#DSL internet

[merry-1009]

Unlocking the Best Internet Provider Deals: A Comprehensive Guide  

In today's digitally interconnected world, a reliable and high-speed internet connection isn't just a luxury; it's a necessity. Whether you're streaming your favorite shows, conducting business meetings, or gaming with friends, having a robust internet connection can make all the difference. However, with so many providers and packages available, finding the right one for your needs can be overwhelming. That's where Fastway Connect comes in – your trusted partner in navigating the sea of internet options to find the perfect fit for you.

  Why Choose Fastway Connect?  

At Fastway Connect, we understand that not all internet connections are created equal. That's why we've curated a selection of the best providers and packages to ensure that you get the high-speed internet you need at a price you can afford. Here's why you should choose us:

  1. Cheap Internet Deals:   We know that price matters. That's why we've scoured the market to find budget-friendly high-speed internet plans for under $50/month. With detailed insights on speed, data caps, and more, we'll help you find the best deal for your budget.

  2. Tailored Bundles:   Looking for a one-stop-shop for all your entertainment needs? Unlock tailored TV and fast internet bundles based on your location. Our top pick, the AT & T Standard + bundle, offers the ultimate package experience at an unbeatable price.

  3. Exclusive Perks:   At Fastway Connect, we believe that deals should be more than just promotions – they should be valuable savings over your service term. That's why we've partnered with top local internet providers to uncover exclusive perks that you won't find anywhere else.

  Compare and Contrast  

Not sure which provider is right for you? Our comprehensive comparison tool makes it easy to compare top-speed internet providers like AT&T, Optimum, and Spectrum. From budget-friendly options like Direct TV to multi-gig possibilities with Frontier and AT&T Fiber, we'll help you find the perfect fit for your needs.

  Internet Technology Explained  

Understanding the different types of internet technology can help you make an informed decision when choosing a provider. Here's a breakdown of the most common types:

-   5G Home Internet:   Utilizes cellphone towers to deliver high-speed internet directly to your home. Offers speeds up to 1,000 Mbps but consistency may vary based on proximity to a cell tower. -   Fiber:   The swiftest and most dependable option, boasting symmetrical download and upload speeds. Limited availability but offers multi-gigabit plans. -   Cable:   Widely accessible and highly reliable, with gigabit speeds. May experience slowdowns during peak usage periods. -   Fixed Wireless:   Offers reliable connectivity for rural regions without the latency issues of satellite options. Expect slower speeds and data caps. -   Satellite:   Spans all 50 states, offering reliable connectivity for rural areas but with higher latency and lower data allowances. -   DSL:   Utilizes telephone lines for data transmission, offering widespread availability and affordability but relatively lower speeds.

  Guidelines to Selecting Your Ideal Internet Provider  

Still not sure where to start? Follow these guidelines to help you make the right choice:

1.   Evaluate Your Speed Needs:   Take our speed test to gauge your current speed and determine if you require more or less. 2.   Consider Device Count and Usage:   Factor in the number of connected devices and your daily online activities. 3.   Assess Your Current Speed:   Test your existing internet speed and seek transparent pricing to understand the actual cost. 4.   Demystify Internet Terms:   Gain clarity on essential internet concepts to make informed decisions.

  Internet Provider FAQs  

Still have questions? Here are some frequently asked questions about Fastway Connect:

-   Does Fastway Connect provide internet services?   We don't directly offer internet services but link you with providers accessible in your area. -   Why do limited internet providers serve my area?   Limited options often result from the costly infrastructure needed, but we ensure access to top providers. -   Will there be new internet choices available in my vicinity?   With the rise of 5G and infrastructure investments, we're committed to bringing you cutting-edge options.

In conclusion, finding the best internet provider doesn't have to be complicated. With Fastway Connect, you can unlock exclusive deals, compare top providers, and find the perfect fit for your needs. Say goodbye to slow connections and hello to high-speed internet today!

[tmis0]

Test Internet speed with DSL Speed Test, a free resource.

A DSL speed test measures your internet's download, upload speeds, and latency, ensuring you're getting the performance promised by your ISP.

