Well, if you consider the phone lines in our area were installed in the late 1940's and have never been replaced yet.
One's installed in the '60s would still be up and running today with not as many problems.
But you know, many of our phone calls on the twisted pair are now routed on Cable and/or Fiber Optic lines now.
I think the tablet sized cell phones are called Phablets, but I could be wrong about that.
You don't need a cell phone, those features are built into the Phablets.
I'm very happy with my host provider. And they only cost me 9.99 a month for nearly unlimited everything, hi hi
That is because I write my own code and don't use their templates or services, which they trapped me into without telling me once for a whole year, before I figure out I was conned. At least they did refund some of it back to me.
I don't use anything else there, like stuff that uses a database, or a shopping cart.
Where I live, Comcast is our ONLY choice. Deals with the City to make sure monopolies reign.
Excess Deaths
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Re: Excess Deaths
I'd not be surprised to learn that there is something you would call a Phablet. The usual reason for telephone service to be omitted from tablets has to do with size constraints (they are VERY thin devices) and battery usage. Making phone calls is battery intensive and requires substantial power reserve to keep alive for 24 hours. The typical tablet does not have or want that bulk. That doesn't meant it can't be done. Most tablet owners also have smartphones and are very happy to make phone calls that way.
AT&T laid down most of the wire network we use today, but as you point out copper is the technology of the past. Whenever I see new cable being installed, it's been fiber. I don't recall the last time I've seen an old school phone cable installed. Splicing one of those babies is a job and a half which is one more reason they try to avoid copper now and days. The problem is that the trunk lines most likely are up to date, but the connection from there to your home is still 1940-ish. New homes are installing fiber from the get-go which I think is a great idea. What's the point of having fiber all the way to the junction box on your house and then nothing but twisted pairs inside the house?
I had a few early attempts at websites on the Earthlink servers they provided with the DSL. They worked fairly well for that era, but the tools provided to move and edit files were excruciatingly painful to use. They would not allow anything but their front end to access their web services so that I did not use them when the time came to build this site. I also have all the resources here I could ever want, but that was not the case on the Earthlink servers. I'm certain Spectrum offers some similar web hosting deal, but who cares? I don't.
This subdivision seems to be locked into Spectrum, but I don't believe it's a legal binding. There is one other cable company in town besides Spectrum, but I don't recall their name nor do I know anyone who uses them. I looked up the customer satisfaction survey before we moved here and Spectrum was in first place with 53% total customer satisfaction. Hard to believe they were the recommended service. Since we moved here Gateway Cable has moved into St Charles and has a limited number of wires for us O'Fallon folks. All they offer, however, is Internet connectivity, which is cheaper and a higher speed than Spectrum, but not by much. The most recent contribution to connectivity is T-Mobile which offers Internet connectivity via their 5G network. So, we have choices, but as of today Spectrum has the most customers.
AT&T laid down most of the wire network we use today, but as you point out copper is the technology of the past. Whenever I see new cable being installed, it's been fiber. I don't recall the last time I've seen an old school phone cable installed. Splicing one of those babies is a job and a half which is one more reason they try to avoid copper now and days. The problem is that the trunk lines most likely are up to date, but the connection from there to your home is still 1940-ish. New homes are installing fiber from the get-go which I think is a great idea. What's the point of having fiber all the way to the junction box on your house and then nothing but twisted pairs inside the house?
I had a few early attempts at websites on the Earthlink servers they provided with the DSL. They worked fairly well for that era, but the tools provided to move and edit files were excruciatingly painful to use. They would not allow anything but their front end to access their web services so that I did not use them when the time came to build this site. I also have all the resources here I could ever want, but that was not the case on the Earthlink servers. I'm certain Spectrum offers some similar web hosting deal, but who cares? I don't.
This subdivision seems to be locked into Spectrum, but I don't believe it's a legal binding. There is one other cable company in town besides Spectrum, but I don't recall their name nor do I know anyone who uses them. I looked up the customer satisfaction survey before we moved here and Spectrum was in first place with 53% total customer satisfaction. Hard to believe they were the recommended service. Since we moved here Gateway Cable has moved into St Charles and has a limited number of wires for us O'Fallon folks. All they offer, however, is Internet connectivity, which is cheaper and a higher speed than Spectrum, but not by much. The most recent contribution to connectivity is T-Mobile which offers Internet connectivity via their 5G network. So, we have choices, but as of today Spectrum has the most customers.
Re: Excess Deaths
I didn't make up the word Phablet, but have heard it used a few times.
That's what Debi's niece calls her phone/tablet. Samsung Phablet I think is what she has now.
AT&T brags about putting Fiber Optics down here, but if you order it, they have some type of DSL modem that uses two phone lines to connect to their Fiber Optic distribution box somewhere miles from me.
Ironically, I have no telephone lines to my house anymore. They got knocked down by a delivery truck, and I just left them down, hi hi.
I remember doing my first website using 56k dial up, hi hi.
It was a very simple website, and I didn't really grow it much until I moved over to Inlink, also 56k.
After they went belly up, I moved to SLACC (St. Louis Area Computing Club) where I had my e-mail for years, even after I moved down here. They hosted my on the Galilei web server for next to no cost. But I could get my website up regardless of which server I connected to. The SLACC server or the Galileo server both would bring up my website.
How they do it down here in Knoxville, is they allowed each of the Cable Companies to be here, but assigned each one to their own area. South Knoxville got Comcast, and West Knoxville got Spectrum. I only know that because Debi's son lived in West Knoxville before moving to Nashville.
When he first moved there, he was on Blue Grass Cable Communications Network, which he hated. But after moving from his apartment to his girlfriends house, they now have AT&T Fiber at like 90 bucks a month or more.
That's what Debi's niece calls her phone/tablet. Samsung Phablet I think is what she has now.
AT&T brags about putting Fiber Optics down here, but if you order it, they have some type of DSL modem that uses two phone lines to connect to their Fiber Optic distribution box somewhere miles from me.
Ironically, I have no telephone lines to my house anymore. They got knocked down by a delivery truck, and I just left them down, hi hi.
