Comments for The most effective upgrade.

Comment from Joop on 2008-05-20

2008-05-20T22:54:49Z

Am a Senior, older computer, had dial-up and then tried switching to dsl. Had trouble understanding directions; called them and asked for help for installing it. CHARGE is $75. DSL still sits there unhooked and continue paying for it. Anyway to cancel without another fat fee involved? Tks for help/suggestions.

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Dave Markley on 2008-02-26

2008-02-27T03:49:27Z

I have to agree that your DSL speed makes a huge difference. I have the "middle" speed DSL service and don't have any complaints whatsoever. But I'd like to add a little twist that hopefully will help some people (especially with older PC's). I've been using Firefox 3beta2 for a couple of months and have been very impressed, but I didn't know Firefox is automatically configured for Dial-Up! I ran across an article on how to reconfigure Firefox for Broadband/DSL (January 2008 PC World, page127). In less than 5 minutes, following very simple directions, my connection speed doubled and download speed literally trippled. Good Luck!

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Margherita on 2008-02-24

2008-02-25T07:34:12Z

I invested a lot of money in a new laptop with HSDPA. It's got a built in sim card slot underneath the battery, but what I did not know at the time was that I could easily have used my existing phone as a modem without incurring all these extra expenses.

Look, it's really nice and I enjoy having it, but if your pc is bluetooth enabled and you only use internet for home use, I would suggest looking into possibly using your phone as a modem. It's cool and really simple to do.

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Ralph on 2008-02-23

2008-02-24T02:28:48Z

The comments by Bill apply to many folks. Hi-Speed is not universally available, much as many city folk think. Anyone who lives any distance from the city knows that dial-up is just about the only access to the net. I am fortunate to have a satellite ISP, however the costs are significant, like $1000 to buy and set up the dish/modem and $60/mo for basic service that is faster than dial-up, and slower than basic DSL. There are many new types of wireless ISP's coming and maybe even microwave for home users, but they may be some time away. Just a thought, if anyone gets a faster connection, they are probably going to want a faster computer anyway.

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Damin on 2008-02-23

2008-02-23T18:49:43Z

Also to add to Malcolm's post, another saying is that the problem could be a ID ten T. (ID10T)

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Malcolm Otter on 2008-02-23

2008-02-23T16:49:41Z

Further to Lars post of 19th Feb I heard a saying which might be universal and forgive me if it is commonplace but the problem between chair and keyboard is a PICNIC - Problem In Chair Not In Computer.

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Bill Nelson on 2008-02-23

2008-02-23T09:08:55Z

I agree with your comments about upgrading to a faster internet connection, but there are a lot of folks, like us, who don't have any viable choices. Our dial-up speed maxes out at 28.8 Kbps; most of the time (like at this moment) it's 26.4 Kbps. That's due to the poor phone lines in our area. There is no cable service within 3-miles, and I've never heard of a good satellite service for internet. The only one I know of is too expensive for our budget and slower than almost any DSL service. It uses dialup for sending messages anyway. Wild Blue says they don't serve our area. Our cell phone company recently told us they have a high-speed service, but it is limited to 720-minutes/month in the only plan we could possibly afford. That wouldn't be enough to satisfy my usage, although I realize I'd spend less time on-line with a faster connection -- or, maybe more!

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Lars on 2008-02-19

2008-02-20T01:43:48Z

I have another contender for the most effective "upgrade":
In my experience, most computer problems can be traced to the area between the chair and the keyboard. Consider giving the the gift of education. When my mother was about 70 years old, she attended a 'college' course, tailored specifically to seniors. That was one of the best investments ever made: She feels far more confident with the machine and the people around her only have to spend a fraction of the time bailing her out.

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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Comment from Mary on 2008-02-16

2008-02-17T00:05:29Z

Before upgrading from dial-up to DSL, or upgrading your existing DSL to a faster DSL, make sure the ISP does a line check to verify compatibility. I live in an older apartment complex. My ISP offers three DSL options (good, better, or best.)

When I made the switch from dial-up I ordered "best". It turned out to be slower than the original dial-up because my apartment complex telephone lines were so old they didn't support the fastest DSL service offered by the phone company. And the apartment management refused to upgrade the lines.

To this day, the phone lines will only support the "good" DSL service. And if it rains, my DSL still acts like dial-up. C'est la vie. So shop around, compare phone company to cable, and insist they check the lines and give a written guarantee of compatibility. Before signing any contracts.

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A comment on: The most effective upgrade.

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