The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

Ehh, my bad either way. Sorry about that.

 

Well, wish me luck. I bought two of those Netgear Modem/Routers. They were under $40USD each SHIPPED! I should get them by thursday. I sure hope I don't regret this. Netgear has been pretty good for me though
I was actually considering something else for myself, but when I found a cheap seller on ebay, for refurbished ones, and a 60 day money back guarantee... I couldn't refuse

 

Good luck.

 

Those were used! refurbished routers, I thought you didn't go for that Kev. LOL However they are a good buy at that price and having two gives you redundancy so good job.

I think you'll still do well with them and hopefully they won't give you problems down the road.

 

One is for my mother, and the other is for me. My current actiontec acts up. It's also wireless, but it's weak. I'm pretty sure it may be failing. I doubt that my ISP has that many problems LOL! My mothers last actiontec quit after a power outage. Guess the caps didn't like that LOL! No surge protection either...

Yah, I usually don't go for used computer tech. Depends. This buy was pretty good, and at least I have a 60 day warranty on them

 

Have been meaning to get a WRT54 series router for a while now. They seem incredibly reliable. Not only for custom firmware but because my Belkin router is a cheap POS with limited range. The corner of my room is 10 feet away and is a dead spot. Kinda sucks for trying to transfer files from desktop to an iDevice. Have had to resort to 3rd party software that allows using the USB cable.

One of many issues but considering I do use my mobile devices frequently while also using my desktop, it's pretty annoying to have my "Excellent Strength" signal just drop off for no reason.

 

"Excellent Strength signal just drop off for no reason."

That's kind of what I'm talking about! My router acts like it's fine, but all the sudden, it's as though it power cycled itself LOL! I'll look over, and the DSL light is blinking. When I I ask Qwest/centurylink about it, there's no outages in my area. So it's as though my line has trouble(doubtful), or the modem is going. And given my luck with actiontec, I'm forced to believe my router/modem is garbage once again!

I just hope when I connect the new modem, I still receive 100%+ of my connection speed Quite wonderful to receive more than I'm paying for. Rather rare in this world...

 

Interestingly if I set a laptop up on the desk next to my desktop, it gets perfect signal strength and full speed downloads. 3 feet either way, and almost no signal at all. I understand the issues that can pop up with wireless signals, but I can barely use it from more than 20 feet away. Compare to my friend's WRT54G which transmits a reliable signal from his basement all the way to the neighbor's house. The router is fine for general usage, but its wireless capabilities are severely lacking.

Got my hands on a rather interesting toy today. A Hawking HWU8DD Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Dish Adapter. Is essentially a small satellite dish for receiving Wi-Fi at long range. It works wonderfully, and can pick up just about every router in the neighborhood, but still has issues with my current router from more than 30-40 feet away. So even with a high powered receiver, my wireless is unreliable at best, but I get perfect signal strength from houses down the street.

 

I look forward to those modems. One review said his neighbor (100 feet away) was getting strong signal! I want it! LOL!

 

General noise, cordless phones, Microwaves, TVs, florescent lighting, other close routers on a channel within one either way from what you have set, and so on can cause those kinds of issues as well. It's not always simple to find the real problems with wireless connections unless you have a few specific tools.

 

Fluorescent lighting combined with a very weak signal strength would be the main cause of my issues. Our house has rather stupidly set up wiring and a lot of the lighting causes interference, particularly the light above my desk. I prefer to keep it off for that reason as it has caused issues directly with my desktop as well. Nothing too serious, mainly making the monitors flicker when I flip the switch, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

My room is overdue for a rewiring job but I'm stuck between dismantling my living space for a minor issue and ending up moving out before I get around to it.

My TV recently had a mishap that has left it non-functional so the rest of my home theater and everything else has been unplugged for the time being. The power supply had a failure and I was able to replace it with an identical model, but a lightning storm last week made sure that repair didn't last long.

 

"moving out"

Ha ha! I know what you mean! I can't wait! I have so much stuff, and so little space. Not long now

 

It sounds like a 1w router maybe or a bridged WiFi would help. My wiring isn't the best and lots of metal in the house as well as there is two furnace systems. Plus I have video transceivers, florescent lighting, 2.4Ghz cordless phone(s) and so on. My D-Link does pretty well but I do have some mostly dead spots in the house too.

One thing that would help me is replacing my cordless phones with DECT 6 phones. I do use 9db hi-gain antennas which does help but if I had a 1W WiFi I'd be much better off. Using a parabolic dish definitely helps to but can be a hassle if you move around with a notebook.

