SBC DSL and NT.

*GASP* INFIDEL!

*clears throat* I'm honestly not sure. Try Googling for stuff. Google's "Froogle" service is quite nice.

I've found eBay to be quite good for "general" auction stuff, though I use other specialized auction sites for specialized items (i.e. gunbroker.com for firearms, and so forth).

That said, I'm not very sure about other sites. Sorry. :/

*shrugs* I've completed nearly for transactions on the site over several years. Sure, it's not a huge number like some people have, but then again I don't make my living from selling stuff on eBay.

That said, other than one incident where an item was delayed several weeks in transit (due to the seller mailing it to my address at Fort Lewis, WA when I was in the army immediately before I moved back home to California, and thus it needed to be forwarded), I've been extremely satisfied with eBay.

I've even purchase two computers (which tend to be somewhat expensive, fragile, and a wide variety of other technical problems if not maintained/shipped properly) and have been extremely satisfied.

One must be prudent, of course, and verify the details of the item being bid upon with the seller, ensure that both parties have acceptable Feedback ratings (indicating a history of good transactions), and agree upon a common form of payment (PayPal is quite common and offers fraud protection, among other safeguards).

While fraud on eBay is, unfortunately, a problem, if one is prudent and consistent with verifying the validity of the seller and their items to a reasonable degree, one should be able to avoid such pitfalls.

Thanks . My main concern was with my computers. At times they overheat, so I don't like to leave them on when I'm out. I'm happy to leave the modem on all the time.

In a sense, I already "knew" everything you said. But along with the reality there was a lot of disinformation creating a "haze" around the truth. Tou've basically cleared that haze which has been very usefull.

I know I said one more question, but when I said that I really meant two more questions, and just forgot to ask the second.

I don't have an account on ebay. I like this because when I get an email about my ebay account I know it's spam ;) What other online sources are there for equipment other than ebay?

Thanks for the explanation. I remember dslreports ( which evolved into this site ) back when I first considered dsl. I tried looking at it now and find it quite confusing. I think they try but don't quite manage to clean out all the old stuff. Anyway, I just find a lot of their stuff vague these days :(

I wouldn't touch eBay if you PAID me to use it.

The propensity of being ripped off is too high !

Dave

*shrugs* I treat any message like that as suspect.

I've gotten one or two rather clever phishing messages that at least had me going for a few seconds (though I never click on official-looking links in email) until I discovered their trickery. Now Eudora warns when there's HTML trickery that would conceal the actual URL. Not quite Idiot Proof(TM) yet, but definitely Idiot Resistant(TM).

Nearly all the services that I have a recurring membership with have a Sneakemail.com address that is unique to them. If I get email purporting to be from eBay that's not sent to that address, it's obviously false. If I start getting spam to one of those addresses, the address is promptly deleted and a fresh one given to the company. All spam is then reported. If spam continues to come to the new address, that is proof beyond any shadow of a doubt that the company is selling my address and they will get a very nasty letter from me.

It's unnecessary, considering how suspicious I generally am of anything wanting my personal information, but it serves me well.

Again, suspicion, prudence and common sense will go far on the internet.

I avoid all pitfalls by not using their service or PayPal.

Dave

| > The propensity of being ripped off is too high ! | | *shrugs* I've completed nearly for transactions on the site over several | years. Sure, it's not a huge number like some people have, but then | again I don't make my living from selling stuff on eBay. | | That said, other than one incident where an item was delayed several | weeks in transit (due to the seller mailing it to my address at Fort | Lewis, WA when I was in the army immediately before I moved back home to | California, and thus it needed to be forwarded), I've been extremely | satisfied with eBay. | | I've even purchase two computers (which tend to be somewhat expensive, | fragile, and a wide variety of other technical problems if not | maintained/shipped properly) and have been extremely satisfied. | | One must be prudent, of course, and verify the details of the item being | bid upon with the seller, ensure that both parties have acceptable | Feedback ratings (indicating a history of good transactions), and agree | upon a common form of payment (PayPal is quite common and offers fraud | protection, among other safeguards). | | While fraud on eBay is, unfortunately, a problem, if one is prudent and | consistent with verifying the validity of the seller and their items to | a reasonable degree, one should be able to avoid such pitfalls. | | -- | Pete Stephenson | HeyPete.com

I'm not saying I'm worried about frauds on the ebay.

What I'm saying is that I get about three or four spams a day saying my ebay account has been compromised, go to this web site.

As long as I don't use ebay, I don't have to worry about it.

SBC usually sends out Westel Wirespeed DSL modem RJ45, the one I got I have

5 static IP's and once the phone line comes in it goes out to a switch to the wireless access point/router the to the other four machines in my LAN. Once you get the signal decoded from the modem you can run it through a hub if you like to the other machines.

10/100 Hub, five people standing in a room talking all at once. (Slowest)

10/100 Switch, Same five people talking to each machine which cannot hear the others. (Faster) 10/100/ 802.11/a/b Router 54g / wireless, Traffic Director, each machine get's it's own information without polling the other machines for where it goes. However now SBC is using "sticky addresses" and sending out a new router / modem combo for customers like me, (5 static's)