[seventh-district]

okay. finally feeling well enough that i want to put some time and energy into returning to my socials. time to scroll my mutual’s blogs to see what i’ve missed out on while i was busy being mentally ill offline

[fremedon]

My parents got their first computer in 1982. And their first modem in 2012. I had unlimited access to the computer, but the computer could not access anything except via floppy disc. (Or, for that first computer, cassette drive.)

TV was very restricted--including, for some years, by the TV set also being the computer monitor so they couldn't both be in use at the same time.

[cableandinternetinsight]

Comparing Internet Speeds Across Providers

Introduction:

Selecting the right internet provider often comes down to finding a balance between speed, cost, and reliability. With numerous providers offering various speed packages, understanding the metrics and comparing them accurately is essential for securing a connection that meets your needs. This guide will explore key factors in comparing internet speeds, how to interpret different metrics like download and upload speeds, and provide insights on finding the best deal for your internet usage.

Main Body:

Understanding Internet Speed MetricsInternet speeds are measured in Mbps (Megabits per second), and the speeds you need depend on your online activities. Providers usually advertise download and upload speeds. Download speed affects activities like streaming and browsing, while upload speed is crucial for video calls, online gaming, and data uploading.

Comparing Download and Upload Speeds Download and upload speeds vary among providers and are often tailored to specific plans. Knowing what speed each activity requires can help you make an informed choice:

Streaming: For streaming HD video, you need at least 5 Mbps, while 4K streaming can require 25 Mbps or more.

Online Gaming: Gaming often demands around 10-20 Mbps for an optimal experience, with a focus on upload speed.

Remote Work: High-quality video calls may require upload speeds of at least 3 Mbps to prevent lag.

Reviewing Provider Plans Each provider offers packages with varying speed options and data limits. Here are three common types of providers:

Cable Providers: Offer high-speed internet, typically with wide coverage but can slow during peak hours.

Fiber-Optic Providers: Known for consistent and high speeds with symmetrical download and upload rates, but with limited availability.

DSL Providers: Generally slower than fiber or cable but can be more affordable.

Checking for Throttling Policies Internet providers sometimes use bandwidth throttling to control network congestion, which may affect speed. Investigate each provider’s policy on throttling to ensure speeds won’t suddenly drop.

Use Speed Test Tools for Validation Before choosing a provider, use online speed test tools to verify the actual speeds you’re receiving. This helps you see if advertised speeds match real-world performance.

Read Customer Reviews for Real-World Insight Reviews from current customers offer insight into reliability and actual speeds. Look for comments on speed consistency, especially during peak hours, to see if the provider delivers as promised.

Conclusion:

Choosing the right internet provider requires a close look at speed metrics, provider policies, and user experiences. By evaluating download and upload speeds, understanding throttling practices, and using speed test tools, you can select a plan that aligns with your online activities and needs. Reliable TV internet near me makes streaming and browsing easy at any time. Make sure to explore customer reviews for a complete picture of performance to ensure you get reliable service and value for money.

[enniewritesathing]

may get new internet tomorrow 👀

[needtricks-blog]

The Internet: A Revolution in Communication and Information Access

Dive deep into the fascinating world of the internet! Explore its history, impact on society, essential services, future potential, and valuable tips for safe and responsible usage. Continue reading Untitled

[everytechever]

Globe logs improved broadband speeds in more areas in Q3

[desasterkreis]

Kein Internet, kein ordentliches ... II

Ohne Internet, Tag 2 Die Störung ist gestern gemeldet, der Technikertermin ist gleich mal von “ab 8 Uhr” auf “ab 13 Uhr” morgen verschoben. Fünf Personen ohne Internet, alle sammeln sich immer wieder im Wohnzimmer, es herrschen tumultartige Zustände. Es wird gesprochen, Familientreffen ohne Vorwarnung! Informationen! Viel zu viele Informationen, wer sind all diese Menschen? Es ist plötzlich Zeit…

[imwritesometimes]

I forgot how nice it is to have internet that actually works worth a shit!!

[brownskinlvr]

Serliana Rosida / Elle Price

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Utah’s getting some of America’s best broadband

TOMORROW (May 17), I'm at the INTERNET ARCHIVE in SAN FRANCISCO to keynote the 10th anniversary of the AUTHORS ALLIANCE.

