PacBell DSL: how fast is it ? -- some primitive time tests
Written: May 02 '00 (Updated May 09 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great pricing (limited offer), painless installation, love that broadband speed!
Cons: No printed documentation
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| tanster's Full Review: Pacific Bell Pacbell ADSL |
As if I wasn’t spending enough time on the Internet already. (Just ask my Beau how often he has to compete against the computer for my attention!)
Well, at least now with DSL, I’ll be able to read my Epinions and talk to Beau on the phone at the same time....
The deal I couldn’t resist
From February 14 to April 30, 2000, Pacific Bell offered the following deal for basic DSL service, which I simply could not pass up:
• Free installation and free equipment (including Ethernet card, DSL modem, wiring, splitter, and filters).
• Pacific Bell DSL phone service, 384+ kbps downstream, 128kbps upstream.
• Pacific Bell Internet access, 384+ kbps downstream, 128bps upstream.
• “Always on” 24/7 Internet access.
• One dynamic IP address (a static IP address is available only with the more expensive advanced DSL package).
• One primary email box + 2 extra email boxes + 2 extra email aliases.
• Personal home page up to 3mb.
• Newgroup access.
• 24/7 customer support.
• $39.95 a month.
• Requires a one-year term agreement; early termination fee of $125 from Pacific Bell DSL service and $75 from Pacific Bell Internet.
Ordering the service
• On March 19, I set up an installation appointment via www.pacbell.com. Pacific Bell scheduled my appointment for April 21st.
• On March 25, I received a notice in the mail from Pacific Bell that stated “Your Basic Service has been changed to FasTrak ADSL Service Residence” at a monthly rate of $10.69. At first I was confused over what this meant, but then I realized that DSL requires two things: 1) a DSL phone service that replaces my regular phone service, and 2) a DSL Internet Service Provider (ISP). The notice I received pertained to #1; since it costs exactly the same as my current regular phone service, I incurred no extra cost.
Installation day – I think I got off easy
• April 21, 9:50am: Install Guy arrives. He immediately introduces himself as not a DSL install guy, but a regular phone guy – seems that the Pac Bell DSL team became overwhelmed with installation requests, and so 100 regular phone guys are helping with the workload. I asked him, why is PacBell offering such a good deal right now? He says that SBC (the company that provides the DSL transport) has a goal of signing up one million customers by the end of the year.
• 10am: Install Guy places filters on the three phone jacks that actually have phones connected to them – the filters allow phone conversation while being connected to the Internet via DSL at the same time. He leaves my condo to go to my building’s main phone box, and to get a network card for my PC, and one more filter.
• 11am: No sign of Install Guy. Where is he? Did he give up and leave?
• 11:35am: Install Guy returns with an apologetic look on his face. “Work that was supposed to be done at the central office wasn’t done,” he said, “so I have to do it right now.” He installs the network card and DSL modem without any problems, and then spends more than an hour on the phone configuring my DSL modem to match the settings at Pac Bell’s central office, four blocks away from my condo (you need to be a maximum of 17,500 feet away from a DSL-enabled central office in order to quality for DSL).
• 1pm: Everything now works perfectly with my desktop computer. What about my laptop computer, I ask? Install Guy disconnects the DSL modem from my desktop computer, connects it to my laptop computer, and walks me through the configuration process.
• 1:15pm: Install Guy bids adieu! Even though I was told that the installation would be an all-day affair, Install Guy says he usually does three setups a day.
• Total install time: about 3-1/2 hours. Given all the installation horror stories that other Epinions members have described here, I consider my own experience very lucky!
Equipment I received from Pac Bell
• Network card for my desktop PC -- free
• Alcatel Speedtouch Home DSL modem - free
• Three phone filters - free
Configuration for use
I’ve got a desktop PC in my den and a laptop computer in my living room. I’ve got phones in my bedroom and kitchen. The filters mentioned above are connected to the phone jacks in my bedroom and kitchen; they allow the phones to share the same phone line as DSL. The DSL modem is connected to my laptop machine; if I want to use DSL on my desktop machine, I simply disconnect it from the laptop and connect it to the desktop. Yes, it’s somewhat of a hassle, but at least I didn’t have to spend any extra time (or money) networking my computers together. (I’m a Web chick, but somewhat hardware-impaired.)
Surfing the Web
Holy moly. DSL is faster than my connection at work! Click Shift+Refresh on just about any Web page, and it reappears almost instantaneously. I can’t believe I endured reading and rating Epinions via a 56k modem all this time! Logging on (with NTS EnterNet 300 software, provided by Pac Bell) is also faster with DSL than 56k.
So how fast is DSL?
I have seen conflicting statistics on how much faster DSL is over a 56k modem, so I decided to see for myself, in real-world conditions, using my simple wristwatch as the timekeeper. I used my Dell Inspiron 3700 laptop computer, a Pentium III/500 with 256mb of RAM. I tested both my DSL modem and my 56k modem with the Inspiron.
- Downloading files
• What I downloaded: from www.netscape.com, I downloaded Netscape Communicator 4.72 with 128-bit encryption. Filesize: 18.2mb.
• DSL: downloaded the file in 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
• 56k modem: at the 2 minutes and 10 second mark, the 56k modem had downloaded only 1.1mb, with about an hour remaining.
• In my very unscientific experiment, DSL was about 28 times faster than the 56k modem in downloading files.
- Uploading files
• What I uploaded: 4 jpg files, totaling 1.15mb, to my favorite online photo service, www.ofoto.com.
• DSL: uploaded the files in 1 minute and 50 seconds.
• 56k modem: uploaded the files in 9 minutes and 25 seconds.
• In my very primitive example, DSL was about 5 times faster than the 56k modem in uploading files.
Cool sites that take advantage of DSL
Now that I have this lightning-quick access, are there Web sites that are designed specifically for high-speed delivery? Here are just two:
• www.msnbc.com: click the “MSNBC High Speed” button. This takes you to video clips on the day’s news – just like a TV broadcast. True, it’s not as clear-sounding or sharp looking as real TV, but it’s still the most impressive video I’ve ever seen on my computer!
• www.launch.com: click “Music Videos,” click on a video title, and then under Windows Media, click 300k. It’s video-on-demand. Amazing.
Note that following the instructions above via a 56k modem won’t produce the same results. In fact, you may not even see high speed options listed.
Problems/downtime
• Install Guy did not leave me any printed documentation whatsoever. I ended up finding some user information at http://dialup.pacbell.net/dsl. For the most part, though, everything was pretty self-explanatory.
• I had to reconfigure AOL and Quicken in order to use these programs with DSL. A tiny bit of an inconvenience, but no big deal.
• As of today, 5/2/00, I’ve used DSL for about two weeks now, and have experienced no downtime.
For more information
• Pacific Bell DSL service sign-up: www.pacbell.com.
• Pacific Bell DSL FAQ: http://dialup.pacbell.net/help/faq/dsl_faq.html.
• Cool things you can do with broadband access: “Broadband,” PC Magazine’s cover story in the April 18th issue, page 164.
All in all
So far so good! I haven’t had any problems with Pacific Bell ADSL...yet. Just in case, though, I have my tried and true 56k modem card on standby....
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tanster
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Palo Alto, CA
Reviews written: 111
Trusted by: 331 members
About Me:
Happily reviewing cool gadgets and SF Bay Area restaurants since 1999. Pass the gravy, please.
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