# Broadband for dummies



## Alf (21 Oct 2004)

Philly":3h80hksq said:


> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

> Hows your bandwidth?



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


----------



## Adam (21 Oct 2004)

Alf":11w9bqr0 said:


> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

asleitch":b28s1993 said:


> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

> and a highly directional antenna



Something like this?

:lol:


----------



## Alf (21 Oct 2004)

ike":d1m9lng5 said:


> > and a highly directional antenna
> 
> 
> Something like this?
> :lol:


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

Cheers, Alf


----------



## Adam (21 Oct 2004)

ike":21i6ca9s said:


> > and a highly directional antenna
> 
> 
> 
> ...



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....





Off the Web somewhere........":21i6ca9s said:


> How To Build A Tin Can Waveguide WiFi Antenna
> 
> for 802.11(b or g) Wireless Networks
> or other 2.4GHz Applications
> ...


----------



## Adam (21 Oct 2004)

Alf":2zt90b37 said:


> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

asleitch":2nkokznm said:


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


Feel free to tell me more...


----------



## ike (21 Oct 2004)

> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

Alf":3excbv6d said:


> asleitch":3excbv6d said:
> 
> 
> > the "mini-broadband" service - about £15-£17 a month - and it's superb.
> ...



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 (21 Oct 2004)

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 (21 Oct 2004)

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 (21 Oct 2004)

Noely":256lkca1 said:


> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

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 (21 Oct 2004)

ike":2o9s4q3w said:


> 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 (21 Oct 2004)

This review site may be of interest

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

Andy


----------



## Pete W (21 Oct 2004)

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 (21 Oct 2004)

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


----------



## Alf (21 Oct 2004)

Andy, thanks. I think. Now I know how Normites feel when I point them to The Old Tools List... :shock: 

Pete, that's very helpful. Thank you.

Cheers, Alf


----------



## Noel (21 Oct 2004)

Well, I rang nice Mrs BT who reckons I can go with BT, keep my address, for £2.50 extra (can't remember if one off or extra per month).

Noel


----------



## mudman (21 Oct 2004)

Check out Firefly (www.fireflyuk.net). I went with them and have been really pleased with them. I got the 1Mb connection without modem (can buy one for a tenner on the web) and its great. Just like the proverbial of the shovel.
Personally I wouldn't touch BT. I was with them for years on dialup and I could never really find anything good to say about them. Was mightly pleased to be able to tell them to "naff off".
The modem rip off is one to beware of. They will insist you use their modem, charge extra per month for it and you end up paying between £80 to £100 for something you can get for a tenner. They also lock you in for a full twelve months so you can't get out if they are rubbish.


----------



## MilkyBarKid (21 Oct 2004)

Try plusnet 
http://www.plus.net/products/broadband_home.html
1Mb £14.99
2mb £19.99
It used to be in position 1 or 2 every month (as rated by it's users) when I was choosing a broadband ISP.

the firefly product looks very expensive unless it's complely unlimited bandwidth. You can use your own modem with plusnet.


----------



## mudman (24 Oct 2004)

Yep, no limits. When I signed up it was #1, major plus for me. :wink:

Edited to point out that also can use your own modem (not sure if I made that obvious before) and then the lock in is only three months so can get out quickly if you don't like them.


----------