Residents of 21 cities in Utah have access to some of the fastest, most competitively priced broadband in the country, at speeds up to 10gb/s and prices as low as $75/month. It's uncapped, and the connections are symmetrical: perfect for uploading and downloading. And it's all thanks to the government.

This broadband service is, of course, delivered via fiber optic cable. Of course it is. Fiber is vastly superior to all other forms of broadband delivery, including satellites, but also cable and DSL. Fiber caps out at 100tb/s, while cable caps out at 50gb/s – that is, fiber is 1,000 times faster:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/why-fiber-vastly-superior-cable-and-5g

Despite the obvious superiority of fiber, America has been very slow to adopt it. Our monopolistic carriers act as though pulling fiber to our homes is an impossible challenge. All those wires that currently go to your house, from power-lines to copper phone-lines, are relics of a mysterious, fallen civilization and its long-lost arts. Apparently we could no more get a new wire to your house than we could build the pyramids using only hand-tools.

In a sense, the people who say we can't pull wires anymore are right: these are relics of a lost civilization. Specifically, electrification and later, universal telephone service was accomplished through massive federal grants under the New Deal – grants that were typically made to either local governments or non-profit co-operatives who got everyone in town connected to these essential modern utilities.

Today – thanks to decades of neoliberalism and its dogmatic insistence that governments can't do anything and shouldn't try, lest they break the fragile equilibrium of the market – we have lost much of the public capacity that our grandparents took for granted. But in the isolated pockets where this capacity lives on, amazing things happen.

Since 2015, residents of Jackson County, KY – one of the poorest counties in America – have enjoyed some of the country's fastest, cheapest, most reliable broadband. The desperately poor Appalachian county is home to a rural telephone co-op, which grew out of its rural electrification co-op, and it used a combination of federal grants and local capacity to bring fiber to every home in the county, traversing dangerous mountain passes with a mule named "Ole Bub" to reach the most remote homes. The result was an immediately economic uplift for the community, and in the longer term, the county had reliable and effective broadband during the covid lockdowns:

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-one-traffic-light-town-with-some-of-the-fastest-internet-in-the-us

Contrast this with places where the private sector has the only say over who gets broadband, at what speed, and at what price. America is full of broadband deserts – deserts that strand our poorest people. Even in the hearts of our largest densest cities, whole neighborhoods can't get any broadband. You won't be surprised to learn that these are the neighborhoods that were historically redlined, and that the people who live in them are Black and brown, and also live with some of the highest levels of pollution and its attendant sicknesses:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/10/flicc/#digital-divide

These places are not set up for success under the best of circumstances, and during the lockdowns, they suffered terribly. You think your kid found it hard to go to Zoom school? Imagine what life was like for kids who attended remote learning while sitting on the baking tarmac in a Taco Bell parking lot, using its free wifi:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/02/elem-s02.html

ISPs loathe competition. They divide up the country into exclusive territories like the Pope dividing up the "new world" and do not trouble one another by trying to sell to customers outside of "their" turf. When Frontier – one of the worst of America's terrible ISPs – went bankrupt, we got to see their books, and we learned two important facts:

The company booked one million customers who had no alternative as an asset, because they would pay more for slower broadband, and Frontier could save a fortune by skipping maintenance, and charging these customers for broadband even through multi-day outages; and

Frontier knew that it could make a billion dollars in profit over a decade by investing in fiber build-out, but it chose not to, because stock analysts will downrank any carrier that made capital investments that took more than five years to mature. Because Frontier's execs were paid primarily in stock, they chose to strand their customers with aging copper connections and to leave a billion dollars sitting on the table, so that their personal net worth didn't suffer a temporary downturn:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/frontiers-bankruptcy-reveals-cynical-choice-deny-profitable-fiber-millions

ISPs maintain the weirdest position: that a) only the private sector can deliver broadband effectively, but b) to do so, they'll need massive, unsupervised, no-strings-attached government handouts. For years, America went along with this improbable scheme, which is why Trump's FCC chairman Ajit Pai gave the carriers $45 billion in public funds to string slow, 19th-century-style copper lines across rural America:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/27/all-broadband-politics-are-local/

Now, this is obviously untrue, and people keep figuring out that publicly provisioned broadband is the only way for America to get the same standard of broadband connectivity that our cousins in other high-income nations enjoy. In order to thwart the public's will, the cable and telco lobbyists joined ALEC, the far-right, corporatist lobbying shop, and drafted "model legislation" banning cities and counties from providing broadband, even in places the carriers chose not to serve:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/19/culture-war-bullshit-stole-your-broadband/

Red states across America adopted these rules, and legislators sold this to their base by saying that this was just "keeping the government out of their internet" (even as every carrier relied on an exclusive, government-granted territorial charter, often with massive government subsidies).

