DSL available $$$$$$$$$$$$

[Kubie]

How about that? I went the dslreports site and low and behold, DSL is available in my region through PacBell. Now I'll have to see if I want to spend 150.00 installation, 99.00 for equipment, and commit for one year at 39.95 a month.
Carl

[SARGE]

Carl, check with Telco first. Did you do the distance part at dslreports, or do they still have it? Remember the hassle I had last spring. DSL said I was 18000 feet from office. Business office said I was 12000'. My own engineer said 17000'. I brought my test equipment home and measured 23000'. Guess which one I trusted? They still insisted on trying but of course it failed.

Other than equipment (DSLAM) at the office, from a troubleshooting point, the only thing I've seen effect DSL is distance. I've seen it work on absolutely horrible lines (where you couldn't even talk). Depending on gauge of telco, under 18000' should work.

Had a customer today who waited since October for DSL through Earthlink. It became a football, and after 5 techs continued making the same trips, guess who got the nod. Give me 5 minutes on site and found the problem. He had 3000' excess length on his pair going past his house. I cut it off, and bingo, he's up and running.

Check the distance before getting hopes up, but go for it.

[Xayd]

And don't pay for their gear, tell them you need the line, you'll take care of the rest. DSL routers are cheap as hell, no reason to get stuck with a bridge/pppoe software when you don't have to.

It's great when it works, but like Sarge said, it has to work first .

Xayd

[Kubie]

Last summer when I had telco out to check my lines, they told me I'm 27000' from the CO. They mentioned that they were installing "repeaters" but that business disricts will be connected first and I should see DSL in 2 years.
When at the dslreports, I had first used their site to see if DSL was available at my location and they said PacBell. So I went to the PacBell site and typed in my phone # and it said DSL was available. Maybe a phone call would be better.
Xayd, I'm also still waiting for an answer from the wireless people. It seems that is is a whole lot less trouble.
Carl

[RayH]

Carl--hang in there. If Pac Bell is there. So are other companies. The "standard" in the Bay Area is free installation and free equipment. Usually a ONE YEAR commitment, like MSN. Try Telocity.com. No commitment. Self installation through USB or Ethernet card.

[Xayd]

And don't let em stick ya with that USB bridge/modem.

If you take it, only answers you're gonna get from me for your 1001 problems with it are "I told ya so" .

Xayd

[SARGE]

Ray, no matter WHO you get DSL from, the common denominator is the length from central office to your home.

Carl, I don't know what they meant by installing repeaters, but at this point, DSL won't work on 'em. Telco has a program called "project pronto", whereby they're placing fiber out to a unit in the field for folks who live too far for DSL. From that point on to the customer will be the current copper. The biggest hold-up now are the suppliers. Since fiber has no loss, this will solve the distance problem. They're placing it in my area now, but I'll wait - I'm very familiar with how "new stuff" works.

The places they're placing fiber is dependent on where they can more likely recover some expense. At one time, fiber was $40 a foot, versus as little as 50 cents for copper.

[Edited by SARGE on 01-20-2001 at 08:10 PM]

[Kubie]

My many thanks to you guys.
Your experience and knowledge has and will save me much misery down the road.
You know doubt can tell how much I want to get something faster than dialup.
Carl

[Kubie]

As usual, I'm lost in the maze and fog.

RayH, Telocity says DSL available to my address and Ph#. The reviews at dslreports on Telocity were less then flattering. Maybe my cousin, an attorney that specializes in contract law, would come in handy. But the price is right and no 1 year commitment.

Xayd, I can buy and install an ethernet card. USB and me don't get along anyway.

Sarge, all of this comes down to distance from CO. If PacBell says its available and other DSL suppliers can supply DSL, then PacBell must have done something that I'm not aware of. The one thing I'm curious about is why PacBell says I need wire as part of their kit and the other suppliers don't. At least none of their instructions says anything about it.
Dslreports.com has no info regarding the distance from my home to CO.
Carl

[SARGE]

Carl, only your friendly tech on site can tell the distance. As stated before, everyday I deal with this. They sell it, ship the gear and when it doesn't work they try and tech support 'em over the phone. Then we're dispatched and in a few minutes our own tests verify too long a loop. Seems the procedure should be the opposite; that way no one's hopes are built up and unnecessary expenses are zero.

I don't know what "wire" they're speaking of, especially any being sent with their stuff. I do know that it's better for everyone if a separate wire is run from outside dmarc straight to your dsl jack. That way, the splitter can be placed at the network/dmarc, separating everything else in the house.

I'd call 'em and see if a regular tech can visit and take a length measurement on your line. Then you'll know.

[Kubie]

Xayd and Sarge,
Called PacBell today to find out for sure if DSL is available to me. I was assured that it was. When I asked what kind of modem they used, I was again assured that it is not a USB bridge/modem. When I asked about having to use PPoe software they said yes. They than told me I would have to install W98SE upgrade over my W98fe for problem free PPoe. They use Prodigy as the ISP.
They wanted me to sign up NOW because the special is over Feb 1st and the month to month price will be higher.
BTW, the 99.00 equipment charge is fully rebatable. I get my money back on that.
What do you think? Should I wait and research other DSL suppliers or wait for wireless to avoid alot of hassle?
Xayd, what is the alternative to PPoe? I started getting lost when he asked.
Thanks for helping me with this.

Sarge, last summer the telco tech ran the distance test and told me I was 27000' from co. They must have done something to beable to offer DSL so fast. My whole area has underground utilities and I hace seen alot of telco trucks working on the above ground boxes in this neighborhood.
Carl

[SARGE]

Carl, perhaps your area has been upgraded, as I was writing about earlier. My own neighborhood is undergoing the same.
But, I'll wait, because there seems to be a "minor detail" that needs to be addressed.

[Kubie]

May I ask? What minor detail?
Carl

[Charliey]

Well if their service is pppoe, then theres nothing you can do, except not use the crappy software they give you, and download raspppoe. theres a link to it from http://www.dslreports.com its in the pppoe section.

[Kubie]

charliey, what does raspppoe do to help? I went to the dslreports site and didn't see the link.
Carl

[Xayd]

Raspppoe is alternative software used to connect with. It binds itself to DUN, which you would then use to connect in lieu of the software you get from your ISP. PPPoE requires software to work, the "modem" they give you is just a bridge, it doesn't have any authentication functions. Raspppoe works flawlessly in 95B, 98FE, 98SE, NT4, and Win2k. That's not a problem.

What I'd recommend doing eventually, is switching to a router. A router in lieu of a "modem" will give you the abiltiy to connect WITHOUT software. As long as the router is on, it maintains the connection, even without a computer attached to it. When your machine boots, the router has DHCP services in it, so it assigns your machine an internal IP address. You also get a hardware firewall with the router, and the ability to network all your machines for connection sharing, without software.

Get the stuff, get everything working, then switch to Rasppoe, and then when you get it all working properly, pick up a router from E-Bay, and sell your "modem" that you got from them.

Xayd

[SARGE]

Carl, politics and gov't regs. At one time, one call did all. Telcos maintained everything from central office to your jack, including all business gear (phone systems, the old pbx's, etc). The split-up had some positives as far as allowing other vendors a piece of the pie. Telcos still maintain the lines.

With DSL, everything goes across telco lines, but the office equipment and the end-user belong to the vendor. This is where all the bottlenecks come in to play when troubleshooting, along with the finger pointing.

If your neighborhood has recently been upgraded as I described earlier, there is now extra plug-in equipment in the field before it gets to your home, another potential troubleshooting rascal. They haven't decided who will own and maintain that. I'll wait a bit.