• Re: looking at getting Nomad

    From Kurt Weiske@618:300/1 to Sean Dennis on Fri Mar 5 07:34:00 2021
    Sean Dennis wrote to August Abolins <=-

    What you may not realize that the US government still uses OS/2 in mission-critical areas. I know that the Department of Defense, the US Treasury, and the Department of Energy all still use OS/2. There are a lot of private businesses using OS/2 still including banks.

    There is plenty of money to be made.

    I wonder how many Octel voicemail servers are left running? Back in 2000- 2010, a ton of small business PBXes used Octel's products, many of which ran on OS/2. Problem was that telecom people weren't server people back then, so they'd stick a mission-critical piece of the PBX on a beige desktop PC with
    a single ATA drive and single power supply. Maybe, they'd stick a tape drive on there if they were thinking clearly.

    I suppose they're long gone, but a couple of proper servers are still
    running.





    ... Would anyone want it?
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (618:300/1)
  • From Warpslide@618:500/23 to Kurt Weiske on Fri Mar 5 11:49:04 2021
    *** Quoting Kurt Weiske from a message to Sean Dennis ***

    Problem was that telecom people weren't server people back then, so
    they'd stick a mission-critical piece of the PBX on a beige desktop
    PC with a single ATA drive and single power supply. Maybe, they'd
    stick a tape drive on there if they were thinking clearly.

    I suppose they're long gone, but a couple of proper servers are still running.

    The phone system at my last job is a Toshiba CIX670. It's a modular system that takes various cards for certain functions. Want some more extension?
    Add in a digital extension card. Need a fax machine? Add in an analogue extension card. Need voicemail? Add in the voicemail card.

    The voicemail card was interesting, it's basically a tiny x86 PC running Windows XP embedded. The OS and voicemail files are stored on a 2.5"
    spinning hard drive. And of course it's networked, so you can get your voicemail messages emailed to you as an attachment.

    It's still running to this day, I'm surprised that little hard drive hasn't given up the ghost.

    Jay

    ... Whatever it is, it won't work.

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    * Origin: Northern Realms | 289-424-5180 | bbs.nrbbs.net (618:500/23)
  • From Nick Andre@618:500/24 to Kurt Weiske on Fri Mar 5 14:02:55 2021
    On 05 Mar 21 07:34:00, Kurt Weiske said the following to Sean Dennis:

    I wonder how many Octel voicemail servers are left running? Back in 2000- 2010, a ton of small business PBXes used Octel's products, many of which ra on OS/2. Problem was that telecom people weren't server people back then, s they'd stick a mission-critical piece of the PBX on a beige desktop PC with a single ATA drive and single power supply. Maybe, they'd stick a tape driv on there if they were thinking clearly.

    I have a client that still has a production Intertel Axxess system with a CPS and VPU unit... on Pentium 3's with ISA interface cards, IDE drives and Windows 2000, which itself was an upgrade from Windows NT 4.

    Nick

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (618:500/24)
  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to TINY on Fri Mar 5 00:25:00 2021
    speed test at the same time, I got better data speeds at 3G than he got
    at 4G so you can't always believe their claims. My best DL speed was
    3.6 Mbps and best upload was 3.1 Mbps, although the average was more
    like 3.0 and 2.6. (That was at Fast.com)

    Wow I've never checked speeds because... well honestly I've never
    > needed to. As I mentioned to August sometimes I need to set the
    > phone to 3G mode but most of the time I just leave it alone and it
    > works.

    Yes, I saw comments on that but didn't realize you had an option to choose between 3G and 4G. I assumed the phone just used the best available where it was situated.

    Maybe, along those lines, I find when my phone is On and waiting for use or using Data I may be getting 2 or 2 bars but as soon as I phone out it will often jump to the full 5 bars, suggesting the data hookup is a less 'solid' connection than the 4G/LTE Voice connection is.
    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Psychoceramics: The study of crackpots
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)
  • From August Abolins@618:250/1.9 to Rob Mccart on Sat Mar 6 17:17:00 2021
    Hello Rob Mccart!

    ** On Friday 05.03.21 - 00:25, Rob Mccart wrote to TINY:

    speed test at the same time, I got better data speeds at
    3G than he got at 4G..

    As I mentioned to August sometimes I need to set the
    phone to 3G mode but most of the time I just leave it
    alone and it works.


