Possibly going off line

[drobertson]

Well our phone line carrier, name left off for obvious reasons, has jumped our bill again, 30 bucks a month for a simple DSL line, with the use of cell phones we dropped the land line to save money and rid ourselves of the countless robo calls, so depending on my negotiation skills I may be off for a spell.  If so, thanks to all for the shared knowledge base as well as the humor, and friendships.    David

[lowpolyjoe]

Sorry to hear it.  Good luck with the negotiation.   

Our cable bill (which includes our internet and land line) has also slowly crept up in price as service quality has declined.  No other highspeed connection options in our area so we're stuck.  Very frustrating.

[John Mc]

I hate to lose you from the forum. Any chance you'll add a data plan to your cell line? (Though I guess that will probably cost as much as the DSL line you had).

Hopefully you'll still check in when you are in an area with free WiFi

[drobertson]

Had the talk, very helpful to some degree, fellow out of Florida, does wood working, making cedar and cypress canoes.  He uses a fellow named peanut? Think I've seen this guy on a few DIY shows, maybe not, anyway, they want us to bundle with the Direct package, well, this is higher than the budget, reason we dropped land line as well as going to antenna TV, so going to go to the save # he gave me.  The automation in phone lines and customer service comes real close to wearing one out.  Hoping for the best out in the country, but have a good public library, so e mail will be accessible just not while cruising the morning news with the coffee at the side.

[DDW_OR]

I have Excede satellite internet, $50 a month. plan EVOLUTION 10
http://www.exede.com/

Cell = http://powernetco.com/product/powernet-mobile
$17 per month, 100 minutes, nights and weekends free.
nights = 7 pm to 6:59 am local time.
I have Wireless 450 = $ 30.99 / month.
my last bill was $35.50

[Larry]

Neighbor uses the Walmart Straight Talk plan on his cell phone and than tethers for a internet connection.  He tells me it is the best way to save money.

I'm not sure how the tethering deal works and I don't think it can be done with all cell phones.

I would jump for joy if I could get a DSL for $30.  We pay $80 for metered cell service through Version.  CATV said they could bury a cable to our house in exchange for $6,000 of my hard earned cash.  No way.

[red]

you need some more $300 sales   I mean you have a sawmill you must be RICH $$$

[drobertson]

you need some more $300 sales   I mean you have a sawmill you must be RICH $$$

Oh yea, we are the richest 1% in the world here in America, but this is not what I'm talking about.  30 buck a month increase is just plain flat unacceptable, a rich man gets that way by being frugal, right?
but I would gladly take some 300 buck slab and mantle orders if anyone so need in this neck of the woods ;D  but would rather make a fair trade, and get my internet for what it has been,, they try to bump every quarter or so,  gets annoying, bout like the dish plans, I've read a lot more of late, and it's been quite enjoyable,, but these baseball playoffs have me eating more sunflower seeds than normal ;D
I could stand a game or two,  kinda hoping for an I-70 series again,,

[21incher]

Our wired phone line supplier kept raising the rates for crackly sounding lines they couldn't fix. So 2 years ago we switched to NET10 homephone service and it has been great with unlimited calling and many other features for less then $20.00 a month. Can't use a modem or fax on it though.
I lost my internet service for a couple of months last year and really missed reading the Forestry Forum everyday the most. You will be missed but never forgotten. Lets hope the cost to be connected starts falling soon.

[drobertson]

Well the fellow in Florida, yea, an American, and wood worker to boot, gave me the go to number, and after cruising the sat providers I made the call, happy to say the bill has been dropped 7 bucks from just last month, no muss no fuss, great dialog with the customer rep, and just might add back direct tv, this one is pending, but available at the quoted price if I so chose, so maybe, just maybe, I can get the MLB Series,, not holding my breath, pretty use to regular antenna tv and the price is right, but, if Christy wants and or sees the need to go for it, well who am I to hold back ;D   a good day, and the baby changing table is done, no pics yet, my laptop gave up the ghost and this HP windows 8 kinda stinks I will try to get some pics before delivery, just happy we are still in! 

[red]

Glad you are back. But you could have told your wife you needed a new Chevy truck with 4G-LTE WIFI.

[thecfarm]

I would not want to be without this good group for too long.

[Sixacresand]

Our landline DSL and Phone service just quit working one day.  I think from a lightning strike.  The "Company" decided it was not feasible to install new infrastructure and told us to seek other options.  We now rely on Cell phone/internet service, which is slow still due to our distance from the tower.  If we have to do major downloading or uploading, we take our laptop to town and sit under the Verizon tower.   We do what we have to do to see videos of the grand boys.   :D

Glad you got all that resolved, Drobertson

[sawguy21]

This whole internet thing is driving me nuts too. We are just far enough from town that no cable is available. Cell service is sketchy, we don't have a clear line of sight to the tower, and while our cell works sort of we couldn't pick up the internet signal. We finally had to go with Xplorenet, a satellite service. It is slow, not cheap but seems to be the only thing that works. One really annoying thing is that as we approach the end of the billing cycle mid month, the computer slows at 80% of our data limit so we don't go over.

[Delawhere Jack]

The land line phone companies are trying to eliminate traditional copper lines (which DSL uses), and get everyone switched over to fiber. Then they can offer you phone, Internet and Tee-Vee over the fiber.

With so many people ditching their copper land line phones in the past ten years it has become a money loser for the phone companies to maintain the system.

[Magicman]

You folks that need better cell service, do not overlook the fact that you can get a cell booster with an external antenna for your home or vehicle.  I have a Wilson Booster at the Cabin and in my work truck.  I could not make it without them.

Our Daughter also has one at her home and no landline phone.

[Larry]

We can't get DSL because AT&T doesn't want to sell the service anymore plus we are to far from a "T" line hub or central office.  They will sell me U-Verse and promise it will work just fine.  Ok, I say give it to me.  The installer shows up and just shakes his head.  You are still to far out.

Not to despair, there is hope as I have been paying into the Universal Service Fund for almost 50 years as have most on the forum.  I'm sure it will help me get broadband service.

"The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a system of telecommunications subsidies and fees managed by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intended to promote universal access to telecommunications services in the United States."

But than I find out the real purpose is to give a free cell phone to somebody that doesn't want to work.

Who do I vote out this time?

[GF]

bundle with the Direct package,

Ask questions about this.  My co-worker owned both his DirectTV receivers and they talked him into bundling to save money when he got a wifi card from at&t.  When he bundled they replaced his two receivers with later models and now he is paying $28.00 more a month to lease the two new receivers, ended costing him more than before he bundled.  I would ask questions about if there will be a lease cost on DirectTV receivers, this was my co-worker told me so I am also not sure how accurate this is either.

[drobertson]

Oh yea, it's cheap the first year, then bumps up to nearly 90 bucks the second, so, for now it's DSL for 37 bucks a month and Andy, Barney and free antenna tv :D :D :D :D

[timberlinetree]

They got Marcia. Gave her a new phone ( and plan). Now I can't watch y tube or   I use to much data! :-\