Broadband Can End Internet Waiting Game
Just when you’ve got your Internet setup figured out and running smoothly, along comes the next big glittering upgrade--speed.
Depending on your location in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita or Antelope valleys, you might have access to a digital broadband connection that will bring the Internet into your home or office up to about 25 times faster than possible with regular dial-up modems.
World Wide Web pages pop onto the computer screen much faster, download times are slashed and streaming audio/video comes through with better (if still far from pristine) quality.
And because broadband is a direct connection, it’s always “on,” making dial-up delays and the cartoon noises produced by analog modems artifacts of the past.
Digital broadband is delivered via cable TV or telephone lines for about $50 a month. That’s more than twice the going rate for a standard Internet dial-up service (such as America Online). But with broadband, you can avoid the cost of a second phone line for your computer--something many people have obtained to avoid interruptions (or missed calls) while online.
Compared to the cost of a second phone line and dial-up service, broadband can cost only about $5 more monthly.
Sound like a great technological breakthrough? Maybe, but it’s hardly new. Broadband via cable lines, commonly called cable modem service, debuted in 1996. Telephone broadband, called Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service, began rolling out in 1998.
Even so, broadband has yet to catch on like the Internet--in part because cable systems and telephone companies have taken far longer than once expected in offering the service. In many areas of the country, including parts of the valleys, it’s still unavailable, and it might continue to be for years.
Broadband also has had an image problem, born of highly inflated speed claims, technological snafus and complex pricing.
“People were exposed to so much hype about broadband that it’s no surprise they were confused,” said Gary Arlen, a Bethesda, Md.-based consultant specializing in broadband. “There were all sorts of claims and counterclaims being made.”
Worst of all, Arlen said, the public was not getting full disclosure on some of the limitations to both cable modem and DSL technology. “There are some dirty little secrets people were not being told,” he said.
Another problem has been the volatility of the cable industry. With only one exception--Time Warner Cable--every cable system in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys announced an ownership change in 1999. This turnover has led to delays in cable operators upgrading their systems in order to offer cable modem service.
In the last several months, there have been indications that broadband might finally be ready for prime time. As of Sept. 30, there were an estimated 1.2 million cable modem subscribers nationwide, Arlen said. By the end of the year, that figure had risen to almost 1.6 million, according to Paul Kagan Associates, a Carmel-based media research firm.
That’s an increase of 25% in just three months.
Nationwide, DSL had almost 275,000 customers as of September, according to TeleChoice, a Boston-based consultant. More recent figures were not available, but several analysts believe the number of DSL subscribers is growing at an even faster rate than for cable modems.
Nonetheless, the choices and processes involved in getting broadband remain somewhat confusing and in some cases, quite frustrating. The following is a primer on digital broadband--how it works, its true speed, availability, advantages/disadvantages, pricing and outlook for the future.
How It Works:
Cable lines, designed to bring a large number of TV channels into homes, can handle far larger quantities of raw data than ordinary telephone wires were designed to convey. But in order to offer cable modem Internet service, a cable system has to have been upgraded to be interactive.
DSL works by digitally splitting ordinary telephone lines into two segments, one for regular telephone traffic such as voice and fax, and the other for Internet data. At a central telephone office, the segment carrying regular traffic is fed into the traditional switching network while the other is plugged directly into the Internet. DSL is offered by the area’s two telephone companies--Pacific Bell and GTE--and also by some Internet service providers and independent companies.
Speed:
The fastest dial-up modems currently available convey data at a maximum 56,600 bits per second, or bps. Cable modem operators claim speeds ranging from 500,000 to 1.5 million bps, or about nine to 26 times faster than dial-ups. The cable operators, however, offer no minimum-speed guarantees.
One of the not always disclosed “secrets” of cable modems Arlen referred to is the fact that its signal is delivered on a shared line. If you happen to be the only user in the neighborhood surfing the Internet on your cable modem, your speed will be top notch.
But if a neighbor who also has the service signs on, he or she will take away a chunk of your speed. Generally, the more people using a shared line, the slower the speed.
Some cable operators, including Time Warner and Media One, say they now have the ability to minimize speed drop-offs by electronically reconfiguring shared lines when they become overloaded.
PacBell guarantees its DSL services will operate at a minimum 384,000 (about seven times dial up). Its basic service can reach a maximum of 1.5 million bps and its upgraded service can reach 6 million bps.
