Lifeline Internet 2016 thread

[VirtualLarry]

But aren't you connecting to the hotspot via WiFi? Or does it actually do Ethernet?

The PCs are connected by gigabit ethernet, so Windows 10 thinks that they are on a LAN. Which, itself, is connected to the MiFi using wireless Client mode on the main LAN router.

It's a definite oversight on MS's part to assume that just because a PC is connected by ethernet, that it has a wired connection to the internet, or an unmetered one. (Ok, technically it is "unlimited".)

I haven't tried changing the setting on Windows 10, to get updates from other PCs. Maybe that shuts off the torrent-like updates?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just an update. Comcast has expanded its "internet essentials" program. It also includes, now, those in "Public Housing" or "Section 8", as well as Seniors, and Community College Students.

I've attempted to sign up. I'll know in a few days.

Offer says, "up to 10Mbit/sec, $9.95/mo + tax, no credit check".

Edit: Doh! Forgot the link.

https://www.internetessentials.com/

 

[VirtualLarry]

I was approved.

Here's their corporate "puff piece", detailing their achievements with the Internet Essentials program.

https://internetessentials.com/~/media/InternetEssential/Internet Essentials 5 Year Report 2016.pdf

 

[VirtualLarry]

(Re: "Internet Essentials")

Got my install kit package today, and got it installed and activated.

Pretty-much what I expected. Received a "wireless voice and internet gateway", that appeared to be a refurb. Came with a wifi password on the bottom. Logging in to the router was a pain, the login/pw was NOT on any sticker on the router. Had to guess. (It's straightforward.)

fast.com shows 11Mbit/sec down, Speedtest.net shows about 11/1.

It will do for now.

Now, to consider cancelling my FIOS, maybe. Now up to ~$90/month, since I boosted my speed from 25/25 to 50/50 again, for $5 more a month, and received a free "FIOS Quantum Gateway Router" upgrade as well.

Edit: The Gateway I received, was a TG/Arris, I think an 862 or something. Once logged in to the router, I did see an option for "Bridge Mode" as well as "DMZ". It also had firewall settings for both IPv4, and IPv6. It only supports 2.4Ghz wifi.

 

[XavierMace]

I was getting 25Mbit down/6Mbit up, from Comcast for $40/mo under a 1-year new customer promo, but that's recently been jacked up to $70, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel that this month, as I don't have enough money to pay for it.

I tried to stay out but I just can't. They raised you to $70 and you said you were going to have to cancel because you can't afford it. Now you're up to $90 at least partially by choice based on your last post and still only "considering" cancelling it. Yet you've now added another $10/mo for a service designed for people who can't afford normal internet. Explain to me how this makes sense again?

 

[VirtualLarry]

The part of my post that you quoted, about the rates going up to $70, was referring to my Comcast service. My previous post, referencing my $90/month bill, was referring to my FIOS service.

I couldn't afford $90 PLUS $70. I was barely affording the $90 plus $40.

I cancelled the Comcast service months ago, so no more $40-cum-$70 bill, so I could afford to bump my FIOS bill up by $5. Now that I've signed up for Internet Essentials for $10/mo, my bill between my FIOS and Comcast, is still under $100/mo. I'm still considering dropping the FIOS altogether, if the Comcast IE proves reliable, because that would drop my total bill to $10/mo, instead of $100/mo. (Or the $80 + $40 I was paying for both of them.)

Edit: To add - I currently have a subscription to Sprint's Mobile Beacon service, which is a Cellular Wifi hotspot solution. The promotional materials for that service, suggested that I would get in exceed of 20Mbit/sec service, and unlimited transfers (with "de-prioritization" at the towers, once you exceeded 23GB per billing cycle / month).

Well, my Sprint Mifi connection only hits 2Mbit/sec, on good days, and my streaming radio goes to crap when my Windows 10 machines decide to update themselves, and downloading Linux ISOs ranges from painful, to downright not working. (Large downloads seem to fail on that service, almost like they're automatically killing them off, even though my streaming radio work for hours.)

If the Sprint connection, worked as well as the promo material suggested, I would potentially have been able to dump both my FIOS and Comcast connections, and pay only $10/mo (pre-paid) for internet.

Sadly, that didn't happen, so I kept my (expensive, but nice) FIOS connection, and cancelled the Comcast connection. (As I had the Sprint Mifi for "backup".) That allowed me a minor speed bump to the FIOS connection. (Well, actually, a doubling of speed for only $5/mo more, seemed like a no-brainer.)