ALEC didn't target red states exclusively because they had pliable, bribable conservative lawmakers. Red states trend rural, and rural places are the most likely sites for public fiber. Partly, that's because low-density areas are harder to make a business case for, but also because these are also the places that got electricity and telephone through New Deal co-ops, which are often still in place.

Just about the only places in America where people like their internet service are the 450+ small towns where the local government provides fiber. These places vote solidly Republican, and it was their beloved conservative lawmakers whom ALEC targeted to enact laws banning their equally beloved fiber – keep voting for Christmas, turkeys, and see where it gets you:

https://communitynets.org/content/community-network-map

But spare a little sympathy for the conservative movement here. The fact that reality has a pronounced leftist bias must be really frustrating for the ideological project of insisting that anything the market can't provide is literally impossible.

Which brings me back to Utah, a red state with a Republican governor and legislature, and a national leader in passing unconstitutional, unhinged, unworkable legislation as part of an elaborate culture war kabuki:

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165975112/utah-passes-an-age-verification-law-for-anyone-using-social-media

For more than two decades, a coalition of 21 cities in Utah have been building out municipal fiber. The consortium calls itself UTOPIA: "Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency":

https://www.utopiafiber.com/faqs/

UTOPIA pursues a hybrid model: they run "open access" fiber and then let anyone offer service over it. This can deliver the best of both worlds: publicly provisioned, blazing-fast fiber to your home, but with service provided by your choice of competing carriers. That means that if Moms for Liberty captures you local government, you're not captive to their ideas about what sites your ISP should block.

As Karl Bode writes for Techdirt, Utahns in UTOPIA regions have their choice of 18 carriers, and competition has driven down prices and increased speeds. Want uncapped 1gb fiber? That's $75/month. Want 10gb fiber? That's $150:

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/05/15/utah-locals-are-getting-cheap-10-gbps-fiber-thanks-to-local-governments/

UTOPIA's path to glory wasn't an easy one. The dismal telco monopolists Qwest and Lumen sued to put them out of business, delaying the rollout by years:

https://www.deseret.com/2005/7/22/19903471/utopia-responds-to-qwest-lawsuit/

UTOPIA has been profitable and self-sustaining for over 15 years and shows no sign of slowing. But 17 states still ban any attempt at this.

Keeping up such an obviously bad policy requires a steady stream of distractions and lies. The "government broadband doesn't work" lie has worn thin, so we've gotten a string of new lies about wireless service, insisting that fiber is obviated by point-to-point microwave relays, or 5g, or satellite service.

There's plenty of places where these services make sense. You're not going to be able to use fiber in a moving car, so yeah, you're going to want 5g (and those 5g towers are going to need to be connected to each other with fiber). Microwave relay service can fill the gap until fiber can be brought in, and it's great for temporary sites (especially in places where it doesn't rain, because rain, clouds, leaves and other obstructions are deadly for microwave relays). Satellite can make sense for an RV or a boat or remote scientific station.

But wireless services are orders of magnitude slower than fiber. With satellite service, you share your bandwidth with an entire region or even a state. If there's only a couple of users in your satellite's footprint, you might get great service, but when your carrier adds a thousand more customers, your connection is sliced into a thousand pieces.

That's also true for everyone sharing your fiber trunk, but the difference is that your fiber trunk supports speeds that are tens of thousands of times faster than the maximum speeds we can put through freespace electromagnetic spectrum. If we need more fiber capacity, we can just fish a new strand of fiber through the conduit. And while you can increase the capacity of wireless by increasing your power and bandwidth, at a certain point you start pump so much EM into the air that birds start falling out of the sky.

Every wireless device in a region shares the same electromagnetic spectrum, and we are only issued one such spectrum per universe. Each strand of fiber, by contrast, has its own little pocket universe, containing a subset of that spectrum.

