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(Albany Times Union) Dumbass Former cable installer moves to the middle of nowhere and is outraged that he can't get cable internet   (timesunion.com) divider line 135
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6728 clicks; posted to Main » on 20 Oct 2011 at 11:10 AM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



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2011-10-20 10:58:54 AM
Free cable is the ultimate aphrodisiac steven
 
2011-10-20 11:14:10 AM
I guess he's a newbie to the rural landscape. Most of us have satellite if we want something better than dial-up.
 
2011-10-20 11:17:04 AM
It wasn't that long ago that most people managed to get by without the Internet at all. Dialup is an option, potentially DSL, satellite, maybe some sort of wireless option (and if not and there really is a demand, why not start one). I'd love to know what a kid NEEDS on the Internet as opposed to what they want.

/lived in "the country" until college and had 4 (then 5 when FOX came along) TV stations. I will not put up with any whining from those that choose to move out there because it's cheaper.
 
2011-10-20 11:18:21 AM
i939.photobucket.com
 
2011-10-20 11:18:45 AM
Sad trombone, smallest fiddle, etc, etc. If high-speed internet was really so important to the guy, he shouldn't have moved out to the sticks in the first place.
 
2011-10-20 11:19:21 AM
how much for a t-1?
 
2011-10-20 11:19:41 AM
Comon now.....we all know this is just because of the lag time when downloading porn on a dial-up connection. Kids homework? haha....that's a good one!
 
2011-10-20 11:19:51 AM
BUT HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESS IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT!


CALL THE U.N.
 
2011-10-20 11:19:54 AM
GoodyearPimp: It wasn't that long ago that most people managed to get by without the Internet at all.

Some humans still exist in a pre-wheel technological state.

I don't recommend it.
 
2011-10-20 11:20:31 AM
Does he not get 3G? It isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing.

I do agree there needs to be derp socialism to being broadband to rural America, if only to increase the availability of meth-addled amateur porn.
 
2011-10-20 11:20:46 AM
I can understand the frustration up inaccurate estimates and bureaucratic barriers, but a big chunk of the article seemed to focus on how wrong it was for the cable company to expect the customer to absorb the cost to mitigate the customers unique situation. This kind of entitlement complex is part of the rot that is eating away at this country.
 
2011-10-20 11:20:55 AM
"Internet service via satellite is impractical for complex reasons..."

Complex reasons? WTF? Unless you live at the bottom of a well, you're pretty much good to go anywhere.
 
2011-10-20 11:21:20 AM
I'm in upstate New York, too, but in a fairly dense area. When I moved into this apartment, I was shocked to find out that there was no coax. The building is 100 years old, but the apartments are recent. Fortunately, my landlady was great about it and there was a crew renovating the apartment downstairs, so the next day a drill bit comes up through my floor and suddenly, I have cable.

The moral of this story is that, regardless of density, you had better put this on your list of things to ask about before you sign your lease/mortgage.
 
2011-10-20 11:21:21 AM
But that still leaves large sections of Ballston and other significantly rural towns without broadband Internet access.

Chances are in areas like that there's at least one WISP that can get you fast internet.

It seems to me that those 400,000 customers ought to give towns some bargaining power to help other residents who want to become customers.

Wrong. They already have their 400,000 exclusive customers. They don't care about one more in the area. Don't give them exclusive franchise agreements and then biatch bout the terms of it after the fact.
 
2011-10-20 11:21:57 AM
This is the sort of guy that moves out into the country, then complains about the smell of manure from the family farm that has been there for a hundred years.
You moved there for the solitude? There are benefits, there are costs.
Live with dial-up, or pay for something better.
 
2011-10-20 11:22:06 AM
Sounds like this ninja needs to pay his dues to the MALTA WUUUUU if he wants the hookup.
 
ZAZ [TotalFark]
2011-10-20 11:22:34 AM
In rural Massachusetts they use radio. Princeton put a transmitter on Wachusett Mountain.

It also could put Time Warner in a better competitive position when Verizon FiOS service does become available on Route 67.

It's not worth investing that much money on a single house. Let Verizon have the business.
 
2011-10-20 11:22:55 AM
Fixes the cable?
 
2011-10-20 11:23:23 AM
It costs thousands of dollars to hook up this one guy. Obviously, the cable company ain't gonna do it unless he covers said cost.
 
