

[wa8yxm]

wnjj wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
How much do folks pay for SAT-TV. often 100/month or more.. THere is a new provider that claims 50/month. I pay nothing for OVER THE AIR. though I do admit to paying 2.00/month (well 25 dollars a year) for an Electronic TV guide.

Wonder how much the paper one costs?????

Same here for OTA and the $25 guide. What do you use for recording and playback?

Way back around 2003 I picked up a couple of REPLAY TV units. back then they let me record on one play back on the other. Download to a portable device. Stream from a computer and the stuff the ads say can only be done if you subscribe to the expensive over priced subscription service (AND MORE) ..

They still do.. Only now I have to use a "Digital front end" (Set top box to convert ATSC to NTSC because the replays are NTSC only)

What's more if I am in a park with ANALOG cable I can download both the OTA and Cable guides and the REPLAYS will automatically choose the source.. picking the DIgital input on line 2 or the RF (Analog cable) in as needed.

[2oldman]

The ever-better technology has made life on the road so much easier. GPS, good cell coverage, smartphones, HD sat tv, Facebook.. a whole lot better than in 2003. I don't care what it costs.

No rant here.

[wnjj]

wa8yxm wrote:
How much do folks pay for SAT-TV. often 100/month or more.. THere is a new provider that claims 50/month. I pay nothing for OVER THE AIR. though I do admit to paying 2.00/month (well 25 dollars a year) for an Electronic TV guide.

Wonder how much the paper one costs?????

Same here for OTA and the $25 guide. What do you use for recording and playback?

[wa8yxm]

How much do folks pay for SAT-TV. often 100/month or more.. THere is a new provider that claims 50/month. I pay nothing for OVER THE AIR. though I do admit to paying 2.00/month (well 25 dollars a year) for an Electronic TV guide.

Wonder how much the paper one costs?????

[Tvov]

Speaking of download speeds... try this.

If your internet seems to be running slow, run a "speed test" using speedtest.net .

Many times, when I do this, the initial cable internet speed is low, but by the time the test ends (30 seconds or so), the speed is back up to blazing speed. Then when I go back to internet browsing, the internet speed is very fast. For at least a little while.

Maybe it is nothing, but seems mighty suspicious... like the cable company knows when you do a speed test and boosts your speed for at least a little while during and after the test.

[pianotuna]

What bothers me most is the providers crowing about download speeds.

Sure 100 MPS is a great download speed--but if the upload is 1 MPS or even 10, the effective speed is much lower.

I have both Bell and Sasktel cell phones for data (no land lines). Both are about the same download speed--but one is 1/10 upload, and the other is the same speed on up as down. Guess which one works better?

I'm fortunate that the Sasktel is unlimited data, which for cell phones, is a rarity in Canada.

[CincyGus]

I feel the pain on the cost. The Tech side is something I'm comfortable with as I've been the electronics guy, computer guy in our family since I was about 16. I did ditch DTV and go with VUE (Playstations streaming service) which gave me the same channels + HBO and SHOWTIME for about $80 what DTV was charging me $150 for just the channels and NO HBO/SHOWTIME. Now we stream everything, add in a netflix account for $11 and a free Amazon Prime Video since we are prime members and we have more content than we can watch and never get stale of seen everything on currently like we used to with DTV. Plus, if we have WIFI or cell signal, I have everything on the road that I have at home for free. If not, we watch DVD's if we get rained in.

I wouldn't go back 40 years if I didn't have too. Much nicer now to have everything at a swipe or a touch.

[Dutch_12078]

We have Spectrum's basic 30/5 Mbps Internet service at our Adirondack cottage for $14.99/mo with no data cap. A bit surprisingly, it typically tests at a little higher speeds than listed and works quite well streaming programming from the Dish Hopper w/Sling we keep there. Our unlimited data AT&T and Verizon hotspots for our motorhome combined though, run about $88/mo total.

[westend]

blownstang01 wrote:
Yep, it's exhausting, particularly if you really don't care how it works...just that it Needs to work. When I was younger and less burdened, I thrived over technology and the want to know how everything works. Now I'm too **** busy and uninterested. Heck, I don't even know how to set the dual alarm clock in our bedroom, I have my wife do it. 🙂
Our internet and house phone (through internet) have been a pain since day one. They advertise the minimum speeds they provide as a "guarantee'...pfft. I complained for over 3 years on my slow speeds, they kept having me bring in my modem and router and upgrade me to the latest and greatest they offer. Thing is, every time i changed it out I would lose the phone. Turns out the guy at the counter handing me the new equipment never checks the box that we have phone, I mean this happens EVERY TIME, even though I tell them to make sure they click all the boxes that we have phone, and I have to call the tech line to straighten it out which takes 45 minutes of being on hold for a 2 second fix on their end. So after 3 years of slow and less than advertised speeds I finally had enough last December and demanded they come to my house and run new wiring or whatever had to be done to fix it or I was dumping them. Low and behold the guy climbed up and checked out the lines and removed something and stuffed it in his pouch. We went in the house and checked again and Boom, I had the 100mps downloads advertised. I looked at the guy and said, You just removed a choke from the feed line didn't you ... he slowly grinned and admitted it. I've spent the 3 months since trying to get a refund of some sort for the last 3 years of nonsense.
Sorry for the rant, but yeah OP, I feel your pain.

No need to be sorry, I parked this here so others can add their thoughts about the technology master we serve.

Just got done with the TT roof raking. Ouch, I hurt. Next year I may do some raking in intervals since 2' of hardpack is difficult to remove. I told the wife that, if we get two more storms, we won't be seeing lawn until Memorial day. We are scheduled to get 5"-10" more, this weekend. The snow is about 3' deep in the yard, need snowshoes to get across it easily.

Good news is that the DSL connection is almost as good as the cable connection. 10.5 MPS down, .78 MPS up. My cable network gave me 15MPS down on a good day but the upload speed was better. I really don't care, as long as I can watch a decently resolved video here and there, I'm good.

[westend]

Johno02 wrote:
And no one seems to notice what all this stuff costs, either to pay for or for the monthly service and/or for the amount of data usage. Our modern generation has had all this for free for all their lives (while daddy paid the bills) that they expect it all, just like free air and water. Things are beginning to change a bit as many folks are beginning to realize the the internet is NOT free.

Absolutely. The reason into my connection foray was a simple question to the domestic accountant, "How much are we paying Mediacom for Internet and cable TV?" "$180 something" was the answer. I about fell out of my chair. It wasn't too long ago that was a car payment. I halved the bill by installing Direct TV and Century Link DSL. Next, I will clamp off Direct TV since what they broadcast is the same stuff they have shown for months. I'll install a good broadcast antenna and be able to get the locals. If I add Hulu or similar, I'd bet I won't miss a thing.

[Johno02]

And no one seems to notice what all this stuff costs, either to pay for or for the monthly service and/or for the amount of data usage. Our modern generation has had all this for free for all their lives (while daddy paid the bills) that they expect it all, just like free air and water. Things are beginning to change a bit as many folks are beginning to realize the the internet is NOT free.