Salon - - Broadband (finally)

Doug Nelson · #1 10-03-2003, 10:48 PM

Ok, my cable company, who I rarely believe but this time it's either believe them or give up hope altogether, tells me that sometime in the next couple of weeks I'll finally have a cablemodem and broadband access. I know this is old news for many of you, but here in the tech-boondocks (St. Louis) progress comes slowly, if at all.

So, what I want to know is: which sites should I visit that have been impractical for me up to this point? I want the prize hogs, the mega-multimedia, throw caution to the wind, bandwidth-be-damned sites. The ones that, if you don't have broadband, make you think your browser locked up.

Streaming MPG! Hours of videoclips and movies! An endless feast of bits and bites...ahem, I went a little powermad there for a moment...

Anyway, what are your favorite broadband content sites?

Mig · #2 10-04-2003, 12:29 AM

Cable is great. Congratulations. You can never go back once you have it. But here's the thing. The sites that you visit on dial-up and then close out because it's too slow are the same sites you'll find yourself closing out before they load when you're on cable. Strange, but at least this is my experience. Your trigger finger will soon become just as discriminating on a fast connection as it was on a slow connection.

You'll just learn even quicker when to click stop! back!

ha!ha!
Have fun!

Mig

Vikki · #3 10-04-2003, 06:06 AM

You're going to love broadband like you won't believe.

The first one that comes to mind is WinMX.
It's a site/program to download MP3's.

Having had cable for quite a while now, I can't tell which sites are the hogs anymore.

Jeff L · #4 10-04-2003, 09:36 AM

Heh heh....do you know me Vikki?? Those were my thoughts exactly!

Just the fast loading was enough to hook me! Don't forget to get your firewall set up though. That is a must. I come home from work and turn this thing on right away and go through my mail. I know...I'm old and set in my ways

I just tend to leave it on till I go to bed. I have AIM on most of the time so it is sort of like a phone for me. I have a Simpsons theme and when I get a message I hear Barney belching....but I digress...just remember that you are connected when your machine is on and you need some protection from the evil forces out there.

You will really enjoy the new connection man! No sites to suggest (other than mine) but you will find them on your own as your surfing speed is really going to increase!

Happy Surfing!

chris h · #5 10-04-2003, 02:37 PM

I'm surprised your still waiting Doug I foolishly assumed US cities were awash with cable. I've been on ADSL for about a month and it certainly changes your possibilities on the net.

I listen to a lot of radio and the BBC on this side have a huge archive resource where you can call up programmes and listen to them in full, possible with dial up but the buffering never kept abreast of matters. I also listen to a few local US music stations the sort where the presenters mike is never closed when the cd machine fails or coffee is spilled etc!!!, much more fun to listen to than the polished production standards of national broadcasters.

K. Johnstone · #6 10-04-2003, 10:54 PM

This is a big site for watching movie clips and such:

http://www.ifilm.com

Doug Nelson · #7 12-11-2003, 12:07 AM

OK, almost 3 months later, and finally today I have broadband installed and working (it was installed last Friday, it took until today to get it working).

Keep the links coming, I'm having a ball so far

LindaJ · #8 12-11-2003, 06:55 AM

Doug, I just got adsl last week. My dialup was so slow that RETOUCHPRO is one of the sites I now visit that was too painful to endure before! The other huge benefit is that my grandkids can now visit PBSKids when they come to visit. *Do* make sure you have a firewall in place.

I am amazed that you have been able to manage this site on dialup. Wow!

Ohhhh....another problem....I'm spending way too much time online when I should be doing other things....hope this passes soon or I'll have to get help!

Linda

winwintoo · #9 12-11-2003, 07:20 AM

Congrats Doug. I've had DSL for years and don't know how I ever managed without it.

Enjoy your new-found freedom,

Margaret

Hunter · #10 12-11-2003, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chris h
I'm surprised your still waiting Doug I foolishly assumed US cities were awash with cable.

The problems with cablemodem access here in St. Louis is that in the city, the previous owners of the cable system (TCI) never did much (if any) maintenance on their infrastructure. The cable quality in the city was so bad that I could get better reception on local channel off of some old rabbit ears than the cable signal. Drove me to get a dish installed years ago, and I'm glad I did.

The physical cable quality is so bad it couldn't handle the broadband signal - way too noisy for it to work.

But then we were one of the first to jump on DSL when SBC offered it in our area.

chris h · #11 12-11-2003, 09:45 AM

Ok on cable Hunter I've been on ADSL for about 3 months now. My line comes to me across several poles which had the phone wires renewed about 6 months ago. It seems I was lucky as the line was renewed with copper in some cases they renew with some sort of fibre which is no uses for ADSL. Some friends of mine live on an estate that was wired with some sort of alloy phone cable in the 90's and this again is useless for ADSL.

Ed_L · #12 12-11-2003, 10:16 AM

I'm another happy new user of ADSL. Got a 1 year contract for $26.95 per month. Cheaper than a dial up and an extra line.

Ed