2011-10-20 11:23:32 AM
dofus: "Internet service via satellite is impractical for complex reasons..."

Complex reasons? WTF? Unless you live at the bottom of a well, you're pretty much good to go anywhere.


Perhaps he thinks he has to launch his own satellite.
 
2011-10-20 11:24:07 AM
This week, with a new school year underway and his kids finding few good ways to manage their online homework assignments


How about you GO TO THE farkING LIBRARY?
 
2011-10-20 11:24:22 AM
GoodyearPimp: It wasn't that long ago that most people managed to get by without the Internet at all. Dialup is an option, potentially DSL, satellite, maybe some sort of wireless option (and if not and there really is a demand, why not start one). I'd love to know what a kid NEEDS on the Internet as opposed to what they want.

/lived in "the country" until college and had 4 (then 5 when FOX came along) TV stations. I will not put up with any whining from those that choose to move out there because it's cheaper.


My parents are still out in the sticks. Dialup won't cut it for even basic websites anymore. DSL doesn't work on the older phone lines found in must rural areas. Satellite is hit or miss, my parent's had it for awhile but gave up on it. Now, they use a netbook on Verizon 3G. It is not ideal, but it works; my mom can now at least see videos of her grandchildren.

It is frustrating for sure, but yeah... if you choose to live in the country this stuff happens. Always enjoyed it when people moved out by us and then complained that their kids had to get on the bus at 6:30 in the morning.
 
2011-10-20 11:24:53 AM
Have a neighbor who can get internet setup a couple Wireless access points as bridges, maybe use one in the middle to bridge the gap if needed, done! 2-3 households with Internet for the cost of one.
 
2011-10-20 11:25:35 AM
White people problems
 
2011-10-20 11:25:36 AM
images.stuffofawesome.com
 
2011-10-20 11:27:55 AM
It's actually pretty tough for this guy. His kids are the only ones in the school who have to do their homework using the Internet. So, it's not like they could get by on doing whatever the other kids do. It's a tough life.

I meant none of that. WTF is he complaining about, and how boring is that town that this deserves a 2-page article? *eye roll*
 
2011-10-20 11:27:57 AM
He recognized a cable access point or "tap" far closer to his home, about 1,000 feet away, and he knew he did not have four neighbors without cable who could share the cost of an extension.

So either he doesn't have four neighbors or his neighbors have cable. Maybe he should ask them what they use.
 
2011-10-20 11:28:20 AM
freewill: I'm in upstate New York, too, but in a fairly dense area. When I moved into this apartment, I was shocked to find out that there was no coax. The building is 100 years old, but the apartments are recent. Fortunately, my landlady was great about it and there was a crew renovating the apartment downstairs, so the next day a drill bit comes up through my floor and suddenly, I have cable.

Had almost the same scenario several years ago in Western Maryland. Except in that case, the local cable company happily sent an installer out to get everything set up free. It took him more than 2 hours, and he didn't even arrive there until after 5pm.

I guess they figured that maybe they'd recoup the costs of running a cable to a new customer over the course of my years of paying them. I guess Time-Warner's profit margins are so slim that they can't justify such expenses.
 
2011-10-20 11:30:12 AM
MycroftHolmes: I can understand the frustration up inaccurate estimates and bureaucratic barriers, but a big chunk of the article seemed to focus on how wrong it was for the cable company to expect the customer to absorb the cost to mitigate the customers unique situation. This kind of entitlement complex is part of the rot that is eating away at this country.

Geotpf: It costs thousands of dollars to hook up this one guy. Obviously, the cable company ain't gonna do it unless he covers said cost.

I don't have a problem with the guy paying the costs to run the line to his house... but if that's the case, it should be pretty clear that he - and not the cable company - owns that line. FTA, that doesn't appear to be the case; Time Warner wants him to pay for their property.
 
2011-10-20 11:30:17 AM
Ballston?

Heh heh.
 
2011-10-20 11:30:52 AM
If I was moving, and high speed internet was important to me, I'd check that out before signing the papers.

Just sayin'.
 
2011-10-20 11:32:32 AM
dofus: "Internet service via satellite is impractical for complex reasons..."

Complex reasons? WTF? Unless you live at the bottom of a well, you're pretty much good to go anywhere.


