On 20 Apr 2005 19:22 GMT, "crofter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>what i don't get is how the different speeds can ve offerd (controlled?) by
>the b/b providers? and whythey are charging ectra for effectively the same
>thing?
Some aren't charging extra. The services offered have largely depended on BT
Wholesale, which was offering Home and Office products with 'contention' of
50:1 and 20:1 and various speeds. The speed of the connection can be set
in a number of ways. For IP Stream (from BT, and offered by many ISPs) you
ask for a line to be at 500, 1000 or 2000 kbps. Some others such as Bulldog
(or in my case, Tiscali, sold via another ISP) get the line connection from
the exchange to the home at 2000 kbps, but within their network they limit
the traffic down to 1000 (in my case) or variable (so a friend has 500 kbps
daytime and 2000 evenings, I think, on Bulldog). With additional speed one
could download more data, but then some ISPs have a 'fair use' clause which
restricts the total one can download before being classed as 'greedy' :-)
>also, why isnt dialup being reduced in line with recent b/b savings, for
>people who canot get b/b access?
Dial up is still based on the telephone network and there are per-minute
costs which are still far from 'nil'. BT has actually increased the cost
of its 'Surftime Anytime' but one can be online 24x7 on dial-up for under
60 quid a month (compared to 300-400 quid if paying 0845 PAYG fees)
>i thought originally that b/b was meant to be 'up to' 20x dialup speed, but
>most entry level setups maybe give up to 10x... is there a typical standard
>(if any?) to compare ISP's?
They have routinely been 'up to' 10x (500 kbps compared with a best case of
50 kbps on a 56k modem - most people got 35-45 k so 500 was always better).
The 20x and 40x are based on 1000 and 2000 which a smaller number of heavy
downloaders have moved to, or perhaps those who like the 'go faster' kudos
and are tempted when their friends have 500 kbps... Plus.Net will offer
8000 kbps and Easynet [UK Online] and others will do so too, *if* your
line is of good quality and you aren't too far from the exchange.
>and would a different modem be needed, if I changed between b/b servers, in
>the future?
ADSL 2 has been mentioned and will offer higher speeds. No idea if the ISPs
will charge a much higher monthly fee, or base charging on quantity of data,
but you could check <http://www.ADSLguide.org/> for articles about ADSL 2.
FWIW, I have a couple of lines here (one is mainly a backup, as I run a small
business and would be at a loss to assist clients if I had no access at all),
using 500 kbps and 1000 kbps, but rarely do I have both going 'flat out' at
once. Some people drive a 2000 kbps link into the ground, but whatever the
download speed, there are few options for fast upload at present... I can
push traffic up two connections, each at 250 kbps, if needed, but most will
be able to do less than that, even if they can download at 8000 kbps. PGM
--
Plus.Net <http://tinyurl.com/5jpa4>
I recommend them and save some cash.
With a guarantee allowing new users to migrate if they're unhappy!
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