The Cutting Edge / COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : ISDN Provides a Hot Rod for Motoring on the Information Highway

I remember the day in 1982 when I replaced my 300-bit-per-second modem with a 1,200 bps model. What a rush. Words streamed across my screen four times faster--at the rate of 25 words a minute. Today, most people are buying modems that operate at 14,400 or even 28,800 bps.

If people used modems just for text, 14,400 bps would be more than fast enough. You can transmit a 1,000-word article in just over 3 seconds. But today’s communication environment is a lot more than just words. It’s pictures, sounds and even videos.

And in cyberspace, to say that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” is an understatement. A compressed graphic image that’s a fifth the size of a computer screen can easily take up 60,000 bytes, the equivalent of 10,000 words. Sound takes up even more space: President Clinton’s 22-second welcome message on the White House’s World Wide Web page (https://www.whitehouse.gov) takes almost two minutes to download at 14,400 bps. One minute of highly compressed, low-quality video can take 45 minutes to download. And most telecommunication experts believe that 28,800 bps is the upper limit for regular (analog) telephone lines.

That’s why I just installed an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) line at my new house. With this type of phone line, I can now cruise the net at 57,600 bits per second--and eventually, with the right equipment, I’ll be able to double that to about 128,000 bps.

Converting the basic telephone network to ISDN has been a phone company dream for some two decades, but until recently it has been an expensive solution in search of a problem. Now, though, ISDN is being offered almost everywhere in Southern California at a reasonable price, and it may be finding a niche among netizens like myself.

In addition to carrying digital data, ISDN can be used for voice or fax. A single ISDN line can handle two calls at once, along with a low-speed data link, and Pacific Bell is now offering ISDN for just $24.50 a month. There’s a $175 installation fee, but it’s waived if you keep the service for at least two years.

Residential ISDN users pay three cents per connection, plus a penny a minute for local calls during the business day, and there are no extra charges during evenings and weekends. Toll calls are billed at the normal rate, and you don’t need any special wiring.

There is some bad news. To get up and running, you need a converter box called an NT1 which typically costs about $150, and then you’ll need a digital phone and a digital modem--at several hundred dollars apiece.

Alternatively--and this is a much better way to go--you can buy a digital modem with the NT1 built in. The Impact ISDN digital modem from 3Com and the Bitsurfr from Motorola both sell for about $500: They look and act like regular external modems and plug into the serial port of your PC. They also have a standard phone jack that works with any phone device, including a regular modem. You can talk on the phone, send or receive faxes or even log on to another on-line service without having to tie up an additional phone line.

You could get rid of your regular phone line, but it’s not a good idea. The necessary adapters or digital modems needed to use ISDN to make any type of call (including voice) require electrical power, so you can’t use the ISDN line if your power goes out.

Another problem is that few Internet service providers or on-line services currently offer ISDN service--but that’s changing rapidly. Prodigy on Monday started offering ISDN access in Woodland Hills, as well as in Boston, San Jose, and Nashville, Tenn. CompuServe, America Online and other on-line services are likely to follow later this year. PSINet ((800) 827-7482 or https://www.psi.com on the World Wide Web) offers Internet access starting at $9 a month.

I’ve only had this set up for a couple of days, but I’m having the time of my life. As I write this column, I’m simultaneously connected to the Internet at 57,600 bps and to CompuServe at 14,400 bps using the ISDN line. World Wide Web pages that used to take minutes to appear on my screen are now showing up in seconds. I’m listening to audio clips and even viewing some video clips.

If you have access to the World Wide Web, you can learn a lot more about ISDN by going to https://www.pacbell.com/isdn or https://alumni.caltech.e du/dank/isdn/.

Of course, ISDN still isn’t the ultimate “information superhighway.” Fast as it is, it’s way too slow for anything but the tiniest video clips. For a true multimedia on-line experience, we’ll need an even faster connection. That gives me something to look forward to.

Computer File welcomes your comments. Write to Lawrence J. Magid, Computer File, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or message magid@la times.com on the Internet or KPVN58A on Prodigy.