    Yes, I saw comments on that but didn't realize you had an
    option to choose between 3G and 4G.

    Depends on the device. I thought I could help a friend to
    reduce their 4G LTE phone down to 3G for a better signal, but I
    couldn't find the option in their modest Alcatel flip-phone.

    I assumed the phone just used the best available where it
    was situated.

    Again, depends on the phone. My Blackberry is very versatile and
    allows a variety of options.

    Maybe, along those lines, I find when my phone is On and
    waiting for use or using Data I may be getting 2 or 2 bars
    but as soon as I phone out it will often jump to the full 5
    bars, suggesting the data hookup is a less 'solid'
    connection than the 4G/LTE Voice connection is. -+-

    I notice a jump higher on the bars when I would want to start a
    call too. That's probably because the phone is coming out of
    standby or the radio puts out more power at that point?

    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.49
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)
  • From Kurt Weiske@618:300/1 to Warpslide on Sat Mar 6 07:57:00 2021
    Warpslide wrote to Kurt Weiske <=-

    The phone system at my last job is a Toshiba CIX670. It's a modular system that takes various cards for certain functions. Want some more extension? Add in a digital extension card. Need a fax machine? Add
    in an analogue extension card. Need voicemail? Add in the voicemail card.

    I never managed Toshiba systems, but always wanted to. Yeah, the key-system sized PBXes were intentionally easier to manage (like the Norstar systems
    form Nortel where you could program each phone from the phone set...)

    The voicemail card was interesting, it's basically a tiny x86 PC
    running Windows XP embedded. The OS and voicemail files are stored on
    a 2.5" spinning hard drive. And of course it's networked, so you can
    get your voicemail messages emailed to you as an attachment.

    It's still running to this day, I'm surprised that little hard drive hasn't given up the ghost.

    Nortel's Call Pilot system ran on Windows NT 3.5 Embedded. Since it wasn't directly tied to anything public-facing, I suppose it was alright.

    It's a dying industry, but needed - there are people who can support those
    who have garages full of spare parts. Won't get any new customers, but loyal customers until they finally switch.


    ... Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (618:300/1)
  • From Kurt Weiske@618:300/1 to Nick Andre on Sat Mar 6 07:58:00 2021
    Nick Andre wrote to Kurt Weiske <=-

    I have a client that still has a production Intertel Axxess system with
    a CPS and VPU unit... on Pentium 3's with ISA interface cards, IDE
    drives and Windows 2000, which itself was an upgrade from Windows NT 4.

    Those are so old that I remember them! One of the first PBXes that used DSPs for voice processing. Never bought one, but did do some shopping around for small PBXes for clients and ran into them.


    ... Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (618:300/1)
  • From Warpslide@618:500/23 to Kurt Weiske on Sat Mar 6 21:10:46 2021
    *** Quoting Kurt Weiske from a message to Warpslide ***

    It's a dying industry, but needed - there are people who can support
    those who have garages full of spare parts. Won't get any new
    customers, but loyal customers until they finally switch.

    I used to work at a company that sold & serviced phone systems. They had a "nortel guy" to service existing installs but we mainly sold Toshiba & Panasonic systems. The company let people "trade in" their old systems for credit towards a new one. Those traded in systems became parts for some of the ancient systems still in use.

    That company is no longer in business, but I'm sure that stockroom full of parts is still out there somewhere.

    Jay

    ... I want to be what I was when I started to be what I am now.

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    * Origin: Northern Realms | 289-424-5180 | bbs.nrbbs.net (618:500/23)
  • From Nick Andre@618:500/24 to Kurt Weiske on Sun Mar 7 02:02:24 2021
    On 06 Mar 21 07:58:00, Kurt Weiske said the following to Nick Andre:

    I have a client that still has a production Intertel Axxess system wit a CPS and VPU unit... on Pentium 3's with ISA interface cards, IDE drives and Windows 2000, which itself was an upgrade from Windows NT 4

    Those are so old that I remember them! One of the first PBXes that used DSP for voice processing. Never bought one, but did do some shopping around for small PBXes for clients and ran into them.

    Correct. The DSP's in my client's systems are definately not Dialogic, it's some other brand. Brooktrout? Likely spelling it wrong.

    I've noticed on Ebay that Intertel also apparently made those voicemail systems-on-a-card.... a complete PC on a KSU cabinet card even with the hard drive and connections for monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.

