Actually, the spec limit for “normal”
DSL is 18,000 feet which is only 3.4 miles. Some telcos offer “range
extenders”, allowing service to a much greater distance. It’s worth
asking about that.
The real limit for DSL is often not the
distance to the CO (central office) but rather to the neighborhood box where your
phone line is actually terminated and converted to digital. Some 40% of the
country now connects via these neighborhood boxes rather than having their own phone
line all the way back to the central office. So: you may live many, many miles from
a CO in the next town down the road but still have the possibility of DSL. I
say “possibility” because not all phone companies support DSL
through all of these neighborhood boxes.
Moral of the story: call everyone. Call
them again to see if you get the same story. If they say you’re in a
marginal location, make them try it out. They have very poor records of wiring,
so they don’t really know in many cases.
Chuck
From:
irca-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:irca-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael Hawkins
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006
5:01 AM
To: Mailing
list for the International Radio Club of America
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Dial up
Someone I used to work with had DirecTV's satellite internet. He
had nothing bad to say about it EXCEPT that they limit your upload speed
severely. Unless you have FTP servers, web servers or just like to send
huge email attachments, that wouldn't be a problem for most. As far as
equipment and setup, anything can be negotiated...usually a trade-off for setup
vs. a 1/2-year contract. If you had that, WebTV would be completely
unnecessary , unless you love the frustration of someone sending you
attachments that you can't save to the non-existent hard disk.
Astoria
is pretty close to you, and you are in a less hilly part of the coast.
You may want to put in a call to the various ISPs who now (or soon will) offer
wireless and ask what their plans are for making it available where you
are. Seaside is pretty close, and one
repeater in the right location would make it available there from Astoria. If they
sense enough of a market to make putting up the tower and repeater, they might
do it. Sometimes, just the call might tip the balance if they're on the
fence.
Also, DSL requires that your location be less than 17000 feet from the
CO, which would be five and a half miles. If they offer DSL there at
all AND you're further than that out, you might be able to get degraded DSL
service for a fraction of the price.
They're offering me 6MB DSL here now, and I'm debating whether I really
need to double the speed for an extra $5/month. Brighter lights...higher
tail fins...you know the routine.
Mike
Patrick Martin
<mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Patrick,
The last time I checked it was $300 for the equiptment and $50 a month
for satellite internet. Then I would also have to pay another $19.95 a
month if I wanted to keep Web TV.
Patrick
Patrick Martin
Come to Seaside Oregon for the 2006 IRCA Convention! It will
be held at
the Comfort Inn on September 22-24,2006.
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