# A little consideration, please



## Pack Rat (Nov 9, 2006)

While I can appreciate the vast amount of data available on the internet, and the availability of "High Speed Internet" in most places and for most people, there are a few of us out here for whom it will take 2-3 minutes to load a page like this of mostly text, if the connection holds, and perhaps 8 or more tries (between flipping flapjacks or folding laundry) if it doesn't. Dial-up is not extinct. For some, it's the most "reliable" (*cough*) or only affordable way to access the web from where they're at.

Posting links alone may be fine for those who can load them as fast as they click on them. Posting video links may work for those who can stream them. I, and I'm sure some others here, can't without a long trip to town.

If those who are here to educate the rest of us have such a blessing as cheap, unlimited and high speed internet, you could do those of us on the fuzzy edge of "civilization" and the lower fringes of income a big favor by at least summarizing the relevant points of the link, perhaps quoting a pertinent paragraph. I know it's more work for the poster, but not everyone has the time or resources to take in everything you may see. There's a reason Reader's Digest made good money printing condensed books. Some of us are otherwise busy on our homesteads, and need a condensed internet.

I'm sure it's just oversight by those who haven't thought about it. Thanks in advance for all of y'alls consideration.

Pack Rat

ETA: it took 3 tries (server not found) and nearly 5 minutes just to get this to post. Four tries to get this edit posted. And today started out as a "relatively good connection" day. :hair I think I'm done for the week, and going out to do somethings far more productive.


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## Grizzly (Feb 10, 2015)

Having no internet is worse then having slow internet...With no internet you will go ohh well and go out side....Slow internet is killer...when the page is so close to loading and then....NOPE.....I would be pulling my hair out as well.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

And while dial-up truly IS the pits in this day and time, DSL (which is our only choice) isn't much better. I get a whopping 512k speed, (rated...often much slower) and loading a YouTube takes a bunch of time. 

SO, if you post a video without any synopsis or comments, I usually don't even look at them. Life is too short.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

I'm in the boonies and get satellite thru my phone company....fast fast fast. Isn't this an option around you? Even DISH has it now. Been thru the trials of dial-up for many years so I know that pain. Plus ours was only so many hours a month.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

It is better to put at least a short line or two of what the link is about.

I've been known to go on and delete the hit and run link posters post.

So, the request for a line or two, or even a paragraph would help all. Heck, I'm on cable modem, and sometimes the links to youtube are busy or down even if I get them.

So, please be considerate.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Pack Rat said:


> ETA: it took 3 tries (server not found) and nearly 5 minutes just to get this to post.


Pack Rat, try this - when you get the "server not found" statement, hit your "back" key. The page you're looking for is usually there. I don't know why this happens. It seems to be a relatively new thing for me but it's happening more and more often. You must have dial-up AOL.

Internet thru the phone company is not available everywhere, and I don't live out in the boonies.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Until recently our only option for internet was dial up. We recently were able to get satellite, which is faster than dial up, but not fast. Cable is not an option either. Dial up or satellite. Period. Some people can only get dial up.


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## Jolly (Jan 8, 2004)

Never hurts to check your speed:

http://www.speedtest.net/


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

Jolly said:


> Never hurts to check your speed:
> 
> http://www.speedtest.net/


Well that was neat but I have no idea what it means. At home I have DSL with the phone company Frontier. Dish network was a no go because I have too many trees. And Huges net was way too much money. I think with the phone and internet Frontier is $69 a month.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Living in the midst of big trees in a rainy, windy area, satellite internet is routinely difficult to get. Followed by a repairman that comes over the mountains 100 miles away only when there are enough service calls lined up to make it worth the trip. 
The result is a long line of old, derelict satellite dishes lining the road and their cables snaking into the woods, going nowhere. The tombstones of alternate cellular service expansion. Which is both limited and expensive but at least pretty much there.


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## homebody (Jan 24, 2005)

Dial up here, no dsl available here at this location. There is a super poster who puts a lot of videos on this part of the forum and I hate that I can't access them. I'm sure that a lot of them would be very useful to me if I could.