Despite all its disadvantages, satellite broadband has one distinct advantage, at least from an investor's perspective: it can be monopolized. Just as we only have one electromagnetic spectrum, we also only have one sky, and the satellite density needed to sustain a colorably fast broadband speed pushes the limit of that shared sky:

https://spacenews.com/starlink-vs-the-astronomers/

Private investors love monopoly telecoms providers, because, like pre-bankruptcy Frontier, they are too big to care. Back in 2021, Altice – the fourth-largest cable operator in America – announced that it was slashing its broadband speeds, to be "in line with other ISPs":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/27/immortan-altice/#broadband-is-a-human-right

In other words: "We've figured out that our competitors are so much worse than we are that we are deliberately degrading our service because we know you will still pay us the same for less."

This is why corporate shills and pro-monopolists prefer satellite to municipal fiber. Sure, it's orders of magnitude slower than fiber. Sure, it costs subscribers far more. Sure, it's less reliable. But boy oh boy is it profitable.

The thing is, reality has a pronounced leftist bias. No amount of market magic will conjure up new electromagnetic spectra that will allow satellite to attain parity with fiber. Physics hates Starlink.

Yeah, I'm talking about Starlink. Of course I am. Elon Musk basically claims that his business genius can triumph over physics itself.

That's not the only vast, impersonal, implacable force that Musk claims he can best with his incredible reality-distortion field. Musk also claims that he can somehow add so many cars to the road that he will end traffic – in other words, he will best geometry too:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/herbies-revenge/#100-billion-here-100-billion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Geometry hates Tesla, and physics hates Starlink. Reality has a leftist bias. The future is fiber, and public transit. These are both vastly preferable, more efficient, safer, more reliable and more plausible than satellite and private vehicles. Their only disadvantage is that they fail to give an easily gulled, thin-skinned compulsive liar more power over billions of people. That's a disadvantage I can live with.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/16/symmetrical-10gb-for-119/#utopia

Image: 4028mdk09 (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rote_LED_Fiberglasleuchte.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[howlingday]

Yang: Damn you, Jaune Arc, and your DSLs!

Jaune: What's wrong with my internet?

Blake: She's not talking about your internet, Mr. Duck.

Jaune: ...WHAT?!

[mydaddywiki]

Webster Hubbell

Physique: Husky Build Height: 6'5"

Webster Lee "Web" Hubbell (born 1949), is a former Arkansas lawyer and politician. He was a lawyer in Pulaski County before serving as Mayor of Little Rock from 1979 until he resigned in 1981. He was appointed by Bill Clinton as chief justice of Arkansas State Supreme Court in 1983. When Clinton became President, Hubbell was appointed as Associate Attorney General from 1993 to 1994.

Tall, thick with a pair of DSLs (dick sucking lips) that'll make anyone proud. I'm surprised I wasn't into him more as 'big, dumb looking Hoss" guys are SO my type.

Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Hubbell attended the University of Arkansas where he played offensive tackle for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Hubbell was selected in the 1969 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, but an injury ended his football career. He graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1970, then graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law with honors.

In December 1994, Hubbell pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud and tax evasion charges in connection with his handling of billing at the Rose Law Firm, a firm with partners that once included Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster. Hubbell pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of failing to disclose a conflict of interest, and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

Afterwards, Hubbell worked as an independent legal consultant, general counsel for an Internet start-up, and general counsel and senior vice-president for a large commercial insurance company until July 2010 where he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he now writes novels.

Hubbell and his wife, Suzy, have four children and seven grandchildren. The four children is a plus as it goes to my "loves to fuck" theory. A negative is the rumor he might have fathered Chelsea Clinton. Strangely, it's a plus for Hillary Clinton if she fucked him.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

The Internet Is Forever: Final Part

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.7k

Summary: A man is going around killing women in their homes and filming it for all to see. It's heartbreaking to watch but you're determined to catch him before he can hurt anyone else.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Season Five Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

With the time now back in Penelope's hand, you're able to get an address for the woman the unsub killed. You head right over there with the police. You don't bother bringing the ambulance because the unsub took the body with him when he left. You don't have to see what happened through energies because you saw it in his live. Penelope is taking this hard because she wasn't fast enough even though Derek tries to make her see that it wasn't her fault. The reason why she's taking it so hard is because this guy is good at what he does and is all up on her turf about it. Hotch wants her to flag the viewers so you can bring them in until one of them gives you what you need--the unsub's name.

