Excite filed bankruptcy, no Cable modem!!!

[BINGO]

Should be a busy day for all sportsbooks, players placing wager by phone. Few people I know using cable for internet is totally down until settlement had met. DSL is the way to go. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[PATTON]

Those who have been affected by the Excite@Home stoppage should view the following article from ZDNet's Anchor Desk for suggestions in coping with the crisis:

http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stor...829108,00.html

The upshot is (in case you're desparate and can't get online to read the article), get a free AOL account for a month until the situation clarifies - those stupid disks are given away everywhere. Meantime, explore other options like DSL, satellite, and dial-up providers.

BTW, the fact that AOL gives away so many disks is a good reason not to be a paying customer of theirs. How low would their fees be if they stopped giving all those CD's away? I bet the price would drop from $28/mo to $10 or so.

[Conrad]

I heard you can get a two-way satellite link from DirecWay: www.getdway.com .

[PATTON]

<blockquote>quote:[/size]Originally posted by Conrad:
I heard you can get a two-way satellite link from DirecWay: www.getdway.com .[/quote]

Conrad,

That option is mentioned in the article, which I will copy here in its entirety, since people with limited connections might find it hard to get it another way. BTW, I thought "DirecWay" was too close to "DirecBet" and didn't want to mention that option for fear of being flamed! [img]smile.gif[/img]

<blockquote>quote:[/size]

What to do if your cable modem dies
David Coursey,
Executive Editor, AnchorDesk
Monday, December 3, 2001

Is your cable modem dead? You're not alone. Nearly a million subscribers to Excite@Home's cable-modem service (which is sold by companies such as AT&T Broadband and Comcast) lost their high-speed Internet connection this weekend. As an AT&T Broadband customer, I share your pain.

For those of you who've lost service--as well as the lucky few who still have it--here's something you need to do right now: Open a free e-mail account.

A service like Microsoft's Hotmail will give you an e-mail address that should be good for life--and lets you retrieve mail from any Web browser. Visit www.hotmail.com to open an account. Even if your cable modem's dead, you can access this free e-mail account from someone else's computer to send and receive messages.

If you really want to be on top of things, go ahead right now and send e-mail to your friends telling them about this new address.


Now you might want to consider alternative ways to get onto the Internet. Here are your main options.

Use your modem
Most people who have broadband modems used to use a dial-up connection, perhaps from AOL, MSN, or some other Internet service provider. Even if you've never used AOL or MSN, the necessary software may already be on your computer. If so, it's just a matter of plugging a telephone line into your computer's modem and following the on-screen directions. Expect to spend about $20/month.

Of course, AOL litters the world with discs offering free service for a given number of hours, hoping you'll become hooked and pay them forever. But if you remember to turn the service off after the allotted time period, they won't charge you and you'll have free Internet access while you decide what to do. Maybe your cable modem will even start working again--after all, somebody could buy the service and restart it, couldn't they?

The downside of using a dial-up connection is that it's so slow you might think you're back in the Stone Age, and compared to cable-modem speeds, you are!

Switch to DSL
Telephone companies and others (such as XO Communications and Speakeasy) offer a service called DSL that uses your telephone line to provide a broadband Internet connection. And, yes, you can use your telephone for voice calls while you're on the Internet--which your computer's modem doesn't allow you to do.

DSL is generally about as fast as a cable modem and costs about the same amount-usually $50 a month or so. The problem is that DSL may take weeks to be installed and you may have to pay installation costs or buy a DSL modem.

On the other hand, your telephone company is a lot more reliable than your cable company. Unfortunately, not everyone can get DSL--it's not available in all the places where cable modems have been available.

Try a satellite
If DSL isn't offered in your area, and a modem seems too slow, you may want to try DirecWay (formerly DirecPC). It uses a small satellite dish to receive Web pages and e-mail (and any other data sent to you over the Net), and your telephone line to send information to others. It's faster than a dial-up connection like AOL or MSN, but not as fast as DSL or a cable modem.

In a recent TV interview, I mentioned a service called Sprint Broadband Direct, a microwave-based Internet provider. Unfortunately, this service is not currently available. I know there are other microwave-based Internet service providers, but don't know of any that target the home user.

Wait
Like I said, somebody will most likely buy the @Home service, but that could mean waiting several days or weeks for your service to be restored. Going to a "free" AOL connection for a month might be the best way to wait things out. In that amount of time, chances are your cable modem will start working again or your DSL will be installed.

I hope this helps you prepare for the worst. For updates on the fate of Excite@Home's service, please visit our ZDNet News site.
[/quote]

[King Bookie]

http://www.hns.com/direcway/for_home/home.htm
http://www.gilat.com/Home.asp


Though you need a license to install it yourself. You really don't want to intercept other transmissions.

Teledesic will be the cream of the crop of broadband satellite service around 2004 with their low orbiting satellites.
http://www.teledesic.com/tech/tech.htm

Teledesics: Most users will have two-way connections that provide up to 64 Mbps on the downlink and up to 2 Mbps on the uplink. Broadband terminals will offer 64 Mbps of two-way capacity. This represents access speeds up to 2,000 times faster than today's standard analog modems.

[Conrad]

PATTON, why would you get flamed for mentioning DirecBet? Are they disliked all-over? When living in the US I actually bought a dish and installed it myself. Countless times I flicked through all the channels and found nothing decent, but it was still better than being stuck with only a handful of channels. Coverage of March Madness was fantastic because I could get both the East and West version of CBS, and both would cover different games [img]smile.gif[/img]

DirecWay should be a good option but I'm sure the two-way connection prices are boung to be extortionate.

[boris]

cripes Conrad, where haven't you lived??

[Hartley]

I had cable before then switched to DSL because cable was so unreliable. DSL is tremendous if you can get it. In the year I've had it now, I believe it was only down 1 day compared to cable which was down almost as much as it was working.

[Louis Cypher]

I recieved this info from my cable company, Cox Communications today:

Cox is my cable provider and they signed a tentative agreement yesterday with AT HOME CORP. to continue providing high-speed internet access to thousands of subscribers, me being one of them is quite happy for the great news.

The spokesman for Cox said "Our customers will not be cut off", the only problem I see is that the agreement in principle must still be approved by a San Francisco bankruptcy judge.

For now, I'm still up and running and that's a good thing.

Good luck to all who might being having problems currently and or in the future.

LC