So, now that I have a Comcast connection again, I'm again considering cancelling the FIOS. I have yet to try to download Linux ISOs on this connection, but when I had their 25/6 service, I had no issues with that.

Only 10/1 is going to put a dent in torrenting though. Still, 10/1 is perfectly adequate for what I use my internet for. (Yes, only adequate, I can even see the difference in browsing Newegg.com, between my 60/60 FIOS, and my 10/1 Comcast. (Edit: See next edit, an AC router seems to have cured that.) Some of that may be my routers and wifi gear though too, as the Gateway that Comcast supplied is only 2.4Ghz, and the spectrum is crowded in my apt. complex.)

Edit: I connected an AC750 router up to the Comcast TG/Arris Gateway, and now I'm getting 12 down on fast.com, and 12/1.2 on Speedtest.net. Newegg pages are coming up much faster now too. Guess it was partially my older dual-band router, or 2.4Ghz congestion that was causing latency issues with browsing "heavy" sites like Newegg.

Edit: Is it bad, that between the 2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz SSIDs my equipment is broadcasting, that I have twelve SSIDs? I guess I'm "that guy", that's cluttering up the airwaves. Might have to trim some SSIDs, eventually. LOL.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, turns out that I connected the LAN port on the TP-Link, to the Arris Gateway. Which wouldn't be so bad, but I had turned the firewall down to 'low'.

For whatever reason, they don't have just a "reject unsolicited incoming packets coming into the NAT" option.

No wonder my latency had been reduced so much, I was bypassing the WAN-to-LAN routing on the TP-Link.

After I got it connected properly (and reflashed, in case I exposed the LAN admin interface to the world), then tried using Skype, while downloading 5 ISOs, and Skype kept freezing up. I had to configure bandwidth limits, which switches to software routing / NAT, and disables hardware NAT, then Skype ran fine, even when nearly maxing my connection with downloads.

Overall, I'm happy with the 10/1 Comcast connection. It has way better consistency and low latency, compared to the MiFi. Also, my downloads don't get cut off.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ok, I re-configured my entire LAN to connect to my Comcast 10/1 connection. Couldn't get IPv6 working though, which may have to do with running over a wireless ethernet bridge link between two E2500 routers on 5Ghz running Shibby Tomato 138.

Once I disabled IPv6 in all of my routers, things are running pretty well. (Was having some sporadic outages previously.)

I would like to get IPv6 working properly throughout the LAN, though, for future-proofness. (Was running an HE.net tunnel on the FIOS connection, to get IPv6, and that was working, but it limited my max throughput to ~30-35Mbit/sec down, and increased the latency. Occasionally, connections would drop, too.)

Edit: Re-configured again. Moved the Comcast gateway, running in Bridge mode, from one cable outlet to another one closer to my networking gear, and wired the Comcast gateway directly to my Asus AC68R router running Tomato. (My main LAN router.) That allowed me to enable IPv6 in the router, and now my devices on my LAN seem to be working with IPv6. That's good news.

 

[Torn Mind]

I just don't know how do you make all of this money to spend on Internet and hardware and still qualify for low-income internet, VirtualLarry...

 

[VirtualLarry]

LOL. I live off of less than $15K/yr. I economize pretty well.

 

[XavierMace]

How? We've already established you've been paying a total of about $100/mo for internet. That's $1,200/yr. If you're truely living off $15k/yr, that's nearly 10% of your income on internet. I don't see how that could possibly be considered economizing well. Especially combined with the mountains of "bargain" hardware you buy. Do you eat actual food or just ramen?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, about the internet, there just wasn't any cheaper options, until the PCsForPeople / Sprint Mobile Beacon "low-income", and the Comcast Internet Essentials "HUD housing" deals. Otherwise, it was at least $60/mo for internet, regardless of speed. (Only Comcast cable, and FIOS here, no DSL.)

Yeah, Internet is one of my bigger expenses (besides rent and car insurance), but it's very important to me.

I have MagicJack for phone, that's the cheapest phone service that I've ever been able to find, that works decently.

Yeah, I eat things other than Ramen. Been getting a lot of Chef BoyRDee lately. $1/can, good for one meal.

 

[JackMDS]

This Thread is No more of technical nature.

Thread Closed.