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When all else fails, try McDonald’s

Video work that I am doing for my Vancouver employer requires me to have a faster upload speed than what I can get through my internet provider, AT&T Uverse. My present upload speed in my older neighborhood is a paltry 1.1. Mbps. I can’t switch to another provider because I am moving to Las Vegas in four weeks. What to do?

I considered a day office service like Regus but their people could not say what their internet upload speed would be since their network is a shared resource among clients. They would also not disclose what they would charge. Out of desperation and curiosity, never wanting to dismiss the improbable, I went to my local McDonald’s.

There were three people on laptops and notebooks. I ran a speed check. Download speed, a slow 5.1 Mbps. Logical, since there were now four of us camped on-line. But upload speed? 4.9 to 5.9! Almost four times what I have at home. I’m still not sure I can do my work, since my laptop doesn’t have the processing power of my desktop. Come tomorrow,  though, I am certainly going to try.

10/31/2015 Update: It works!

mcdonalds

By thomasfarley01

Business writer and graphic arts gadfly.

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