Category: Safe Haven
Hi all,
good news! maybe. If things go well, looks like I might be getting broadband from cable company by christmas, ifthey haven't gone up in price. I feel the same way I did when i got this new computer,excited and nervous at the same time, and hoping it all goes smoothly and I won't have any problems. On monday, I'll have to start thinking and finding out what all might need to be done to the compuiter to prepare for it. Anyway, it will be road runner cable, the one where they have the little road runner going beep beep. Here's to keeping my fingers crossed.
wonderwoman
Hi Wonderwoman.
Good luck with the broadband. It doesn't compare to dial up. At university we have got broadband but when i go back home i still have dial up and it is very anoying.
I hope everything will go smothly without any problems.
Nikos
thanks nikos, I hope so too. I hope you mean dial up doesn't compare to broadband, lol, the other way made it sound like dial up was better lol. Then the next thing i'll want to do if things go well and i get on it, is to find some good broad band sites. The way some people talk, there are plenty of chat sites to go on besides vipconduit, audio tips and for the people, ande i'm asking myself, where? maybe they're referring to good broad band ventrilo servers, because i sure haven't found any. Don't know if I'll go on the vt server on here, thought about it just once, but I have a slightly older version of ventrilo, and don't kinow if it's worth going to the latest version of ventrilo for something I might go on only once, just to have a new broadband server to get started with, when I might upgrade and find out most servers are still using an older version of it. oh welll, decisions, decisions, decisions. best not count my chickens before they're hatched.
wonderwoman
You might be able to go on the ventrilo server here with an older version, but it would be worth updating if you plan to go on other ventrilo servers.
The transition from dial-up to broadband will make you never want to go back to dial-up again no matter the cost.
At least, that's how I feel about it.
I remember when I went from dialup to broadband a few years ago it was nearly impossible to get me off the net for a long time.
grins, most people say broadband is a lot better than dial up. and i don't even kinow yet what connection speed i'll get with road runner. maybe it will be high enough so i can listen to some tv stations our cable channels don't even think about carrying, not to mention more radio stations i'll be able to get, and downloading more audio books from librivox.org without it taking an hour just to download one file. well we'll see how it all goes. mom is going to call them monday and see how trhe deal is.
wonderwoman
Broadband is way better then dialup. I think you will enjoy it much better and it will make your web serfing much more enjoyable
Troy
broadband is great, you'll love it.
Hate to burst your bubble, though, it'll still take hours (well, many many minutes) to download books from librivox. It's just slow. However, once you switch to broadband, time compresses, and the download speeds you are used to will seem like forever. Then you become impatient if a download is going to take more than a couple of minutes. <lol>
Congrats.
Bob
thanks bob,
I'm looking forward to it, but i'm very nervous too, cause i'm sure things will have to be done before and after, and i just hope I can do whatever needs to be done. don't know if i'll be able to l og on to skype or windows messenger right after I get it set up, since I'll still have my old email address in windows messenger nad skype and will ha ve to let those programs know there's been a change of email address. but I'm both excited and nervous.
wonderwoman
Hi Wonderwoman. Actually, you can still use the same e-mail address for windows messenger or whatever chat program you use. the only thing needed for that was a working e-mail address at the time you crated the account, so as far as that's concerned, your account is already there, so you won't need to change a thing. As for roadrunner cable, you will need to tell the technition who comes over to just leave things as they are, and if he has any software he says he needs to install, skip that! He *really* doesn't need to. The only thing that software does, at least with Comcast which is my provider, is just gives you a special version of Internet Explorer with a few extra buttons for shortcuts to different places, and the version you have right now works fine, so why change it? Just tell your tech to just give you a straight connection to the net and skip the software. All he'll do is hook up a cable modem to the back of your computer,and if you have Windows Xp, it should recognize it. if you're still running windows 98, he may need to install a network card in your computer so that the computer and the cable modem can talk back to each other. Don't worry though, because this won't in any way effect your screenreader. He will have to open up your computer, but any good technition will know how to do that, so again, that shouldn't be much of an issue. then, after he gets everything set up, he'll test it and make sure you get the best speed possible. Before he leaves the house, get on the computer and go to some websites or listen to some stations with a broadband stream that you know of and test things so you're comfortable with it. Really, the transition to broadband, by all accounts, should be farely painless. Just make sure they don't install any special software if it's cable, you won't need it. If you're going with DSL you might, but not cable. Good luck! Let us know how you get on with things.
That's excellent advice. I should have warned you in my previous message.
Many technicians want (think they have to) plug in their software. If they try to do it, make sure they talk with someone back at the office about it. It's getting a second opinion. Some of that crap does nothing for you and may interfere with the way jaws sees things.
