O/T,Question for all the computer gurus

[Blue Healer]

Can anyone tell me anything about wireless internet, as in, we have wireless as there are no optical cables out here, ans we get a reasonable signal strength with a small magnetic based antenna on the desk, about 3-4 bars. BUT we seem to have no data exchange, like you cant watch youtube, takes 2 days to download a movie from itunes etc.
I have spoken to telstra, most dont understand english, or dont want to, no one can give me a direct answer. I have looked into an outside antenna, a yagi 10dBi gain, but I dont want to outlay another $100 until I can find out if it is going to make any difference. We have been putting up with this crap from telstra for almost 4 years now, and I have about had a gut full !
I also looked into satellite, but at $20 a month more for 2GB less, and have been told by a few that in this overcast weather the signal can drop in and out as well. With no work to start here within the next 3 years on the NBN rollout, NBN wwill be outdated before we get it, well actually it is old technology from the states now ! Any input would be helpful, thanks in advance guys and girls.

[Chyna]

I had wireless BH and to be honest vodafone was crap, Optus no better. So I've opted for naked adsl with optus. Costs $10 a month more but I get 15gig more a month. It still has it's slow mo's but I think that maybe more my aging laptop

[Blue Healer]

Unfortunately we cant choose servers out here, as telstra has the strongest signal and some days we have nothing, even on the mobiles, so it's useless trying another server with a weaker signal. No one has anything only telstra, I know a bloke moved here and was with virgin and he had to through his phone in the bin. Unfortunately telstra has us by the short and curlies and they really cant be stuffed trying to help us, I was going to ring and tell them to cancel the service and see if that woke them up. I guess all satellite servers are the same ? I wouldn't imagine they would have different signal strengths ? As I have no idea, and dont trust the people that sell these things I'll have to ask around a bit more.

Talking about sales people, some phone company rang the boss one day and offered him adsl, he said do we have it ? The bloke said yes you do. The boss asked me and I said no, there is no optical cable. The bloke said you have had it for about 12 months. I said well unless they drilled a hole 100km underground from Emerald and poked the cable through, we dont have it. No one has put any cable in the ground, and this prick was arguing with us, 6 months down the track there is still no cable in the ground and nothing planned for the next 3 years minimum. How would you be if you changed to this company, only to find you were connected to an imaginery network, lol !

[TheCthulhu]

Can anyone tell me anything about wireless internet, as in, we have wireless as there are no optical cables out here, ans we get a reasonable signal strength with a small magnetic based antenna on the desk, about 3-4 bars. BUT we seem to have no data exchange, like you cant watch youtube, takes 2 days to download a movie from itunes etc.
I have spoken to telstra, most dont understand english, or dont want to, no one can give me a direct answer. I have looked into an outside antenna, a yagi 10dBi gain, but I dont want to outlay another $100 until I can find out if it is going to make any difference. We have been putting up with this crap from telstra for almost 4 years now, and I have about had a gut full !
I also looked into satellite, but at $20 a month more for 2GB less, and have been told by a few that in this overcast weather the signal can drop in and out as well. With no work to start here within the next 3 years on the NBN rollout, NBN wwill be outdated before we get it, well actually it is old technology from the states now ! Any input would be helpful, thanks in advance guys and girls.

You could try a larger antenna, but if you're showing a good signal I would guess its just the provider that is awful Do you EVER get good speeds?

I've owned a DirecTV satellite for well over 10 years now, and can tell you that when aligned properly the myth about it cutting out in bad weather is just plain false - probably spread by the cable companies. I live in MI, USA - where we often have bad weather and nasty winters. Maybe once or twice a year there will be a storm bad enough for us to lose signal on SOME of our channels. I've never lost Internet. It takes some REALLY nasty weather, however, for there to be a problem. And if the dish is secure and can't be moved by the wind, that makes it even less likely. The only time we ever really have issues is when the entire dish gets buried by snow - but a quick brush off (we prefer to mount it on the ground for easy access) fixes that immediately. Heck, I've had it nearly buried in snow and STILL getting a signal.

Satellite isn't the fastest, but it would CERTAINLY be better than what you have now........

[Blue Healer]

You could try a larger antenna, but if you're showing a good signal I would guess its just the provider that is awful Do you EVER get good speeds?

I've owned a DirecTV satellite for well over 10 years now, and can tell you that when aligned properly the myth about it cutting out in bad weather is just plain false - probably spread by the cable companies. I live in MI, USA - where we often have bad weather and nasty winters. Maybe once or twice a year there will be a storm bad enough for us to lose signal on SOME of our channels. I've never lost Internet. It takes some REALLY nasty weather, however, for there to be a problem. And if the dish is secure and can't be moved by the wind, that makes it even less likely. The only time we ever really have issues is when the entire dish gets buried by snow - but a quick brush off (we prefer to mount it on the ground for easy access) fixes that immediately. Heck, I've had it nearly buried in snow and STILL getting a signal.

Satellite isn't the fastest, but it would CERTAINLY be better than what you have now........

No we have never had a brilliant service, but it has slowed down over the last few months. This IS Australia, and we are at the very least 10 years behind the USA as far as this technology is concerned, however I am looking into satellite, has to be a better option than this crap ! Thismorning it is slower than dial up, and sometimes wont load a page at all. I have been trying to track down car parts online, I have given up, I will just call the dealer in the morning. I am hopefully going to Townsville for a week in the school holidays, I will take the laptop with me and compare all the different sat providers, at least I can use the internet in the cities, lol. All I have to do then is see if I can get out of my telstra contract !