Finally!

[Bucko]

DSL finally came to town. Wow! This board really pops on DSL. Video, music, you name it, the change is remarkable.

Bucko

[winoweenie]

Wait till cable gets there. 10 times faster than DSL. Mine eyes gets crossed ebber time I start this sucker up. WW

[Bucko]

Whew! I'm not wired for that much speed.....

[Innkeeper]

We have both here, but my puter won't handle either. Can't even check my Hotmail account without running out of memory. However, the thought of getting a new one is worse than the thought of getting this first one.

[barnesy]

Actually, I think DSL is the fastest option available. Cable is slower, plus your sharing a pool of speed with it meaning the more people you add, the less speed each gets. Either way, me only got 56.6K [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/frown.gif[/img]

Barnesy

[Bucko]

All I know is that this sucker cruises at Mach 1 and I don't need anything faster or I am going to have whiplash......

[zenda2]

Uh, yeah...testing the software the runs the autoswitching network backbone so they can quickly/easily install A-DSL broadband at the customer end is what I've been doing to earn my bread and wine for the past few years. So broadband, I know a leetle something about. A-DSL beats cable speed under good circumstances, that's assuming the user is close to the 'central office', a switching device installed by the local phone co...green metal boxes with 'stay away' signs out in the neighborhood. Distance from said switch affects speed, copper builds up resistance, blah blah blah. Cable is a 'pie' of users, you have access to a slice of the available speed depending on how many other users are using it at once. A-DSL isn't a pie, you get ALL the speed you're entitled to, but the 'last mile' or the connection from the network to your house...that's the rub. Closer is better, and there are some filters the DSL provider can use to slow down speed up and downstream (to keep themselves from being overwhelmed by 'napsterheads'). There is some work going on now to make that last mile cheaply available over the wireless web...when that happens, expect speed out the wahoo, hand-helds that can do amazing things, and of course...PCS towers everywhere you look.
The marketing wallahs have found that most...most...users don't really need all the speed that's available, and most don't have the $$$ to pay for speed they don't need. They're aiming DSL at small business and Work At Home folk right now, and expecting word-of-mouth to create demand for more pipeline. Cable, that's another story. If you're already wired for it, go for it and enjoy. Of course, users get used to speed pronto, and within a year or so Bucko will be on here complaining that it took 2 seconds to download a 2 hour movie last night, and when the heck will the people in charge do something to speed things up.
FWIW, I decided I didn't need broadband for myself...at least right now. I know some of the things it'll do in the near future...I'll want it then.

Final caveat...y'all A-DSL and cable users get some personal firewall software and get it NOW.

[Bucko]

Tell us more about the firewall. Any recommended programs?

[winoweenie]

Bucko & Zin-Zin2 in KC, Believe me.... there 'Haint no way my lil' fat fingers have eeny chance of keepin up wif' the available cable speeds that home givith moi'. And Barnsey, read the post of Zenda closely. I had DSL and was on the edge of their service. The speeds I had were actually slower than my regular from AOL. I can assure you that my time doing my thing on this board, even with my horrible typing skills are 1/10th of what they used to be. Cable is FAR faster than DSL in almost all installations and you don't have to worry about a seperate phone line. You'd have to live in LA or NY or Boston to have clogged cable. WW

[Bucko]

I guess that I am lucky because the box is not even 100 yards from my house.

[zenda2]

Bucko, your set-up is what I want! 100 feet from the CO is what A-DSL should be like, that's VERY fast. WW's horrorstory isn't the only one I've heard along those lines. A lot of 'less than scrupulous' providers will be glad to sell you a DSL line, doesn't matter if it's fast enough to use or not. The Big-Time phone co. I worked for had a few scruples (not so's you'd notice, but some) so we didn't sell to anyone who was better off with a 56k dialup.
On the other hand...if you live in a suburb with a lot of game-playing teens and everyone's wired for cable...your slice of the pie can be pretty slim at 3:30 and/or during 'virtual September' when the new version of Quake or whatever comes out.
"Dude...lag!!!"

Firewalls? Here's some info:

http://www.firewallguide.com/

[winoweenie]

My carrier din't have none scruples. They took over USWest here and even the Long-Distance service went to heck.I don't want to mention names but their initials are Qwest! WW

[zenda2]

Oh yeah, WW, I used to have to wait around forever on them to install frame-relay lines for us in a former life. I feel for ya.

[winoweenie]

Yeppo Z2.... They not only managed to denigrate our service but I was forced to spend at least one hour per month pointing out their over-billing. As of Dec 1, I'll be completely shed of them. I'm putting in cable phone service. WW

[Innkeeper]

Have had Qwest LD service for several years, and have no complaints. I pay 7 cents for out of state all times and with CC, and 20 cents instate LD all times.

[mrdutton]

I use Norton Internet Security for my firewall and anti-virus requirements.

Both seem to work quite nicely.

[winedope]

our local cable supplier is really good. Not having to run another phone line is a big plus. So is the speed of this system.