"Her name was Allison Kittridge, twenty-nine. This was her first house," Emily sighs.

"So, this unsub accelerated his timetable and his MO. He was moving faster because he was angry. The press conference told him something about himself he didn't like so he rushed. Which means he made a mistake. Now, what was it?" Derek asks.

"It wasn't the cameras. He remembered to take those with him," you say.

"It wasn't the body. He took that with him, too." Emily looks at Derek. "Hey, did Garcia find anything unusual with Allison's wireless?"

"No. Records show that it was a basic DSL installation." Derek looks at the desk where her computer sits and notices something off about the wires. "Y/N, help me move this table." You do and he kneels on the ground to inspect the wires. He holds one up with a gloved hand. "Do you see this? This is what brings the internet from the street into the house. This isn't DSL. It's a fiber-optic cable. It's a completely different type of connection. We just found his mistake."

You three head back to the station to tell the rest about it, and Emily lets the detective know over the phone.

"If there's already an internet connection in the house, why does he bring his own with him? Is it the upload speed?" Hotch asks.

"A fiber-optic allows him to stream large amounts of video and maintain a chat room. That's dozens of computers connected to him at once. He'd need a lot of bandwidth for something like that."

"We checked all the ISPS. Why didn't he turn up?"

"I get mail, phone calls, and people knock on my door all the time to see if I want to upgrade my internet. They'll offer to come inside and demonstrate how much faster their connection is."

"Do you think that's the ruse that gets him in the door?"

"It makes sense," Emily shrugs. "During his demonstration, he would have access to his victims' computers. On his way out, he might ask for a glass of water or something that serves as s distraction, something to buy enough time to plant that first camera."

"We need to find out what company owns this cable."

"Detective Fordham's already hunting that down, and there's an ID number on it so it shouldn't take long."

"We'll have Y/N and Reid follow up. I need you two to track down who was in the chat room."

"Did Garcia finish her sweep?"

"Yeah. Most were international, three were local. I bet one of them knows the unsub."

Hotch and Rossi went to talk to an older man named Austin Chapman whose name was one of the ones in the chat room. He denied having seen the video and was confused about the murder that took place. Derek brought in a man named Scott Burns, and Emily 

Emily and Derek brought the other two men who were local back to the station as well as Austin who kept claiming he didn't know what video Rossi was talking about.

You and Spencer go to the place where the cable is manufactured, and one of the managers meets you down in the lobby. After a brief explanation of what is going on, you hand her the cable from Allison's house.

"Yes, this is our cable."

"Mrs. Hightower, we went over your records, and it turns out that none of the four victims signed up with your service."

"Four? God, those poor women," she sighs.

"We think it's an employee using your cable as a ruse to get into the house. Can you think of anyone that might be--"

"Mac Jones," she cuts you off. "He worked on one of our trucks as we laid the fiber in with the regular phone line."

"You're certain that's him?"

"We caught him hoarding it. He said it was for a home project until we got angry phone calls that he was going door to door offering free fiber-optic installation. We fired him on the spot."

"We need his information.

"Absolutely."

With the unsub's name, you and Spencer take it back to the station and call Penelope about it. She doesn't need a lot of time to bring up Mac's information on the big screen for everyone to see. The man on the screen doesn't match up with the ID you got from the phone company.

"Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mac Jones."

"That isn't the ID we got from the phone company," Spencer says.

"That's because last year, Mr. Jones had his identity stolen. The unsub took his license and his credit card, used them for two weeks, and then moved on. Now, I can't tell you who the unsub is pretending to be now, but since a picture's worth a thousand databases, I can tell you who he was." She pulls up another picture of another man. This one. This is your unsub. "Robert Johnson, three-time loser, and arrested for possession of torture videos. He spent some time in a halfway house before he disappeared. I found a blog of his online. Here's a quote: Next time you won't be able to stop me."

"That's his narcissism again," Spencer says. "He was furious that he got caught and remakes himself as a killer. It allows him to free the impulses that were always there. Garcia, is there a pattern to the identities that he steals?"

