vision2020
Re: Infrastructure improvements.
At 02:16 PM 8/18/98 -0700, you wrote:
>I spent the better part of a day researching what is available in the Moscow
>area. Either the infrastructure is very poor, or the local providers are
>sadly lacking in information.
John (& company),
Point well taken. I myself have the bandwith blues, and did some research,
also. This is what I found out (which may or may not be in agreement with
what you found out):
First, Moscow does have ISDN service. I recall it is over $100/month
(depending on contract), plus around $39 for actual Internet access. If
you spoke to someone at GTE and they don't know about it, I'm not
surprized. Try again, or ask local computer experts at First Step Internet
or Cactus Computer whom to contact.
GTE is rolling out DSL (or ASDL, or whatever other alphabet soup variation)
in Pullman. They won't do so in Moscow without an "anchor client," a major
client willing to install umpteen lines. Incidentally, a little bird told
me that preliminary tests in Pullman show that this technology will only
give high speed on one sixth of the lines there.
I contacted the cable franchise, and told things would happen in the first
six months of next year. But your estimate of YEARS may be more recent
than my findings, or may be given by someone who knew more (or less) than
the person I spoke to.
You can also have GTE install dedicated digital lines which would guarantee
you around 53k modem speed. I think that cost is pretty darn close to ISDN
cost.
Another option is to use Multilink PPP technology. I actually examined and
tried this, and will detail my experience (and why I quit, for now).
Multilink PPP uses two modems (or a dual modem) in tandem (with two
separate phone lines) to achieve quasi-fast access. I had a 28k modem and
thought that I could effectively quadruple my access speed by switching to
a dual 56k modem. This, incidentally, would be close to ISDN speed. The
technology allowed you to use call waiting to interrupt one line. So I
could connect with the fax/modem line at 56k, add the second line when I
was not on the phone, and should a voice call come in, call waiting would
bump me off the voice line, while maintaining the other line (only works on
one line, not both).
Well, there were problems. Such as the fact that the call waiting feature
did not work on either line. So I would either have to add a third phone
line (extra expense) or lose use of my voice line when I chose to use both
lines. Of course, I wouldn't have to use both lines (I could just use the
one), but doesn't that defeat the purpose?
Equally disappointing was the fact that my phone lines could only achieve a
speed of about 26,400, even with a 56k modem. So when using only one line,
I was at the same speed as when I had my 28k modem. Instead of quadrupling
my connect speed, I only doubled it (when disabling my phone line). Try to
call GTE to ask them to improve modem speed. They only guarantee 21,000 baud.
The cost?
Modem: $200
Call waiting: $ 4/month, plus $10 set-up fee
Extra ISP account: $ 15/month
For quadruple modem speed, acceptable. For same modem speed, and double
when knocking out my voice line, unacceptable. Return modem, cancel extra
ISP account, cancel call waiting, lose $10 set-up fee and over a day's
labor trying to get the thing to work, and then uninstalling and returning
the modem.
Should Turbonet inform me that the modem manufacturer has fixed the
problems with call waiting, I might give it another try. Check back around
October.
Here's another possibility: If you are a new business, you might try
moving into the business incubator (affiliated with the University). Last
I heard, they had access that was close to ISDN speed. They might have
even increased speed.
But I agree, in a town with a major university, you'd think that there
would be more options. However, a trade article I read a while ago stated
that high-speed access would not be a reality for the majority of Americans
until somewhere around 2003-2005. Pay through the nose, or put up with
slow access. I've decided to do the latter for a while longer.
Robert Hoffmann 115 N. Jackson St., Suite D
Alt-Escape Adventures Moscow, ID 83843 USA
http://www.alt-escape.com Phone: (208) 883-0642
Fax: (208) 883-8545
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