George,
<<.....DSL is inferior to cable modems (it is a dedicated circuit with DSL modems on each end and none of the efficiencies that a shared medium offers for bursty data and point multipoint communications and video conferences)......>>
I have been reading your many posts and enjoy (and profit) from your valuable insight. I was, however, surprised at your above observation.
The fact that DSL is a dedicated circuit would seem to be a feature, not a detriment. While cable does have more bandwidth, at least for now, that bandwidth must be shared with the entire neighborhood. With DSL, I get 100% of the available pipe right up to the Central Office, where presumably you aggregate to a high capacity backbone network.
I equate cable to the old hub technology, where everyone shares the same bandwidth. That worked fine for years until LAN traffic increased to create congestion. I hardly ever deploy hubs in my customer's networks now, except in very small locations. LAN switching has become the preferred medium to reduce congestion without decreasing the segment size. The performance boost is considerable. I equate DSL to switching, since you have dedicated bandwidth to the "switch" or DSLAM. Even if the overall bandwidth is not as high as cable, at least I can count on consistent performance (with respect to the local loop) without regard to my pleasant but power hungry neighbors.
I certainly agree that DSL and cable will both serve as last mile solutions to the home. It will be fun to watch this all evolve
By the way, I agree with your Global Crossing observations. This is a very exciting company.
Regards,
Darrell |