 

Well I'm sort've in a slump right now. I have enough income to take care of my personal expenses, but not really enough to live comfortably while paying for my own place at the same time. It's just been really convenient staying with my parents and splitting bills with them for the time being. They aren't opposed to it and I'm comfortable being a bum! lol

I have been looking for some steadier employment but the local area is economically drained. So for the foreseeable future I'm just another nerd living at home, lol. I guess it's really nothing to be ashamed of, but I wish I were better able to support myself. Seasonal jobs plus infrequent PC repair stuff means my income isn't exactly reliable. You'd be surprised exactly how useless an Associates in Computer Science and Business Administration can be.

Have been looking at several different options. Especially considering my MASSIVE weight loss in the last few years and and general improvement in my self-esteem, I have considered military service as a stepping stone to a better situation. My family has a long history of service and I have a long history of being very interested but my physical condition was never suited to it. That has changed recently.

Over 100lbs lost. Damn I am skinny

 

Man I love being the computer wiz Most of you are beyond me of course, but in my area... Ha ha!

A work buddy gave me an older system of his, free of charge! It has an Evga GTX 7800, a couple of Sata ports, and dual PCI-e. Not old enough to make me cringe yet! I don't know what CPU it has yet. He says it won't respond to power. I'm betting on PSU. But it is an Asus board. I guess we'll see LOL!

Don't be ashamed Jeff. If it works for you, heck yah. My mother and step dad are totally cool with my being here. I help out around, I pay 300 a month. They don't want me to leave. But darn it! I'm 32! I didn't expect to live here for 6 yrs. Unfortunately it's taking some time to get in a strong position at my job. Which won't be long now! I'll be making 40 - 60K in no time!

 

Desyncs are far more often line problems than router problems, though not always. DSL is notorious for desyncs, they happen to almost everyone.

 

Well I'm not exactly paying rent but I cover most of my own bills. My PCs and other electronics use quite a bit of electricity so the power bill is 50/50 and I'm paying for internet service as well. I get plenty of use as a furniture mover though, lol. My parents love having me around, but I sometimes feel guilty for being a drain on them. In the last few years I've been making an effort to be more self-sustaining but then Mom makes lasagna and it's like I'm 12 again, lol.

I guess it's a good deal for now, but I always pictured myself doing something more fulfilling. I'd always planned to work for a custom PC boutique but it's exceedingly hard to get recognition and I still have a LOT to learn before I'd feel comfortable putting a seal of quality on a product with someone else's name on it. I have control issues and part of that is disagreeing with basically everyone about what constitutes quality.

Military service is attractive to me because it's the golden standard of discipline, character building, and experience. I have a vast knowledge of both current and historical military hardware and would be excited to put that knowledge to use. What's holding me back though is wondering if it's the right thing for me. Plenty of people go into the military for technical or support roles, and while that's certainly my area of expertise, it would feel like a cop-out to me. I'd like to be a rifleman or a vehicle operator. Someone who actually goes on active deployment from time to time.

 

Desyncs eh? Well, here's the thing. The modem that recently quit(my mothers) was mine for quite some time. Rarely a problem. When I gave her mine, and bought the used one I'm using now, my DSL has been rather erratic. So unless a mole has chewed the phone lines, I'm fairly sure it's the modem.

We just hired a guy at work, and we were talking on friday. I mentioned having an expensive PC habit. He said REALLY? Software or hardware. I told him both. He thought I meant that I design software. He likes C++!!! I just about lost it when he said that LOL! I now have a brain I can pick!

 

Well my best friend since junior high is on an extended stay in Enfield, England right now so I've been left to my own devices for conversation and entertainment. I can only talk to Dad about which small block engine of the mid-60s had the best valve train geometry for so long, lol. He figures it's the 426 Hemi BTW, hehe.

My friend is rather a big PC nerd as well but sort've in limbo between being knowledgeable and being a sheep. He understands what makes some hardware better than others and has an extensive knowledge of vintage Intel platforms, but he's not immune to buzzwords and hype about BS technologies. Very open-minded and willing to listen to my opinion on things though.

 

I sure know how that goes and I'm too working in a much lesser position then I should be, in fact I'm making 5x less then I was 5 years ago. You wouldn't make tons of money in the Military but it would open up jobs for you when you would get out so that might be a good way to get back on your feet. Nothing wrong with staying at home either especially in these times. These days if you don't have a minimum of a BS or better yet a Masters they don't even look at you no mater if you can do the job or not, big time job discrimination these days. In fact at the store I'm working at now they wanted me to help build bicycles but the HR gal made a big stink because I wasn't CERTIFIED, I had to laugh at how redicalus that was especially since I constantly was advising others on how to fix some of the bikes and these were certified people! But this is the world we are in today so what can you do.

Good job on the weight loss!
Stevo