[davep]

Ah, the Sprint Sierra Wireless 250U is also 3G/4G so didn't use your phone line so not a lot has changed. Maybe you could check out why your Mac is downloading or uploading so much. I'm afraid I'm no expert on them.

Don't forget that the Pocket Wifi is meant to allow multiple devices to connect. Make sure you have security set up so no one else can piggy-back on your wireless signal.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', 'A')nd out here in the country, like I mentioned above, there is no cable internet access and the number of ISPs is limited, so competition doesn’t put downward pressure on the cost.

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', 'A')nd out here in the country, like I mentioned above, there is no cable internet access and the number of ISPs is limited, so competition doesn’t put downward pressure on the cost.

[Pops]

Man, I've been on every type of connection you can name.

Basically there are 2 types of cell signals, ATT/T-Mobile flavor and Verizon/Sprint kind, they are not interchangeable i.e. you can't switch between sprint and ATT without switching devices.
A couple of suggestions,
Search nearby for a fixed wireless provider, this is just a radio like cell phones but dedicated to data. I had pretty good luck with one of these but be vaery careful of "throttling"!
Check coverage maps before you switch to a different carrier!
Try to get a signal reading At Your Location from someone with that carrier
Check out all the plans! Then call and ask for a better deal.

These guy are remote/mobile data gurus, they are mobile but the tech is the same

[Pops]

I also meant to say turn off automatic updates, location services, push notifications

TURN OFF **iCloud** pictures/movies and all that crap!!! (I use it for keychain now but I'm on cable)

Google Chrome now has a compression extension, mine says I've saved an average of 36% over a couple f months.

If you get really jammed up, turn off images when browsing

Make sure your email doesn't download anything until you ask (do any anymore?)

[PrestonSturges]

Some people think the "free market" solves everything. But if everything was an unregulated free market, rural areas would not have electricity, phones, mail etc.

[Ibon]

I will make a short rant, insights from having lived in several overseas countries. Why is it that a farm laborer cowboy here in Panama who earns $ 10 a day or the thai fisherman who earns a similar wage both can afford cell phones and pay for service within their earnings. Panama and Thailand cell phone providers open up the market for the lowest wage earner and the volume is profitable. Why is it that internet providers in these countries can offer plans as low as $ 25 a month and the subscriber base is large enough for them to make good money.

The US cell phone, cable companies and internet service providers have a huge subscriber base and these companies would still make money charging 1/5 the fees they charge. How much does it cost to put up a metal frame antennae tower and transmit microwave signals?

It's a rigged game.

My advise to Peakoiler and anyone else. Cancel your subscription. Go to the library or your nearest cafe. Budget your time on line once every two days. You save lots of money and guess what? You use the internet for essentials with a little fun time budgeted by the limited access.

Unlimited internet access limits your physical organic life. And on top of this you agree to pay inflated prices?

If this is your choice don't whine about it.

[radon1]

Here you can have unlimited unlimited access for as low as 5 rubles per day, which is about 8 cents, or 2.5 USD per month. It'll be relatively slow, but OK for all practical purposes, and technology may be "outdated", but from the consumer point of view this has no relevance really, just semantics. The cost of a fast "modern" connection would start from twice of thrice as much. Interestingly, your electricity bill would be times of even an order of magnitude greater for the same period. Basically, 1KwH costs the same 5 rubles. The cost of a day of internet access equals that of 1KwH of electricity.

The difference is that from the outset the internet access has been a highly competitive business area, too scarce for the "authorities" to be willing to run their "businesses" in. By contrast, the electricity industry is a recent fruit of the efforts of the same "privatisers" who privatised other industries back in 90s, obviously "in the interests of the consumers and the population".

[dissident]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('radon1', 'H')ere you can have unlimited unlimited access for as low as 5 rubles per day, which is about 8 cents, or 2.5 USD per month. It'll be relatively slow, but OK for all practical purposes, and technology may be "outdated", but from the consumer point of view this has no relevance really, just semantics. The cost of a fast "modern" connection would start from twice of thrice as much. Interestingly, your electricity bill would be times of even an order of magnitude greater for the same period. Basically, 1KwH costs the same 5 rubles. The cost of a day of internet access equals that of 1KwH of electricity.

