So I realized that I wasn’t using my TV service nearly enough to justify its cost, and I had an 18MB internet connection. For internet and TV it was costing almost $180 per month. The only time I would really ever use the TV would be for my girlfriend to watch the Bachelor, and the occasional football game. It wasn’t like I would get home from work, watch the news, watch SportsCenter, or anything like that. So I ditched it for cable internet.
Now I have just a 50MB internet connection for the same price that I would’ve paid if I canceled just the TV and kept the 18MB internet connection. For what it’s worth, I had no problems with my service…if you want TV I still think that AT&T U-Verse is one of the best services I’ve ever had. But I just wasn’t using it enough to justify the cost, and for the first time ever I have switched providers for a reason that does not in any way include being unsatisfied with the service. But now I’m one of those new-agey pricks that can talk about how I’ve “cut the cord.” Even though technically I just went from an internet company to a cable company. Not for TV though. I just started learning the process of getting used to using and having an HDTV antenna. Amazed that stuff still goes out over the air. Never thought I would be happy for it (I get ABC so the girlfriend won’t kill me for lack of Bachelor access).
So, the end result is I have faster internet access, and consequently, this site loads a little faster. I think it’s doing pretty well considering it is all on a box in a spare bedroom. Now I just have to figure out how to get my router to support Google Domains’ dynamic DNS.
Another effect of this change is that SSL seems to work now, I think. I still (as per the previous post) have the SSL port set to 4433 instead of 443, but I can at least get to the sample test page I have set up by going to the site at the proper port. There’s nothing there yet, just something like “SSL TEST WORKS” or something similar. I’ve already forgotten. So later this week I will attempt to change the port to the standard port, and see if my new ISP has it blocked or in use. Shouldn’t be too hard to get set up. Then comes getting OwnCloud to use it.
The only problem that I am still having is that I can’t access the SSL page at work, but I’m pretty sure that is due to some security settings they have in effect here. They can be pretty aggravating at times, but it’s their network and their computers, and even though I have some downtime at work it’s not like I have anything close to a good case to getting it opened up as an exception to the policy.
But I think I’m finally making some headway. We’ll see if I can get the entire website up and running with SSL, which will make me feel better about having a forum, OwnCloud, etc.