Hawaiian Telcom DSL

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Some time back I was having some speed problems and the put me on a different circuit.

[Linkmeister]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

I've got an email application running, but it's on a ten-minute cycle of looking, so it's not usually in the way. Nothin' else.

I emailed them through the website, but it wouldn't hurt to call them too, I guess.

[Linkmeister]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Update: I just spoke with the tech support people and was told they'd provision it to the higher speed and I should see it within 24 hours.

"Provision?" What the heck kind of jargon is that?

Update the second: That was fast. I just tested again, for grins. 2626 download, 568 upload.

[Konaguy]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Provisioning is DSL jargon essentially saying in other words that they have to configure your line for the selected speed.
Good to see that they correctly provisioned your line now.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Please excuse me for asking this very basic question which has probably been answered many times before but I've just upgraded from dial-up so this is all new to me. Question: is it ok to turn the surge protector switch off every night or does this hurt the computer and/or dsl modem? Thanks for any help.

From an electronic tech/computer repair perspective, leaving your computer on will result in your cooling fan to die early (it's always spinning when the computer's on), your hard drive will die early (it's typically always spinning when the computer's on), and your Power Supply Unit's fan will die early (same reasons).

Okay so the fans die early. What happens when they die early when you're sleeping, watching Lost, or worse yet not home? Well the PSU dies, the Hard Drive seizes and crashes, and the CPU fries.

Have you ever seen what happens when a CPU fries?

Ultimately a fire can occur and wouldn't that be a shame especially after hooking up that computer to that expensive 22" wide screen monitor you just bought at CompUSA on sale.

Electronics create heat, heat kills electronics. Save the Earth and turn it off when not using it. You just may save your home from burning down as well.

[MixedPlateBroker]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

One thing to remember with DSL is that your signal degrades in step with your distance from the Hawaiian Telcom Central Office in your neighborhood. Considering that a CO can only service customers within an 18,000 wire-foot radius (at up to 3 Mbps), there will also be distance/speed thresholds within that boundary, i.e., 6,000 feet for 11 Mbps and 8,000 feet for 7 Mbps. Customers approaching the distance limit for their respective provisioned speed may get less juice than expected (provisioned speed less 20-25% for TCP/IP overhead) due to signal decay.

A HawTelcom CSR should be able to accurately tell you your wire-foot distance from your neighborhood CO. Those thinking about getting DSL may want to check out this site to see if they're at least within the ballpark for the respective service package.

Another option to turning off your computer is putting it in sleep mode:

There are several advantages to choosing sleep over shutting down:
• All your work, including information about the programs you were using such as window location and size, is automatically saved.
• When you awaken your machine from sleep, you don't need to restart programs or reopen files as you would if you had shut down the computer.
• While Windows does use some power in sleep mode, it's very small: about one-tenth as much as it would need if you left the computer running. A mobile PC typically uses 1 to 2 percent of battery power per hour in sleep mode.
• When Windows is asleep, it can still download and install updates and perform other routine maintenance tasks. For this reason, some companies require employees to put their computers to sleep rather than shut them down when going home for the evening.

But there are instances when you should shut down your computer fully—for example, when you install a new memory card or other hardware. If you don't plan to use your computer for several days or more, you should also shut it down.

source: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...4dc111033.mspx

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Several days? I can see if you're not using it for a few minutes where turning things on then off then on again can cause surges throughout the circuitry, But if you're planning on stepping away for even an hour you should shut down. Even in sleep mode that CPU fan is still turning and that PSU fan is still turning. Fans run with motors. Motors that spin on ball bearings eventually will stop spinning when the ball bearings seize due to excessive use.

As for DSL modems, turning them off can result in your modem not getting updates from Hawaiian Telecom. Same goes for Cable and wireless modems.

When turning everything back on you should first turn on the modem, then the router (if you're networking computers), because before the router can see the modem, the modem has to see the hub. Then you turn on your computer.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

leaving your computer on will result in your cooling fan to die early (it's always spinning when the computer's on), your hard drive will die early (it's typically always spinning when the computer's on), and your Power Supply Unit's fan will die early (same reasons).

Holly thread resurrection!

I think you're overstating the dangers. How many fires have been started by computers? I don't know of any. That video, which is worse case (removed the heat sink), produced nothing more then smoke. The fire threat is minimal.

There are pros and cons both ways. I consider fans expendable. If you pay attention to the noises, you'll have warning. Disk drives? Never knew of any that had an early death from being left on - as long as they had adequate cooling. Heat is deadly to electronics. If the house gets hot while your gone, then it would be best to turn things off.

One issue from cycling the computer so much is the thermal effects. Also drives under go a "crash" every time they are stopped.

As long as things are cool enough, I don't think it makes that much of a difference either way. A bigger question is the electric bill.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Holly thread resurrection!

I think you're overstating the dangers. How many fires have been started by computers? I don't know of any. That video, which is worse case (removed the heat sink), produced nothing more then smoke. The fire threat is minimal.

There are pros and cons both ways. I consider fans expendable. If you pay attention to the noises, you'll have warning. Disk drives? Never knew of any that had an early death from being left on - as long as they had adequate cooling. Heat is deadly to electronics. If the house gets hot while your gone, then it would be best to turn things off.

One issue from cycling the computer so much is the thermal effects. Also drives under go a "crash" every time they are stopped.

As long as things are cool enough, I don't think it makes that much of a difference either way. A bigger question is the electric bill.

As overplayed as it was, it does represent a point that when the cooling fan stops, your computer will stop soon thereafter. Remember a cooling fan is a mechanical device that is prone to wear and tear and anytime it's spinning, it's wearing down. Imagine the electric radiator fan on your car failing while idling in traffic? Same principle, same net effect. Now you cannot simply shut down your engine on the freeway, but on a computer you can shut it down if you're not going to use it for an hour.

And yes hard drives can crash on powering off, however there usually is a spin-down cycle to reduce that effect. And like a cooling fan, a hard drive is a mechanical device that is wearing down for every second it's up and running.

Speaking of electric bills, I decided to see exactly how much power my 400-watt PSU was using when the computer was in sleep mode by connecting it to a wattage meter. 90-watts! Imagine that floodlight in your garage on 24/7. Yeah your electric bill will be somewhat higher. Compared to my Energy Star rated air conditioner running at 82-watts, I'd rather leave my AC on and keep cool rather than leaving my computer on and not using it.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

90-watts!

A little under $10/month by my calculation.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Per computer. Man are we the only two people awake on this board? It's almost 2am! Time to heat up those Hot Pockets

[MixedPlateBroker]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

I'd rather leave my AC on and keep cool rather than leaving my computer on and not using it.

Or you could let SETI use of some of your cpu cycles and wattage. At least they'd be put to a use other than just generating heat. Plus you're paid three bars of cold-pressed latinum after first contact.

OK. I made that last part up.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Oh man what a teaser, cold-pressed latinum and three bars of it? Can I get it in a Venti?

Man it's so late even the Coquies are quiet.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

Or you could let SETI use of some of your cpu cycles and wattage.

I used to belong to something like that, until they closed up shop. I can't remember the name now. I had a few computer years into that.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawaiian Telcom DSL

I used to belong to something like that, until they closed up shop. I can't remember the name now. I had a few computer years into that.

I believe the new name is: Lost is Space