How Do You Connect?

 
How do you compute? Do you sit down at a desk or work station in front of the traditional home PC set up? Or have you made your computing choices based on a need of portability and use a laptop? PC or Mac?

 

How do you connect to the internet?  Do you use antiquated dial-up internet? DSL? Cable? Satelite Internet? Are you connected through cords & cables or is it all wireless (or maybe a combination of both?).

 

I have a confession to make. I have been connecting to the internet for over 10 years now {no that isn’t the confession – leave my age out of this } and for every single day of every single year of that time (until very, very recently!), my computer dialed a phone number, waited through each slow & agonizing step of the connection process, and I dealt with it.  Having my phone line forever busy during connection time was just par for the course {and sometimes that was ok, because let’s face it, sometimes you wish you didn’t answer that phone call!}.

 

Over time, technology has advanced little by little to offer a wide array of connectivity options. I, however, still rang-up ole Mr. Dial Up.  I know, I know. Do the same thing you’ve always done, and you will get the same results you’ve always gotten. Yeah, we now how great the results were with dial-up.

 

Just recently I started checking out options because I needed to connect a little quicker (you know, actually DO things online!) and I wanted my phone line back. (Because, quite frankly, our cell phones don’t work so well out here, but that’s a whole ‘nother story!). My best, most immediate option, was to check out the DSL service offered by our local phone company.

 

I’m proud to announce I have moved out of the dark ages and into the early morning light! I can listen to music online! I can watch videos! Who knew? (Well, we all did, myself included, but I didn’t realize just how great it would feel!).  Now, after those dark ages, the morning light is nice.  Really nice.  But that has me wanting even more. Oh, how I’d love to bask in the full on afternoon sun (of course with a fan blowing on me and a tall glass of lemonade or sweet tea nearby… oh wait.. analogy.. not the real sun… I’ll still take the sweet tea, thank you.).

 

I’m sure you’ve all seen the Hughes Net ads on TV.  You’d have to live in a box or under a rock to have missed them. Commercials work, because when I think of satellite Internet, HughesNet comes to mind. They have speed comparison charts and checking those out made me question again why it took me so long…To download a 4 MB file using a dial-up service would take 9.9 minutes. To do it using their Elite Plus? 10.7 seconds. SECONDS! Oh, come install that here. Right now. OK, to be fair, Elite Plus is their top of the line and may not be practical for everyone. However, their Home package downloads that same file in 32 seconds.

 

I’ll stick it out with DSL for now – it is still brand new to me and I haven’t exactly paid for everything yet, lol.  We have been talking of moving, once we do some things needed here and are able to sell {insert a heavy sigh at the current housing market & economic issues}, to move closer to hubs work and family. Maybe as a housewarming gift to myself, I could get Hughes Net?

 

I’d love to hear your answers to the barrage of questions I opened with… ‘cause I’ve also been considering a laptop. 

 

 

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