Tag Archive | TDS
March 18, 2020  

Kudos To ‘TDS’ (Telecom) For Providing FREE Internet To Kids In Need During COVID-19 Crisis.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. Google for more.

I am impressed and happy.

I have been a TDS customer for over 11-years and these days we have a rather extensive TDS presence in the house with: 1 Gig Internet, TDS TV and the latest TDS MESH Wi-Fi.

Yes, I have a fairly HEFTY TDS bill. SMILE.

TDS and I have had our moments. But, they impress me quite often. This is another instance.

I am proud of them and GLAD to be a TDS customer.

Good for YOU, TDS.

Keep it up.

I will NOT call up and complain about my bill for the next two-months. SMILE.

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by Anura Guruge

March 2, 2020  

We Get TDS “Wi-Fi+” Mesh Network Based On “Eero” Products.

by Anura Guruge

Click image to check out the TDS “Wi-Fi+” offering.

Based on ‘Eero’ products.
Amazon plans to buy Eero.

Click to access the “eero” Website.

The “Eero” APP on my phone showing our network.

Click to ENLARGE.

We got Wi-Fi with TDS, in October 2019, as part of our 1 Gig upgrade. They installed a Wi-Fi range extender in addition to the standard router. With 1 Gog to the house we had decent Wi-Fi in the house — though this is a 4-storey house of around 3,400 sq. ft.

I never had any issues with this TDS provided Wi-Fi, though I don’t use Wi-Fi that much since my PCs are hardwired to the Extender.

Wife and daughter, who are exclusively on Wi-Fi, have complained, more of less from day one, that they keep on getting Internet drops. They kept on complaining. Last week I had enough. I called up TDS. I had no idea that they had a new MESH network-based offering. I was willing to give it a try.

This afternoon two technicians came and set it all up. It took longer than it should have because we have TDS TV, and that means the old router still has to be there. The main issue, however, was to get some port forwarding back in place.

But, we got it up. We have Wi-Fi. We get decent bandwidth. Not sure if we get more than we did before.

Early days. The question is whether this Mesh network will prevent those connection drops.

We will wait and see. I will keep you posted.

But, for now, as of today, we have the Eero-based Wi-Fi+ Mesh Network from TDS.

We have one ‘Eero Pro‘, i.e.,the router/broadcaster, and two ‘Eero Beacons‘, i.e., the range extender

Related posts:
Search ‘1 Gig’.

by Anura Guruge

February 10, 2020  

I Suspect That TDS Telecom Is Ramping Up To Offer 1.5 Gigabit Service In New Hampshire.

by Anura Guruge

 

My reading, first thing, this morning.

Click to ENLARGE.

Yes, I am paying for the 1G service and have been doing so since November 2019.

Yes, I have had 1+ Gig readings before.

But, of late I am seeing increased bandwidth on a consistent basis.

I could be wrong, but I suspect that TDS Telecom is getting ready to offer something higher than 1G.

Will I get it? Most likely. SMILE.

I strongly believe that you can never be too poor, too fat or have too much bandwidth to your house. Don’t you agree?

Related posts:
Search ‘1 Gig’.

by Anura Guruge

December 1, 2019  

First Thing I Saw On My PC This Sunday Morning — And It Made Me Smile.

by Anura Guruge

This was around 11:30am this morning — Sunday, December 1, 2019.

Made me SMILE.

I am COOL.

The Internet and servers must have been particularly lightly-loaded despite this still being an extension of Black Friday. I am not complaining.

Related posts:
Search ‘1 Gig’.

by Anura Guruge

November 17, 2019  

First Thing I Saw On My PC Today — And It Made Me Smile.

by Anura Guruge

I got this, this afternoon at 3:17pm on Fast.com. It was Sunday and the Internet, by its standards, was not as busy as on a weekday.

Made me SMILE.

I am COOL.

TDS must be at least trying to deliver 1 Gig to the house. This is not bad. Given the overheads involved, this is as close to 1G that one should reasonably expect to see on Fast.com.

Related posts:
Search ‘1 Gig’.

by Anura Guruge

November 13, 2019  

Robert Charity Of ‘Charity Electric’, Barnstead — One Fine, Dependable, Competent Electrician Serving Central New Hampshire.

by Anura Guruge

Click images to ENLARGE.

Click to access the ‘Charity Electric’ Website … with contact information.

Robert Charity was recommended to I by a builder in Barnstead — the Dad of a friend of mine. When I had told him that I needed some wiring done, he, with nary a hesitation said: “Robert Charity, of Charity Electric, is your man“. He was dead right.

Robert did the external Cat 7 ethernet wiring I needed to complete my TDS 1 Gigabit installation.

Robert Charity was a delight to deal with from the get go. No messing around. He was responsive, prompt and a man of his word.

He does good work. Very careful, very diligent, very thorough and extremely competent. A son of an electrician (from Mass.) he sure knows his stuff. He is very reasonable too when it comes to pricing. I was very impressed and pleased.

