Can you beat Verizon?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Do you have to have wifi with fios?

[glatt]

No.

[HungLikeJesus]

Yeah, we'll be watching you.

[lookout123]

Why did a container cost more than the Cola inside? Massive profits because the 'not monopolies' could set excessively high profit margins.

Because the company paid for the advertising that put their product in front of people. People chose to buy the product to the point of brand loyalty. Because people received value for their money and were satisfied in doing so.

The soft drink industry might not be the best comparison TW.

[HungLikeJesus]

Yeah, now I'm thirsty.

[classicman]

tw - why would they put it outside if they can do it inside? The nema enclosures are so much more expensive and having the connections internal seems to be smarter anyway.

My neighbor had FIOS installed about 3 months ago, but the box is on the outside (front too) of the house. OH and the cheapest green "clay" blocks the moisture from entering the box. It looks terrible and doesn't really seal the whole in the bottom of the box either.
I haven't done that type of work in 20 years and I easily could have done a better job than that.

[tw]

Originally Posted by classicman

tw - why would they put it outside if they can do it inside? ... OH and the cheapest green "clay" blocks the moisture from entering the box.

Outside for same reasons that a POTS (conventional telephone) NID, AC electric meter, gas meter and shutoff, etc are also outside. For example, service performed without anyone being home.

Electrical clay is perfectly good moisture protection. Normally, electrical clay is black. Clay is rarely applied 'pretty'. A better clay seal is a lump to make a moisture resistant barrier.

Of course, better installations also use a drip loop before entering a box or building.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by tw

For service performed without anyone being home.

Electrical clay is perfectly good moisture protection. Normally, electrical clay is black. Clay is rarely applied 'pretty'. A better clay seal is a lump to make a moisture resistant barrier.

Of course, better installations also use a drip loop before entering a box or building.

It just looks like crap and is on the front of the house visible to the street

[glatt]

I have another related question and seek advice from anyone who feels qualified. Our new service offers caller ID, which we never had, plus our current 900MHZ analog cordless phone has sticky buttons, so we want to get a new cordless phone with a caller ID display.

I'm curious if I have to look for a certain frequency phone to avoid interference with the wireless router. I looked at the wireless router for information on the frequency it uses, but could find none. The router is a Verizon branded MI424WR router. 2 Is there a specific frequency phone I should be looking for? I tried a Google search but can't find anything.

I love our current 900 MHZ analog Panasonic cordless phone, but its life is almost over.

[tw]

Originally Posted by glatt

I'm curious if I have to look for a certain frequency phone to avoid interference with the wireless router. I looked at the wireless router for information on the frequency it uses, but could find none.

The frequencies are FCC assigned and per industry standards. 802.11G uses 2.4 Ghz which is also used by so many if not most electronics wireless devices (including portable phones, Bluetooth, and even remote weather monitors). That frequency is also used by microwave ovens.

What frequency will you router use? Well, negotiations determine that. If router and computer are 802.11N, then both may use 5 Ghz. Or may use 2.4 Ghz.

Problem is so few channels in so few ISM bands shared by so many wireless devices. Good news. All those devices are designed to use same frequency and work fine.

What is important? Waste no time with nonsense such as 'five bars'. Useful information is in numbers such as signal to noise ratios measured in dBs. Many other devices on the same frequency simply reduce that S/N ratio. Only then does anyone really know whether the device is and will be reliable.

Your father used his portable to measure signal strength? Then what were the dB numbers? Again, '5 bars' is one or two steps above useless.

[Undertoad]

We've been experiencing the first problem with FIOS.... slow DNS.

I've switched us to OpenDNS.

[classicman]

I do not think so, but I am not positive - I have a Panasonic KX-TG5632 5.8ghz and no problems with interference.

[dar512]

According to MS:

If you have cordless phones or other wireless electronics in your home, your computer might not be able to "hear" your router over the noise from the other wireless devices. To quiet the noise, avoid wireless electronics that use the 2.4GHz frequency. Instead, look for cordless phones that use the 5.8GHz or 900MHz frequencies.

[Flint]

Ha! You're not big on them, but still, you're thinkin' of 'em. And having to tell us about 'em. Sucker.

[dar512]

The extra threads slow down my speed-reading of the cellar. The only clone thread I ever started had a reason for existing of it's own, so I didn't feel badly about that.