I remember doing my first website using 56k dial up, hi hi.
It was a very simple website, and I didn't really grow it much until I moved over to Inlink, also 56k.
After they went belly up, I moved to SLACC (St. Louis Area Computing Club) where I had my e-mail for years, even after I moved down here. They hosted my on the Galilei web server for next to no cost. But I could get my website up regardless of which server I connected to. The SLACC server or the Galileo server both would bring up my website.
How they do it down here in Knoxville, is they allowed each of the Cable Companies to be here, but assigned each one to their own area. South Knoxville got Comcast, and West Knoxville got Spectrum. I only know that because Debi's son lived in West Knoxville before moving to Nashville.
When he first moved there, he was on Blue Grass Cable Communications Network, which he hated. But after moving from his apartment to his girlfriends house, they now have AT&T Fiber at like 90 bucks a month or more.
Re: Excess Deaths
The last time I looked at my bill it was something like $60 for Internet connectivity. The initial offering was 100 Mb download but there are times when it exceeds that by 20-30%. What they call high speed Internet will add $20 to the bill. Gateway sells only the high speed, which in their case is 1 Gb download and the cost is $90 (possibly less) if I recall the ads correctly. It's a tough call but do I really nee a 1 Gb network? Perhaps it would be a good idea for a family with kids that constantly play games or do a lot of video streaming. Bandwidth is critical when you do a lot of streaming but otherwise the Internet is just as responsive around 40 Mb. Anything more is generally undetectable performance.
My subdivision has no overhead wires of any sort. All the cables are underground. However, about half a mile north and plainly visible between the houses on that side of the street are 50 foot tall (or more) high tension wires. Fortunately I don't get to see much of them from my house, but folks down the street have a clearly ugly view of them.
Earthlink was always accessible if I had a dial-up modem. It was a free way to access them if the DSL service didn't work. I thought that was cool of them, but once I got DSL I disposed of the clunky dial-up modem that I had. I did a lot of things @ 56k and DSL was only 7 Mb I believe. Me and my single computer could have lived very will with that but it got complicated once I switched over to Window 7. Most of what I do today can work well at speeds less than 10 Mbps, but some of the files I download are several gigabytes in size. The last thing I downloaded at 7Mb was a 13 Gb game. It took nearly 12 hours to download. But, I can say it worked well and was not corrupt. About a week later they upgraded the game and I had to download 15 Gb which took another day to do. Then we moved to Missouri where I'm blessed with 100 Mb capability. I seldom get that speed, but it is possible.
My subdivision has no overhead wires of any sort. All the cables are underground. However, about half a mile north and plainly visible between the houses on that side of the street are 50 foot tall (or more) high tension wires. Fortunately I don't get to see much of them from my house, but folks down the street have a clearly ugly view of them.
Earthlink was always accessible if I had a dial-up modem. It was a free way to access them if the DSL service didn't work. I thought that was cool of them, but once I got DSL I disposed of the clunky dial-up modem that I had. I did a lot of things @ 56k and DSL was only 7 Mb I believe. Me and my single computer could have lived very will with that but it got complicated once I switched over to Window 7. Most of what I do today can work well at speeds less than 10 Mbps, but some of the files I download are several gigabytes in size. The last thing I downloaded at 7Mb was a 13 Gb game. It took nearly 12 hours to download. But, I can say it worked well and was not corrupt. About a week later they upgraded the game and I had to download 15 Gb which took another day to do. Then we moved to Missouri where I'm blessed with 100 Mb capability. I seldom get that speed, but it is possible.
Re: Excess Deaths
Without looking it up again, my original download speed on Comcast was only like 30 mbps, which we never hit anyhow.
But they upped the speed a few times over the years, so now I'm listed at 100 mbps, but still only get around 70 mbps which is plenty for what I do on-line.
All of our wires, electric, phone, cable, are above ground on Utility Poles.
I still used 56k Dial-up for years after I moved down here, and my ISP gave me a local number down here, at a bank, which I could use. It was still working up until they shut down the servers back in St. Loo.
I rarely if ever had to download much of anything that would be considered large back in the 56k dialup days.
If it were not for Debi's son having Cable brought in while he was living here, I don't know when we would have got it after he moved out.
I don't know what the speed of WiFi Satellite is, but it starting to be advertised quite heavily down here.
And I don't know why they are calling it WiFi Satellite either.
But they upped the speed a few times over the years, so now I'm listed at 100 mbps, but still only get around 70 mbps which is plenty for what I do on-line.
All of our wires, electric, phone, cable, are above ground on Utility Poles.
I still used 56k Dial-up for years after I moved down here, and my ISP gave me a local number down here, at a bank, which I could use. It was still working up until they shut down the servers back in St. Loo.
I rarely if ever had to download much of anything that would be considered large back in the 56k dialup days.
If it were not for Debi's son having Cable brought in while he was living here, I don't know when we would have got it after he moved out.
I don't know what the speed of WiFi Satellite is, but it starting to be advertised quite heavily down here.
And I don't know why they are calling it WiFi Satellite either.
Re: Excess Deaths
Other than being a wireless way to move data I do not believe WiFi has a defined meaning. Satellite communications are WiFi by nature but I have not actually heard or read of them being called that. What we know and love as WiFi has an open field range of about 300 feet which isn't enough to reach a satellite. The currently used WiFi frequencies are 2.8 GHz and 5.0 GHz which might put them in the reception range of satellite antennae, but why bother? WiFi Satellite sounds like some kind of marketing gimmick, and only the seller could explain the naming of their product. My guess is that it's simply a satellite Internet connection for your local WiFi network. In other words, nothing new.
I'm pretty sure Spectrum throttles the traffic but there are servers that consistently max out the system. Many Microsoft downloads will stream in at 120Mbps, for example. Knowing the little that I do about networks I can safely say that no ISP can maintain maximum download speed for all their clients all the time. However, if you are consistently missing the mark, I'd suspect something behind the scenes is going on.