The difference is that from the outset the internet access has been a highly competitive business area, too scarce for the "authorities" to be willing to run their "businesses" in. By contrast, the electricity industry is a recent fruit of the efforts of the same "privatisers" who privatised other industries back in 90s, obviously "in the interests of the consumers and the population".

[Ibon]

When considering the option to disconnect your service, let's remember some wise words from the past.

We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.

Let's add to this what Amish do in their communities. Phones are not permitted in their homes but they do allow a phone booth centrally located outside in their communities for utilitarian purposes.

Disconnecting your service and physically going (hopefully walking) to an off home location to access the internet is worth considering when in doing so you place yourself outdoors in organic reality. To access the portal of cyberspace you must physically walk through physical reality to get there. A great metaphor that helps you stay grounded.

Which leads me to share two additional passages from the past

a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone. (Walden, 82)


my greatest skill has been to want but little.


Ironically I am using this medium to recommend withdrawing from it. Not total disconnection, Just withdrawal.

Use it sparingly and mindful of its power to enslave you .

And folks are willing to pay a lot of money for this enslavement......

What is being recommended here is subversive. Practicing restraint.

[onlooker]

Speaking of the Internet, how do people see it moving forward? I mean will it become more limited and censored? Or will in continue roughly as it is? Now I realize that further down the road all this online activity may disappear as the realities of a civilization in free fall make computer and internet use prohibitive. Now as for Ibon's point while I agree generally with the thesis of his comments I would say personally the knowledge and revelations which the Internet has afforded me has been I believe enriching for me both in a practical sense as well for the more intellectual satisfaction. But yes, a varied life with multiple interests and nice walks or exercise outside on a clear cool day is truly magnificent. I myself have not given up on any of this yet I do not voluntarily wish to give up on online activities either.

[PeakOiler]

I'm not ready to give up the internet yet either! lol

Today I learned that T-Mobile offers a hotspot and a plan that beats Sprint's. So it looks like I'll switch providers when my current Sprint hotspot plan ends or when I reach the monthly data limit, whichever comes first, (most likely the data limit).

Ibon: I certainly watch less TV and use the internet less than I used to. But I'm not quite ready to live like the Amish.

And since my last day at work is September 30th, I won't be driving nearly 100 miles per day for the commute and spending 2 hours each working day in the car! I'll let y'all know how much energy THAT will save as soon as I acquire the real live data in the 4th calendar quarter of the year.

God! That will be such a relief!

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', '
')
God! That will be such a relief!

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', '
')
God! That will be such a relief!

[PeakOiler]

Well, T-Mobile's hotspot didn't work out. I couldn't get a signal from their closest tower. They refunded my money and canceled my account without any penalty.

So then I went by a Verizon Wireless store and they assured me that I'm in their coverage area. One problem I have with Verizon Wireless is that I had to sign a two-year contract. ($60 + taxes for 10 GB/month). A technician came out and installed an antenna on the house roof and a router in the house. Those two pieces of equipment required their own power. I measured the power use of each with my Kill-O-Watt meter and together they draw 40 watts. Now I have to use more energy to access the internet! Damn!

So each night I turn off both pieces of equipment to save some energy. They're plugged into a power strip. I hope turning them on and off daily doesn't hurt the electronics.

[dolanbaker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', ' ')Those two pieces of equipment required their own power. I measured the power use of each with my Kill-O-Watt meter and together they draw 40 watts. Now I have to use more energy to access the internet! Damn!

So each night I turn off both pieces of equipment to save some energy. They're plugged into a power strip. I hope turning them on and off daily doesn't hurt the electronics.

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', ' ')Those two pieces of equipment required their own power. I measured the power use of each with my Kill-O-Watt meter and together they draw 40 watts. Now I have to use more energy to access the internet! Damn!

So each night I turn off both pieces of equipment to save some energy. They're plugged into a power strip. I hope turning them on and off daily doesn't hurt the electronics.

[PeakOiler]

I just finished doing a little math and replacing 6-7 CFBs with LED lights that operate approximately the same amount of time as the router and antenna would not increase my household energy use.

The CFBs, however, are still working great after years of service. I guess the CFBs will become backups.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'S')peaking of the Internet, how do people see it moving forward? I mean will it become more limited and censored? Or will in continue roughly as it is? Now I realize that further down the road all this online activity may disappear as the realities of a civilization in free fall make computer and internet use prohibitive.