"No. He's really disciplined about it. Once he burns through an identity, he never uses the same one again. Do you know how I describe some suspects as being off the grid? This guy is totally the opposite. He's all over the grid. He's manipulating the grid. He never stays in one place for very long."

"How do we find out who he is now?" Hotch asks.

"I don't think we're going to. The man known as Robert Johnson is in the wind. If he's this flexible with his name, his real name, forget it. There's another way we can find him, though. His online name or his hacker handle. That's the name that matters to him."

"Wouldn't he have hundreds of those, too?" you ask.

"Most definitely, but remember how I said hackers are loyal? They stick to certain names. That's how you identify yourself to other hackers. That's how the FBI caught me. If you find the handle, you'll find the unsub. I'm on it. I promise."

You leave their side and walk into the room where the interrogation rooms are held. One window is to your right--the room where Rossi and Austin are in. Two windows are to your left--the one closest to you has Derek and his man. The one farther from you has Emily and her man. You cross your arms and observe all three.

"Look, I wish I could help you find the guy posting these videos, but I never visited that website, man."

"Right," Derek scoffs.

"Maybe somebody broke into my computer or something."

"See, Scott, we think it was you. We found some pretty interesting movies in your hard drive to back up our theory." He looks at the file and names the titles of the movies. "White Girls Can't Hump'. That's nice. 'Schindler's Fist'. I bet that's riveting. See, this one right here, this is the one that got my attention. 'The Erotic Awakenings of Sandy'. How old was the girl in that video? What was she, twelve?"

"I can explain," Scott stutters.

"Shut up! This is what's weird to me. Most of your files were locked away, but not the child porn. We found it in like five minutes. It wasn't password-protected or anything. How does someone who's supposed to be so smart with computers do something so fucking dumb?"

Scott looks around with a sigh before leaning in.

"Can we cut a deal?"

"You tell me what I want to know and then maybe we'll talk about a deal."

Scott relents.

"Before this guy accepts you into the club, he gives you the illegal stuff like kid torture. He has to know that you're risking as much as he is."

"Mutually assured destruction. If you rat him out, he takes you with him." Scott nods. "What's his name?"

"I don't know. We never met."

Derek slams his hand on the table, scaring Scott.

"Don't you try and play me, kid. His online name."

"Watcher89."

"Were there any other names?"

"Not that I could find. There's something else you should know. He sent out a message. He said tonight would be the best one yet."

"He's attacking tonight?"

"Of course. He knows you're watching him."

Derek turns his body toward the window, locking eyes with you. He knows someone is standing there. Emily walks out of her room without so much as a glance in your direction. Her guy must have said the same thing. You sigh and turn to Rossi and Austin.

"What's interesting, Mr. Chapman, is the two other men we talked to had a form of collateral on their hard drive."

"I'm sorry, collateral?"

"Hardcore porn. Illegal. Rough."

Austin's mouth opens and closes as if he's shocked.

"I would never look at something like that. You have all my computers. You must have searched them."

"Yes, and we found nothing."

"So, can I go?"

"No. You see, there's still that nagging question as to why you were logged on to that chat room last night."

"Look, Agent Rossi, I'm at a loss here. First of all, I'm all thumbs when it comes to computers. Second of all, my grandkids were at the house last night for a sleepover. They were in bed by 8:30. We were so exhausted, my wife and I were asleep by 9:00. Please! Ask her. She'll say the same thing. I don't think I even checked my email last night."

Damn, he's a good liar. You believe him when he says he doesn't have illegal porn on his computer but the unsub's energy is all over him. Rossi takes out a picture of Robert and hands it to him

"Do you know this man?"

Austin takes out glasses so he can see the picture better.

"Yes. He came into my store a while back."

"Why?"

"He said he liked my website, which my son designed for me, by the way. We chatted about appliances and he bought a few items and left."

"Did he have a name?"

"No idea. We talked for only five minutes."

"I'll be right back."

Rossi takes the file and leaves the room just as Hotch walks into the room you're in. He looks at you and you only nod to him.

"Do you believe him?" Hotch asks.

"I believe he doesn't fit the profile of the other voyeurs. They're good with computers. They have hacking experience."

