Question: Because our local newspaper raised the rates so high for a printed edition, we decided to go digital with them. We even purchased a 2nd laptop so two of us could read the paper without having to wait on one another.
The “older” HP opens up right away while the much, much newer one often slowly comes to life and then after a page or two drops offline and says no server found. Then I go to settings and click on our network and it usually connects and I can read a few papers, then it drops off again. Sometimes when I go to settings to reconnect it says the network adapter needs to be activated or some such and I can click there and it is ok for a little while. Any full-page ads like for walk-in tub conversions ALWAYS come up crisp and clear.
Why??? I want to bypass those. Sometimes the comics is “there” lurking but it is sort of gray rather than black and white and if I wait a few minutes it comes into focus. All very confusing. Oh, once in a while I get a notification that I am on a metered setting or connection…not than I ever chose that. Too many questions?!
– Kathy G.
Lynn Haven, Florida
Answer: Goodness, Kathy! You sound like one unhappy computer user. Let me address the issues you raised one at a time.
With regard to your local newspaper, ever since I can remember, which includes way back into the 1960’s, there has been a printed newspaper delivered to my home. My parents subscribed, and when I moved out on my own, I subscribed. I did a lot of military moves, but always subscribed to home delivery of whatever newspaper was popular in the area I was living in. That is, up until about a month ago. Awhile back, the local newspapers here did away with traditional carriers, and began delivery via U.S. Mail. The news, which was already at least a day out of date when it went into the paper, now became 2-3 days out of date by the time it got into my hands. And forget about bringing today’s newspaper to work to read over lunch. So, I finally gave in and switched my subscription to the electronic edition. I have to say, it was the best decision I ever made concerning newspapers. Not only is it far cheaper than home delivery, but I also no longer worry about when the paper will arrive – it’s just automatically there on my schedule. I can read it via whatever device I happen to be using at the moment – iPad, smartphone, computer, etc. The only downside is that I have to print off the sudoku and crossword puzzles, but so far, I’m managing.
As for your connectivity problem, I noticed in your submission a complete lack of information about your internet provider, and the speed of your internet connection. It would also help for me to know some information about your home LAN setup. The “network adapter needs to be activated” message implies that the newer machine may not have all the correct device drivers to make its hardware work at their peak performance. A visit to Start-> Settings-> Windows Update might be able to detect any out-of-date drivers, but it may actually require a visit to your PC maker’s website.
Electronic newspapers aren’t particularly bandwidth intensive. That is to say, they don’t require a lot of speed in order for you to read them. So, I doubt the speed of your connection is at fault. It’s possible that you have a router that doesn’t support the newest Wi-Fi protocols, and the newer machine is struggling to dumb-down its capabilities to your hardware, so I suggest taking a good close look at your router. If you don’t know its actual capabilities, look at the stickers that the manufacturer inevitably slathers all over the front of such devices to tout their performance. If it doesn’t support anything higher than 802.11g (which would be 802.11n or 802.11ac), I would submit that it is either obsolete, or getting there, and you might consider upgrading.
The “gray” comics and other content are a side-effect of the way your browser handles downloaded content. Under normal circumstances, they only stay gray for a moment, as the rest of the page loads. Staying gray is just another symptom of the problems we’ve been talking about. There are a number of potential fixes, depending on the nature of the problem. If you upgrade your router, and the slowness persists, visit the webpage at TinyURL.com/IGTM-0985 for some Q&A regarding the issue of web pages appearing gray.
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