On Wed, 27 Sep 2023 15:50:06 -0700, John Larkin <jl@997arbor.com>
wrote:
>On Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:40:58 -0400, Joe Gwinn <joegwinn@comcast.net>
>wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 18 Sep 2023 17:06:14 +0100, Martin Brown
>><'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>On 18/09/2023 15:33, John Larkin wrote:
>>>> On Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:36:03 +0100, Martin Brown
>>>> <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> My fibre modem hasn't been rebooted since installation apart from when
>>>>> it was unplugged for rearranging my office furniture. It is very stable.
>>>>>
>>>>> ADSL links used to die at least every couple of months with router
>>>>> firmware either going unresponsive or claiming perfect signal synch but
>>>>> no data transfer so incrementing hard unrecoverable error seconds in
>>>>> realtime. I always got a few of those per day in normal operation.
>>>>
>>>> Our Comcast box downloads its software from the mother ship, every
>>>> time it powers up. That takes about 15 minutes. I asssme they are in
>>>> the usual constant-upgrade bug manufacturing mode, as downloaded
>>>> software usually is.
>>>
>>>Ouch! That is a royal PITA. Mine has to have its firmware updated every
>>>now and then if a vulnerability is found and/or exploited but it boots
>>>in under a minute from whatever internal SSD/memory stick it has.
>>>
>>>It issues dire warnings about not switching it off during an update.
>>>
>>>> If it's easy to fix, it's easy to break.
>>>
>>>Too true :(
>>
>>Yes.
>>
>>I also have Comcast Internet service, but I own the cable modem (an
>>Arris SURFboard SB6183, and so I don't get the 15-minute delays, or a
>>host of other fiddles.
>>
>>I may upgrade the cable modem to get access to the free phone service
>>(and phone number that comes with that service.
>>
>>Joe Gwinn
>
>I have Comcast cable plus the "free" phone thing. Modem reboots are
>fast. It's the fancy cable TV box that has the slow reboot.
>
>I disconnected the phones because all the calls are spam.
Well, we still get valid phone calls, so everything that we don't
recognize goes straight to the answering machine. Most of the spam
leaves no message.
Sometimes I do answer a suspected spam call, but don't say hello or
anything, just listen. If there is no sound coming from the caller,
it's likely a robot mass dialer that switches a "salesman" in only if
it hears a response such as hello.
Sometimes I do get what seems to be a person, but are not - the tell
is that there is zero response to anything I say. It's basically a
taped message. I've met human salesdroids like that. Just hang up.
Joe Gwinn
Reply by John Larkin●September 27, 20232023-09-27
On Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:40:58 -0400, Joe Gwinn <joegwinn@comcast.net>
wrote:
>On Mon, 18 Sep 2023 17:06:14 +0100, Martin Brown
><'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>On 18/09/2023 15:33, John Larkin wrote:
>>> On Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:36:03 +0100, Martin Brown
>>> <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> My fibre modem hasn't been rebooted since installation apart from when
>>>> it was unplugged for rearranging my office furniture. It is very stable.
>>>>
>>>> ADSL links used to die at least every couple of months with router
>>>> firmware either going unresponsive or claiming perfect signal synch but
>>>> no data transfer so incrementing hard unrecoverable error seconds in
>>>> realtime. I always got a few of those per day in normal operation.
>>>
>>> Our Comcast box downloads its software from the mother ship, every
>>> time it powers up. That takes about 15 minutes. I asssme they are in
>>> the usual constant-upgrade bug manufacturing mode, as downloaded
>>> software usually is.
>>
>>Ouch! That is a royal PITA. Mine has to have its firmware updated every
>>now and then if a vulnerability is found and/or exploited but it boots
>>in under a minute from whatever internal SSD/memory stick it has.
>>
>>It issues dire warnings about not switching it off during an update.
>>
>>> If it's easy to fix, it's easy to break.
>>
>>Too true :(
>
>Yes.
>
>I also have Comcast Internet service, but I own the cable modem (an
>Arris SURFboard SB6183, and so I don't get the 15-minute delays, or a
>host of other fiddles.
