I have just been looking at

 

I haven't got or used an ADSL connection, but the important thing to remember is that the bandwidth is contended (ie shared).

The bandwidth going into your local telephone exchange is split between everyone on the exchange with ADSL, so if everyone is trying to download a big file, there is less bandwidth to go round.

Chris.

 

ntl's broad band cable has now come down to £19.99 click

 

Thanks for that link Simon, but could you explain what a 10base-T ethernet card is?

 

Chris, cheers mate
Anyone tell me how hard it is to install one of the network cards?

 

Ian

DSL connections are the way to go right now. The main competition is going to be between BT's ADSL service and the cable modem providers (already mentioned by Simon). As of 1 Jan 2001, the market should open up with deregulation of the 'local loop' (the copper wire connection from your house to the local exchange). This will open up the field to a number of operators to offer similar services, however this will take a bit of time though.

Right now, your biggest problem will probably be getting the home 500 service provisioned as BT have a massive backlog. If you go for the business version, then you will find that installation happenes a lot quicker (but it will cost you more).

As regards the size of the connection, the speeds quoted are easily obtainable, however bandwidth is shared (as it is on a cable modem as well) and there will be times when it will slow down. The connection is 'always-on', so in theory you could stay connected 24 hours a day and not get charged a penny more than your monthly subscription. Some operators in the States (which is where I am at the moment, hence the time of this posting) have talked about introducing a download charge - i.e. you pay for every meg of information you download - but that is unlikey to happen unless congestion becomes a real issue.

You should see speeds increase to 2Mbs (download), as BT have basically said that 512K will be the minium speed offered and I suspect that they have built in some room here to up peoples connection speeds when competition from other vendors increases, without having to charge more. DSL is distance restricted and it is possible to get upto 8Mbs download, but you have to be very close to the exchange and no operator will offer this.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps.

Chris

BTW 1OBase-T - 10 is the Ethernet connection speed (10Mbs), Base is short for Baseband (the type of communication) and T is 'Twisted' as in UTP or unshielded twisted pair (the cable you will plug into your PC's network card).

Phew!!

 

It's a network card. You can get them for about a tenner from the usual suspects (even PC World if you insist). FWIW the 'T' stands for 'Twisted pair'.

 

Your welcome Ian

Simon
Ps I think there's a coule of people on scoobynet connected to this service

 

On a reasonably new PC (<5 Yrs old) with a Windows 95/98/2000 then it should be very simple.

Unscrew the case.

Put the new card in a free slot - This will be obvious - The card will only fit in slots its meant for.

Put the case back together and turn on.

Windows will detect the new card and either install a driver fro it or propt you for a disk which will have been provided with the card.

After that The card will need configuring. This should be described by the Company you are buying the service from. With ADSL it tends to be all defaults so the PC will take an IP address assigned by the ADSL router.

It really is nothing to be afraid of. (Touch Wood )

Besides half of Scoobynet are in IT and will pitch in if you have a problem.......

Dean

 

Thanks guys, but unfortunately ntl due to demand cannot offer me this service at the moment.

So it is either BT's home500 or AOL's £14.99 unlimited offer I will go for.

 

No problem Ian - if you have any other questions, feel free to email me as this is my line of work at the moment.

Chris

 

Ian,

Got ADSL installed (£40) a bit steep but.........

Its quick / its online all the time / U can use a phone on the line @ the same time.

Dont like BT (Dont work for them).

But well impressed. And min 12mths, for 512K download (approx 50/k/s) is amazing after 56K max.

Go for it

Cheers

Dan

 

Hi all,
Ok, the bandwidth is restricted by the size of the switch, at the mo you should have a 64k line, of which 56k is available to you. The new lines are 512k i think and offers a large increase in capacity. B.T. has updated all there switches around the country for the use of this (i know cos i put the damn things in lol!!)
You shouldnt have any probs downloading as i belive the upload is at 256k and the download at 512k, these are the most advanced switches for this purpose on the market at the mo and are a class leader, no one else is up to this stage yet!!! and the reliability is very high.
ASDL is worth the money if you use your pc all the time, if not then look for other options, cable is but isnt as reliable due to some of the companies customer care!!

 

Tony

No one else is at that stage of coverage, because we haven't deregulated our phone system (and won't do until 1 January 2001) and no one else can get access to BTs exchanges!!!

Things will change though and I agree with Tony, that ADSL is the way things are going at the moment and worth investing in.

Chris

 

Hi Chris,
actually, you should see how much non-B.T. traffic goes over these switches, its a hell of a lot and when jan 1st arrives B.T. have then got to give space on their own switches for nothing so that olo's can put equipment into B.T. exchanges!!! eeeeek!!!!
Even the new switches that have gone in now have alot of olo traffic going through them, oftel are kicking the **** out of this at the moment as it affects services given by B.T.(where did this 5 yr limit go???)
The trouble is, there are so many companies out there now that its hard to keep track of and alot use the cheaper routes to connect your calls... in the last 10 yrs its been an uphill struggle for most companies because B.T. is so big but not alot of them have branched outside london so have in theory shot themselves in the foot for not doing this.
As for the ASDL, when its available to everyone the price should drop, IF oftel let B.T. do that, otherwise we may loose B.T. to one of these new companies from abroad and really have a mess on our hands.
Lets see if B.T. now reduce the price of ISDN lines to compensate the cost of ASDL!!

Regards
Tony

PS, for those that dont know, olo means "other licenced operators"

 

Forgive my cynicism Tony, it is just that I work for a company that has supplied a lot of kit to BT over the past few years. We also make a lot of DSL equipment and work with telcos and cable companies all over the world.

BT has got it very tough at the moment - but they are not doing themselves any favours. Some of their recent tactics (especially with ADSL) have been nothing short of obstructive. Whilst in the business world, this is not uncommon it ain't helping the consumer. I know that a lot of non-BT traffic goes other their switches, but it was the DSL stuff I was thinking about.

Your're right though, it they don't pull their finger out they are in danger of being swallowed up.

Chris

 

Poxy BT!!!

Why is it that BT can connect me to the Business500 service in about 3 weeks, but the Home500 service would be 3 MONTHS!!!!!

Of course it would be nothing to do with being able to charge me more now would it!!!