Re: seeking advice for speeders

[Kirk Wood <cpt.kirk@1tree.net>]

On Fri, 13 Jul 2001, Richard Villa wrote:
> I had a choice and decided to go with DSL.  If you go with cable, your speed
> can at times degrade due to the number of users on the line.

Sorry, but can't let this crap fly. *All* connections can slow due to
number of connections. Further, many people at work share a T1 line and
don't seem to have this problem. For this affect to be noticed, you would
literally need every person on your loop to decide to hit the net
feverishly. I have never had this problem in three years.

Now for the simple facts. The DSL is typically a little slower in the
first place. Often the DSL is artificially held at a lower rate then the
line supports. They meter you to not be able to get more then you pay for.

Finally, the most important thing is to remember that eventually you share
bandwidth. The ISP absolutely has to sell more bandwidth then they
actually pay for to make themselves profitable. Thus if every subscriber
hits the lines at a given time, the ISP will slow to a crawl. Simple
economics will prove this. Consider that a T1 costs close to $1000 a
month. The ISP portion of DSL typically runs $10 to $15 a month for a
384Kbs rate. Thus four subscribers make up the purchase of a single T1
line. Simple math will tell you that for a single T1 line, the ISP must
sell many multiples of their own bandwidth just to pay that portion of
their overhead.

Quite simply, either route you go, you will often notice that one site is
slower then another. You can actually get a feel for how well a given site
is connected versus their data load. In the end, you will share your
bandwidth with your neighbors.

=======
Kirk Wood
Cpt.Kirk@1tree.net

The mind is like a parachute; it works much better when open.
If you're too open minded, your brains will fall out.