HorseStreet's Website & Telephone Outage has begun

[Dave Schwartz]

We are in the process of switching telecom providers. This switch over is going to take several days we have been told.

Effective today, May 11, 2010, our website and telephone numbers are gone.

Until we return, you can reach us via these contacts (shown on our Google Group page):

http://groups.google.com/group/dave-schwartzs-world-of-horse-racing/web/contact-us?_done=/group/dave-schwartzs-world-of-horse-racing%3F

[DJofSD]

Dave, if you don't mind me asking out of curiosity, from whom, to whom?

[Tom]

Outsourcing to India? ;)

[JustRalph]

Outsourcing to India? ;)

I called and got a guy named Raji Schwartz ?

[LottaKash]

I called and some guy answered the phone, and said that the lines are not being converted, they are shutdown, as Dave had gone back to "counting cards"....:D

best,

[Dave Schwartz]

We have had T-1 service and telephone service from ATG/Integra/Eschalon for 8 years. We have had cable television from Charter for 8 years. The total bill is around $850 per month.

We are switching to the AT&T U-verse service.

30mb down, 3mb up, static IPs, phone lines, unlimited long distance, unbelievable television package - all for $30 more than I was paying for cable television.

We will save almost $650 per month!

[DJofSD]

I've had U-verse. It's nice. I especially like the DVR customization.

Got show. Thanks.

[DJofSD]

Dave, it's probably too late now but I hope you're using CAT6 wiring in your abode.

[Dave Schwartz]

Actually, no, we have Cat5.

But why would that be important?

Cat 5 goes to 100mb very easily.

[DJofSD]

When I was looking at U-verse, if I recall correctly, the recommendation was minimally 5e. I really didn't know CAT5 from 5e or 6. So, I did some reading.

What I learned was if you want a better LAN set up, expect or want to run a 1000BASE-T network, want to reduce any possiblilities of cross-talk or other interference, going with CAT6 was the answer.

I did not have any LAN wiring from the point where the telco spliter box would be installed or from where I was going to have the gateway placed in the closet in my office. So, I decided to pull my own cable in advance. IOW, the new stuff the telco would have done, I wanted to do myself so it was installed the way I wanted it installed, where I wanted it installed and how -- no compromises. And since it was my dime and my effort to do this work, I decided I wanted to do it once and to future proof my house as much as possible. Therefore, CAT6.

[Dave Schwartz]

Unfortunately, my house was wired in 2002 which is pre-CAT-6.

Our current network speed/reliability has been fine. I absolutely dread the day when we get a failed wire because it will be very difficult to replace some of them.

We live in a two-story house on a slab (i.e. no crawl space under the house) and only 18" of crawl space between floors. When we set up my office we ran two 20-amp circuits to the "NOC" which is in my office closet (and houses 10 computers). In order to run that power (which, according to code, cannot be on the outside of the house) we had to go through the 18" crawl space between floors, up to the attic, and fished down the other side. IT was a $3k endeavor, with a guy literally crawling his way through insulation. He came out of it covered with burns or allergic reactions of some kind - just covered with open, bleeding sores.

If we had a cat 5 failure I fear that we'd have to switch the entire network to wireless and there goes my network speed.


Dave

[DJofSD]

Wow - I feel for the guy. It kind of reminds me of when I was a kid and my father pressed my into service doing things like that as a part of build-out/extension of our home. That damn fiber glass insulation gets into every place.

I guess I'm a bit more fortunate. My 1956 built house is on a slab too but I have the space below the roof and above the ceiling to pull cables. It's bigger than 18" in the center but the structural supports I have to crawl over and around makes me appreciate what electricans have to go through. It gets damnably hot in the attic too.

If you ever do need to replace a failed cable, you might get lucky depending upon how you ran those cables. You could use the failed cable as a pull to take the new cable through the crawl spaces, replacing it with a new cable you've securely attached to one end.

Also, check out the newer routers with built in access points (wireless routers). They now have simultaneous broadcast dual channel wireless so the higher bandwidth streams don't reduce throughput of the less demanding traffic.

[Dave Schwartz]

WOW! Just got a surprise telephone call from AT&T saying they'd be here in 15 minutes to install!

Boy, I hope this works out.

My Linux contractor is here and hopefully we'll be back TODAY!

[Tom]

You just jinxed it!

[Dave Schwartz]

Apparently you are right, Tom.

They never got the line to the house. They'll be back Friday to try again.

[DJofSD]

Dave, tell those idiots to check their data bases before they call you again.

Geeze.

[Dave Schwartz]

Okay... we're back but with new telephone numbers.

Our new business line is 775.853.1234.

Same good looking people answering the phone.


Dave