dial-up problems

[Sumpter250]

Sunday, and Monday, I could not connect with the internet via dial-up.
Today I connected, but at an extremely slow rate ( 16K ). At first I thought it was a dead modem, but today's connection has me thinking it's more like a 'tired old modem", or maybe deteriorated phone lines ( we did have some heavy rains in the last couple of days ).
I have a loan closing on Thursday, so the first order of business will be a replacement vehicle. The next priority will be a furnace inspection, and possible upgrade/replacement ( it was here when I moved i and that was almost twenty years ago. I have no idea how much older than that it is,but it could be upwards of fifty years! :o ) and when that's done, if there is enough cash left, a computer upgrade which may mean a change of email address, as I will more than likely dump AT&T for one of the other internet providers.
Just thought a "heads-up" was in order.
Oh, Trainfest was spectacular ! I had a great weekend, even if the van rental did set me back about $600.00.
There are a number of locomotives that I would rather have spent that money on.

[ezdays]

Rain can affect land lines. One way to check is to see if your phone has any noise on it, like scratching sounds. Now days, it's best to avoid dial-up if possible, but I know the cost can get up there for DSL or cable. Still AT&T may cut you a deal just to have you stay with them.

Sometimes upgrading your furnace or A/C system can basically pay for itself in a few years. We had a 20-year old A/C and furnace combo in one of our houses. It finally went out and so we upgraded to a low SEER unit. Our summer electric bills dropped by almost $200 a month, and it paid for itself in about two years. I don't know what kind of saving you'd see on a furnace, but they have to be a lot more efficient than 20 years ago. I was watching them put in a whole-house furnace/water heater on Ask This Old House the other day that was about four-foot square and mounted on the wall. They seldom say how much these things cost though.

Glad to hear Trainfest was such a success, and that you had a good time there.

[eightyeightfan1]

Dial up?

Isnt that like own .......(click).........(click).....ing an eight track player?

[ezdays]

Dial up?

Isnt that like own .......(click).........(click).....ing an eight track player?

No, it's more like owning a 78 rpm record....(scratch).....(scratch).....player.....

[Sumpter250]

Actually,.......No,........It's more like 78 RPM records on a wind up Victrola !!!

In the end, the problem was AT&T working on the phone lines ! To add insult to injury, they had to come and ring the door bell to try to sell me their latest package! Wish they had shown the courtesy of ringing the door bell to tell me they would be "working on the phone lines" !!!
I guess I should have figured right away that AT&T would "fail" long before "El-cheapo" modem.

[ezdays]

Actually,.......No,........It's more like 78 RPM records on a wind up Victrola !!!

In the end, the problem was AT&T working on the phone lines ! To add insult to injury, they had to come and ring the door bell to try to sell me their latest package! Wish they had shown the courtesy of ringing the door bell to tell me they would be "working on the phone lines" !!!
I guess I should have figured right away that AT&T would "fail" long before "El-cheapo" modem.

Did you ever think that they be "working" on the phone lines in order to show you that their latest package was far better than what you had? That's an old trick, but I'm sure you didn't fall for it..... did you????? :?

I remember when I was dealing with alarm installation companies, there were some that used to have a few homes in a neighborhood burglarized , then they'd go door-to-door in the same neighborhood selling alarms systems. Yup, that's how they used to do it. Today, they just use a robo dialer and pester the hell out of you. Like yesterday, I got four auto-calls from some alarm system installers trying to scare me into getting a "free" system installed in my house.