"He wasn't lying about the computer stuff. He doesn't know them or anything. He does know Robert. His energy is all over him. I think if Robert sent child porn to the other voyeurs to shut them up, he's somehow involved with the victims. Their bodies have to go somewhere, right?"

"Garcia checked out the website. She said it was crude. You can't even order anything from it."

"Maybe Y/N's right. Maybe the unsub manipulated him for something else and used his network as part of his spoofing."

"Maybe?" you ask.

Hotch's phone rings and he answers Penelope's call.

"Go ahead, Garcia."

"I got Watcher89."

You three leave the room and head back to the team to see what Penelope is doing on her computer since she's still hooked to the WiFi here.

"Does he have his own network?"

"He doesn't need one. He's got a whole city to leech off of."

"He's doing this again tonight. Can you send me a list of networks he's hacked recently? Those are the potential victims."

Penelope pulls up the map and twenty red dots appear on it.

"I have twenty hits."

"Filter out men and families. He only kills single women."

Eight dots left.

"Eight left."

"Garcia, do you have any pictures?" Spencer asks.

"Coming your way."

Penelope puts all eight pictures on the screen so Spencer can study their facial features. He points to Lucy Masters who has short dark hair, green eyes, and high cheekbones.

"It's her. She's the one. She's the only one with facial symmetry that would appeal to him."

Once you get her address, you head over to her house quickly. You don't have to set foot inside to know she's not in there. Still, Derek and Emily walk in through the front and announce themselves.

"Lucy Master? We're the FBI. We're coming in!"

A quick sweep of the house indicates that she isn't here but her car is. You walk into the living room and look at the TV which suddenly turns on by itself. Lucy is on the screen with her hands tied over her head with two giant meat hooks on either side of her. She has a gag in her mouth to prevent her from screaming. She tries to struggle but she isn't going anywhere. You look at the top of the TV and notice a small camera perched on the edge.

"Guys? You might want to come see this." Derek and Emily walk into the living room. "See that camera? I bet he can hear and see us."

You look at her surroundings and see if you can determine where she is. What do you see? Metal walls. She's in some sort of metal container. A meta container fit for a person must be on a property that's big. It has to be at a secondary location. Maybe on Austin's property. What if that's why he keeps them there so he can use that as collateral for Austin?

"Look at that," you whisper to Derek. You point to the wall behind Lucy. "Is that ice on the walls?"

"It's a walk-in freezer."

Rossi immediately knew that Austin had something to do with these freezers. Rossi wasn't gentle on Austin as he called him out. Austin tried to deny it but the first thing voyeurs learn is how to cover their tracks, how to stalk between nine to five. That's why there wasn't any porn on his computer because he had something better.

Rossi basically threatened him with his grandkids. He said that the next time they Google him, he'll make sure they find out what a disgusting grandpa they really have. That's what set him off. He gave up his location to them.

1823 Hudson Street. You've got him.

You, Derek, and Emily make it to the place in three minutes but you're not sure Lucy has three minutes left. Penelope blocks his signal from streaming and denies his internet access altogether. If you're right, that will piss him off enough to want to kill Lucy out of spit. You jump out of the car before Derek can even stop. You know exactly which freezer she is in. You can feel her panic.

You slide the door open and see not only Robert strangling Lucy but every body he took hanging on meat hooks... frozen... for his pleasure. Derek jumps on Robert and struggles to get him off Lucy who is losing the fight.

"Get off her! Let her go!"

"No!"

Derek yanks Robert off Lucy and slams him into the side of the freezer before slapping cuffs on his wrists. You and Emily immediately tend to Lucy who is crying.

"You're going to be okay. It's over. He can't hurt you anymore," you say.

You get her down from her restraints and Detective Fordham takes her to get some help. It hurt to see Allison get killed like that but you're glad that you got there in time to save Lucy. 

Once back home, you and Spencer are sitting on the couch watching a movie. You turn to face him and he lowers the volume so he can have a conversation with you.

"Is it weird that I wish I was in therapy right now?"

"No." Spencer reaches over and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. "I'm glad you found comfort in that."

"Thank Derek. He kind of forced it on me." You lean in and kiss him. "I'm glad to be back."

"The internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had." - Eric Schmidt.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)