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 Internet Travel Reservations by Dick Curry (htm)

Computer and Technology
Group Meeting Highlights
November 20, 2003
by David Schlegel, Web Correspondent 

“DSL and WiFi Update”

Presented by Ken Mintz, SBC Communications

The big name players are actively scrambling for market, and changes occur each day.  Satellite competition is growing and is a problem for land lines.  SBC has avoided layoffs but has shrunk as demand has fallen, in part due to wireless as well as the economy.  Ken urged everyone to keep a land-line that does not require outside electrical source in case of power failures.  SBC is emphasizing customer service.  The company now offers long distance as well as local and DSL.  DSL coverage has greatly improved, covering about 80% of the households, now making SBC the leader in DSL.  Contra Costa and Alameda counties have one of the highest levels of broadband usage in the country. High speed is now mainstream.

Wi Fi is growing rapidly as shown by the increasing number of commercial hot-spots, e.g., McDonalds, Starbucks, hotels, and many others.  Security is a problem with Wi Fi as the signal is available for considerable distances.  The future is likely to extend the range greatly.

The government regulates telecommunications heavily, but cable is not regulated nearly as much, leading to problems.  The new portability of phone numbers will not be as simple as has been implied.  Existing wire less phones will often be incompatible with another service, long term contracts will force significant payments if the contract isn't paid until its end, etc.

Q&A Session - Dick Curry

Trouble Shooting and General Interest: Cookies…a bit of information about you and your preferences, deposited on your hard disc by a web site you have visited.  They are used to customize offerings for particular users.  Some sites will not let you visit unless you accept a cookie.  They are generally not dangerous.  Dick recommends periodically cleaning them out.

Firewalls were discussed and their importance emphasized, especially for broadband users.  Routers serve as a firewall for incoming traffic, but not outgoing.  Dick recommends Zone Alarm’s and Norton’s firewall to cover both.

One person reported difficulty in loading Norton Antivirus.  He had McAfee prior to Norton, but had uninstalled it before loading Norton.  Dick advised everyone to go to the control panel and uninstall from there.  He also emphasized the need to go the CD containing a program to be installed, find the “read me file” and read it before loading.  Close all running programs, especially antivirus, before installing.  One way is to go to  “safe mode” before installing a new program.

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