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Faster Connectivity at Home? Could Be
By Bethany Faith Daniels
Many of us have the luxury of high-speed Internet connections
at the workplace, only to arrive home and deal with dial-in modem
connection speeds that top out at 56 kilobits per second (kbps).
The contrast between work and home is frustrating, to say the
least. So, you may be thinking about trading in your standard
dial-in modem and trying one of the new broadband Internet services,
such as wireless or DSL. Before you switch, be sure to investigate
your high-speed connectivity options. Those decisions are not
always as simple as the ads make them seem.
ISDN
Internet service providers (ISPs) have offered faster connections
such as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) for about as
long as dial-up accounts have existed. ISDN uses the same copper
wire as your telephone and is not a lot faster (with speeds of
64kbps or 128kbps). ISDN is more widely available now than DSL
or cable modems, but still requires a dial-up connection. The
cost of setting up an ISDN connection to your home will run about
$100, but you still need an ISP (for which there will be an additional,
monthly charge). For example, at Omsoft, a Davis ISP (http://www.omsoft.com/),
a 128kbps ISDN connection costs $100 to set up and $45/month.
To install ISDN capabilities on your existing Pacific Bell phone
line costs $125 plus $180 of equipment. So much money and still
not even close to the 10 megabit Ethernet connections enjoyed
on campus.
DSL
You would be hard-pressed to turn on a TV or open a magazine these
days without hearing about Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service.
Slogans like "Get DSL today and access the Internet 50x faster
than a 28.8k modem" catch attention, but are they accurate? In
the best-case scenario, DSL can reach a speed of 1.5mbps, which
is more than 50 times a 28.8kbps connection. The "downstream"
speeds (speed at which information travels from the Internet to
your computer) for DSL are between 512kbps -1.544 mbps, sometimes
lower depending on how far away your home is from your provider.
"Upstream" speeds (speed at which your computer connects to the
Internet) are about 128 kbps.
Like ISDN, DSL conditions the copper wire that carries your
telephone service to carry Internet data, but on a DSL you can
talk on the phone and connect to the Internet with the same line,
eliminating the need for two or more telephone lines to accommodate
Internet traffic. Moreover, the connection is instant: turn on
your computer and the Internet is on. Unfortunately, DSL availability
is limited in many areas. (Note: To limit your computer's vulnerability
to hackers, you will need to shut it off when you are not using
it. For more information on security for high-speed Internet
connections, see the Secure-Me.Net site at
http://www.secure-me.net/information/rated/security.) Setting up DSL involves a special modem, a Network Interface
Card (NIC) and a splitter, all of which can add up to around $198,
including the service installation fee (at least through Pacific
Bell). Monthly charges for DSL are currently $39.95 through Pacific
Bell (if Pacific Bell is your ISP), or $45 through Omsoft (includes
Pacific Bell and Omsoft ISP charges).
Cable Modem
Cable modems will soon be available in the Sacramento region,
At least according to the Web sites of Comcast@Home (http://www.comcastonline.com/)
and AT&T@Home (http://www.athome.att.com/home.html).
The speed of cable modems is capable of blowing away DSL and ISDN
because it is not limited to the capacity of a copper phone line.
But users in a neighborhood share a cable connection and as more
people sign up, speeds go down considerably. DSL, on the other
hand, uses a dedicated phone line to carry data, which allows
for consistent speeds. Cable modem speeds can range from 10-30
mbps downstream and 128kbps-2.56mbps upstream. Cable Internet
requires a cable modem, which you can purchase or lease through
your provider. If you go with AT&T@Home, you will need to pay
$150 in set up and installation fees and a $39.95 monthly service
charge (which includes $10/month for the cable modem lease).
Wireless
Wireless broadband (a.k.a wireless cable) is available now in
the Sacramento region (including Davis). One provider of wireless
broadband is XSspeed (http://www.xsspeed.net/).
The XSspeed system sends Internet data to your house by using
a FCC-licensed broadband frequency. XSspeed offers three different
connection options: A 256 kbps connection for $49.95/month, a
512 kbps for $59.95/month and what they call "Wide Open" for $119.95/month.
These prices include the $10/month wireless modem rental (a satellite
dish on your roof), unless you purchase one for $199. The set-up
and installation fees for the XSspeed wireless broadband service
is higher than wired options, currently $250, and involves the
installation of a satellite dish. Wireless broadband also requires
line-of-site access, which means that some homes in the Sacramento
region will have structures or natural obstacles obstructing access
to this service.
If all of this sounds less than appealing, you can always
take solace in your lightening fast connection on campus. If you
have any lingering questions about broadband Internet connection
options, contact Bethany Daniels, IT-Communications Resources,
at bfdaniels@ucdavis.edu.
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