I'm pretty sure Spectrum throttles the traffic but there are servers that consistently max out the system. Many Microsoft downloads will stream in at 120Mbps, for example. Knowing the little that I do about networks I can safely say that no ISP can maintain maximum download speed for all their clients all the time. However, if you are consistently missing the mark, I'd suspect something behind the scenes is going on.
Re: Excess Deaths
I did check into it, their Satellite antenna is connected to a Satellite WiFi Modem, which is what I basically figured it was.
Comcast sells their Internet connection by speed ranges. Which is sorta complicated to understand.
This is taken from their 2010 product sales card.
Performance Package - old 6 Mbps/1 Mbps - new 12 Mbps/2 Mbps.
Performance Package with Power Boost - old 12 Mbps/1 Mbps - new 15 Mbps/3 Mbps.
Performance Plus Package - old 8 Mbps/2 Mbps - new 16 Mbps/2 Mbps.
Performance Plus Package with Blast - old 16 Mbps/2 Mbps - new 20 Mbps/4 Mbps.
What's New:
Performance Ultra - 22 Mbps/5 Mbps.
Performance Ultra with Power Boost - 30 Mbps/5 Mbps.
Performance Extreme 50 - 50 Mbps/10 Mbps.
Performance Extreme 50 with Power Boost - Not Yet Available.
Each Package shown above, had a higher price for each level you moved up to (down on the list).
Naturally, their speeds have gone up considerably since then, but they still sell in the same way.
You basically pay for the speed level you want to have. But you never quite hit those speeds either.
Comcast sells their Internet connection by speed ranges. Which is sorta complicated to understand.
This is taken from their 2010 product sales card.
Performance Package - old 6 Mbps/1 Mbps - new 12 Mbps/2 Mbps.
Performance Package with Power Boost - old 12 Mbps/1 Mbps - new 15 Mbps/3 Mbps.
Performance Plus Package - old 8 Mbps/2 Mbps - new 16 Mbps/2 Mbps.
Performance Plus Package with Blast - old 16 Mbps/2 Mbps - new 20 Mbps/4 Mbps.
What's New:
Performance Ultra - 22 Mbps/5 Mbps.
Performance Ultra with Power Boost - 30 Mbps/5 Mbps.
Performance Extreme 50 - 50 Mbps/10 Mbps.
Performance Extreme 50 with Power Boost - Not Yet Available.
Each Package shown above, had a higher price for each level you moved up to (down on the list).
Naturally, their speeds have gone up considerably since then, but they still sell in the same way.
You basically pay for the speed level you want to have. But you never quite hit those speeds either.
Re: Excess Deaths
The advertised speeds that ISP's offer are those which can only be validated at the modem on their servers. There is a lot of network between their server and the places you try to download data from. Anything less than their advertised speed is due to lag in the network. At least that is the story they give you when you question them and show them your your sniffer log. It seems like a scam but truth be told the ISP can't control the network speed outside of their server. It's a public net and nobody has control over it.
Every satellite modem is WiFi, that is to say, wireless. If you buy into their service you will need one in order to communicate with the satellite. I don't see how it can be done any other way.
Those are some interesting rates offered by Comcast. Since the Internet has been ruled to no longer be neutral, any ISP can charge you anything they want for the connection. They can also control the content. Today's networks are in the gigabyte range and not so for the speed. All that bandwidth is needed to transmit all those high definition streaming graphics. There are smart TV's, computers, smartphones, and mobile devices that can all stream a high definition video. A lot of homes have more than one of each of those devices too. That is what uses up the gigs.
Every satellite modem is WiFi, that is to say, wireless. If you buy into their service you will need one in order to communicate with the satellite. I don't see how it can be done any other way.
Those are some interesting rates offered by Comcast. Since the Internet has been ruled to no longer be neutral, any ISP can charge you anything they want for the connection. They can also control the content. Today's networks are in the gigabyte range and not so for the speed. All that bandwidth is needed to transmit all those high definition streaming graphics. There are smart TV's, computers, smartphones, and mobile devices that can all stream a high definition video. A lot of homes have more than one of each of those devices too. That is what uses up the gigs.
Re: Excess Deaths
I know if I go to Speedtest.net it now only lets you connect to other Comcast servers, where it used to let you connect to any city you chose. I used to select a provider in St. Loo so I know what my time was between here and there speed wise, and of course it was always about half of what I thought it should be, hi hi.
I think all modems are WiFi now, even if you don't want WiFi, hi hi.
And most of the keyboard and mouse folks don't have wired ones anymore, all wireless, which I hate.
How our TV shows get to us these days is considerably different than when they were just Cable TV, that's for sure.
AND, the signal breaks up a whole lot more now too than it used too.
Too much stuff being pumped over the Internet.
I think all modems are WiFi now, even if you don't want WiFi, hi hi.
And most of the keyboard and mouse folks don't have wired ones anymore, all wireless, which I hate.
How our TV shows get to us these days is considerably different than when they were just Cable TV, that's for sure.
AND, the signal breaks up a whole lot more now too than it used too.
Too much stuff being pumped over the Internet.
Re: Excess Deaths
I was pondering the current digital age the other day. Just how much data is being pumped over the Internet at any given moment? The number of 1's and 0's floating about at any moment has to exceed any number for which we have a name. Then there is the data not on the Internet but still floating around somebody's network. Add that to the Internet number and you would have something that cannot be comprehended. And, of course, that's not all of the digital data out there. The amount stored on various devices has to exceed the amount floating around global networks. However, I did see a figure for the number of atoms speculated to exist in the universe. If they have a number for that, they must also have one for data.
I haven't tried to buy a modem lately but you could be right about them being wireless. There was a time when nothing was faster than data over hard wired copper, but gigabyte networks seem to be taking over. I note T-mobile and Google are out there trying to make the world a wireless place. T-mobile already is selling a 5-G network package for the Internet and Google is installing fiber in Kansas City which will be a minimum of 5 gigs. I think they said it would cost $120 per month to get that speed.
