The One-Pound iPad

We have been on Time Warner for over 10 years with not one complaint with the Internet service. We're currently on a 50/5 service, and we get 100% of that 24/7/365 even in a college town, even when the local population doubles every late August.

We also have more than a dozen devices connected at any time. What sort of router do you have and how old? A new router may be in order, but it certainly doesn't need to be a $500 one. Asus is currently making very good routers - we are currently using an RT-N66u and it's great. Nobody ever gets bogged down ever.

Besides the bandwidth, if your router is old enough, you may be overloading the cpu of the router itself with that many active devices.

 

I think that alone explains your happy disposition
Presuming your units are Mbps, my home has 6/0.7. I could spend more for more bandwidth but this suffices just fine so long as the home bodies do not try and stream two videos at the same time.

Btw Daniel, I tend to switch between cable (Comcast) and Qwest internet as the prices change. Overall Qwest provides a better connection. The connection is DSL, although the path up to my street is fibre

 

Indeed! Despite only one real competitor here in town, because of the colleges we have very good Internet connections. The basic TW connection is 15/1 for something like $25/month.

 

pfft. I can subscribe to a 12 Mbps download speed for the low, low price of $50/month.

 

Anyhow, on the topic of the thread, as an iPad 4 owner, I'm excited about the release of the iPad Air and, depending on spousal approval - would love to replace mine as it's by far my most used computing device. The size reduction and especially the weight reduction will be very welcome for a device that sees so much usage!

 

I thought the US had great internet. I'm on the lowest option here at £10 per month and get 30 mbps (well between 24 and 31 usually). I could pay more for faster but it's not worth it for me.

 

Nice deal!

Internet speeds in the US vary a lot by location, population density, competition, and regulation. The cities that have Google fibre e.g. are crazy fast, up to 1000 Mbps.

 

I probably wasn't clear, I was really only saying that each local market has it's own quirks and it is not very helpful to generalize 'good' companies and 'bad' companies. E.g. Qwest can be atrocious in one city and quite Ok elsewhere.

I know Star Trek (old TV programming) streams at about 1.5 Mbps, so I'll guess that HD requires in the neighborhood of 5 Mbps*. Seems like you are paying for more bandwidth than you need.

*Netflix agrees.

 

Apple has put up iPad specs.

 

My TWC is $36 per month

If you shop around the Internet and call TWC and ask for a price match or threaten to cancel they will match.

 

Time Warner around here only offers 'specials' that last for one year. If you don't call back after one year, your prices start to go up. So long as you call though, they will usually offer you either more service or a lower price...

 

Yep.

My periodic conversations go like this ...
me: Good morning. I'm calling to cancel my plan
ISP: I'll be happy to help you. When do you want the last day of service
me: One week
ISP: ok..... if you do not mind me asking, why are you canceling ?
me: my promotional pricing is ending.
ISP: One moment please ... [call transferred]
ISP#2: Would you like to stay with us if your promotional pricing continues ?
me: Sure.

 

lol they've wised up to that one here. I called Sky (leading satellite tv provider) and the call went exactly like you described until they said "ok sir, we've cancelled your plan and your service stops in 30 days". Nice lol


Been on cable since who are a little more receptive to keeping customers.

 

That wasn't true when I was working Bell/NEC/Zenith Data Systems Bra... end runs were the over-run of a production shop order making more units than were ordered because we weren't sure of the pass/fail rate after burn in from the production line.

The factory often sold the end-runs in their own outlet store or to buy-in-bulk resellers. Quality was the same as units released to the original shop order.

 

If you believe Speedtest then that implies your connection is not the bottleneck, and the extra money you pay is not resulting in a better movie experience.

 

There was a time when the local establishments provided free hot spots. Little by little they have ended that offer or one only allows about 10 minutes of free wi-fi per day. They kick you off.

Starbucks still keeps the unlimited and High speed internet for free.

 

I once floated the idea in the home of ending Cable TV all together and leave everyone to choose the internet service they prefer, pay for it on there own dime, and stream away. Hulu, Amazon TV, Apple TV, Netflix whatever floats your boat. I thought that would eliminate about $60 a month in Cable TV fees.

My wife was quick to bring to my attention that I'm the one watching cable TV about 20 hours a week and that if everyone transitioned to Streaming the home based internet would be useless.