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keith_h

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Posts posted by keith_h

  3. Pressed Penny Changes at WDW

    in WDW and Disney Park Discussions

    Posted

    41 minutes ago, ftwildernessguy said:

    The mouse is putting the screws to me.  Everything I hold dear is gone.  My world is collapsing. Pressed pennies cost a buck,  no quarters in the washers,  what’s next?  Will they take away the cinnamon buns on Main Street?  Next thing you know they’ll be closing the Great Movie Ride

    There's always the quarter slots at a casino.

  5. New Disney Streaming Bundle

    in Disney Entertainment Forum

    Posted

    16 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

    Yeah it's pretty ridiculous.

    Somehow we are apparently *just* outside the zone to be able to get FIOS.

    We're about a 1000 ft from a main road where they are  installing and have installed fiber. We are just outside of the city limits so the companies doing fiber service in town aren't required to serve us and our neighborhood of large lots isn't dense enough for the companies to do it on their own. That leaves us stuck with either the cable provider or traditional phone service provider who is even more expensive for slower service.

  7. New Disney Streaming Bundle

    in Disney Entertainment Forum

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, Travisma said:

    I'm surprised that the alarm will work with VOIP.

    We are switching over most Post Offices to VOIP service, and we have to make sure that the alarm and fax numbers stay POTS lines and are excluded for the cut over to VOIP.

    We have numerous sites that used the alarm line as the unpublished # that the carriers call in on.

    We have to either get them a new VOIP # to call in on, or get a new POTS line/number installed for the alarm.

    Maybe it's just the way our nationwide VOIP provider has their systems set up.

    It isn't  for technical reasons at the building  but how the phone service provider configures,  sends data and manages its network that is the determining factor. The issue with alarms is they use use tone signalling so need a reliable transport and for the signal to remain unchanged. MFVN guarantees this. Without this this the data could be broken up in such a way as to lose tone data or be of too poor a quality to recognize. These types of problems don't make much difference to voice conversations but could be detrimental in machine to machine communications. FAX is also tone based and requires special handling. For this reason I had to setup my phone service to configure the use of FAX so it is handled correctly. Who knows this might be why I have had no issues with the alarm now that I think about it. I have also heard some of this actually gets back to the national fire standard for fire alarm reliability. Anyhow it is all back to what the alarm company requirements are since they are responsible for knowing all of the rules and laws. ADT does not support Ooma which is why they gave me the cellular transmitter as backup. If it wasn't for that I'd be stuck with Spectrum as they are a bit cheaper than Centurylink POTUS for phone service in my area.  

     

  8. New Disney Streaming Bundle

    in Disney Entertainment Forum

    Posted

    22 hours ago, Travisma said:

    Most providers that offer bundles have phone services that are considered VOIP or IPT.  That means they are converted to a digital signal leaving the house. Alarms won’t work with that service.  You would have to ask for an analog POTS (plain old telephone service) line, the ones we had growing up. Providers will be thrilled to hook one up for you at an additional monthly fee.

    There are a number of VoIP providers that will support alarm systems. The key is the alarm system has to be able to seize the line in the event the phone is in use. This all happens in the house phone panel and house wiring. The alarm panel must be in between the house network and the telephone adapter. The VoIP adapter feeds the existing input line of the alarm panel. In my case a new phone line was run from the room where my equipment is to the house phone panel when the cable company installed my service years ago. The existing alarm panel line feeds the input of the house telephone panel. This is no different than the POTS connecting to the alarm panel and the alarm panel feeding the house panel input. When we switched to Ooma it was plug and play. The only potential issue is some cheap VoIP adapters are not robust enough to handle the electrical current of more than one phone meaning they might not be able drive an alarm and phones. Not knowing how the internals of the alarm are designed I can't say if this would be a problem or not.

    The bigger issue is the alarm system requirements for phone service. The big alarm companies require a public-switched telephone network (PSTN) or a managed facility-voice network (MFVN). The old phone lines are PSTN and all of the larger cable companies are MFVN (as are many other medium and small but it all depends upon the provider). When we switched to OOMA is was not a MFVN provider but I seem to recall at that time though not now Vonage was. The result is my alarm company installed a cellular transceiver on my system. 

    There are also some devices that are suppose install on your alarm system to allow direct access to the internet from the alarm controller. I have no idea how these work but my guess is card manufacturer is in the middle and being unlike the regulated phone providers is even less reliable as to connections with the alarm company.