Bob
Thanks very much for the advice tune head and bob, but won't I need to run an internet cd? you know, the one where you have to match the server configurations set by the isp, such as incoming mail server, outgoing mail server, your new email adress, user name, pass word and all that good stuff. I had to reinstall my internet cd when i got this new computer, by going through the internet wizard. There was a list of servers on the cd, but my local isp's server wasn't listed, so I just had to type the name of the server, and I think, choose from a group of radio buttons, like whether i was connecting to high speed cable, dial up or lan. Won't that sort of stuff have to be done when switching to the other isp?
Thanks, and I'm sure i'll be posting about it when we get it hooked up, though I probably won't be on til christmas, since it is a christmas present, lol.
wonderwoman
go broadband. it definitely will make you want to be on the net all the time.
Hi again Wonderwoman. Nope, all that stuff can be entered into your e-mail program manually. The tech can do it for you, or he can give you the addresses and you can type it in yourself. This way, you won't have to call someone in case something goes wrong. Get out a braille card or a tape recorder or something, and copy this information down in a place that is not on the computer in case something goes wrong. As for the internet itself, once your cable modem is registered with roadrunner, things will work just as they should. In short, make sure everything works to your satisfaction before the tech leaves your house. This way you'll be comfortable and you'll know it works. Good luck and happy surfing at faster speeds soon!
If all else fails, contact their help support and they should be able to help you setup your mail program, just tell them what you are using: outlook, outlook express, eudora etc.
The tech should be able to setup your internet for you though many of them may not know how to do it manually, just be a little pushy; make them earn their money for a change.
Advocacy rules.
Bob
Thats good Bob. things must've changed since i first got on the net 9 years ago, and even since last year when i had to go through all that stuff to set up my dial up connection. I had to make sure the settings matched my internet providers' settings. Well it looks like I'm going to get hitched to it sooner than we thought. Mom called them today, and they're sendintg someone out tomorrow morning from ten til 12 noon, so if all goes well, this is my last night on dial up. Keeping my fingers crossed. I hope they don't rais their price so high that I'll have to go back to dial up, yuck. That might be worse than having broad band then losong it. Anywell, it seems this is hopefullly my last night as a dial up user.
wonderwoman
Just be sure that you have a good firewall, because bugs will get thrown your way more frequently on broadband. Also do remember to keep your virus checker updated as well, and all will be peechy!
well, I got it now. I was in one of th emusic roomson vipconduit, and it came through fine. Went in one of the broad band chat rooms and talked for 5 or ten minutes or so. I think it changed my home page though. when i open internet explorer, it comes up with a page that says roadrunner online. and there is some macromedia flash on it. Guess I can go in to options and change my home page back to google?
Does it just automatically change your home page when you change to a new isp?
wonderwoman
it can, but sometimes it doesnt. I just switch it back when I need too. Road runner prob wont raise there prices they havent for years there trying to beat the compettition.
Hi Wonderwoman.Good to hear that you have got broadband.
Yes you can change the homepage. Sometimes when you connect to a new connection your homepage might change as well. When i connected to the university network my homepage changed to one of universitie's pages but i changed it back to what i had.
I hope you enjoy the fast internet speed.
Hi nikos and all,
yes i love it. I had ascare when i first turned the computer back on later this evening. the guy who connected it said he recommended I turn that little button on the modem off before going to bed. when we asked him what pushing the button on the modem would do, he said it disconnected you from the internet. I was sort of scared to turn it off that way. I just shut the computer down normally and turned the surge protector off like normal. I think some instructions said to turn it off by the little button on th emodem, and not the power. he siad when you turned it off by the power, it had to reinitialize or something. Well, when i turned the computer back on, the lights weren't all lit up like they were when he first hooked it up and this road runner medic came up and put me on a next button. It scared me, cause i thought my connection was sort of gone, but it brought internet explorer up and put me on google, and it logged me in to vipconduit, and i went in the backyard barbecue and was talking. I canceled that roadrunner medic thing, and the light were still blinking on and off, but I still was connected. The modem is external, and on the top of the computer, and there is a little button you push in. Someone on vipconduit told me, when he use to see, the lights blinking on and off meant it was trying to make a connection and determine the connection speed. It was still working though, cause i've been yacking in the backyard barbecue almost 4 hours, then i went in the gospel room for a bit. they play gospel music, but they were talking when i went in there. One on vipconduit told me i didn't have to turn the modem off, but I guess I'll never know what happens unles i do turn it off, just have to remember to turn it back on before turning the computer on I guess. anyway, the blinking lights and the medic wizard didn't interfere with my connection, otherwise i couldn't have been talking for almost 4 and a half hours lol. anyway, guess I have to just turn the modem off then shut down normallyh, that's all I know to do. it's very confusing. wish me luck with that, and hope it comes back on when i push the switch back on again tomorrow when i boot up.
wonderwoman