GTE’s basic DSL service conveys a maximum speed of 768,000 bps and its premium service goes up to 1.5 million bps. GTE offers no minimum speed guarantees.
DSL is not on a shared line, but it has a different disadvantage--its signal deteriorates with distance. The farther you live from a telephone central office, the slower the speed generally is. PacBell recently announced that it will be installing upgrades that will improve the power and reach of its DSL services.
Keep in mind, however, that the actual speed at which Internet data reaches your screen depends greatly on the processing speed of your computer. With older computers, it can be like putting a Porsche engine in a Hyundai.
Availability:
Cable systems must have interactive lines in order to offer Internet service, but large sections of the San Fernando Valley are still served by old-fashioned, one-way lines that have yet to be upgraded. And some systems that have been upgraded don’t yet offer cable modem service.
Because DSL signals diminish with distance, both PacBell and GTE generally offer the service only to customers within 2 1/4 miles, as the wire travels, of a central office.
PacBell spokesman Steve Getzug said that about half the company’s California customers are eligible to get DSL. He said the number of customers was “well over 100,000” but would not be more specific.
GTE has not yet equipped all its central offices in California to handle DSL service. Many of the communities in the Valley served by the company have no DSL service at all.
According to GTE spokesman Jonathan Davies, the company currently has about 15,000 DSL customers statewide.
If you’re outside the current reach of cable modem or DSL service, there is yet another way to get broadband--via satellite. DirecPC, owned by the same company that offers DirectTV satellite television service, can beam Internet content to a small home satellite dish at speeds of up to 400 bps. That home dish, however, is a one-way device that can receive but not transmit data--making it less attractive to users who are “uploading” data to Web sites.
DirecPC is more widely available than either cable or DSL Internet services, but has its limits too. The company says the dish must have an unobstructed line of sight to the south to access its satellite.
Service Problems:
Installation delays and problems have been widespread among both cable modem and DSL customers. “I’ve had people tell me that Mutt and Jeff, as they call the installers, have been out six times and the thing is still not working right,” Arlen said.
Also, customers have experienced long waits in getting through on technical support lines.
“I’d say we were guilty of that,” said Mike Lunsford, an executive with EarthLink, an Internet service provider that offers its customers DSL where available. “At the beginning we were having a little trouble arranging installation and other things with our [telephone] partners. That created the need for customers to call us five or six times on a problem, and it jammed up our telephone queues.”
Last month, EarthLink temporarily halted taking new orders from its customers who live in areas served by GTE.
“We think we have gotten over the hump and put the big problems behind us,” Lunsford said. “Our hope is that we have gotten the wait [on trouble lines] down to 10 minutes or less a call.”
Pricing:
Monthly and installation fees vary, depending on the type of service and speed.
Most cable TV operators tack on about $40 to their subscribers’ monthly bills for broadband Internet service. A few cable operators offer higher-speed services, usually aimed at business customers. For example, Charter Communications has a Pipeline Platinum service that doubles the maximum download speed and quadruples the upload rate. Most residential customers need speed for downloading information from the Internet to their computers. But for businesses with Web sites, the higher upload speed is necessary for transferring large files--such as graphics or audio clips--onto their sites. The monthly fee for Pipeline Platinum is about $300.
Telephone companies, which typically charge about $49 a month for basic DSL service, also sometimes offer premium packages for businesses. PacBell, for example, provides a maximum 6-million-bps line for $199 a month.
Some dial-up Internet providers have gotten into the DSL game. They arrange installation with the local telephone company, provide technical support and do the billing. EarthLink, for example, provides basic DSL service for $49.95 a month to customers within a telephone company’s availability range.
Finally, DSL can be obtained through specialty operations, such as Flashcom Inc. These provide broadband services using telephone lines and offer a range of speed packages. Flashcom rates range from $49.95 to $289.95 monthly, depending on speed.
DirecPC satellite service is sold in chunks of time. It’s available for as little as $29.95 a month, including the dial-up provider, but at that price a user gets only 25 hours of Internet time, or less than an hour a day. For $49.95 a month you get up to 100 hours, or about three hours a day. Any extra time is billed at a hefty $1.99 a minute.
Installation costs vary depending on equipment needed and whether a technician has to come to the home or office. But broadband providers often offer promotions that greatly reduce or even waive these charges.