As far as mouse and keyboard goes, USB 3.2 Gen 1 is capable of 5 Gbytes throughput speed. I can see that being possible with a wired mouse, but I don't know how they would get a wireless one to be usable at that rate. Gamers always preferred the wired versions because of the quick response time, but there is a point where an increase in data transfer is no longer a performance improvement. I have a wireless mouse for my laptop and that is an ideal situation for me because I detest the touchpad interface. The desktop is all wired and exceeds my expectations. Then again, I don't expect much.
I haven't tried to buy a modem lately but you could be right about them being wireless. There was a time when nothing was faster than data over hard wired copper, but gigabyte networks seem to be taking over. I note T-mobile and Google are out there trying to make the world a wireless place. T-mobile already is selling a 5-G network package for the Internet and Google is installing fiber in Kansas City which will be a minimum of 5 gigs. I think they said it would cost $120 per month to get that speed.
As far as mouse and keyboard goes, USB 3.2 Gen 1 is capable of 5 Gbytes throughput speed. I can see that being possible with a wired mouse, but I don't know how they would get a wireless one to be usable at that rate. Gamers always preferred the wired versions because of the quick response time, but there is a point where an increase in data transfer is no longer a performance improvement. I have a wireless mouse for my laptop and that is an ideal situation for me because I detest the touchpad interface. The desktop is all wired and exceeds my expectations. Then again, I don't expect much.
Re: Excess Deaths
Now that definitely is something to ponder on!
I remember when I called my cousin when he was stationed in Japan. There was a LONG delay after I said something and before he heard it. It took a minute or two for us to wait until we heard the whole message before responding. And this was way back when long distance calls were expensive, and most of the time you spent waiting for the analog voice to get there and back.
Today, we have instant communications all around the globe, with very little net lag anymore.
It is mind boggling how some of these companies can store all the digital data associated with their millions of users since their inception, and without losing any data either. I have no idea how they can exchange thousands of connections 24/7 and not lose any data. Amazing, complicatedly amazing!
I used to use two routers, one hard wired, and a WiFi router was connected to the hard wired router with a heavy firewall and password. Only our few WiFi devices at the time could get past the WiFi and into the Network, and therefore onto the Internet. I'm still using my Motorola modem. Comcast said it was bad, so I bought a new one, and still couldn't connect. Turns out Comcast was who was down, so that brand new modem has been sitting on the shelf now waiting for the Motorola to die, which it probably never will, UNTIL the day I sell or give away my other modem.
Routers, I've gone through quite a few of them. Some were replaces simply because of speed increases. A couple of others just up and died on me. So have a few LAN switches.
The thing with wireless meeces is the start-up delay if they sat for more than 5 or 10 seconds, they shut down. So if you are playing a game where you are trying to click on something when it pops up, the first click wakes up the mouse, and you just missed your shot.
All of my older Logitech meeces which were hard wired, were designed just right for my hand.
But this new one by Logitech is slightly lower, and the scroll wheel is much higher, which is very problematic when using the mouse. Plus, being wireless, I have to tolerate that darn delay when I go to do something I need the mouse for. It also has two useless buttons making the left click button smaller than it should be.
Why Logitech quit making their good mouse is beyond me. The new one is crapola compared to their original ones.
For most things, I prefer something you either plug in for the power, or hardwire in order to use them.
Especially at the price of batteries these days, hi hi.
I remember when I called my cousin when he was stationed in Japan. There was a LONG delay after I said something and before he heard it. It took a minute or two for us to wait until we heard the whole message before responding. And this was way back when long distance calls were expensive, and most of the time you spent waiting for the analog voice to get there and back.
Today, we have instant communications all around the globe, with very little net lag anymore.
It is mind boggling how some of these companies can store all the digital data associated with their millions of users since their inception, and without losing any data either. I have no idea how they can exchange thousands of connections 24/7 and not lose any data. Amazing, complicatedly amazing!
I used to use two routers, one hard wired, and a WiFi router was connected to the hard wired router with a heavy firewall and password. Only our few WiFi devices at the time could get past the WiFi and into the Network, and therefore onto the Internet. I'm still using my Motorola modem. Comcast said it was bad, so I bought a new one, and still couldn't connect. Turns out Comcast was who was down, so that brand new modem has been sitting on the shelf now waiting for the Motorola to die, which it probably never will, UNTIL the day I sell or give away my other modem.
Routers, I've gone through quite a few of them. Some were replaces simply because of speed increases. A couple of others just up and died on me. So have a few LAN switches.
The thing with wireless meeces is the start-up delay if they sat for more than 5 or 10 seconds, they shut down. So if you are playing a game where you are trying to click on something when it pops up, the first click wakes up the mouse, and you just missed your shot.
All of my older Logitech meeces which were hard wired, were designed just right for my hand.
But this new one by Logitech is slightly lower, and the scroll wheel is much higher, which is very problematic when using the mouse. Plus, being wireless, I have to tolerate that darn delay when I go to do something I need the mouse for. It also has two useless buttons making the left click button smaller than it should be.
Why Logitech quit making their good mouse is beyond me. The new one is crapola compared to their original ones.
For most things, I prefer something you either plug in for the power, or hardwire in order to use them.
Especially at the price of batteries these days, hi hi.
Re: Excess Deaths
Back in the Windows 98 era I had a webcam attached to my computer system. I believe it was Yahoo that offered live video conversations along with their chat (instant messaging) all inside their e-mail program. For the longest time they were the only ones offering all those options in a single package. An occasion arose for me to chat and video call with a person in Thailand. That was a big thrill at the time because not many folks had web cams and as I said only Yahoo tied it all to what could have been the first implementation of video calls. It worked perfectly, but as you noted above there was a noticeable delay. The video was fairly smooth, but the chat text didn't appear right away and not all at one time. It was only a few seconds delay, but then I was talking "live" with a person in Thailand. The video was something like 320x320, but hey. It was bleeding edge technology at the time. For the longest time Yahoo was the only group supplying instant messaging as part of their e-mail. Other people had it but not as an integrated package. Why Yahoo fell behind and more or less died is beyond me. They had some forward thinking people running the place back in the early days.
