Jim Wilkins wrote:

I have antennas and thus no cable TV service to add Internet to.
Dialup is fast enough for text like newsgroups, Gutenberg e-books and
Wiki, and it's reliable when the power goes out, most recently on May
8. The Telco Central Office has its 48V battery and my laptop and old
analog phone don't need AC power. I -really- like having Internet
weather radar after a storm when I need to repair or tarp roof damage
and can see exactly when precipitation will arrive Right Here.

The phone company hasn't convinced me that fiber service will survive
a week without power, especially the user's terminal which has only a
12V 7.5A-H backup battery that may not last over 8 hours, and will
soon become a $10/Mo extra option. They also have a terrible
reputation for Internet support, though they have usually treated me
very well, e.g.this past Monday when they switched me to a cleaner,
shorter copper pair.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_...fairpoint.html
"This company is a complete and utter joke..."

The Virgin/Sprint Broadband2Go prepaid cell service I enable every few
months for large software updates is also a COM port modem. Linux
support for it is said to be possible but difficult. BB2G data has
lower priority than cell phone calls and it slows below dialup or
halts entirely during work hours when phone traffic is high, otherwise
I'd use it all the time, for $20 per month. It stayed up all through
the last week-long power outage. New England suffers from hurricanes
and ice storms instead of tornados (mostly).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Halloween_nor'easter


Jim, I have a US Robotics 56K external modem that is still in the
sealed box, if you need it.

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

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