High speed Internet access
Jul 10 '00
I've been researching different ways to connect at high speeds. Currently I have several consulting jobs, and a full time job. My life would be made much easier if I had something faster than the run-of-the-mill analog modem connection. At this time, my major projects include web programming at a Unix command prompt using PHP4 (A server side scripting language). Now using telnet, I telnet into this machine, script a page, and use a browser to view what I've done, and check for errors. I have a setup in my house so my wife can be on the Internet at the same time, using the same modem. This causes many problems when I'm programming. I can't tell her not to use the Internet when I'm on, because I'm on it quite often.
Since I live in a rather unpopular place for phone service, New Mexico, I don't have many options. I've researched Cable, DSL, ISDN, Frame-relay, Point-to-Point connections:
Frame-Relay: Connects you to the local telephone company frame-cloud (Shared resource from telephone company that provides a pool of bandwidth to it's customers), this is a cheaper way to get a "Commercial grade" line of high speed access, but it can slow down during peak usage times. It also requires roughly $1500 worth of equipment, and another $1500-$3500 dollar installation fee in my area. That doesn't include the $350 dollar reoccurring monthly fee, plus the Internet provider charge at an average of $1000 dollars.
Point-to-Point: Similar in price to Frame-relay, except the monthly charges by the phone company exceed $350 dollars a month. The equipment is generally the same.
Both of the above are NOT options for the residential customer looking for cost-effective Internet access.
Cable: Cable isn't available in my area. Cable seems to be shared resources through neighbors and possibly a much larger surrounding area. It can also be affected (because it isn't terminated) by a household's common interference, such as vacuums, Air conditioners, and other electrically run equipment. At least that's what I found out in a couple articles I've read. I haven't seen any indication that it has a distance limitation. I think this is due to the "repeating" equipment in the network.
DSL: Several types are available, but the general population at this time won't be able to receive the popular SDSL (Synchronous) or ADSL (Asynchronous) connections. Most consumers will see it either not available, or IDSL (ISDN DSL). ISDN DSL is limited to 36,000 feet (Around 6 miles) away from your Telephone Company's Central Office (CO). SDSL and ADSL seems to stop between 15,000 and 17,000 ft. ISDN DSL uses ISDN circuits, allows Voice over the same line as data (no need for a separate phone line), but costs more than the average ADSL or SDSL connection per bit/sec. IDSL may be cheaper for the total price, but you pay more per unit of speed.
ISDN: Very expensive compared to the IDSL counterpart. It seems the circuit isn't too expensive, but the Internet access from a provider is a HUGE expense. This usually leaves a consumer paying by the hour, or a large lump sum for dedicated access.
DSL or Cable is the most cost effective solutions to the problem. Most people seem to go with the DSL service, rather than cable access. For the most part, I would agree. However, I would take what I could get. Cable seems to have this common reputation of becoming a slow, tiresome connection once a neighborhood is populated. DSL "Isn't" shared. Well, That is, and is not true.
Explanation:
Cable is a "Bus" topology. This is a "One wire per area" solution. This means that if you had 5 houses in a line. For geographical reference points, the first house is on the northern-most house, the last house is on the southern-most house. In this example, the cable company runs their cable from south to north. So the cable would enter this 5-house neighborhood from the south. It would then connect to the first house with that one cable. From that same cable, it would connect to the next house, and the next house, and so on. When the first installation took place, the first house had that whole wires worth of bandwidth to use all to itself. The next house to get the service now shares that same wire to connect. After all 5 are hooked up, those houses are all sharing the same wire, and the same bandwidth.
DSL is a "Star" topology. This means every connection gets it's own wire. The telephone company has several wires from its Central Office in your area (called an F1), which connects to a Cross-box. This is a distribution block for telephone wires to houses. From this Cross-box is wires going to each house (called an F2). A DSL connection uses that infrastructure to connect to your house, giving you fast connection rates.
As for my opinion on Topologies, I've always preferred Star to Bus. So I would prefer DSL if I cared about the infrastructure. Which is true. I do care. In the long run, a Star is more expandable (though more expensive) than a Bus Topology. But right now, that isn't the concern. Many people argue that Cable is slower because of connection sharing.
Based on the prices the Internet Provider pays for bandwidth (this includes both DSL and Cable Internet providers), There isn't a possible profit making way for either one to make money without sharing the bandwidth. To give you an idea of what happens, I will share some experiences I've had.
We will say I'm an Internet provider, currently offering modem access.
I pay $1000 per month for a T1 (which is 1.544 Megabits).
I want to sell DSL. The average price for DSL in my area is 80 Dollars for ADSL 384k down/192k up. If you were to guarantee those speeds, you would be buying a new T1 every 4 users. $80 x 4 is not equal or greater than $1000. It's only close to half of that. That means you can expect to share bandwidth on your providers end no matter what you do. This isn't necessarily bad. You notice a great improvement over your old modem service.
Although I prefer DSL to cable, I would buy either one in its present state. My main reason for the DSL decision is because I know it's not far off phone companies will have DSL and Voice over the same line for the same price I'm going to pay for DSL. So overall it'll be cheaper.
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Epinions.com ID:
jyancey
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Member: Joel Yancey
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
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