Companies serving millions of clients over the Internet are not using conventional equipment you can get at Best Buy. They design their own computers as well as their own operating systems. It's all pretty advanced stuff, but it is not as clean and error free as you might think. There are error correction methods in use all the time. If a packet of data is corrupt or lost, the error correction will rebuild it before it sends it forward. Sometimes that involves making the server send the data a few times until the checksums match. That all happens in the twinkling of an eye and prior to it being saved on some storage medium. That storage media doesn't last forever so that the IT guys are constantly doing backups to new media. There are a lot of glitches and there are reports generated to alert the sys admin if they get excessive, but for the most part the data is examined and corrected several times before it gets to its final destination.
I've owned two routers in my entire computing life. The one I'm using now has been on for roughly ten years continuously. I only shut it down when we leave the house for an extended vacation. It was a fairly expensive router, but it has a few features I like. It has one gig transfer capability, and when you consider it's ten years old that was pretty good back then. It was in fact the first of its kind by Lynksys and I got it for a really good price as an introductory offer. I don't know why it's still working and it will be a disaster if it should fail. There are no shops close by where I can get a replacement. I can get "a router" even at Wally World, but it won't be state of the art as was this one. I really should get one of those as a just in case backup.
Companies serving millions of clients over the Internet are not using conventional equipment you can get at Best Buy. They design their own computers as well as their own operating systems. It's all pretty advanced stuff, but it is not as clean and error free as you might think. There are error correction methods in use all the time. If a packet of data is corrupt or lost, the error correction will rebuild it before it sends it forward. Sometimes that involves making the server send the data a few times until the checksums match. That all happens in the twinkling of an eye and prior to it being saved on some storage medium. That storage media doesn't last forever so that the IT guys are constantly doing backups to new media. There are a lot of glitches and there are reports generated to alert the sys admin if they get excessive, but for the most part the data is examined and corrected several times before it gets to its final destination.
I've owned two routers in my entire computing life. The one I'm using now has been on for roughly ten years continuously. I only shut it down when we leave the house for an extended vacation. It was a fairly expensive router, but it has a few features I like. It has one gig transfer capability, and when you consider it's ten years old that was pretty good back then. It was in fact the first of its kind by Lynksys and I got it for a really good price as an introductory offer. I don't know why it's still working and it will be a disaster if it should fail. There are no shops close by where I can get a replacement. I can get "a router" even at Wally World, but it won't be state of the art as was this one. I really should get one of those as a just in case backup.
Re: Excess Deaths
After I moved south and was digging out the crawl space under the house to make a working area down there. I bought a web cam and put it down there, and it was connected to Debi's XP computer, that way she could keep an eye on me down there.
And later, after I had tons of plants started down there, I would use it to check on the plants when the lights came on.
I've never done a video chat on anything ever.
I had a Router that was used with my TOPS network down at my Wonder Plants building.
At home in St. Loo, I had a cheap LinkSys Router, used mainly to share files between my wife's computer and my computer.
Plus we had a couple of old computers we used only for data storage. I put a couple of IDE hard drives in each for storage.
I don't remember the names of the first couple I had down here, to connect my garage to the house where the modem was.
But then too, I was on 56k dialup the first few years. Had to buy a new router when I switched over to cable to get the 100 mbps between the house and the garage and onto the Internet. When Comcast made an upgrade, I had to buy a new Modem, a Motorola Docsys 3.0, which I'm still using, and have a no-name new one as a backup. Now Comcast wants us to upgrade our Modems again. I did buy a new WiFi router, and it was twinned to my hard wired router for a while. Then the hard wired router gave up the ghost, and I started using only the WiFi router until it gave up the ghost, then I bought a new one which is now probably close to 5 years old. Maybe older, time flies when you are old, hi hi.
If I had the money, I would do all the upgrades of modem, router, switches, etc. But Alas, I'm Poor, hi hi.
And later, after I had tons of plants started down there, I would use it to check on the plants when the lights came on.
I've never done a video chat on anything ever.
I had a Router that was used with my TOPS network down at my Wonder Plants building.
At home in St. Loo, I had a cheap LinkSys Router, used mainly to share files between my wife's computer and my computer.
Plus we had a couple of old computers we used only for data storage. I put a couple of IDE hard drives in each for storage.
I don't remember the names of the first couple I had down here, to connect my garage to the house where the modem was.
But then too, I was on 56k dialup the first few years. Had to buy a new router when I switched over to cable to get the 100 mbps between the house and the garage and onto the Internet. When Comcast made an upgrade, I had to buy a new Modem, a Motorola Docsys 3.0, which I'm still using, and have a no-name new one as a backup. Now Comcast wants us to upgrade our Modems again. I did buy a new WiFi router, and it was twinned to my hard wired router for a while. Then the hard wired router gave up the ghost, and I started using only the WiFi router until it gave up the ghost, then I bought a new one which is now probably close to 5 years old. Maybe older, time flies when you are old, hi hi.
If I had the money, I would do all the upgrades of modem, router, switches, etc. But Alas, I'm Poor, hi hi.
Re: Excess Deaths
Spectrum installed the modem we are now using. It has the cable, phone line, and Ethernet all in the same box. I supplied the router, which worked like a charm to my surprise. I did nothing to the router when I packed it up and unpacked it here. Spectrum came out the very day we moved in and they connected the router to the LAN. It lit up as it was intended and all the computers that were configured up north came back online down here in Missouri. As far as the router was concerned the only thing that changed was the modem IP address. So, the way I set up the LAN ten years ago is the exact way I'm running it today. i have four dedicated Eternet ports, dual band WiFi, and 1 gig of throughput. I can attach a hard drive (or any other memory box that runs off USB) but only did that as an experiment one time. It was slower than the NAS so that I didn't think it was very useful. Besides it could also be a security risk being stand alone the way it is.
