[LINK] (Fwd) Telstra's plans for one small rural area.

[Howard Lowndes]

On Fri, 1 Nov 2002, Craig Sanders wrote:

> On Fri, Nov 01, 2002 at 07:51:45AM +1000, Chirgwin, Richard wrote:
> > [...]
> > 2) Thin population (making it difficult to pay for a better service
> > even if technically feasible); and
> >
> > [...]
> > 2) probably doesn't need further discussion.
>
> it does.
>
> if you want a good quality modem line get OnRamp Home Highway, telstra's
> residential ISDN service.  that gives you two B channels (i.e.  2
> "lines")  for (i think) about $40/month.  you get to keep your existing
> phone number plus get a new one for the second line.  use one line for
> voice, the other for the modem.
>
> this is on the existing copper already in the ground.  unless your lines
> are severely corroded/damaged, you won't even need a trench dug or a new
> line installed.
>
> it's also a way of making sure you're not on a pairgained line, which is
> one of the main causes of inadequate modem speeds in the bush and
> outlying suburbs.
>
> if your ISP supports it, you can use an ISDN card (approx $200) and
> connect with Data-Over-Voice (DOV) to get 64K data connections at local
> call rates.  you can even get 2 x 64K connections for the price of 2
> local calls with multilink ppp (again, only if your ISP supports it).

...and if it is not supported then you are paying timed call charges
which, if you stay on line a long time, can amount to around $1,900 per
month.

>
> otherwise, you will get 50+Kbps with a modem on ORHH - which is about as
> good as anyone will ever get, regardless of the fact that they're
> advertised as 56Kbps modems.
>
>
> it's not as fast as DSL or cable, but it's a lot better than a modem.
>
> btw, if you connect with ISDN rather than a modem, you effectively get
> the equivalent of an 80Kbps modem because ISDN is synchronous (no stop
> or start bits) while modems are async (2 stop, 1 start bit for every
> byte).  so ISDN downloads are 8 Kilobytes per second while modem
> downloads are, at best, about 5 - 5.3 kilobytes per second.
>
>
> the only issue remaining is availability of ORHH in the bush.  it's a
> lot better than ADSL availability, but still not as good as it could be
> or should be.
>
> craig
>
> ps: the truth is that modems suck and should have been scrapped years
> ago.  the main reason why they haven't been is because telstra wanted to
> charge as much as they can for ISDN and other "premium" services as they
> can while they still can.
>
>

-- 
Howard.
LANNet Computing Associates - Your Linux people
Contact detail at http://www.lannetlinux.com
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