He specializes in backup generators and IF I ever get one it would be from him and no one else.

So, if you are in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and need an electrician call (better still TXT) Robert Charity at 603-833-9204.

Related posts:
Search ‘Barnstead’.

by Anura Guruge

November 6, 2019  

Successfully Adding A Samsung Galaxy S9 Phone To “Google Fi” Cellular Service.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

It wasn’t that long ago, i.e., 6-months maybe, when ‘Google Fi‘ still only supported a handful of phones — all of the from Google or Motorola.

Not so anymore. They support a BUNCH of phones — including Samsung.

I have been with Google Fi for 23-months. When I got my Google Pixel 2 on Christmas 2017 it was a no-brainer to go with Google Fi. Google Fi was ideal for I in that I am NOT a heavy phone user — by any measure. I have been fine with Fi — but then again, as I just said, I am not a big phone user.

But, I am changing our household networking plans. Up until last week we had two Internet services — one from Atlantic Broadband and the other from TDS. This was for redundancy, if one went we could continue using the other. This was a good job since Atlantic Broadband proved to be notoriously unreliable. Ultimately I could not deal with anymore. I got rid of them and upped my TDS service to 1G. But, that means we have no redundancy. If we lose TDS we are dead in the water.

So, the plan is to go with unlimited data with Google Fi. However, the way their pricing is structured it makes sense to have as many lines on the service as possible.

Now that Google Fi supports Samsung we moved over my wife from ‘Consumer Cellular‘ to Google Fi. The goal is to move one or both of the kids too.

The first attempt at trying to activate the Samsung S9 was a spectacular failure. After about 3-hours it was finally determined that it was a bad SIMM card. Ordered a second. Came yesterday. Second attempt was the charm. No problem. But, initiation by fire.

Related posts:
Search ‘Google Fi.

by Anura Guruge

November 6, 2019  

The 1 Gig (i.e., Gigabit) Upgrade (By TDS) Is Finally Complete — Thanks To ‘Charity Electric’.

by Anura Guruge

Click images to ENLARGE.

Click to access the ‘Charity Electric’ Website … with contact information.

The TDS 1 Gigabit upgrade is now finally done (I think). TDS won’t do any external wiring and I needed some to finish the job.

Today, Robert the owner of ‘Charity Electric‘ (out of Barnstead, NH), came and spent 3-hours installing 100’ of flat, CAT 7 Ethernet cable and now I have a permanent, long-term connection between the TDS router on the 1st floor and the TDS Extender on the 4th floor (which provides a hardwired LAN connection to this PC via a TDS provided LAN switch).

‘Charity Electric‘ did a BANG UP job. Real nice work. Very tidy, professional, conscientious and painstaking. Good pricing too. Kudos. Nothing but good words. Highly recommended.

I was using a jerry-rigged Ethernet connection for the last 10-days. I had cables running all over the place on the 1st floor. Having this direct cable, 100’ maybe, appears to have made a difference. Look at the speeds I am getting. I am happy.

I got the Cat 7 cable from Amazon. Decent price. Came with gold connectors. Seemed a shame to cut them off. So, Robert, kindly, installed all 100′.

I am happy. Relieved to get this behind me.

Thanks Robert.

Thanks TDS.

Related posts:
Search ‘gigabit’.

by Anura Guruge

November 2, 2019  

I Guess I Must Be Getting 1 Gigabit To The House — SMILE.

by Anura Guruge

I got this, this morning on Fast.com. It was Saturday and the Internet, by its standards, was not as busy as on a weekday.

Made me SMILE.

I am COOL.

TDS must be at least trying to deliver 1 Gig to the house. This is not bad. Given the overheads involved, this is as close to 1G that one should reasonably expect to see on Fast.com.

Related posts:
Search ‘1 Gig’.

by Anura Guruge

October 30, 2019  

TDS Telecom’s Preferred ‘Speed Test’ Is That From Verizon.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. From: verizon.com/speedtest

Click to ENLARGE. ‘Fast.com’ from Netflix.

Yes, I know enough about speed tests to understand where TDS is coming from when they rely on Verizon for checking their Internet connection speeds.

Speed tests are fickle and subject to many variables — server speed and distance to the server being key among these.

If the server (i.e., computer), at the other end, being used for the speed test is slow (or congested) you are going to get slower results because the server is not pumping the data fast enough. Even worse on upload testing. Then there is the distance involved. Further the distance, the slower the results are going to be.

‘Speedtest.net‘, the original gold standard, now, invariably, tends to be on the slow side by 200Mbps (or more). It, as such, is only of use for comparisons.

I use ‘Fast.com‘ often. It is roughly in the right ballpark.

Verizon’s speed test was new to I, but I can understand why TDS likes it. It, more often than not, gives you the highest reading.

So, if you are looking for an Internet speed test you now have the scoop. Hope that helped.

Related posts:
Search ‘speed test’.

by Anura Guruge

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