| Not obsolete DSL is not obsolete as long as you're close enough. What else does the telco have for consumers? Nobody's using wireless for home with the per byte billing and low caps. I switched from cable since I can get 40/6 on DSL. |
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Reviews:
 ·Millenicom
 ·AT&T Southeast
·Verizon Wireless..
| "...Nobody's using wireless for home with the per byte billing and low caps..." I personally know of 4 families who are dependent on cellular broadband. They use the Millenicom resell of Verizon. They all live with a limit of 20GB per month. They all live in areas with no cable or DSL service. They had either dial up or satellite. One family lives in an area filled with well to do horse owners and large horse pastures. In spite of the income those people have, AT&T and the cable company refuse to build high speed internet in those areas. AT&T did install a tower to handle some of the no cellular service problems in the area, so AT&T mobile broadband customers are getting much better service, at least as far as signal strength is concerned. Now if AT&T would reduce the cost per GB, getting broadband through them might be tolerable. |
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Tobester
join:2000-11-14
San Francisco, CA Reviews:
 ·Google Voice
·SONIC.NET
·AT&T Yahoo
| reply to mlcarson
said by mlcarson:DSL is not obsolete as long as you're close enough.
Agreed.
Here in San Francisco we have a local company Sonic.net who I believe is eating AT&T's lunch by those who hear about Sonic's Fusion package of ADSL2+ service package of internet, unlimited calling, custom calling features, and voicemail.
Like your example, I'm only 5,000' from the Central Office so I get great speeds (10.2Mbps); no usage caps, and it's much cheaper than anything Comcast offers.
Sonic's fiber to the home will eventually replace copper, but for now, ADSL2+ can work in densely populated areas if the local Bell company would provide it. |
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Reviews:
·Millenicom
·AT&T Southeast
·Verizon Wireless..
| If I understand Sonic.net correctly, they can bond two telephone lines together to double the data rate. So in your example you would normally get 5.1 Mbps on one line, but due to bonding of two lines you get 10.2Mbps. Or am I not understanding the various technologies Sonic.net uses. Or is the telephone line bonding something else. |
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Tobester
join:2000-11-14
San Francisco, CA Reviews:
·Google Voice
·SONIC.NET
·AT&T Yahoo
| You are correct about Sonic being able to bond two copper pairs in order to double your speeds.
My speed of 10.2Mbps is with one pair.
Of course, I could upgrade to bonded service (like my neighbors) and double my speed, but my current package is best for saving money. 
BTW, the bonded Fusion service is still cheaper than Comcast's similar services. |
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Reviews:
·Millenicom
·AT&T Southeast
·Verizon Wireless..
| I want, I want, I want Sonic.net here in central Georgia. Bonding two lines would get me about 12 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. I dread having to someday needing to switch to Cox cable to get higher data rates. And no cap threats. What a treat. We need more companies in the USA like Sonic.net for all kinds of services. |
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Tobester
join:2000-11-14
San Francisco, CA Reviews:
·Google Voice
·SONIC.NET
·AT&T Yahoo
| Yes, Sonic is a great company.
ADSL2+ speeds drop off considerably depending distance to the central office, but I more than doubled my speed when I left AT&T DSL for Sonic's Fusion.
Getting back to the initial post, there is value to be found in using the old copper lines, if a company had the inclination.
It might be a smaller market for densely populated areas, but the equipment costs would have to be much less than digging up streets for FIOS, etc.
I just don't see myself ever using my Verizon LTE cellphone for internet browsing due to cost and data caps. |
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