Mad-Mike
September 15th, 2005, 08:41 PM
Welcome to another rant from Mad-Mike. Just what am I pissed off about this week: Sharing a cable internet connection, that's what!
Soon upon moving to my new home, I am now forced to use my room mate's computer to surf the web. While I appreciate this, it's a real pain in the ass should I do any IT work and need to scan in documents and stuff, plus I'm already causing problems because that damn MSN messenger starts up right away and people think that I am the owner of the computer and not the roomie!
This is the first time I've ever dealt with Cable internet, and let me tell you, after dealing with Charter and Comcast, I can say they both suck rotten eggs. Right up there with AOL, and just a little lower than my old ISP MFIRE.
I signed on with AOL in 2001 on that little 486 I cooked up in my bedroom for pennies on the dollar. I took them because that's what my friend had, they had a spare disk of 3.0 for Windows 3.1 (before I found out I could just get the free CD with EVERY version on it), and they were easy to use. Unfortunatley, the price that came with it was AOL's shitty substandard protocols, SPAM by the buttload, being forced to use a substandard web-browser (as I had no learned how to "go around" it by using Netscape or IE). I had to have 2 versions on that little 486, 4.0, and 3.0, because NEITHER could display ALL websites. Meanwhile, I'm on-line getting hit on by jailbait (annoying in and of itself), drunks, and some other types that I'd rather remain nameless for the sake of keeping them from hacking me or whatever. The final straw came when I tried to run really old versions on my 286, and I could not get it on the internet because AOL had changed "protocols" or some such rubbish. My opinion is if you are going to run a g** d*** ISP, at least use EXISTING NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY! I weep for a day when end users get savvy enough to know they are getting ripped a new one day in and day out.
AOL was slow, it's software was cumbersome, I was getting tired of taking the easy way out of using a REAL internet connection, so I signed up for Mfire's $16 a month 56K V.92 service. They were cheap, supported Linux (therefor would work with MS-DOS), and were EXACTLY what I was looking for. For 2 years they worked great with my IE 5/Trillian/mIRC combo for communications on a 486 DX4/100, a 286/10 running NetTamer, and a Pentium 1 running the same stuff as My 486.
Then MFire started to grow and expand. They really wanted to remain a cheap ISP, and so they started a new AUP that limited you to 300 hours a day on their service. I was fine, until a new catch came along, my mom starting using the web too, usually while I slept during the day. Eventually mFire started sending me notices every month about coming near or going over their 300 hour limit (how about that LIMITED "UnLiMiTeD" internet access!!! An oxymoron if I've every heard one). So I ended up having to keep the SAME hours as mom and used Analog X on her computer as a proxy server so I could get my shit done for work, and we STILL ended up going over. So then I figured maybe my Ex-girlfriend (little Ms. Bossyboots, if you remember that rant in the "what does your wife think" thread) got a hacker boyfriend and hacked my account and started using my access or bandwith or at least the static IP I use or whatever. Either way, I was angry! I was forced to now have mom pay TWO bills for TWO internet accounts! All because of Mfire's crappy false advertising (unlimited my rear end). When I moved, I hoped I'd never have to deal with this again.
All while dealing with Mfire's shennanigans, I dealt with that monopoly known as Charter Cable! Now if there was ever a crappy ISP for cable, this would be the one! Just about every "clientel" I had doing freelance computer work in Alabama had this pissant of an ISP. Not just did their cable service suck (ridiculously overpriced for so few channels), but their internet sucked worse. Before too long, people who had me work on their computers got fed up with the Charter "field technicians" and started calling ME in to fix their internet problems. I probably have more of an idea of what can go wrong than Charter does. While many of the problems like spyware and adware are the fault of the operator, having your connection spontaniously not work is a whole different matter. Most of the time the problem was in the Charter software they provided. I ended up doing a "bare bones" setup for most of these people, and since it worked fine, as long as they stayed out of warez and pornography (like they should).
Comcast ain't too great either. Now instead of dealing with outages, I have to deal with their questionable AUP which firmly states that "You May Not USE more than one computer behind the cable modem". Just what the F is up with all this malarky? I believe that like the phone company, there should be a LAW that the service line between the service and the user is that jack that's in your house or the "communications/service management device (eg. Modem)" that is connected to it is the demarcation point. And as long as what you are doing does not directly affect the performance or has something with ill intent going on behind it, the juristiction should lie with the end user and nobody else! What I do with my computer is my own damn business, and unless I am breaking laws or inhibiting business, there should be no problems. So for some 2 bit cable company to tell me what I can and can't do on my property should be ruled out as plain ridiculous. I understand bandwidth is concern, and I agree that they should make an effort to keep prices DOWN, but there is a line between me using multiple computers so I don't infringe on someone else's machine in some way without my intent or knowledge (Which is possible, people like their system set up differently), and me doing something like say, running a Warez webserver from my house using Comcast cable internet service.
So once again I'm on the world wide trek for the ultimate ISP. This is starting to get old. All I want is unlimited high-speed access where I am pretty much left to do what I please (within reason). I think it's wrong that a business can dictate what you do inside your home with your computers and your modems that you payed your hard earned money for. Whey they start acting like that, I tell them they can take their service where the sun don't shine! To me, being told what to do with my stuff unsolicited when nothing unlawful is being done is like having someone come into my house and picking up my laptop and saying "I'm going to steal this" and running out the door, the only difference is in the latter case, I can justify shooting the bastard.