    Nick

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (618:500/24)
  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Mon Mar 8 00:24:00 2021
    Maybe, along those lines, I find when my phone is On and
    waiting for use or using Data I may be getting 2 or 3 bars
    but as soon as I phone out it will often jump to the full 5
    bars, suggesting the data hookup is a less 'solid'
    connection than the 4G/LTE Voice connection is. -+-

    I notice a jump higher on the bars when I would want to start a
    >call too. That's probably because the phone is coming out of
    >standby or the radio puts out more power at that point?

    I know if I do something with Data the bars stay the same, and when I go to make a call I have generally Just booted up the phone since I rarely have it sitting on standby. I use it primarily for Data or as more of an Emergency phone when away from home than to be constantly available..
    I'm 'available' enough with 2 land lines. B)

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Beware of Geeks bearing GIFS
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)
  • From ROBERT WOLFE@618:100/14 to Tiny on Tue Mar 9 16:12:18 2021
    On 3/1/2021 1:36 PM, Tiny wrote to August Abolins:

    I bought a bell hotspot device for the woods the year I lived
    there for 5.5 months. So...3 years ago. About 3 months in I
    switched my phone service to public mobile and with the 5.5 gigs
    on the phone I promptly cancelled bell and the device has been
    in the shed ever since.

    Ok, which carrier are you with to get 5.5GB worth of data transfer? (If I
    am reading this message correctly.)

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v7.0
    * Origin: MicroNet: Omicrn Theta * Southaven MS * winserver.org (618:100/14)
  • From ROBERT WOLFE@618:100/14 to Sean Dennis on Tue Mar 9 16:13:04 2021
    On 3/1/2021 9:18 AM, Sean Dennis wrote to Tiny:

    I hate being in contact constantly these days.

    No kidding! Although sometimes I appreciate being in constant contact
    from time to time.

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v7.0
    * Origin: MicroNet: Omicrn Theta * Southaven MS * winserver.org (618:100/14)
  • From Tiny@618:500/32 to ROBERT WOLFE on Wed Mar 10 08:56:50 2021
    ROBERT WOLFE wrote to Tiny <=-

    switched my phone service to public mobile and with the 5.5 gigs
    on the phone I promptly cancelled bell and the device has been
    Ok, which carrier are you with to get 5.5GB worth of data transfer?
    (If I am reading this message correctly.)

    Public Mobile.

    Shawn

    ... I*love~my$computer,;It's%made in Taiwa~##$ `(#;

    --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - telnet://tinysbbs.com:3023 (618:500/32)
  • From Sean Dennis@618:618/10 to Tiny on Wed Mar 10 18:14:45 2021
    Hello Tiny,

    Wednesday March 10 2021 08:56, you wrote to ROBERT WOLFE:

    Public Mobile.

    I read that as "Pubic Mobile". I then thought they might be a bunch of ... well, you know. <G>

    Later,
    Sean

    --- GoldED/2 3.0.1
    * Origin: Outpost BBS // bbs.outpostbbs.net:10123 (618:618/10)
  • From Daryl Stout@618:250/33 to Sean Dennis on Wed Mar 10 19:28:00 2021
    Sean,

    Public Mobile.

    I read that as "Pubic Mobile". I then thought they might be a bunch of ... well, you know. <G>

    ROFLMBO!! I hate to admit it, but I did the same thing when I first read
    it. :P

    Daryl

    ... Do you, Sysop, take this BBS, to be your wedded spouse??
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.13-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (618:250/33)
  • From Tiny@618:500/32 to Sean Dennis on Thu Mar 11 09:03:12 2021
    Sean Dennis wrote to Tiny <=-

    Public Mobile.
    I read that as "Pubic Mobile". I then thought they might be a bunch of ... well, you know. <G>

    Laugh. No publilc.

    Shawn

    ... It requires a very unusual mind to make an analysis of the obvious.

    --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - telnet://tinysbbs.com:3023 (618:500/32)
  • From August Abolins@618:250/1.9 to Sean Dennis on Sun Mar 21 21:07:00 2021
    Hello Sean!

    ** On Thursday 04.03.21 - 14:22, you wrote to me:

    What you may not realize that the US government still uses
    OS/2 in mission-critical areas. I know that the Department
    of Defense, the US Treasury, and the Department of Energy
    all still use OS/2. There are a lot of private businesses
    using OS/2 still including banks.