This website is the natural evolution of my initial experiences with instant messaging. At first I considered the Internet to be a fancy amateur radio station in that I had access to literally the entire world population for conversation. But, of course, the Internet is entirely different in most respects. My interest in meeting people never faded and in fact grew more intense as the technology improved. Thus the interest in a webcam. Now and days that has all evolved into live video replacing Instant messaging. You and I, for example, don't need this website to have a conversation every day. There are online services such as Zoom that make it all very simple. Most computers and mobile devices come with microphones and cameras which makes taking advantage of video conferencing easy. You would have to attach a camera and mic (usually they are packaged together) and then you too could see what I look like in real time.
On second though, maybe it's best you don't see what I look like in real time. LOL
This website is the natural evolution of my initial experiences with instant messaging. At first I considered the Internet to be a fancy amateur radio station in that I had access to literally the entire world population for conversation. But, of course, the Internet is entirely different in most respects. My interest in meeting people never faded and in fact grew more intense as the technology improved. Thus the interest in a webcam. Now and days that has all evolved into live video replacing Instant messaging. You and I, for example, don't need this website to have a conversation every day. There are online services such as Zoom that make it all very simple. Most computers and mobile devices come with microphones and cameras which makes taking advantage of video conferencing easy. You would have to attach a camera and mic (usually they are packaged together) and then you too could see what I look like in real time.
On second though, maybe it's best you don't see what I look like in real time. LOL
Re: Excess Deaths
All of the computing equipment I had back home in St. Loo, and what I used when I first moved down here, has all died a long slow death before I finally discarded all but the power supplies and hard drives from them. I eventually tossed the hard drives and/or gave them to the computer shop, the ones they would take that is.
All of my equipment down here is technically old now, even though I bought much of it in 2003 to connect to the cable. A few things died and were replaced, and all but one of the computers I amassed is not running anymore.
It is amazing how the Internet has grown and changed over the years. Especially how things keep getting faster and faster.
People used to tease me back when I was still on 56k dialup, so I just said, I can only type 120 wpm so don't need anything faster. But then the whole of the Internet changed and many new things added, so you needed cable and high speed.
I look like a miserable olde man now, with tubes hanging on my face, hi hi. Not a pretty sight to see, hi hi.
All of my equipment down here is technically old now, even though I bought much of it in 2003 to connect to the cable. A few things died and were replaced, and all but one of the computers I amassed is not running anymore.
It is amazing how the Internet has grown and changed over the years. Especially how things keep getting faster and faster.
People used to tease me back when I was still on 56k dialup, so I just said, I can only type 120 wpm so don't need anything faster. But then the whole of the Internet changed and many new things added, so you needed cable and high speed.
I look like a miserable olde man now, with tubes hanging on my face, hi hi. Not a pretty sight to see, hi hi.
Re: Excess Deaths
it used to be that they would manufacture things so that they deliberately did not last very long. The idea of planned obsolescence was part of GM"s business model in fact. Many items were redesigned every year but typically nothing in the way of new technology could be found in them. Even when they put computers in automobile engines the car used the same technology it always had. At least today's electric cars are breaking some traditions in terms of new engines. When it comes to computers there is no need to plan for it to become obsolete in a short order. As you suggested above new functions of electronic devices are happening almost every day. All those computers you have are not just old. They are antiques and ancient as far as technology goes. They claim you should update every three years or less because so many things change so quickly. That certainly is true but most of the latest and greatest are also backward compatible. Microsoft has a fetish about that which is why the invention of Windows 10 was so radical. It was not backward compatible.
Working at Motorola made the speed of progress very obvious. However, all the home computers I purchased were done so that they would last well beyond the 3 year recommended life cycle. The Silver yogi was made for VIsta users and that product ended it's life in 2012. I used Vista for nearly all of its 5 year support cycle prior to that. My previous Windows 98 computer was ten years old and I was very happy with the DSL Internet until I started using that webcam I talked about. About the same time Google was cultivating YouTube, and while I could view most of its offerings it was intermittent. The network card I had simply could not handle the YouTube feed. Thus, it is possible to keep your electronics relevant and useful for at least ten years. You don't push the envelope very often so that the Silver Yogi you use now could easily go another ten years.
Smartphones are indeed very smart. It seems as if the batteries in them can only be recharged a certain number of times. It's approximately a three year cycle if you recharge it every day. Thus you need to replace the battery or buy a new phone because the battery you have won't work anymore. There are cases where people have cell phones well beyond the three years but by that time all the associated technology has changed drastically as well. If the battery doesn't get you, the lack of new technology will.
I have a very good idea what you are talking about being connected to life support. I was mom's caregiver the last years of her life and she too was connected much of the time. I've seen it all and don't look forward to it happening to me.
Working at Motorola made the speed of progress very obvious. However, all the home computers I purchased were done so that they would last well beyond the 3 year recommended life cycle. The Silver yogi was made for VIsta users and that product ended it's life in 2012. I used Vista for nearly all of its 5 year support cycle prior to that. My previous Windows 98 computer was ten years old and I was very happy with the DSL Internet until I started using that webcam I talked about. About the same time Google was cultivating YouTube, and while I could view most of its offerings it was intermittent. The network card I had simply could not handle the YouTube feed. Thus, it is possible to keep your electronics relevant and useful for at least ten years. You don't push the envelope very often so that the Silver Yogi you use now could easily go another ten years.
Smartphones are indeed very smart. It seems as if the batteries in them can only be recharged a certain number of times. It's approximately a three year cycle if you recharge it every day. Thus you need to replace the battery or buy a new phone because the battery you have won't work anymore. There are cases where people have cell phones well beyond the three years but by that time all the associated technology has changed drastically as well. If the battery doesn't get you, the lack of new technology will.
I have a very good idea what you are talking about being connected to life support. I was mom's caregiver the last years of her life and she too was connected much of the time. I've seen it all and don't look forward to it happening to me.
Re: Excess Deaths
I hear ya on things breaking down must faster.
Take a simple light bulb as an example: They have down pat so they won't last more than 1200 hours now.
Unless you find a place that has bulbs made by a smaller company who don't have the technology to use ultra-fine tungsten for the filament.