>
>I may upgrade the cable modem to get access to the free phone service
>(and phone number that comes with that service.
>
>Joe Gwinn
I have Comcast cable plus the "free" phone thing. Modem reboots are
fast. It's the fancy cable TV box that has the slow reboot.
I disconnected the phones because all the calls are spam.
Reply by Joe Gwinn●September 27, 20232023-09-27
On Mon, 18 Sep 2023 17:06:14 +0100, Martin Brown
<'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
>On 18/09/2023 15:33, John Larkin wrote:
>> On Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:36:03 +0100, Martin Brown
>> <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> My fibre modem hasn't been rebooted since installation apart from when
>>> it was unplugged for rearranging my office furniture. It is very stable.
>>>
>>> ADSL links used to die at least every couple of months with router
>>> firmware either going unresponsive or claiming perfect signal synch but
>>> no data transfer so incrementing hard unrecoverable error seconds in
>>> realtime. I always got a few of those per day in normal operation.
>>
>> Our Comcast box downloads its software from the mother ship, every
>> time it powers up. That takes about 15 minutes. I asssme they are in
>> the usual constant-upgrade bug manufacturing mode, as downloaded
>> software usually is.
>
>Ouch! That is a royal PITA. Mine has to have its firmware updated every
>now and then if a vulnerability is found and/or exploited but it boots
>in under a minute from whatever internal SSD/memory stick it has.
>
>It issues dire warnings about not switching it off during an update.
>
>> If it's easy to fix, it's easy to break.
>
>Too true :(
Yes.
I also have Comcast Internet service, but I own the cable modem (an
Arris SURFboard SB6183, and so I don't get the 15-minute delays, or a
host of other fiddles.
I may upgrade the cable modem to get access to the free phone service
(and phone number that comes with that service.
Joe Gwinn
Reply by Don Y●September 23, 20232023-09-23
On 9/22/2023 6:47 PM, Les Cargill wrote:
>> A lot of those multi-hundred megabit connections will go to a wireless router
>> where all user devices are connected to it via 802.11n or 802.11ac in a
>> super-cluttered RF environment, and topping out at 50 or 100 megabits
>> throughput on a good day
>
> 20 mbit is good enough for most things. I bought a cheap router last time,
> waiting for it to be inadequate and that day never came.
The uncontrollable part of the equation is the performance of
the server and all the fabric between hither and yon.
If you're *watching* live content, then the bandwidth of the
content sets your required minimum throughput (cuz you can't
WATCH it at anything faster than real-time).
And, if you're not sitting and watching, then who cares how long it
takes to get there -- as long as it does so intact?
[Hence the beauty of torrents and site scrapers... just let the
machine do its thing at whatever speed the fabric will *allow*
and check up on it from time to time. Who wants to watch water boil?]
Reply by Don Y●September 23, 20232023-09-23
On 9/22/2023 6:25 PM, Les Cargill wrote:
>> However since I now have a fibre connection I don't care. The failing
>> junction box (think black plastic policeman's helmet with multicoloured wire
>> knitting and joints inside) is buried in the verge in front of my house. If
>> the water table rises it floods and shorts out circuits. When the guys come
>> to sort it out it sounds like maracas when they shake it!
>>
>> In theory I think it is supposed to be water tight but in practice rodents do
>> for the catches or seals and after a few years it isn't.
>
> Strange; we found containers ( not sheet metal, something thicker - called 'em
> Bud boxes ) with O-ring seals and sealed connectors for a pretty reasonable
> price retail years ago. Like tens of dollars.
>
> They seem rat-proof to me.
I don't think the problem is "equipment" as much as it is "personnel".
Here, much of the line maintenance is subbed out; how much do you
think the sub worries about the kit they're servicing?
The pedestal nearest my house has a 1.5" gap between front cover
and back assembly. Large tye-wraps hold the front to the back.
Critters, weather, who-knows-what-else free to wander inside
and have a look/nibble around...
This "fix", apparently easier than scraping a bit of soil out from
the front of the pedestal so the cover can fit up against the back
at its original placement (which is now 0.25" below grade and thus
impossible to mate WITHOUT removing a shot-glass full of soil!).