    What constitutes "mission critical" in gov't? The IRS? :/

    According to just some recent findings by Krebs, the US gov't
    has had no end of problems with several of their "benefits"
    application rollouts. But maybe that was Windoze-based. :D

    I read that many bank machines in Canada employed embedded OS/2
    systems. Not sure what the gambit is now.

    There is plenty of money to be made.

    The maintenance and adjustments to programs are sure to be
    required.

    Also...come 2038, all the 16 bit and even 32 bit programs
    they boast supporting so easily (which seems to be its key
    versatility) with OS/2 will be moot.

    There's a workaround for that from what I'm told but I am
    not familiar of what it is.

    The workaround is probably to only use apps that do not rely on
    dates whatsover. ???


    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.49
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)
  • From August Abolins@618:250/1.9 to Rob Mccart on Sun Mar 21 21:23:00 2021
    Hello Rob Mccart!

    ** On Wednesday 03.03.21 - 00:50, Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS:

    I currently don't use my cell as a phone at all - and no
    one knows the number. The cell is primarily for mobile
    data. Therefore, I don't have an issue with telemarkers
    with the cell. If an unknown caller rings, I would let it
    go to vmail - but no one has used that option.

    I use my cell phone the same way, it's for data and to have
    a phone with me when away from home but it's almost always
    turned off. I've never gotten a call from anyone I wasn't
    expecting a call from in the past 2 years. I could use it
    more and dump my land line but I'm so far out in the
    boonies that my land line is fairly cheap, just under $30,
    so I'm putting up with the extra cost for now. For 'talking
    on the phone' at home I prefer the land line over the cell
    phone.

    Under $30 USD? Mine is about $35 CDN after tax.

    Recently I got a SIM card in the mail from the phone company
    offering to "convert" my land-line phone number to a cell
    service. The minimum monthly would be $60 CDN (plus a one-time
    activation fee of $45) All I would have to do was slip the
    card into my existing phone, send a special text message, and
    xPOOFx, I'd be ready to use my existing landline number with the
    phone. Oh.. plus they throw in about 10GB of mobile data. Not
    sure if that is a great idea.

    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.49
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)
  • From August Abolins@618:250/1.9 to Warpslide on Sun Mar 21 21:37:00 2021
    Hello Warpslide!

    ** On Wednesday 03.03.21 - 10:14, Warpslide wrote to Tiny:

    This reminds me of a story...

    Back then when I would get a netmail message, Front Door
    would chime every so often to let you know you had
    netmail...

    I went away for a weekend...

    After asking around my Mom said: "Oh, yeah, your computer
    had the hiccups and I was tired of listening to it, so I
    just switched it off."

    I'm surprised that your Mom wasn't familiar with the sounds of
    the PC doing the same thing when you were at home and ask you
    about the noises.

    After that, I disconnected the PC speaker.

    I think I unplugged my PC speaker from every one that I ever
    operated too.

    The "net stop beep" command is a first thing I execute on my
    laptop after a clean boot up.
    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.49
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)
  • From August Abolins@618:250/1.9 to Rob Mccart on Sun Mar 21 21:50:00 2021
    Hello Rob Mccart!

    ** On Tuesday 02.03.21 - 00:52, Rob Mccart wrote to TINY:

    ..I find 3G works fairly well with everything I do a lot
    of. High Def streaming doesn't run as smoothly as it could
    but one thing I found was, standing beside someone who has
    a 4G plan, both of us running a speed test at the same
    time, I got better data speeds at 3G than he got at 4G so
    you can't always believe their claims. My best DL speed was
    3.6 Mbps and best upload was 3.1 Mbps, although the average
    was more like 3.0 and 2.6. (That was at Fast.com)

    Getting 3.1Mbps DL here with 4G/3G/2G manually (LTE *not*
    selected):

    https://kolico.ca/files/bb_IMG_20210321_214355.png

    ...and I rarely get anything greater than 2 Mbps UL.
    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.49
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)
  • From Warpslide@618:500/23 to August Abolins on Mon Mar 22 07:30:33 2021
    *** Quoting August Abolins from a message to Warpslide ***

    I'm surprised that your Mom wasn't familiar with the sounds of the
    PC doing the same thing when you were at home and ask you about the noises.

    I didn't really get a lot of netmail back then, really only when I did something with Areafix/Allfix. I don't remember what that particular netmail was anymore. Just murphay's law that I'd get one when away from the house.