My Glade air freshener that shoots a mist from a can, it died. This model had an LED light on it, and it flashed 3 times.
Basically it meant circuit board failure. So bought a new one, and the new one has no LED light, but then I did opt for the cheapest one.
One reason I always opted for Electric Tools instead of Battery Powered, was they always worked, and they were lighter.
Why folks who don't use tools very often buy Battery Powered is beyond me. It usually means they need to buy a new battery each time they find a need to use it. So they just revert to some manual way of fixing whatever they are working on.
Now when I was doing handyman work, I did have some normally battery powered drills and saws which I got from other workers who were throwing them away. Most of them were 12 volt in that era, which was great for me. I just made a waist belt that held a motorcycle size deep cycle battery, and made a plug for the tool to plug it in. Ran a wire down each sleeve of my jacket so I had power at either hand to use them. Worked out great for me, and the tool was much lighter without that heavy battery, albeit it was out of balance, but then so are electric tools.
I bought my own oxygen concentrator for my office, so I don't burn up so many of the large air tanks.
Saves me money, hi hi. My brother was trying to get one from a warehouse moving out next door to him, but the guy never contacted him back to sell him one. And naturally, the guy I got mine from for so cheap has no more.
Take a simple light bulb as an example: They have down pat so they won't last more than 1200 hours now.
Unless you find a place that has bulbs made by a smaller company who don't have the technology to use ultra-fine tungsten for the filament.
My Glade air freshener that shoots a mist from a can, it died. This model had an LED light on it, and it flashed 3 times.
Basically it meant circuit board failure. So bought a new one, and the new one has no LED light, but then I did opt for the cheapest one.
One reason I always opted for Electric Tools instead of Battery Powered, was they always worked, and they were lighter.
Why folks who don't use tools very often buy Battery Powered is beyond me. It usually means they need to buy a new battery each time they find a need to use it. So they just revert to some manual way of fixing whatever they are working on.
Now when I was doing handyman work, I did have some normally battery powered drills and saws which I got from other workers who were throwing them away. Most of them were 12 volt in that era, which was great for me. I just made a waist belt that held a motorcycle size deep cycle battery, and made a plug for the tool to plug it in. Ran a wire down each sleeve of my jacket so I had power at either hand to use them. Worked out great for me, and the tool was much lighter without that heavy battery, albeit it was out of balance, but then so are electric tools.
I bought my own oxygen concentrator for my office, so I don't burn up so many of the large air tanks.
Saves me money, hi hi. My brother was trying to get one from a warehouse moving out next door to him, but the guy never contacted him back to sell him one. And naturally, the guy I got mine from for so cheap has no more.
Re: Excess Deaths
You simply are amazing. I don't now how to put it any other way. LOL I sympathize with you regarding battery operated tools. It might be convenient to not have a cord to keep out of the way or to find a nearby socket in which to plug it. That particular convenience, however, is countered by the weight of the battery plus the maintenance it requires. Considering all the pros and cons, plug in power tools are my preference. I might have changed my mind about that if I were doing rehab or any other professional construction work. Even so I am nearly positive that I never would think of carrying a motorcycle battery around my waist and running wires down my arms. Talk about thinking out of the box. 
There is an exception to the above comments in that I own a battery powered Dremel tool. The first one I had for many years had a power cord that really was more obnoxious than helpful considering the fine close in work I was doing with the tool. When that baby gave up the ghost my darling daughters got me a new Dremel Tool that was battery powered. To my surprise it had all the power that the corded one had and the battery was not all that heavy. I used it often to sharpen the chain on my chain saw and the blade on my grass cutter. The amazing feature of that tool has to do with the battery. I've not used it since we lived here which is going on eight years this summer. Recently I had a need for the Dremel and the damned thing worked as well as it did eight years ago WITHOUT CHARGING it. I surely thought the battery would drain in that amount of time but it did not. I used it for at least 15 minutes and have no idea how much longer I could have gone. I was totally impressed. I also fully charged the battery before I packed it away again.
Mom had two concentrators. One was in her bedroom with tubing long enough to get her in and out of the bathroom easily. The tubing was not long enough to reach the livingroom or kitchen so that a second concentrator was placed in those rooms too. She also had a few mini cylinders that she could strap onto her body and be mobile. We used to take her out to eat that way. Then, too, we had a couple of those large tanks stashed away in the closet should they be needed during a power outage. All of that was supplied by the hospice people. They said that they could also supply us with a liquid oxygen unit if we wanted it. Apparently nothing is unavailable when you are in hospice care.
There is an exception to the above comments in that I own a battery powered Dremel tool. The first one I had for many years had a power cord that really was more obnoxious than helpful considering the fine close in work I was doing with the tool. When that baby gave up the ghost my darling daughters got me a new Dremel Tool that was battery powered. To my surprise it had all the power that the corded one had and the battery was not all that heavy. I used it often to sharpen the chain on my chain saw and the blade on my grass cutter. The amazing feature of that tool has to do with the battery. I've not used it since we lived here which is going on eight years this summer. Recently I had a need for the Dremel and the damned thing worked as well as it did eight years ago WITHOUT CHARGING it. I surely thought the battery would drain in that amount of time but it did not. I used it for at least 15 minutes and have no idea how much longer I could have gone. I was totally impressed. I also fully charged the battery before I packed it away again.
Mom had two concentrators. One was in her bedroom with tubing long enough to get her in and out of the bathroom easily. The tubing was not long enough to reach the livingroom or kitchen so that a second concentrator was placed in those rooms too. She also had a few mini cylinders that she could strap onto her body and be mobile. We used to take her out to eat that way. Then, too, we had a couple of those large tanks stashed away in the closet should they be needed during a power outage. All of that was supplied by the hospice people. They said that they could also supply us with a liquid oxygen unit if we wanted it. Apparently nothing is unavailable when you are in hospice care.
Re: Excess Deaths
I normally carried my tool pouch on the left side of my tool belt. Adding the motorcycle battery to the right side of the belt, actually helped to balance out the weight. I also had a fuse box glued to the top of the battery, so if the wire ever shorted, it would blow the fuse before heating up the wire. Both the battery and the fuse box fit inside the hip box I placed them in.