His (he is honest, good man) videos are mostly about projects,homestead things. I "know" him, I don't randomly want to access All videos from most people because I don't "know" them and they don't interest me, nor do their videos.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Even those of us on high speed unlimited internet do not like to click on links unless we know what it is about first.

If someone posts just a link without (at least) a short description, I close the thread and move on.


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## stef (Sep 14, 2002)

mnn2501 said:


> Even those of us on high speed unlimited internet do not like to click on links unless we know what it is about first.
> 
> If someone posts just a link without (at least) a short description, I close the thread and move on.


I have great internet speed, but find myself skipping a lot of links too, for that reason. 

This is a good reminder for _me_ to make sure I add a little blurb on the content if I post a link. **


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but as far as the internet developers, dial-up is as dead as a doornail. Additionally, the time-outs in slow dial-up connections often result in false "page not found" and other problems ... AND ... ISPs no longer care about dial-up customers, as dial-up is on the way to extinction and no sensible business model will allow further investment other than rudimentary patching.

There is nothing that any of us can do to correct "server not found" errors. That pretty much is a problem between you and your ISP.

You CAN improve your experience by using Firefox, "no-script" and "adblock plus" extensions and limiting what the browser displays. Often, the advertising on sites is the primary cause of slow-downs. eliminating the pop-ups and ads and scripts makes a huge difference.

With some problems, you are better off using a free proxy, like one of these (you may have to change proxies from time to time as they can be overloaded or transient) By using a proxy, all of the various web addresses from various places that make up a web page don't have to initiate a connection to you and your slow system. They get called by the proxy server, which then gives you a single point of attachment to the net.

https://hide.me/en/proxy

http://unlimitaccess4u.com/

Usenet is still thin enough that it works on dial-up, but regrettably few people use it anymore. I don't see the owners of HT building a usenet or text only mirror site, even though it is possible.

As for videos, if you are willing to wait and have friends willing to do it, there is a solution. A friend with a high speed connection can download the video you want, place it (and any others) on a memory chip, stick it in an envelope and mail it to you. The VLC media player (free) will play almost any video. It too can be downloaded onto the chip. A 16 gig chip can hold hours of video, and it can be reused. Because it is so small, it can be mailed in a standard business envelope.

Otherwise, a visit to a place that has free Wi-fi, like Hardies or many coffee shops, while carrying a laptop or android pad can allow you to get a "fix" and catch up.


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## Beemer (Jan 10, 2012)

If a poster only puts in a link, without a synopsis, I just skip it.

I feel you should comment on the info in the link, or at least tell us what it is about.

I actually skip threads started by some posters because there are always just a maze of links.

Please have some conversation.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

I was on dial up for many years. That was (and still is) the only _wired_ option for me. I got Hughes satellite 10 years ago. It was good but degraded over time. They put too many subscribers on. I switched to Excede (formally Wild Blue) about 3 years ago. It is much better. Pretty fast and costs ~$60 per month.

However, on the satellite based internet systems, there are data caps. I get 10 gigabytes per month and am often close to running out at the end of the month. As a result, I try to limit the amount of data I use. While the use case is a bit different, I need to limit data and you need faster load time, a solution for both is the same.

Harry was right about there being things you can do to improve your situation. I use Firefox with some important plug ins. Adblock Plus will block banner ads. You can also use it to limit other graphics. As example, I block avatars and badges in HT. In addition, I run NoScript and Image Block. Between these three, I greatly limit the content that is downloaded. For me, less data usage. For you, faster load times.

Additionally, I do have access to high speed unlimited fairly often. I have a You Tube downloader that I use to capture videos for later watching while offline.

Just some ideas on how you might improve your situation.


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## stickinthemud (Sep 10, 2003)

logbuilder, could you add more about your YouTube downloader? Sounds very useful. Googling "YouTube downloader" brings up many options but I don't want to download something crawling with viruses, etc. Which do you use? Mac or PC?
Pack Rat, sorry about the link-heavy Gleanings files. I did try to provide at least a title on each but just didn't have time to summarize.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

There are several youtube downloaders. 

I use this one:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/download-youtube/


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