Ray:
I can relate to your situation. I'm 38K ft out. I presently use ISDN to connect to the Internet that has a repeater located at a Pair Gain box, which then feeds to the CO via fiber. I hope to get ADSL from PacBell by year-end via installation of 3GDLCs from AFCI. See biz.yahoo.com
Typically, an ISDN pair is provisioned for 2 B channels each delivering 64K bps of bandwidth, which can be multi-linked together to deliver 128K bps. However, unless you can bypass your serial port with an accelerator card or connection through another port, the multiplexed bandwidth is limited to 115.2K bps. So the bandwidth comparison should be about 50-53K bps over standard lines v. roughly 100-110k bps over a multiplexed ISDN line. There is a difference when surfing the net, but it is minimal. A more material difference is experienced with file transfers.
The upfront costs you speak of, which I assume includes the modem, is a bit high, but then again, you're in Oregon with USW & not in Calif with PacBell or GTE. Given the broadband "rush," you may opt to hold off purchasing ISDN. You might want to look into satellite via DirecPC, though this will only enhance your maximum downstream bandwidth to roughly 250-350K bps. Alternatively, you might consider if "Shotgun" technology is offered by any ISPs in your area. This technology allows the multi-linking of 2 separate POTS lines each delivering 56K bps, that result in 112K bps of bandwidth. In order to achieve this, your ISP will have to be provisioned with the same technology as the subscriber's "Shotgun" modem, & you will likely pay a higher fee since the subscriber would connecting to 2 ISP routers instead of just 1 router.
Hope I've shed some light. |
