Are you connected?

MWG · #1 09/09/06, 07:40 PM

To the internet at your house? High speed or dial up?

So we went on vacation this past week and they wanted $5 an hour for wireless where we were staying. $5 an hour? No way! So we went all week without.

About Thursday the wife looked at me and asked if we could get just an hour and split it, 30 min a piece? I really thought long and hard and stuck to my guns! 7 days without the internet!

So what did I learn?

1) Being without the internet sucks. Can't check the checking account balance, and who still manually balances in the little book that comes with your checks?

I tried to keep track in my head and was within $100. I thought that was pretty good!

2) I had to watch the Weather Channel for the local weather. Local on the 8s I think they call it. Sometimes had to wait 10 whole minutes to look at the local radar. I have been connected for several years now and aways have had the local radar at my fingertips. Wow, perhaps a 12 step program for me? Drove me nuts!

3) A phone book had to be used to look up the phone number of a resturaunt. What is that about? The other thing I learned is the yellow pages does not have spell check.

And I can't speel to well!

4) I had to watch the news on TV. Instead of skimming over the useless headlines, I had to wait for the news story I wanted.

5) I had some questions on fishing and crabbing, laws and limits... I had to drive to a tackle shop and get a copy of the regulations. No click and print here!

So I am on high speed and didn't really realize how much I used the internet.

And you?

midwsthomestead · #2 09/09/06, 07:54 PM

The internet amazes me, how much info we have at our fingertips. I love it, the whole family loves it lol.

We are connected at home, we have a DSL bundle (live in the country but lucky enough to have DSL, ------) that includes our long distance plus the internet at a reasonable price.

~~

MWG · #3 09/09/06, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rose2005

We have DSL with wireless router.

When on the road we had a Cingular pc card that enabled us to be connected to the internet with out laptop wherever we got cell reception.

How does that work? My Verizon contract is up soon and have been thinking of going that route.

We are on a wireless router too. Nothing like walking around with your laptop surfing!

Alice In TX/MO · #4 09/09/06, 08:41 PM

DSL at home, wireless at the kids' houses, dial up when in Missouri.

Take my laptop on the road for wireless at hotels.

A hotel charging for connection? Move to a different hotel.

MWG · #5 09/09/06, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rose

A hotel charging for connection? Move to a different hotel.

Timeshare. I let them have it on the comment card when I left...!!!

Jerngen · #6 09/09/06, 08:46 PM

We have the highest speed internet cable service free from my wifes work. Otherwise it would be the library once a week. Whenever I went downstate to my moms house and tried using her dial-up I about ended up in tears it was so slow!

PyroDon · #7 09/09/06, 08:53 PM

What no wifi card ??
I can get online all over town . most super 8s and others have wifi as do most Mc donalds believe it or not . there are even maps online showing hotspots town by town . its amazing how many people run a router and never code it .
I've had my lap top connect in dozens of neighborhoods .

Cheryl in SD · #8 09/09/06, 08:53 PM

We just got DSL this last spring. We went from being connected at 12.6K most days (occasionally slower, sometimes as fast as 15.something) to DSL. I LOVE IT!

pcdreams · #9 09/09/06, 08:58 PM

I like the internet but don't really NEED it.. Everyone use to tell me I couldn't live without it I was an addict,, whatever... Went a month without it and didn't miss it a bit..

nice for weather but I can do without most of the rest

MWG · #10 09/09/06, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PyroDon

What no wifi card ??

Yea, I have a Wifi card. I thought about driving around until I picked up a signal from an unsecured network. But then it became... could I make it one week without the internet? I did it. Don't think I will do it again though!

Not just for finances, weather, news and stuff like that, but more of a where to find the answer to any question.

TxCloverAngel · #11 09/09/06, 09:32 PM

we have good ole contry s l o w dial-up.
as a matter of fact, high-speed internet is the ONLY thing I miss about living in the city.

**sigh** but its worth it to be out here tho.

tulsamal · #12 09/09/06, 09:38 PM

We live right out in the middle of nowhere and there is no cable TV or DSL or any of that fancy stuff. We finally paid to have Wild Blue satellite installed earlier this year. A heck of a lot better than dial-up but there are latency issues that make me wish we could get DSL instead! For email and web browsing, it works great. For VOIP or online gaming, look elsewhere!

But yeah, I wouldn't live in the city just to have a high speed connection either!

Gregg

pasotami · #13 09/09/06, 09:42 PM

I have satelitte here at the house but they have promised me DSL - we'll see! I use to have a Verizon air card but it does not work as well as one would think. There are huge areas where there is no connection - I'd check into all the carriers to see which one has the best coverage before I went with one. Discontinued the aircard for it was pricey for the service but this was 3 years ago....
I find that when I go places where I have no internet - I do not miss it but here at home it is my source of friends and family so I tend to use it a lot more than I should....

#14 09/10/06, 09:48 AM

Who still uses a manual checkbook? .LOL..I do..drives my grown children crazy. They're constantly telling me to join the real world and pay my monthly bills online..NAH..There's just something about having my personal finances flying through cyberspace which gives me the willies..

I can relate to the folks years ago who probably felt the same when the notion of paying by check came along and cold hard cash went by the wayside..There must have been plenty of folks who still insisted upon making their monthly rounds with cash-in-hand and collecting receipts..Eventually they all died out..As long as the option remains of using checks, I'll be sitting here happily writing them & remaining suspicious of using the internet to pay bills..if this entire thing collapsed in a heap this afternoon, I'd miss it terribly since I think it's a terrific source of entertainment, communication & a fantastic educational resource..but it's far from the "be all and end all"..at least not for me.

NCGirl · #15 09/10/06, 10:12 AM

I could do without many things but the internet would be the last to go. Telephone.. bye, TV..see ya, movies.. most of em suck today anyway. Oh but 7 days without being able to get online?? pure torture!!!

We have a T-1 line at work and cable at home. We have our phone service at $13.25 month thru the computer with all the extras. (sunrocket) Our Roadrunner cable at home is so fast that we can watch 10+ minute video's without even the first pause for it to catch up. I would have a hard time moving to a location that I would have to go back to local phone service and dial up!!

wilderness1989 · #16 09/10/06, 10:19 AM

I have broadband on cable and love it. I'm a computeraholic but I kind of enjoy no computer when on vacation.....need the break.

HeavenHelpMe · #17 09/10/06, 11:17 AM

We have cable internet (but satellite tv). We are so lucky, because it is difficult to get cable this far out in the county. We went ahead and got the fastest connection speed they offer and it rocks!

No phone other than cell phones and internet phone via Skype. That's pretty cool, too!

Peacock · #18 09/10/06, 12:28 PM

We've got cable (Roadrunner). Expensive, but since I use it for work, I can justify it. I used to have DSL for years till we moved. When we first moved to our previous home 6 years ago, we couldn't get either DSL or cable and had to deal with dialup for a couple of months...I thought I'd go crazy!

Last time we went for vacation longer than a 3-day weekend I brought my laptop but silly me, didn't bring my wireless connector doohickie. They had wi-fi in the lobby, free. But in the lobby they also had a computer for guests to use free, so thanks to Mail2Web.com I was still able to use my e-mail. Which was a good thing because I had a big freelance offer in there!

There are internet cafe's, sometimes YMCA's have wi-fi, and even city parks! In a pinch, you could always find the local library and get online there.

APPway · #19 09/10/06, 01:06 PM

we have dial up but with the bundle we have it includes a 8oo number that we can dial into where ever we are in canada it just goes on our billing just works in canada tho not in the states or any place else.
Will have just dial up for a while as we are so far out of the city.

LisaInN.Idaho · #20 09/10/06, 01:09 PM

satellite internet