Re: a number of things

["J. R. Fox" jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Morris Krok wrote:

>         Patricia talks about DSL. Excuse my ignorance what does it mean.

Digital Subscriber Line. At the moment, there are three main competitors in Broadband
internet access: cable modem service, DSL (or variants thereof), and satellite. Any of

these should be **many** times faster than a 56K dial-up modem -- the differences for
loading web pages or downloading larger files is _startling_. These are "always-on"
connections, in contrast to your regular phone service, although DSL actually
multiplexes
your phone line, such that voice and data traffic can flow simultaneously, without
cross-interference. A cable modem makes use of your cable-tv line. In major cities in
this
country, until a few months ago, cable modem or DSL service ran about $40. a month,
though installation (and possibly the equipment) were extra, with a one-year service
committment. A recent round of price increases has typically raised this figure to
around
$50./month. Satellite service has generally been more expensive (this may be starting
to change), but could be available in some more remote areas not served by the other
technologies.

For businesses, universities, or those with extremely deep pockets, there are also T1,
T2,
and T3 lines, which are orders of magnitude faster yet.

I've had DSL service for a little over a year. Perhaps the biggest problem with it is
that
once you've grown accustomed to it (broadband service in general, I mean), dropping
back to the use of a dial-up modem seems like cruel and unusual punishment.

Jordan