Happy June

[tasyfa]

Seeing as it is, just barely, the first here already. I'll finish gathering all my stuff tomorrow and then haul everything to my new place. The only problem with that is, well, I don't have Internet yet. It seems that even with the completely mobile services, you still need a base phone line. Which I don't necessarily object to, although paying a

Comments

[khemlab]

Is there no cable internet in England? I don't have a phone line either, but I can get cable internet without a phone line -- I just ordered the internet part a la cart, no channels.

[tasyfa]

Cable works very, very differently in the UK because of the 5 BBC channels that are "free" when the TV licence is paid. Anything beyond that requires a satellite package, most frequently Sky One. But the thing is, if the cable is active and attached to my laptop, which is capable of viewing TV, then I`d need to pay the licence fee, which I don`t want to do. And I haven`t seen any sort of cable Internet advertised by anyone, either.

[khemlab]

Hmm. That doesn't seem quite so different from how it is in the U.S. -- by default, when you order cable internet, you're also getting the basic cable service. Of course, the cable providers figured it out and now block it, though I believe the blocking bit is done at your home, rather than at the centralized station.

Good luck with your search! It's crazy how things that should be simple become more complicated in an unfamiliar country.

[joianoel]

How much is a wireless broadband card there? In the US it's about $100 for the PCMCIA card, then $60 a month for unlimited internet access wherever you are. Do they have similar plans there? That would certainly eliminate the need for a phone line.

[tasyfa]

Haven't seen any service of that sort advertised (and that's more than I'd like to pay, too; I'm connected a lot, but I don't do a lot of high bandwidth activities). I'm checking out the mobile options but I really need to just go in and get more information than anyone's website is giving me.

[joianoel]

Yeah, it's pretty steep to pay that much. I know there are sometimes specials where the hardware is free, but that's still a high monthly bill.

It does sound like you need to go in and talk to them. Good luck with this!

[girltufty]

There are may be some internet cafes near you?

[tasyfa]

Maybe, yeah, but the library's only a ten minute walk and it's free there, just limited.