> Ron,
>
> Does that $175 per month include the mandated preferential rate for K-12 and
> libraries?
This is a number that stuck in my mind-- it may or may not be
accurate.
> Has GTE given any thought to making preferential rates available to schools
> and libraries in our area? My experience with GTE has been similar to Gens
> Johnson - phone calls are rarely returned, especially on questions of rates.
Who knows? The telcos, with few exceptions, haven't pushed ISDN
sales. I don't expect ADSL to be much different, unless the telcos
are vending services directly that would be a profit center for them.
Ameritech is testing ADSL now in Illinois.
The real question is whether a faster receive line would do much for
you. It depends on the telco making ADSL available and your being
close enough to the exchange, your Internet
Service Provider not only having the local connection, but also
having a very fast link to the Internet, the state of traffic on the
Internet backbone, whether the server you're contacting has a
high-speed capability and also a big downstream pipe, etc. There's a
long chain of "ifs" there, all of which have to work perfectly. Of
course ISPs and the telcos are going to charge you more for faster
connections.
Although the modem link to the U of I could run at 33.3 Mbs, I can
only get 28.8 at home because of the local line quality. I haven't
heard of anyone in Moscow being able to connect at the maximum
possible speed.
Interestingly, most Web sites I use seem to run the same speed from
home, over a modem, or through my direct network connection at work.
The limiting factor is usually somewhere outside the "last mile".
Ron Force rforce@belle.lib.uidaho.edu
Dean of Library Services (208)885-6534
University Of Idaho fax: (208) 885-6817
Moscow, ID 83844-2371
"As for the future, your task is not to forsee but to enable"
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery