ASDL and my phone company

[Filksinger]

My phone company recently announced (rather quietly, I thought) ASDL
lines in my area by the end of next month. For those of you who don't
know, ASDL is a digital 'modem' which is much faster than a normal
modem, and which tends to receive much faster than it sends.

Right now, to get started, you need about $350, and then pay ~$60/mo.
for the line and an ISP for the slowest ASDL, though you don't need to
use their ISP if yours can handle it. As I am already paying for an
extra line (about $15-20/mo.) and an ISP ($20/mo.), _and_ my wife and
I want to get another computer and put together a network, I may be
using this soon for both machines at one time, with speeds 4 times the
best a 56k modem can offer, and 6 times what mine has averaged.

I think I'm going to like this.:)

Filksinger

[Ed Johnson]

On Thu, 18 Jun 1998 Filksinger wrote:

>My phone company recently announced (rather quietly, I thought) ASDL
>lines in my area by the end of next month. For those of you who don't
>know, ASDL is a digital 'modem' which is much faster than a normal
>modem, and which tends to receive much faster than it sends.

<snip>

>
>I think I'm going to like this.:)
>
>Filksinger
>

FS:
Please keep us posted! This sounds way cool, if it lives up to
its claims. Cable modem service is going for about $40 per month
most places and has unbelievable claims. I have heard claims as
high as 600 million baud (bits per sec) for cable delivery. A T-1
line is still quite expensive and is about 1.5 million bps.

Your ASDL sounds like it is twice as fast as an ISDN (128K bps)
What is it's claimed rate of transfer?
Ed J

[Michael P. Calligaro]

>high as 600 million baud (bits per sec) for cable delivery. A T-1

A nit. Bits Per Second and Baud are two different things. "Baud" hadn't
been an accurate term to use since 300 Baud modems. The conventional way to
say the rate you referred to is 6Mb/sec (though people often drop off the
"per sec" and just say "six megabit").

ADSL is cool stuff. It uses your existing copper phone lines and lets you
use both the phone and the computers at the same time. Lowest rating in
this area (the $60/month one) is 256Kb both ways. The A in ADSL is
"asyncronous" and typically you get a lot more bandwidth down than up. But
at the very low end, it's the same. Typically they go as high as 1.5Mb
down.

Filksinger, don't get your hopes up to high. ADSL has been put on hold.
"To protect consumers," the government has required that GTE and US West
delay their release until they can guarantee that other ISPs can use it.
Any time the government tells you it's doing something to help you, run away
screaming. I'm really annoyed at this. To make my life better, they're
keeping me from buying a product I want? Yeah, next they'll tell me the DOJ
vs MS suit is to help consumers too.

bytor

[Filksinger]

Michael P. Calligaro wrote in message <358b3...@news.sff.net>...

>>high as 600 million baud (bits per sec) for cable delivery. A T-1
>A nit. Bits Per Second and Baud are two different things. "Baud"
hadn't
>been an accurate term to use since 300 Baud modems. The conventional
way to
>say the rate you referred to is 6Mb/sec (though people often drop off
the
>"per sec" and just say "six megabit").
>
>ADSL is cool stuff. It uses your existing copper phone lines and
lets you
>use both the phone and the computers at the same time. Lowest rating
in
>this area (the $60/month one) is 256Kb both ways. The A in ADSL is
>"asyncronous" and typically you get a lot more bandwidth down than
up. But
>at the very low end, it's the same. Typically they go as high as
1.5Mb
>down.

A much bigger nit. Ed said _600_ million baud. That is much to high.
The fastest I have ever heard claimed possible over standard cable was
30 megabit, and that required that you share the line with large
numbers of other people. Unlike phone lines, where everyone has a
separate line to the switching station, cable supplies _one_ signal to
large numbers of people, and they all have to share.

600 megabit is only possible with the fastest, most expensive Local
Area Networks, or LANs, using Gigabit Ethernet. Couldn't be sent over
a standard cable line, even if people actually were willing to pay
what _that_ would cost.

>Filksinger, don't get your hopes up to high. ADSL has been put on
hold.
>"To protect consumers," the government has required that GTE and US
West
>delay their release until they can guarantee that other ISPs can use
it.
>Any time the government tells you it's doing something to help you,
run away
>screaming. I'm really annoyed at this. To make my life better,
they're
>keeping me from buying a product I want? Yeah, next they'll tell me
the DOJ
>vs MS suit is to help consumers too.

Last I heard, the objections had already been dealt with and the
release was freed up for availability around here by the end of July.
In the past week, it has become available in 9 new locations in the
Seattle area, including one of the three promised in Kent, where I
live. It isn't close enough for me to use, but it should be here soon.

Filksinger

[Ed Johnson]

On Sat, 20 Jun 1998 Filksinger wrote:

>
>A much bigger nit. Ed said _600_ million baud. That is much to high.
>The fastest I have ever heard claimed possible over standard cable was
>30 megabit, and that required that you share the line with large
>numbers of other people. Unlike phone lines, where everyone has a
>separate line to the switching station, cable supplies _one_ signal to
>large numbers of people, and they all have to share.
>
>600 megabit is only possible with the fastest, most expensive Local
>Area Networks, or LANs, using Gigabit Ethernet. Couldn't be sent over
>a standard cable line, even if people actually were willing to pay
>what _that_ would cost.
>

Filksinger:
I do recall seeing that outrageous claim in an article. I
believe the author was confused with the potention bandwidth of
coaxial cable vs. an actual service to be offered to customers.
the 30MB/sec to be shared by many is what I, too have seen.

Ed J

[<<Big Charlie>>]

Bytor--

You wrote:

>I'm really annoyed at this. To make my life better, they're keeping me >from buying a product I want? Yeah, next they'll tell me the DOJ vs MS >suit is to help consumers too.

Of course they are doing this for your benefit. You are too stupid
to make these decisions. Just ask them! (TFIC)

It was either Reno on Clinton that was quoted a couple of weeks ago
as "you should look on the government as your parent". BullS---. What
happened to servant?

--
<<Big Charlie>>

"The history of progress is a long, long list of specialists who were
dead wrong when they were the most certain." --SIASL

[Nuclear Waste]

<> wrote in message <35927E...@aol.com>...

>Bytor--
>
>You wrote:
>
>>I'm really annoyed at this. To make my life better, they're keeping me
>from buying a product I want? Yeah, next they'll tell me the DOJ vs MS
>suit is to help consumers too.
>
> Of course they are doing this for your benefit. You are too stupid
>to make these decisions. Just ask them! (TFIC)
>
> It was either Reno on Clinton that was quoted a couple of weeks ago
>as "you should look on the government as your parent". BullS---. What
>happened to servant?
>

I believe that RAH said something about civil servant being the same as
civil master.
I am pretty sure it was in TEFL, but I am not sure.

Nuclear Waste