We’ve barely dipped our toes into the tablet pool and already it seems like they could combine with smartphones to start that robot revolution everyone is secretly dreading. A new report from a research firm says there are now more than half a billion home-based devices connected to the Internet in the U.S. [More]
U.S Homes Now Have More Than Half A Billion Devices Hooked Up To The Internet
By March 19, 2013
Surprise, Surprise: Expert Says Many Broadband Meters Are Inaccurate
By February 8, 2013
While Internet providers look more toward capping data usage and penalizing customers for overages (even though it’s becoming less expensive to provide this service), one expert says many devices used to determine a customer’s usage are not sufficiently accurate. [More]
Verizon Needs To Sell Me Slower DSL So My Slow Connection Can Get Faster
By October 12, 2012
Fred pays Verizon for DSL service, but his home Internet speeds are now slower than a crawl. This changed after technicians were in his neighborhood fixing the lines. When he called to complain about the slowdown, he was told that his connection was so slow because it was too fast, and they would have to downgrade his account to a slower speed so it would stop being so slow. No, this doesn’t make any sense. [More]
Internet Index Results Mean Maybe We Should Just Rename It The Sweden Wide Web
By September 6, 2012
Slow your chants of “We’re No. 1! We’re No. 1!” and stop waving that foam finger, America. We aren’t number one, at least not so far as the World Wide Web is considered — Sweden is. I know, so disappointing and now it’s totally going to be renamed the Sweden Wide Web except not really because that would be silly. Anyway, a new index from the World Wide Web Foundation has bestowed the No. 1 crown on Sweden, where about 95% of citizen are online. [More]
2.5 Internet Connections For Every Person On Earth By 2016
By May 30, 2012
According to an annual survey by Cisco, the number of Internet connections will reach 18.9 billion by 2016, driven by a proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other handheld devices. That’s 2.5 for for each person on Earth. [More]
NY Lawmakers Want To Do Away With Anonymous Online Comments
By May 23, 2012
Anonymous hate-mongering,name-calling and venom-spitting has been around the Internet since before many of the people reading this post even had an e-mail address. While most of us have just come to accept that this is part of the cost of having an online community, state lawmakers in New York have drafted legislation that intends to do away with anonymous commenting. [More]
There Are More Than 100 Million People In Europe Who Have Never Used The Internet
By December 14, 2011
You know how you just checked your email on your phone 39 times in seven minutes? You might be shocked to know that there are over 100 million people in the European Union who have never been on the Internet. Not at home, on a phone or even at a Web cafe. [More]
You Are Watching More TV And More Internet Video, Too
By October 20, 2011
Americans spend 146 hours and 20 minutes parked in front of TVs, according to new data from Nielsen. And almost half of all consumers — 48% — now watch videos on the Internet. Typical Internet viewership is 4 hours and 26 minutes per month, up 15% from a year ago. [More]
With Neighb's 'Net Down, Super Holds TWC Node Hostage. Ransom: Free Cable
By October 7, 2011
In the middle of reports of widespread Time Warner Cable outages in New York’s East Village late this week, one building supervisor has decided to hold a local cable node hostage. This node controls cable and internet not just for his building, but several others on the block. His price for access? Free cable. [More]
Verizon Internet To Share Your Location With Advertisers So You'll Get Ads "Of More Interest"
By October 5, 2011
As a favor to you, Verizon internet says they’re going to start sharing your local geographical location to advertisers so you’ll get ads “of more interest.” For instance, “a pizza chain may want to deliver their ad to give a special offer to people living in a particular area.” Here’s how to opt out. [More]
Time Warner Calls Back With Sweet Deal After Man Cancels
By August 11, 2011
Another reader has written in to say that after they canceled their Time Warner service, the cable company turned around and offered them much better rates if they would stay. In both this one and the one earlier this week, Time Warner Cable said that because of “special circumstances,” they were able to offer a sweet retention deal. In this case, $67/month for two years, down from $150. [More]
Squirrels Do 17% Of The Damage To Fiber Optic Networks
By August 10, 2011
Turns out the common squirrel has an uncommon propensity for nibbling through the nation’s fiber optic cables. Level 3 Communications, which operates much of the cables that provide the internet’s backbone in the US, say that 17% of the damage to its network comes from squirrels chewing on the lines. No one is quite sure why they like fiber optic cable so much. [More]
Boost Your WiFi Signal With A Beer Can
By August 5, 2011
Stressed out because your WiFi is too slow to get your work done? Crack open a cold one. Then dry it, slice it, and mount it on your router’s antennae. That’s right, you can boost your wifi just by doing some simple surgery on a beer can. [More]
Get Help In Comcast Direct Forums
By July 25, 2011
Another place where you can get help with your issues with Comcast is in the Comcast Direct forums over at the Broadband Reports message boards. [More]
Comcast Denies Man Internet For A Year For Breaking Data Cap
By July 13, 2011
There’s been a lot of ballyhoo about ISPs setting caps on how much data you can use, but here’s a story from a guy who actually broke the cap. And now Comcast has shut off his internet for a year as punishment. [More]
I Should Never Have Given Comcast A Second Chance
By July 11, 2011
After leaving Comcast because of their prices, John tried to come back to try and get some faster internet. But despite being a prior customer, nobody could give it to him because they couldn’t verify his address. Even though this address had already received service in his name. Neither the online order system, chatroom CSR, local office, nor a regional salesperson could help. Shrug, what’s one dissatisfied customer when you have a virtual monopoly? [More]
Internet Overlords Vote To Allow .YourNameHere Domains
By June 20, 2011
Instead of just the regular .com and org addresses, the guys who run the internet have voted to allow the creation of .AnythingYouWantHere domain names. Just about any word in the English language, or any brand name, will be allowed to be turned into a top-level domain name under the program known as ” gTLD” or “Generic Top Level Domain.” [More]
Help The FTC Update Its Guidance For Internet Advertisers
By May 27, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission has announced plans to update its “Dot Com Disclosures,” the guidelines it uses to tell businesses how federal advertising laws apply to the internet. The document was originally published in 2000, and the FTC admits that the “online world has changed dramatically” since then. [More]
