Updated:

Okay, so I get an ad in the mail from the phone company. It says I can get DSL in my area. Thinking of the experiences with the 5 or so other DSL providers that had been cheaper, of course I think "Sure, I'll call (if I do) and get the same answer. "No, you really don't qualify. We are morons, sorry; maybe later."

So I decide to call anyway. It's $50 a month, more than I want to spend, but other providers have raised their prices (Duh, like I didn't know they couldn't make any money at $30-$40 a month.)

When I call, the guy says (paraphrasing) "Yes, you can get it. We've had it there since November. Oh, the others probably told you it wasn't there because they checked the Central Office, which is too far. But there is a Remote near you that can provide it; they probably just didn't know how to input the order."

Two things are not surprising at all:

1. The phone company knows something the other providers (that use the phone company's equipment in any case) don't know.
2. The other providers are not so swift at checking other alternatives.

So, deciding I don't really want to pay $50 a month for "up to" 1.xM/128K DSL, I think "Well, that's always a back-up. Let me see what cable costs to do." (In case you didn't know, the 1.whatever Megabits is down to me, and the 128Kbits is upstream to the world.)

I call up RoadRunner (Time Warner) and ask.
(Paraphrasing again) "Sure, you are in our zip code area, you can get it."

Prices for RR/TW? Okay, it's $10 a month with 'basic' cable plus $55 for the 2M/256K max. (It's always a maximum.) Or, it's $25 for standard 30-40 channel cable plus $45 (no direct deposit of bill payments) or $40 (with direct deposit)

Now, as I may mention below, I get all the networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, public TV) on the antenna for free.

But check them out!
It's $65 for no channels + Internet
Or $65 for 40 channels + Internet.

Hmmmmmm. What a choice.

Of course, I'm resolved to get some fast access, so I figure that "$40 for 2M/256K is okay, especially since I'm more interested in the upstream speed. And although the cable brings the price up to $65, it's both twice as fast on the Internet end as DSL, as well as giving me ~35 channels on TV. For only $15 more than DSL! And cable is installed in a week or less, while DSL is maybe a week, but quoted as 2-8 weeks to finish. Plus, I get CNN.

So I decide cable is the way to go. So I call up RR/TW. But when I try and order? Oh, sure I'm in their zip code, but they have to qualifiy the line, because of course this address insn't in the computer.

To make a too long story a bit shorter, since we're in a twilight zone (Pfleugerville schools, 'county' water, state company natural gas, city water/power/garbage), although we're in the RR/TW zip, it's Cox Cable in Georgetown/Leander/Pfleugerville that services our area.
Never mind that TW has the cable franchise in Austin (And I am in Austin city). Never mind that I've dealt with Cox before, long long ago and they aren't that great. That's who has it here.

I might mention this:
RR/TW has a "one ring person answers you" phone system, and that their web site has email contacts that email you back within a day or two.
Cox has a "ring many times maybe someone will pick it up when they don't make you go through a voice menu and stay on hold forever just to hang up" phone system. They have no email contacts on their page, although I did eventually email and bother the wrong people often enough to get the email address of the Cox office in Georgetown. (By the way, Georgetown is 30 minutes away. TW is in Austin.)

Regardless, I call / email Cox, and eventually I get some answers. Yes, they service our area. Yes, they have cable modem. Okay, it's $6 for the cable (same as the antenna, but has Fox News and CSPAN) but it's only $30 for the Internet. (Well, 128K/128K; 1M/128K is $40, but like I said, I'm more concerned about upstream speed) So, it's only $36 for both! Oye, what a deal.

Anyway, after a little bit of a "We have no modems" problem, within 10 days I have both cable and Internet, for less than the $40 I wanted to spend. Of course, Cox charged for installation and turning on the cable "modem". Whereas RR/TW had an 'Install and turn it all on for nothing.' deal. Oh, well.

Still, pretty cool.

Now, of course I complained to the cable franchise authority of the franchise that TW has that says they are required to provide service in this area. And I actually got an answer back from the city and from TW.

Will I switch to TW if they ever get it here? (As they are supposedly required to do.) Maybe. 2M/256K would sure be sweet, even at $65 a month.
Will I switch to the 1M/128K from Cox for $10 a month more, total of $46? Probably not.
Will I switch to DSL? TW would be a better deal than DSL, should they offer cable here. Plus, the phone company's best deal requires a 1 year or longer contract. And their upstream speed is what I have now. At $50. Uh, no.

In any case, it's nice to know I have some options.

And a current 128K connection (usually at 90-110K) for $36, including cable that gives me MSNBC (wow! not.) and CSPAN and Fox News.

I still would have a 22K modem connection if I went modem, as complained about on this original page. (Below)

So I guess...... Life is okay.



Well, this is very interesting. I moved from a desolated location in Arizona about as close as you can get to Mexico. This place was SO far away from Tucson and Phoenix, we might have well as lived in, say, Arkansas.


But now I'm in Texas.


How was it there in Arizona? Well, it was only 50 minutes or so to Tucson, not that Tucson was THAT big. But it was far enough away that not only could you not get DSL at all, or get ISDN without paying far too much money, but you couldn't get PCS (digital) mobile phone service.

Not only that, but the local phone company (US West) didn't even offer Internet service. Sure, I could get some free 'Net services and a couple of pay ones. So it must not have been that desolated. But when US West, who brings you phone service, doesn't offer _itself_ as an ISP? Mighty odd.

So, in the middle of nowhere, at the bottom (south end) of Arizona, in Army housing, where the phone company doesn't offer Internet, I normally got a 44K or so modem connection at home, even from the free services like Juno or Winfire. And from my ISP, The River.



Cut to now. A few months later, I am in Austin, one of the major high tech areas of the USA.

My house is new. I'm about 3 miles (around 17,000 feet) from the Central Office. They have DSL. They have cable modem. They have major numbers of people.

In addition, the house is in a fairly new subdivision. The house has new junction boxes and street connections to the phone company (South Western Bell) The house is newly wired, with Cat 5 wiring; very good stuff.


So, you'd think I get something like 48K or 50K or even (gasp) 52K. ~52K is the fastest you can get with a "56K" modem.


Sure. Yeah. I do. RIGHT!


I have tried 5 different ISP connections. I removed all the other wiring in my house to the junction box on the side of the house, except for the one going to the modem. I tightened the wires. And so on.


The BEST I can get is 28.8K, with 26.4K the norm. Wow. Not.


There is a certain type of "modem" (DSU/CSU) at the other end that is hosing me up.

I won't explain exactly how QAM and other things work. Let it suffice to say that since there is at least one other analog/digital device between me and the rest of the equipment that I'm connecting through or to, there is no real compression on this line.

That means, forget the advanced 33.6K and higher protocols. I'm stuck at the fastest normal modem speeds you can expect.

I'm not saying my situation is unique. Perhaps I should have expected this. Probably I should have. Many people in more populated places are stuck at sub-standard speeds. I guess I'm one of them. Oh well.


You'd think that in a major area, though, that you'd be doing better than you were in a remote place. Nope.


Sure, now I could get DSL for $40 a month (They said I can) or cable for $40 plus cable prices. Of course, forget the cable company. I'm using the antenna and now I get 8 channels for free; where before I paid to get 14 because we couldn't get any broadcast stations.


So is the price to pay for the availability of cable and DSL that you can't connect worth a : with a normal 56K modem?



I fracking guess so.


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