We are #1

[Pio1980]

Twisted pair was great for the standard remote powered telephone service but not so much for data. Dunno exactly how optical lines would work but assume it'd be something quite different than the switch directed phone system.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[nailer]

I have one phone, it's not a land line, and I consider it an essential utility. In addition, so much of what we do in our lives is now done by many via the internet. I'm paperless and in a way the internet has replaced the mail. I'm thinking this makes the internet an essential utility too.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by nailer

I have one phone, it's not a land line, and I consider it an essential utility. In addition, so much of what we do in our lives is now done by many via the internet. I'm paperless and in a way the internet has replaced the mail. I'm thinking this makes the internet an essential utility too.

Which brings up the rather interesting possibility of having the USPS offer broadband service.

John

[finnbow]

Not only is Internet stupidly expensive and relatively slow here, cell phone service is also far more expensive here than it is in most of the developed world.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Not only is Internet stupidly expensive and relatively slow here, cell phone service is also far more expensive here than it is in most of the developed world.

The same goes for medical care and prescription drugs and probably a whole lot of other things too. We are being ripped off big time.

[Rajoo]

With each company owning and maintaining it's own separate grid adds to cost and uneven service. For example when we moved in our home, only AT&T service would work, not Verizon nor T-Mobile. Doubt if anything has changed. And this is the Bay Area, not some remote backwater!

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by BeamOn

With each company owning and maintaining it's own separate grid adds to cost and uneven service. For example when we moved in our home, only AT&T service would work, not Verizon nor T-Mobile. Doubt if anything has changed. And this is the Bay Area, not some remote backwater!

It's difficult in mountainous areas. When I lived up on the Russian River I had two different cell phones, AT&T and Sprint. I could use AT&T from my house but I had to use Sprint at the end of my block and had to switch back and forth from one to the other as I traveled through the area.

John

[Rajoo]

Originally Posted by Boreas

It's difficult in mountainous areas. When I lived up on the Russian River I had two different cell phones, AT&T and Sprint. I could use AT&T from my house but I had to use Sprint at the end of my block and had to switch back and forth from one to the other as I traveled through the area.

John

The AT&T signal goes from five three dots at the end of our driveway and zero at the end of the block. When my brother's family visit us, they need to go to the end of our driveway to use their Verizon.

I don't quite buy the mountain theory. There used to be no AT&T coverage between Placerville and Echo Summit on the way to lake Tahoe via US-50. Now there is a strong signal almost the entire way.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by BeamOn

I don't quite buy the mountain theory. There used to be no AT&T coverage between Placerville and Echo Summit on the way to lake Tahoe via US-50. Now there is a strong signal almost the entire way.

Cell signals are line of sight and are blocked quite effectively by geographic features. That's why that always look to site them on high ground.

When I lived on the Russian River, I was less than 1/2 a mile from a cell tower on the Korbel Champagne vineyard's property. I lived in a canyon. If I were on the side of the canyon closest to the tower, I couldn't get the signal. The canyon wall blocked it. If I went to the other side of the canyon I left the "shadow" of the canyon wall and could then get the signal.

I could also get the signal by going up to the second floor of my next door neighbor's house. His house was built higher up the canyon wall. The combination of 2-storey building and a starting point farther up the wall meant the signal was no longer blocked.

John

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Cell signals are line of sight and are blocked quite effectively by geographic features. That's why that always look to site them on high ground.

When I lived on the Russian River, I was less than 1/2 a mile from a cell tower on the Korbel Champagne vineyard's property. I lived in a canyon. If I were on the side of the canyon closest to the tower, I couldn't get the signal. The canyon wall blocked it. If I went to the other side of the canyon I left the "shadow" of the canyon wall and could then get the signal.

I could also get the signal by going up to the second floor of my next door neighbor's house. His house was built higher up the canyon wall. The combination of 2-storey building and a starting point farther up the wall meant the signal was no longer blocked.

John

I tried their 'champagne' once and dumped the rest of the bottle.