I can't take all the credit for coming up with the idea. I used to have a headlight that you strapped to your forehead, and it was powered by a 6 volt lantern battery you wore on your belt.
I have a couple of things that I can store for months on end and the battery stays nice and fresh, regardless of the outdoor temperature. One is a small device for starting a car, the other is a weed whacker my wife bought. Most everything else I have that uses batteries, the batteries do go down while they are in storage.
Speaking of Dremel tools, I have one that is now going on 50 years old and still works perfectly, wired type. And it has seen a fair amount of use too.
My late wife Ruth was on liquid oxygen and we originally had the tubes running all over the house, which is why I decided to put copper pipes with a nickel coating inside for inside the walls with the outlet boxes like they have at the hospital. Down here, liquid oxygen is not available for home use. I know because I've asked about it a couple of times. We are stuck using the aluminum tanks, I have 10 of the C size tanks you can carry in a shoulder bag, and 8 of the E size tanks in various areas around the house.
My brother tried to get me a new oxygen concentrator for the living room, since that is where I use up most of the E tanks.
I have the oxygen concentrator in Debi's office, and hoses hanging over C screws up by the ceiling into the bedroom. I have a connector I can pull apart and use a separate hose when I'm doing my exercises, or taking a shower. I do have an E tank in the bathroom for when I'm having a history lesson, you know, studying the constitutional, hi hi.
FWIW, even our local hospital uses the E tanks instead of liquid. Don't know why, since the other main hospital here does have liquid oxygen feeding their hospital. However, just because they have the big tanks outside, don't mean they are in use for the purpose intended.
I can't take all the credit for coming up with the idea. I used to have a headlight that you strapped to your forehead, and it was powered by a 6 volt lantern battery you wore on your belt.
I have a couple of things that I can store for months on end and the battery stays nice and fresh, regardless of the outdoor temperature. One is a small device for starting a car, the other is a weed whacker my wife bought. Most everything else I have that uses batteries, the batteries do go down while they are in storage.
Speaking of Dremel tools, I have one that is now going on 50 years old and still works perfectly, wired type. And it has seen a fair amount of use too.
My late wife Ruth was on liquid oxygen and we originally had the tubes running all over the house, which is why I decided to put copper pipes with a nickel coating inside for inside the walls with the outlet boxes like they have at the hospital. Down here, liquid oxygen is not available for home use. I know because I've asked about it a couple of times. We are stuck using the aluminum tanks, I have 10 of the C size tanks you can carry in a shoulder bag, and 8 of the E size tanks in various areas around the house.
My brother tried to get me a new oxygen concentrator for the living room, since that is where I use up most of the E tanks.
I have the oxygen concentrator in Debi's office, and hoses hanging over C screws up by the ceiling into the bedroom. I have a connector I can pull apart and use a separate hose when I'm doing my exercises, or taking a shower. I do have an E tank in the bathroom for when I'm having a history lesson, you know, studying the constitutional, hi hi.
FWIW, even our local hospital uses the E tanks instead of liquid. Don't know why, since the other main hospital here does have liquid oxygen feeding their hospital. However, just because they have the big tanks outside, don't mean they are in use for the purpose intended.
Re: Excess Deaths
I have a flashlight for emergencies. It uses one of those lantern batteries to power up that small bulb. It doesn't seem to last very long either, but the most confounding part about that flashlight is trying to find replacement batteries. It's a rare store that will stock them, although I must admit that I found one in an O'Fallon shop a few years back. I've seen similar flashlights that run off rechargeable batteries. The gimmick there is that it's solar powered. I have mixed feelings about its usefulness.
I till have my original Dremel tool, and like yours it must be approaching antique status. I bought it for use in the first house I owned, and that was more than forty years ago. I don't know what's wrong with it but the power cord is starting to crumble. I'm just keeping it for old times sake.
Your O2 system is much more elaborate than what mom used. In her case we weren't too fussy about where the tubing was routed, and it did in fact run all over the house. Mom only used three rooms so that it wasn't really too much of a problem. I can't imagine why a hospital would be hesitant to use liquid oxygen. There must be some economic issue involved. Not all hospitals are created equal.
Our tulip leaves are poking out of the ground about 4 inches. I was out there raking up some of last year's hosta growth and saw the early flowers getting ready to grow. Also noted a bunch of birds congregating on my deck. That's generally a sign that they are looking to use my rafters for nest building. It's been in the 50's but doesn't really feel like spring yet, although this is exactly the time of year I should be putting down some preemergent. I doubt that I will. The bags of chemicals are usually 40 - 60 pounds. One year I got 90 pounds of the stuff. I'm a little hesitant to lift anything like that since I had the hernia repaired. I may just have to take the same stand you have. Weeds, after all, are green too.
I till have my original Dremel tool, and like yours it must be approaching antique status. I bought it for use in the first house I owned, and that was more than forty years ago. I don't know what's wrong with it but the power cord is starting to crumble. I'm just keeping it for old times sake.
Your O2 system is much more elaborate than what mom used. In her case we weren't too fussy about where the tubing was routed, and it did in fact run all over the house. Mom only used three rooms so that it wasn't really too much of a problem. I can't imagine why a hospital would be hesitant to use liquid oxygen. There must be some economic issue involved. Not all hospitals are created equal.
Our tulip leaves are poking out of the ground about 4 inches. I was out there raking up some of last year's hosta growth and saw the early flowers getting ready to grow. Also noted a bunch of birds congregating on my deck. That's generally a sign that they are looking to use my rafters for nest building. It's been in the 50's but doesn't really feel like spring yet, although this is exactly the time of year I should be putting down some preemergent. I doubt that I will. The bags of chemicals are usually 40 - 60 pounds. One year I got 90 pounds of the stuff. I'm a little hesitant to lift anything like that since I had the hernia repaired. I may just have to take the same stand you have. Weeds, after all, are green too.