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This is a message for all you out there who purchase block time, like
100hrs for $100 from your ISP, not those of you who purchase "all you can
eat" monthly for around $25 / month.
Have you ever noticed how during up or downloading emails your data
transmission stops from time to time ? For those of you who are unfamiliar you
can pick this whilst on line by watching the two little TV screens in your task
bar at bottom right on your screen , or by clicking on them and watching the
actual flow of data in a dialogue box that comes up. When the little screens are
blue data is flowing and when they are black it isn't. This happens during
download from visited websites too.
You should check this carefully because while the screens are black you are
paying for online time during which nothing is happening - you are being ripped
off. I have noticed recently that for between 30 - 50% of the time ( on average)
with my ISP the screens are black which means that although I am paying for
100hrs of time ( plus an annual "membership fee") I am actually losing 30 - 50
hrs of this time. I am sure some sort of "priority" system is at work,
although my ISP will not admit this.
I have complained to my ISP about this and at first the response was " we
can't do anything about that - it's part of the email system ". Later it evolved
that if I switched to a monthly "all you can eat" plan, the problem will not
exist, which implies that if the ISP wished to fix the problem it can be
done. Meanwhile of course one would be paying around $300 per year for the
monthly plan instead of $100 for 100 hrs - which lasts me well over a
year.
I then spoke with other ISPs about this and they assured me that they could
fix the problem, if I joined them at the same rate (without annual fees) ,
by instructing me on how to alter the command settings in my modem - the init
strings. If they can do that, I asked my ISP, why can't you ? A
deathly silence - which I suppose means they would prefer to rip me off rather
than help fix the problem.
This is something you need to be very aware of to avoid being ripped off in
a block plan.
Needless to say I will be switching ISPs when my current block of time is
used up.
I'd be interested in hearing about other people's experiences in this
matter.
Tony.
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