Latency issues, probably. It will take a hell of a lot longer for a ping (or whatever else) because you've got to send it on a radio beam over hundreds of miles into space and back. Current ones are duplex, so outbound and inbound both go over satellite, but it used to be worse: the outbound went out on a dial-up connection over a phone line to the provider, who would then beam the data your computer requested up to the satellite and back to you.

So either he's got to use some sort of VPN for work that needs low latency (possible, but kinda doubting it), or he doesn't want to get a dish because he knows he'll get owned on Call of Duty.
 
2011-10-20 11:35:47 AM
aseras: Have a neighbor who can get internet setup a couple Wireless access points as bridges, maybe use one in the middle to bridge the gap if needed, done! 2-3 households with Internet for the cost of one.

I've thought about moving out to the country, and this was my idea. Even if you don't have a neighbor, you might be able to put up a pole (or maybe rent space on the existing pole) with wifi, a good directional antenna and a solar power rig. Of course, that probably costs as much as digging/stringing the cable.
 
2011-10-20 11:35:57 AM
Upstate New York is not the middle of nowhere.
 
2011-10-20 11:36:23 AM
www.findadeath.com

MOVE TO WHERE THE FOOD IS!
 
2011-10-20 11:38:43 AM
Harv72b: Had almost the same scenario several years ago in Western Maryland. Except in that case, the local cable company happily sent an installer out to get everything set up free. It took him more than 2 hours, and he didn't even arrive there until after 5pm.

The issue here is that they have some rules about inside lines and outside lines on multi-unit buildings that prevent them from doing the work. It's the landlord's responsibility. If the construction crew hadn't had the ceiling open downstairs so that they could drop a line into the atrium wall, it would have been a much more disruptive project. (Of course, it'd be their own fault for not knowing that the apartment wasn't ready for cable.)

I guess they figured that maybe they'd recoup the costs of running a cable to a new customer over the course of my years of paying them. I guess Time-Warner's profit margins are so slim that they can't justify such expenses.

I think it's more that Time Warner is staffed entirely by sadistic misanthropes, though in this guy's case, I understand. If you were in a multi-unit, they probably figured the odds were high that they'd be getting paid almost every month, indefinitely. A rural home, it could be foreclosed on and empty for years, or sold to a family that doesn't need cable, and the level of effort to get it hooked up is much higher.

The only thing preventing me from telling Time Warner to come take the rest of their garbage out of my home (I already shut off the cable television and rely on an HTPC) is that Verizon would charge me a fee to set up DSL, and when I threatened Time Warner with Verizon's price, they matched the monthly rate for 12 months.
 
2011-10-20 11:39:26 AM
rhiannon: dofus: "Internet service via satellite is impractical for complex reasons..."

Complex reasons? WTF? Unless you live at the bottom of a well, you're pretty much good to go anywhere.

Perhaps he thinks he has to launch his own satellite.


I'm guessing it has more to do with his distance from the equator. The South Pole station just got internet and it took not one but four satellites. This stuff isn't just hanging in space, people. It's hurtling.
 
ZAZ [TotalFark]
2011-10-20 11:39:36 AM
freewill: The moral of this story is that, regardless of density, you had better put this on your list of things to ask about before you sign your lease/mortgage.

I own a share in a house in the middle of nowhere that's being rented out. We made sure to mention internet availability in the ad.

Harv72b: I guess they figured that maybe they'd recoup the costs of running a cable to a new customer over the course of my years of paying them.

It's probably a regulatory requirement rather than a profitable investment. Left alone utilities would serve urban areas. State or local rules require them to use some profits from urban service to subsidize rural service.

In the other direction, Massachusetts requires rural car insurance to subsidize expensive car insurance. Because otherwise people wouldn't want to own cars in the city. Officially the state wants to discourage people from owning cars in the city, but the economic incentives are otherwise.
 
2011-10-20 11:39:51 AM
He's not even that much "in the middle of nowhere" He's less than 30 miles from the center of the state capital of new york and almost the next town over from Saratoga Springs.

I know people who can get broadband in long lake and freaking newcomb and THOSE are in the middle of nowhere.
 
2011-10-20 11:40:02 AM
My relatives really do live in the middle of nowhere, and they use those dial-up cards that you stick in the computer. I used to have a device that actually hooked to my phone. Both of them are pretty fast, not what you used to think of when you think "dial-up." You can't really watch videos, but everything else is fast enough.