    I'm pretty sure I've gotten more netmail from real humans this time around in BBSing than I ever did back then.

    Jay

    ... The word 'meaningful' when used today is nearly always meaningless.

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    * Origin: Northern Realms | 289-424-5180 | bbs.nrbbs.net (618:500/23)
  • From Sean Dennis@618:618/10 to August Abolins on Mon Mar 22 21:18:00 2021
    August Abolins wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

    The workaround is probably to only use apps that do not rely on
    dates whatsover. ???

    It depends on what language the program is written in. If it's C,
    just use a time library that uses an 8-byte time instead of 4-byte.

    For Pascal, it might be different depending on what flavor of Pascal
    you use. Free Pascal relies on the OS to handle time and date and
    stores it accordingly.

    I seriously doubt by 2038 I will still be running a BBS but that's
    only 17 years away. I've been running a BBS for 25 years so what's
    another 17 years? I will probably have to switch to Linux then since
    I doubt IBM will allow OS/2 to be ported to 64 bit.

    -- Sean

    ... Star Wars: a very long time ago but somehow still in the future.
    ___ MultiMail/Win v0.52

    --- Maximus/2 3.01
    * Origin: Outpost BBS // bbs.outpostbbs.net:10123 (618:618/10)
  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Tue Mar 23 00:46:00 2021
    I could use it
    more and dump my land line but I'm so far out in the
    boonies that my land line is fairly cheap, just under $30,
    so I'm putting up with the extra cost for now. For 'talking
    on the phone' at home I prefer the land line over the cell
    phone.

    Under $30 USD? Mine is about $35 CDN after tax.

    Sorry, I'm located in Canada although I access the BBS system through an American supplier so it may appear I'm American.
    My monthly landline is $29.66 +tax Cdn. I find mine is about $8 cheaper than the average, mostly because the lines and boxes in my area are so old. Back when I had Dial-up the best I could get was about 26k instead of 52k.
    (You never get the supposed maximum 56k on dial-up.)


    Recently I got a SIM card in the mail from the phone company
    >offering to "convert" my land-line phone number to a cell
    >service. The minimum monthly would be $60 CDN (plus a one-time
    >activation fee of $45) All I would have to do was slip the
    >card into my existing phone, send a special text message, and
    >xPOOFx, I'd be ready to use my existing landline number with the
    >phone. Oh.. plus they throw in about 10GB of mobile data. Not
    >sure if that is a great idea.

    That sounds slightly pricey to me..

    What I am getting lately are offers from Bell at $40 Cdn with unlimited Canada wide talk and text plus 6 gig of data, usually with the option of a medium decent phone ($450?) for an extra $10 a month over 2 years.
    (Other offers have been the same but with 8 gig of data for $50 a month.)

    To be honest, I'd be almost tempted to take the deal if not for that $45 activation fee. After all, it would give me an extra gig of Data and at 4G speed instead of 3G speed.. But as discussed elsewhere the actual speed increase in use is probably hardly noticable.

    I think it's more that I am already a Bell customer through Lucky, and I got rooked into paying $45 activatiom when I got that SIM card, so I sort of
    resent the idea of paying it again rather than any problem affording it.
    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Optimism is a sign of inexperience
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)
  • From Captain Troy Tempest@618:500/30 to Rob Mccart on Tue Mar 23 14:41:14 2021
    What I am getting lately are offers from Bell at $40 Cdn with unlimited Canada wide talk and text plus 6 gig of data, usually with the option of
    a medium decent phone ($450?) for an extra $10 a month over 2 years. (Other offers have been the same but with 8 gig of data for $50 a month.)


    do not take Fibe phone will not work with modem diaLUP

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/02/01 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: SpaceSST BBS (618:500/30)
  • From Kevin Nunn@618:200/1 to Sean Dennis on Tue Mar 23 16:29:49 2021
    SEAN DENNIS wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS <=-

    I seriously doubt by 2038 I will still be running a BBS but that's
    only 17 years away. I've been running a BBS for 25 years so what's

    Right! But, I can tell you 20 years ago I never would have thought I'd
    still be running a BBS on real hardware under OS/2.

    another 17 years? I will probably have to switch to Linux then since
    I doubt IBM will allow OS/2 to be ported to 64 bit.

