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Date:      Fri, 20 Nov 1998 23:40:40 -0600
From:      David Kelly <dkelly@hiwaay.net>
To:        Jacques Vidrine <n@nectar.com>
Cc:        Amancio Hasty <hasty@rah.star-gate.com>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: SDSL in Silicon Valley 
Message-ID:  <199811210540.XAA10805@n4hhe.ampr.org>
In-Reply-To: Message from Jacques Vidrine <n@nectar.com>  of "Fri, 20 Nov 1998 21:07:31 CST." <199811210307.VAA16420@spawn.nectar.com> 

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Moved to -chat

Jacques Vidrine writes:
> 
> [sorry so off-topic, but I had to respond]
> 
> !!  And to think that sometimes I believe that we're in a backwater
> down in New Orleans...
> 
> About two months ago I gave up my 128kbps ISDN line for an ADSL line
> (256kbps upstream, 1536kbps downstream).  The ISDN line had cost me
> $80/mo from BellSouth, and (if I would have been paying) $30/mo from
> my ISP.   Now, I pay nothing to BellSouth, and (if I had to pay, I
> would be) paying my ISP $60/mo.  My ADSL router was free (though
> it doesn't have a built-in hub).
> 
> I would have expected better connectivity options in the Bay Area!

Sounds like Jacques has a *free* ADSL connection? Or by dropping the 
$80 ISDN service the $60 ADSL service yeilds a $20 surplus?

BellSouth has been running test cases of ADSL in a few cities. Wander
around http://www.bellsouth.com a little, search for ADSL, and you'll
find them (at bellsouth.net). I am told in the Birmingham area such ADSL
service was $30 per month (including ISP services). From the marketing
geniuses (and PSC) who charged $80/month for ISDN and lately got it
changed so new ISDN customers pay by the minute for use over 200 hours/
month.

BellSouth.net's posted rates for ADSL (including ISP service) is $59.95/
month. Discount it by $10 if you inflate your telephone service by $16
of additional features. They are careful not to state data rates. There
is about $100 installation fee. And about $200 more for the ADSL modem.

Also don't expect a static IP address (wouldn't that be sweet?) I asked
but all I got was a form letter stating, "Sorry but ADSL is not
available in your area yet. We'll inform you when it is."

Most cable modems are pretty minimal, expect the same for most ADSL 
modems. Meaning the modem only talks IP on the ethernet to the first IP 
address it hears after a reset. Meaning you don't want a real network 
between your modem and FreeBSD box. OTOH the FreeBSD box makes a great 
router/firewall/NAT for the rest of your net.

In the part of this message I cut, Amancio stated his $490 SDSL modem/
router included a 4-port 10baseT hub. Nice touch. Nice to have at least
a minimal router in the thing. The PC mentality is "cheap" so I expect
xDSL modems with routers built in will be delegated to the same status
as SCSI devices, "only for rich geeks."


--
David Kelly N4HHE, dkelly@nospam.hiwaay.net
=====================================================================
The human mind ordinarily operates at only ten percent of its
capacity -- the rest is overhead for the operating system.



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