Soon upon moving to my new home, I am now forced to use my room mate's computer to surf the web. While I appreciate this, it's a real pain in the ass should I do any IT work and need to scan in documents and stuff, plus I'm already causing problems because that damn MSN messenger starts up right away and people think that I am the owner of the computer and not the roomie!
This is the first time I've ever dealt with Cable internet, and let me tell you, after dealing with Charter and Comcast, I can say they both suck rotten eggs. Right up there with AOL, and just a little lower than my old ISP MFIRE.
I signed on with AOL in 2001 on that little 486 I cooked up in my bedroom for pennies on the dollar. I took them because that's what my friend had, they had a spare disk of 3.0 for Windows 3.1 (before I found out I could just get the free CD with EVERY version on it), and they were easy to use. Unfortunatley, the price that came with it was AOL's shitty substandard protocols, SPAM by the buttload, being forced to use a substandard web-browser (as I had no learned how to "go around" it by using Netscape or IE). I had to have 2 versions on that little 486, 4.0, and 3.0, because NEITHER could display ALL websites. Meanwhile, I'm on-line getting hit on by jailbait (annoying in and of itself), drunks, and some other types that I'd rather remain nameless for the sake of keeping them from hacking me or whatever. The final straw came when I tried to run really old versions on my 286, and I could not get it on the internet because AOL had changed "protocols" or some such rubbish. My opinion is if you are going to run a g** d*** ISP, at least use EXISTING NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY! I weep for a day when end users get savvy enough to know they are getting ripped a new one day in and day out.
AOL was slow, it's software was cumbersome, I was getting tired of taking the easy way out of using a REAL internet connection, so I signed up for Mfire's $16 a month 56K V.92 service. They were cheap, supported Linux (therefor would work with MS-DOS), and were EXACTLY what I was looking for. For 2 years they worked great with my IE 5/Trillian/mIRC combo for communications on a 486 DX4/100, a 286/10 running NetTamer, and a Pentium 1 running the same stuff as My 486.
Then MFire started to grow and expand. They really wanted to remain a cheap ISP, and so they started a new AUP that limited you to 300 hours a day on their service. I was fine, until a new catch came along, my mom starting using the web too, usually while I slept during the day. Eventually mFire started sending me notices every month about coming near or going over their 300 hour limit (how about that LIMITED "UnLiMiTeD" internet access!!! An oxymoron if I've every heard one). So I ended up having to keep the SAME hours as mom and used Analog X on her computer as a proxy server so I could get my shit done for work, and we STILL ended up going over. So then I figured maybe my Ex-girlfriend (little Ms. Bossyboots, if you remember that rant in the "what does your wife think" thread) got a hacker boyfriend and hacked my account and started using my access or bandwith or at least the static IP I use or whatever. Either way, I was angry! I was forced to now have mom pay TWO bills for TWO internet accounts! All because of Mfire's crappy false advertising (unlimited my rear end). When I moved, I hoped I'd never have to deal with this again.
All while dealing with Mfire's shennanigans, I dealt with that monopoly known as Charter Cable! Now if there was ever a crappy ISP for cable, this would be the one! Just about every "clientel" I had doing freelance computer work in Alabama had this pissant of an ISP. Not just did their cable service suck (ridiculously overpriced for so few channels), but their internet sucked worse. Before too long, people who had me work on their computers got fed up with the Charter "field technicians" and started calling ME in to fix their internet problems. I probably have more of an idea of what can go wrong than Charter does. While many of the problems like spyware and adware are the fault of the operator, having your connection spontaniously not work is a whole different matter. Most of the time the problem was in the Charter software they provided. I ended up doing a "bare bones" setup for most of these people, and since it worked fine, as long as they stayed out of warez and pornography (like they should).
Comcast ain't too great either. Now instead of dealing with outages, I have to deal with their questionable AUP which firmly states that "You May Not USE more than one computer behind the cable modem". Just what the F is up with all this malarky? I believe that like the phone company, there should be a LAW that the service line between the service and the user is that jack that's in your house or the "communications/service management device (eg. Modem)" that is connected to it is the demarcation point. And as long as what you are doing does not directly affect the performance or has something with ill intent going on behind it, the juristiction should lie with the end user and nobody else! What I do with my computer is my own damn business, and unless I am breaking laws or inhibiting business, there should be no problems. So for some 2 bit cable company to tell me what I can and can't do on my property should be ruled out as plain ridiculous. I understand bandwidth is concern, and I agree that they should make an effort to keep prices DOWN, but there is a line between me using multiple computers so I don't infringe on someone else's machine in some way without my intent or knowledge (Which is possible, people like their system set up differently), and me doing something like say, running a Warez webserver from my house using Comcast cable internet service.
So once again I'm on the world wide trek for the ultimate ISP. This is starting to get old. All I want is unlimited high-speed access where I am pretty much left to do what I please (within reason). I think it's wrong that a business can dictate what you do inside your home with your computers and your modems that you payed your hard earned money for. Whey they start acting like that, I tell them they can take their service where the sun don't shine! To me, being told what to do with my stuff unsolicited when nothing unlawful is being done is like having someone come into my house and picking up my laptop and saying "I'm going to steal this" and running out the door, the only difference is in the latter case, I can justify shooting the bastard.