    The only BBS I've run under linux is my Mystic Pi setup, so I won't be
    ever switching to linux. If I still alive in 17 years and I haven't
    used up the old hardware I have in storage, I'll probably still be
    running on OS/2 and Telegard :P

    Kev

    --- Telegard/2/QWK v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    * Origin: Razor's Domain/2 BBS (618:200/1)
  • From August Abolins@618:250/1.9 to Rob Mccart on Tue Mar 23 20:37:00 2021
    Hello Rob!

    ** On Tuesday 23.03.21 - 00:46, you wrote to me:

    Under $30 USD? Mine is about $35 CDN after tax.

    Sorry, I'm located in Canada although I access the BBS
    system through an American supplier so it may appear I'm
    American. My monthly landline is $29.66 +tax Cdn. I find
    mine is about $8 cheaper than the average, mostly because
    the lines and boxes in my area are so old. Back when I had
    Dial-up the best I could get was about 26k instead of 52k.
    (You never get the supposed maximum 56k on dial-up.)

    OK.. then we are fellow Canadian neighbours (Ontariariaons),
    despite my point node appearing that I might be located in KY.

    LOL

    Reviewing one of my phone bills, my base before taxes is $29.66
    as well.

    When I operated a BBS here, I've had consistent success reaching
    33k consistently when I needed to poll some out of province
    nodes. Provincial incoming and outgoing calls often reached the
    50k+ level. But, over time, the landlines deteriorated -
    especially during Spring weather.


    What I am getting lately are offers from Bell..

    To be honest, I'd be almost tempted to take the deal if not
    for that $45 activation fee.

    I'm with you with that stoic attitude too! The activation fee
    is so arbitrary and unnecessary considering that you would be a
    long-time user after that!

    Take a look at what Chatr (Rogers) and PublicMobile (Telus) have
    to offer. They operate much the same as Lucky, *and* you can
    "register" the SIM card yourself. You might be able to squeeze
    out an extra GB or two with them.

    After all, it would give me an extra gig of Data and at 4G
    speed instead of 3G speed.. But as discussed elsewhere the
    actual speed increase in use is probably hardly noticable.

    Not sure where you are located, but in my area of Ontario, my
    Blackberry registers LTE if I allow it. But I purposefully keep
    my connections at 4G/3G - I get a higher signal level with
    those. So.. Lucky has 4G, but it operates at 3G speed.

    I think it's more that I am already a Bell customer through
    Lucky, and I got rooked into paying $45 activatiom when I
    got that SIM card, so I sort of resent the idea of paying
    it again rather than any problem affording it. -+-

    Well.. you could think of the $45 fee to be the cost of that
    extra 1GB spread out over the course of your membership.

    But, I think you might like the privilege of activating an
    account all by yourself should you try Chatr or Public.


    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.49
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)
  • From Mike Powell@618:250/1 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Wed Mar 24 15:28:00 2021
    OK.. then we are fellow Canadian neighbours (Ontariariaons),
    despite my point node appearing that I might be located in KY.

    LOL

    Yes, you are both actually interfacing with this network, and Dovenet, on
    the same BBS. :)

    Mike


    * SLMR 2.1a * I was a tall person before I used PKZIP...!
    --- SBBSecho 3.12-Linux
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)
  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Thu Mar 25 00:56:00 2021
    Sorry, I'm located in Canada although I access the BBS
    system through an American supplier so it may appear I'm
    American.

    OK.. then we are fellow Canadian neighbours (Ontariariaons),

    I think you missed an 'ari' in there.. B)

    despite my point node appearing that I might be located in KY.

    I hear we are using exactly the Same node.. (Thanks Mike..) B)

    Reviewing one of my phone bills, my base before taxes is $29.66
    >as well.

    When I operated a BBS here, I've had consistent success reaching
    >33k consistently when I needed to poll some out of province
    >nodes. Provincial incoming and outgoing calls often reached the
    >50k+ level. But, over time, the landlines deteriorated -
    >especially during Spring weather.

    Yes, although my 26k limit wasn't a connection quality issue, it was the fact that the orignal Bell Box was designed to use Party Lines, 4 users per line, and later they went to 2 users hidden from each other so you couldn't tell but it cut the data transmission rate in half under all conditions.
    I don't miss downloading 32 gig program updates at 6.5 gig per hour..

    Take a look at what Chatr (Rogers) and PublicMobile (Telus) have
    >to offer. They operate much the same as Lucky, *and* you can
    >"register" the SIM card yourself. You might be able to squeeze
    >out an extra GB or two with them.