    The only way to determine what to do is contact the alarm company, tell them your intentions and find out what their requirements are. After that I would contact the VoIP provider you intend to work with and see if they meet the MFVN requirements. Regardless it is worth negotiating with the alarm company if you need to change out or upgrade equipment. As I said our alarm company installed the cellular link for free to keep us as customers so it is worth a try. The nice about the cellular is it works during a power failure where neither cable or traditional phone will (they all use the same telephone poles in my area so if a tree takes out one it takes out all).

  9. New Disney Streaming Bundle

    in Disney Entertainment Forum

    Posted

    22 hours ago, Beckers said:

    Does that work for alarm systems? This is the issue I’m having. Comcast is ridiculous and just dropping cable doesn’t change my bill much. I need to drop cable and phone but I need the phone for my alarm

    That would be up to your alarm company. When we switched ours, ADT, did not. It has nothing to do with power outages as even cable is affected by that but what ADT considered full time monitoring of the telephone network. I have no idea what that entails. However in our case being a long term customer the ADT retention department upgraded us to a cellular connection for free to keep us as a customer. So our system tries the phone and if it doesn'r work it switches to cellular which also works when the power is out.

    Edit: I looked up the ADT site what they says is the phone needs to be part of a "Qualified Managed Facility Voice Network" and to ask your provider if they are one.

  11. New Disney Streaming Bundle

    in Disney Entertainment Forum

    Posted

    We cut the chord before the switch to digital TV. We had Netflix for a long time but we never really like their original programming and with the loss of so much content as their providers start their own services we dropped them. Their price increase for less content didn't help either. We switched to the lower cost Hulu plan so the Disney bundle actually looks pretty good to us as it isn't that much more for the Disney stuff (we really don't care about ESPN). I also have Amazon Prime but carry that for a different reason than TV so it is just an added perk. 

    Edit: As I still need a land line, again this happened years ago, I switched to Ooma where you buy your VoIP box and you get free basic phone service for the cost of monthly taxes and fees. They also have a higher tier with all the bells and whistles for about $10/mo. No matter how you slice it much better than the $30 - $40 per month the cable and phone companies wanted.

  14. Our rig - up at the Keystone factory in Elkhart. Update.

    in RV Repairs on the Road, at FW and Elsewhere

    Posted

    Sorry to hear about the total on your RV but it is good that the manufacturer will replace it with a new one. Since the new floor plan doesn't suit you as well do they have one that does? I think with the dangerous design flaw your original trailer had they should be somewhat flexible on the replacement. After all the types of failures you've had could have cost them much more if there had been injury or death involved.

  18. Disney Airlines!

    in Disney Rumors Board

    Posted

    5 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

    Looks like just a rumor that went viral and got picked up by legit news sites (sigh)...

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/114417532/disney-to-launch-airline-in-the-us-reports

    Reading this I'm surprised this got any traction as it looks like a pure hoax to me. Then again most conspiracy theories don't meet the smell test so why not this? The whole thing that tipped it as a joke for me is airline personnel working in character and funny voices. It just wouldn't happen when the crew has to project an air of being in charge. My hat off to whoever thought it up though.

  20. Premium Meadow Sites ?

    in General Camping Discussion and Questions

    Posted

    On 7/17/2019 at 6:52 AM, dblr....Rennie said:

    We are traveling around Mi. this summer, which by the way has been a fantastic trip, and have been scouting out campgrounds for a return trip and a lot of the very nice ones in the higher tourist area have been anywhere from $75-&110 for their level of premium full hook up sites. Even looking at Cedar Point for the trip home and they are close to $125 a night for our time frame.

    Rene and I are planning a trip to Michigan for next year's May trip. We haven't been up that way since my parents moved away in the 80's. The current plan is to travel the lower peninsula around the lakes with a side trip to the Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village. After that it will be up for a day or two around the straights then through the upper peninsula. Finally to finish the trip we plan to go around Lake Michigan to visit with Rene's family west of Chicago for a few days before returning home.

  22. Did Disney overdo movie remakes ? 8/8 Make it Stop !

    in Disney Entertainment Forum

    Posted

    On 7/13/2019 at 9:47 AM, Travisma said:

    For a while we were going to the movies every Tuesday.  I joined AMC Stubs and Tuesday tickets were only $5 and they have snack specials too.  Haven’t been in a while.

    The closest traditional movie theatre is about a 20-30 minute drive. If we had the option of $5 close by we would likely go more often.

    We have had a theatre in town for a few years now but it is one of those gastro/dine-in types a local restaurateur owns. The typical price is $15 for an evening show. Of course you can get an gourmet hamburger with sides and a local microbrew delivered to your leather recliner but if we wanted to eat out we would go to a restaurant. 

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