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Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SOROS who wrote (4380)	1/18/1999 1:50:00 AM
From: Jing Qian	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

All said, Satellite Internet access does not pose competition to Cable. When ATHM's cable access become available, I believe every one will flock to subscribe. Who would give up a 1 Mbps(just to be conservative, it should be 10 Mbps) access with always on and single line interactivity to use DirecPC's dialup uplink, 400kbps downlink access with 4 second round trip delay?? Plus you have an ugly dish in the backyard. Satellite is only good for some people who can't get Cable and DSL. So, in my mind, I have absolutely ruled out GEO-orbit satellite based access such as DirecPC as a competitor to ATHM. However, Low-orbit satellite access can be a threat to ATHM in 5+ years from now till Teledesic lunched all their low-priced satellites and worked out all the bugs in their networking software. You know, it is not a simple task to design software that links up all satellites in the sky. In the case of Low-orbit access, there is 800 satellites in the sky that pretty much cover every inch of the earth. The round trip problem is solved since the distance from the dish to the satellite is not huge. I would say Teledesic's low orbit satellite access will be the one that eventually replaces ATHM and DSL. But don't worry, untill they lunched all the satellites and worked out all the bugs in the software, it's gonna be like 7 years from now. In the mean time, it has to be cable taking over the majority of the market and DSL taking the minority of market. That's why ATHM will be a big success. I don't mean to hype. But I can't help but to be forced to early retirement with this stock.

To: SOROS who wrote (4380)	1/18/1999 3:16:00 AM
From: lml	Respond to of 29970

SOROS: Sorry, don't know what you're asking. I'm aware of the problems DirecPC has run into in the past with its customer base & the remedy it has provided. It is a concern of mine that I am now weighing in my decision to go/not go with DirecPC. Your comparative analysis of alternative vehicles to Internet access is generally correct. The ISDN distance limit you quote is the basic limit without line conditioning. I got a repeater on my line that the installer told me extends ISDN connectivity out to 60,000 ft from the CO. I'm 40,000 ft from the CO & my line works fine. What I would like to know if there is some solution to bypassing the serial port bottleneck that limits my download speed to 115.2Kbps. I have a notebook so those PCI port accelerator cards are not available. Also, I was wondering why they don't manufacture a ISDN modem that connects thru a USB. Anyone have any info on this issue? Pricing cable, DSL, & ISDN will vary depending upon the LEC. I pay $31/mo for the ISDN, which includes about a $6 FCC charge. To connect to an ISDN server PacBell charges me anoter $30 for an ISP account. I get 150 hrs/mo/B channel & pay $.01/min/channel for access during peak hrs (8am-5pm), which can add up fast. I try to keep my total Internet bill down to $70-75/mo. So eventhough ISDN is "cheap" in CA, it is no bargain compared to alternative broadband access. Sorry, Jing for mispelling your name. Question: What's the problem with a DirecPC customer who connects @ less than 28.8Kbps? Are you familiar with any DirecPC customers? I'd be interested in gaining a greater perspective on DirecPC service. Thanks. Regards, lml