    Is their data at 4G speeds?

    Not sure where you are located, but in my area of Ontario, my
    >Blackberry registers LTE if I allow it. But I purposefully keep
    >my connections at 4G/3G - I get a higher signal level with
    >those. So.. Lucky has 4G, but it operates at 3G speed.

    Yes, is shows LTE but the data speed is just throttled back I suppose.
    I don't think my phone supports dropping LTE, but things generally work fairly well as they are.

    I'm on the shores of Georgian Bay near Parry Sound, although I spend the
    winter in town these days. Chopping holes in the ice to get water and hauling groceries in by sled in my snow shoes got a little tired after doing it for about 12 years.. B)
    ---
    * SLMR Rob * As a computer I find your faith in technology amusing
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)
  • From August Abolins@618:250/1.9 to Rob Mccart on Thu Mar 25 19:17:00 2021
    Hello Rob!

    ** On Thursday 25.03.21 - 00:56, you wrote to me:

    OK.. then we are fellow Canadian neighbours (Ontariariaons),

    I think you missed an 'ari' in there.. B)

    :D ..ah! so you are familiar with the term. :D


    ...the orignal Bell Box was designed to use Party Lines, 4 users
    per line, and later they went to 2 users hidden from each other so you couldn't tell but it cut the data transmission rate in half under all conditions.

    Then you indeed have (had) much older boxes to deal with. Here,
    it was party line with a total of 3 or 4 house-holds
    (distinctive rings for each) from about 1973-1976. Then, we got
    our own 2-pair cable strung to the house after that.

    I don't miss downloading 32 gig program updates at 6.5 gig
    per hour..

    6.5 GB in an hour over dial up? That's amazing! Perhaps you
    meant MB, not GB.

    I found fetching a 4 minute song (mp3) averaged at about 15 to
    20 minutes each - 4MB. So, that would be about 12-15MB in an
    hour.

    Take a look at what Chatr (Rogers) and PublicMobile (Telus) have
    to offer.

    Is their data at 4G speeds?

    Both services have FAQs. Maybe it has answers.

    https://www.chatrwireless.com/web/content/faq/data_services

    https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/ differences-between-3g-and-4g-lte

    They probably have area maps that you can check for coverage for
    your area.

    I'm on the shores of Georgian Bay near Parry Sound,
    although I spend the winter in town these days. Chopping
    holes in the ice to get water and hauling groceries in by
    sled in my snow shoes got a little tired after doing it for
    about 12 years.. B)

    My family used to conduct lamprey trapping not far from the
    Perry Sound area in the Saugine River.
    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.49
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointface (618:250/1.9)
  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Sat Mar 27 00:40:00 2021
    OK.. then we are fellow Canadian neighbours (Ontariariaons),

    I think you missed an 'ari' in there.. B)

    :D ..ah! so you are familiar with the term. :D

    Not even sure when that came out.. Probably just as well it's not still in common use.. B)

    ...the orignal Bell Box was designed to use Party Lines, 4 users
    per line, and later they went to 2 users hidden from each other so you couldn't tell but it cut the data transmission rate in half under all conditions.

    Then you indeed have (had) much older boxes to deal with. Here,
    >it was party line with a total of 3 or 4 house-holds
    >(distinctive rings for each) from about 1973-1976. Then, we got
    >our own 2-pair cable strung to the house after that.

    I bought in 1980 but didn't move up here full time until 1986 and needed a phone then so the equipment was old even by that time. There were 4 households on a line with 2 distinct rings as they were somehow able to hide one side of the line from the other and 2 people could use their phone at the same time, although it wasn't 'perfect' as you could often hear someone quietly talking
    in the background if you were paying attention. It also wasn't until a few years after I got here that, on local calls, we had to dial more than 4
    digits. These days a local call requires 10 digits..

    I don't miss downloading 32 gig program updates at 6.5 gig
    per hour..

    6.5 GB in an hour over dial up? That's amazing! Perhaps you
    >meant MB, not GB.

    Darn.. Yes, my bad. I meant Megabytes. We get warped with the size of things these days compared to the old days..

    I remember when a 10 MEGAbyte hard drive was Huge..
    Who'd ever need anything bigger than that ? B)

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Girl Guide cookies don't taste at all like Girl Guides
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)