I didn't have high-speed until a year ago, I had dial-up that only worked on one computer at a time. Cry me a river.
 
2011-10-20 11:40:10 AM
FTA: town officials told him there was nothing they could do to help as they negotiated a new franchise agreement with Time Warner.


THIS is the problem. Why does a town have a franchise agreement with Time Warner. Open the town up to new competition.
 
2011-10-20 11:40:21 AM
emersonbiggins: Does he not get 3G? It isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing.

He may not, this is Upstate NY after all - if he's within the sphere of influence of the Adirondack State Park, then cell service is spotty at best.
 
2011-10-20 11:40:59 AM
comicjock.com
 
2011-10-20 11:41:07 AM
Glendale: But that still leaves large sections of Ballston and other significantly rural towns without broadband Internet access.

Chances are in areas like that there's at least one WISP that can get you fast internet.

It seems to me that those 400,000 customers ought to give towns some bargaining power to help other residents who want to become customers.

Wrong. They already have their 400,000 exclusive customers. They don't care about one more in the area. Don't give them exclusive franchise agreements and then biatch bout the terms of it after the fact.


Exactly - the issue here is the franchise agreement. Why compete when you have a monopoly?
 
2011-10-20 11:41:25 AM
ROBO-Jesus: I don't have a problem with the guy paying the costs to run the line to his house... but if that's the case, it should be pretty clear that he - and not the cable company - owns that line. FTA, that doesn't appear to be the case; Time Warner wants him to pay for their property.

Do you think labor is free? If you really wanted to, maybe they'd let you pay for the material costs as well so you would own the line, but why would you want to own the line? That just means you get to pay for repairs and maintenance. You'd better hope a storm never takes down the line.
 
2011-10-20 11:44:26 AM
imagine that same rural life before the Rural Electrification Act of 1936...
 
2011-10-20 11:45:34 AM
Robo Beat: dofus: "Internet service via satellite is impractical for complex reasons..."

Complex reasons? WTF? Unless you live at the bottom of a well, you're pretty much good to go anywhere.

Latency issues, probably. It will take a hell of a lot longer for a ping (or whatever else) because you've got to send it on a radio beam over hundreds of miles into space and back. Current ones are duplex, so outbound and inbound both go over satellite, but it used to be worse: the outbound went out on a dial-up connection over a phone line to the provider, who would then beam the data your computer requested up to the satellite and back to you.

So either he's got to use some sort of VPN for work that needs low latency (possible, but kinda doubting it), or he doesn't want to get a dish because he knows he'll get owned on Call of Duty.


He just doesn't want to pay for anything. We were doing RDP work for a school in Haiti over a sat connection from NY. We were all worried about the latency but it really wasn't an issue at all.

DSL works better on old phone lines but the issue with rural customers is the distance from the local CO. DSL doesn't work well outside of 18,000ft.

Why more people don't look in to what kind of internet / infrastructure is available is beyond me. We have had people call looking for internet access on new space in NYC that they already signed leases for only to be told they are SOL for anything decent etc.
 
2011-10-20 11:45:46 AM
Used to go to graduate school in Troy, about a half hour down the Turnpike from Ballston Spa. This was back in the late '80s, but at RPI, so Internet was expected. At home, a half hour walk from campus, not so much.

My bros here in Mississippi are still amazed when I describe "rural" areas in New York State. They think all of the state is the same as New York City. I tell them I could walk another half hour away from campus and see trailers and farm animals, as rednecky an environment as you'd see anywhere in Mississippi.

/yes, we have relatively inexpensive and reliable cable internets in my rural part of Mississippi
 
2011-10-20 11:51:16 AM
FTA:"Internet service via satellite is impractical for complex reasons that Walkowicz, who specialized in radio and electronic technology during his 20 years in the military, understands but I don't."

Be sure to refer to yourself in the first person, and definitely don't bother to expound on a subject, or get more details. Someone might accuse you of being a journalist.
 
2011-10-20 11:52:20 AM
MBooda: "rural" areas in New York State. They think all of the state is the same as New York City. I tell them I could walk another half hour away from campus and see trailers and farm animals, as rednecky an environment as you'd see anywhere in Mississippi

This
 
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