Why no DSL?!?

[homer15]

can anyone give me a good reason why dsl (or cable) would not be available in my area. i live in a suburb of san francisco. why would my CO not be able to handle dsl? what are some of the requirments for dsl and cable, besides just a provider?

[goodcanuck]

business telephone wiring...I know of 3 co. that have been told they can't get dsl cause of it. They need to upgrade. More money for the man!!

[homer15]

but i'm not business, i'm residential. my area is reletively new, i think the oldest house is like 19 years old. do you think upgrading could still be an issue?
there are tons of people in my area that are left with nothing but 56k dial up. it seems to me that any company interested in making money would hit my area up. there are a lot of proffesional's in my area.

[goodcanuck]

just a response to your question...sorry man...I'm not even in the states let alone around SF area.

[homer15]

nah, it's cool, i was just wondering what's necessary for dsl or cable in one area.

[wedor]

My friend just built a new house and the best he can get is 24000 on dial-up, he is in a new subdivision. This depends more on the CO and lines in the area than it does on the newness of the homes. Although all the homes around him are new, the CO and lines have been there much longer and aren't of sufficient quality to handle high speed internet. DSL is also dependant on distance, if you are not within range, you can't get it. Cable companies usually chase the biggest buck first, tightly packed areas and apartment complexes are better revenue sources than spread out single family homes or businesses.

[TheOldMan]

It's probably a combination of politics (for cable) and money (for DSL).

Just kidding although both the above figure in somewhere. Go to www.dslreports.com. They have a number of very interesting articles and resources. What it boils down to is, there is copper cable running to your house from a telco central office (CO) somewhere. That cable is always available and DSL uses the upper frequencies of the spectrum present on that cable. But to do this, the CO has to be within a limited distance of the end-point and it has to have the equipment necessary in the CO. There may not be a CO within the necessary distance or the nerarest CO in the area may not have the necessary equipment yet. There is a tool on DSL Reports that will identify your CO and tell you the distance and whether it has the right stuff.

Good luck.

The Old Man

[homer15]

i am well within two miles of my co, so i don't know what the problem is. one time, pac bell told me that it was available in my area (they actually called me!), and then when we started signing up, they discovered it wasn't. that was rather irritating.

[homer15]

Originally posted by wedor Although all the homes around him are new, the CO and lines have been there much longer and aren't of sufficient quality to handle high speed internet. DSL is also dependant on distance, if you are not within range, you can't get it.

they actually installed all new lines and everything when our houses were built. before anyone moved here, it was all cow pasture. the co is about as old as our homes.

[LawyerRon]

Satellite is an option in areas where dsl and cable are not available.

[morriswindgate]

PacBell has been gonna upgrade their equipment in order to make DSL available for the Past Two years. The only thing I can tell you is that if you want DSL From PacBell You will have to rent a office in their main switching center in your area.

[Prew]

Had the same problem in my area- I was told DSL was not available because the fairly new community I live in did not have copper telephone wires but rather had optical wires- so I had to wait for RoadRunner to come to the area. I also looked at the satellite option but it is rather expensive and useless for online gaming (because of the fraction of second lag inherent in the system).

[homer15]

yea, i looked at sattelite too. it's not really what i want, especially since four computers will be trying to game on the internet at once. but thanks for the input, everyone.

[Xayd]

The problem is DSL is not very cheap to set up and support. Telcos are shrinking the radius within which they'll sell people DSL, to reduce support related to line issues.

Once it works, it works, but getting it working often involves a couple of trips from a guy in a truck, and they're trying to avoid those costs.

[glc]

DSL requires pure COPPER lines from your house to the switch that has the DSLAM (DSL equipment). A LOT of new construction has local "Slick 96" boxes - these are small huts that have all your copper lines running into it from your homes - and it's connected to the central switch with FIBER. The only way you will EVER get DSL if you are on a Slick 96 is if the phone company puts a remote DSLAM card into it - at a cost of $6000 for a maximum of - yep, 96 lines. This is not cost effective because this can't service 96 accounts - most homes these days have multiple lines - $6000 for maybe 10 accounts at $50 a month - this math is not good. Now - I have pure copper but am 24000 feet from the switch - but Ameritech has a Project Pronto box (a remote DSLAM) 4 blocks down the street - but they will not turn it on. Why? The way the law is written, the minute they do, they are required to sell wholesale access to any ISP that wants it - without the ISP having to shoulder part of the cost of BUILDING the damn thing. I don't blame them in the least for keeping it dark, but it makes for MY frustration not being able to get broadband. The damn cable company has been promising "6 months" for over 3 years now and I'm tired of hearing empty promises.

[Prew]

Thanks glc, that's good info. Roadrunner was about 6 - 7 months overdue in my area. There were two reasons given for this: the cable company couldn't get the optical cable and the local electric company was holding things up (something to do with access to lines)