DSL comments.

[Scott Dier - dieman <dieman@ringworld.org>]

Two comments on the DSL talk.  Really clarifications to the talk that I
found to be untrue.

A)  The bull about innovative software designs is crap.

isd has a connection via uunet/alternet.  the same people that visi.com
goes through. (iexposure seems to have access from
uunet<-visi<-sihope<-intexp)

isd has acknowledged that their connectivity has sucked.  Reason: uunet
had/and still has faulty equipment on the UUNET end.  This was recently
sent out in an email to isd.net customers.

The speaker claimed that isd was going through C&W.  Well, they were, a
while ago.  Perhaps he should have looked at this eariler.

B)  Cable modem myths.

1) cable modem pings are slow.

They *can be slow*

but. as an example, ill pull a hostname from a mediaone east coast system
that has a static ip.

arcade.ne.mediaone.net

21 packets transmitted, 21 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 41.5/55.1/157.7 ms

Thats cross coast. wow. not bad.  Yeah. mediaone out in ne uses c&w for
the connection, that explains the higher latency.  The difference from the
c&w link to the actual host for ping times is within 10ms.

So, wheres my 4000ms? 

I can see that 1-way users are 150-300ms. thats because (for now) there is
a modem involved.

2) Its all c&w, so it must be crap!

Um. traceroute to a mediaone host sometime soon in mn.  Its all via mr.net
wow. amazing!  Its a local link!

3) its huge, so it must be crap!

Um. 24x7 support on connectivity issues. Plus they provide exclusive
high-bandwidth multimedia that isn't avaliable from DSL, for less of the
cost. (40$ total when it is 2-way vs $47)

4) you end up in network neighborhood. / its shared?!

the newer DOCIS (or whatever its called) standard stops brodcast ARP and
other traffic and provides for better encryption.  Not like the 'net is
secure anyhow.  Use ssh.

5) no comment on speed.

Thats because I have gotten more speed out of 1-way than a 256k DSL.

When I lived in Maple Grove I was getting 2M/sec max connects+ from major
ftp servers.  Ill go for shared if it still means allways on and burstable
*very high* bandwidth with a minimum of 256k.



C) visi.com doesn't have a route via mr.net

Well, they do again, kind of.  its visi->bbnplanet->mrnet

Weird.



Personally, after at&t grabs mediaone i think it will become more of an
ISP and start agressively working towards taking the market... Cable
companies aren't used to doing data, bring at&t into it and it gets
decently scary.  Read my "common carrier/data pushers" stuff below.

I know mediaone is going to offer 2-way self-install buy-your-own modem
and offer service for 30$ a month instead of $40.  No idea on the modem
cost.

As to the common-carrier war with cable... Eventually if it gets pushed
too much at&t and others will say, "ok, why not!  We will now go to the
former "sprint ion" model, lets charge you all by the k!  millicents per
amount of traffic, may it be phones, internet, or video!"  I could see
cable providers turning into "pushers of data" with services that they
sell.  They do have the largest pipe into houses right now, and have the
cash to easily do more with it than they are right now.  (ie: fiber closer
and closer to homes until everyone has a good Mbit of access if they want)

I dont see uswest pushing fiber out like crazy like the cable companies.

I think that cable could be a major contender and shouldn't be counted out
as "that other thing" yet.

xDSL is the best technology right now, but by not keeping an eye on cable,
you could become entrenched into a technology that could be behind its
time (and cost more per equivilant access bandwidth) in a couple of years.
Two way will be in areas middle of next year, many areas have it
repordetly right now. ( north and northeast subarbs it sounds like )

My advice: modem users-- wait if you want a *real* comparison.  Dont put
money into a contract and hardware until you know what sort of connection
can serve you best.

if xDSL is something you need *right now* go ahead.  But when a cable
modem user gets speeds 2x+ of you, dont say you never thought that piece
of shit technology could get good.

---
Scott Dier <dieman@ringworld.org> #nicnac@efnet 612.301.0265
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