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siigna
join:2007-10-16
Lancaster, CA
| Another Satellite to ISDN thread...
So here I am, another user thinking about jumping ship from satellite (HughesNet) to ISDN.
I'm outside of Mojave, CA. The CO that serves us is Pac Bell, CO #MOJVCA01, about 10 miles away as the crow flies. Actual cables miles is obviously a bit more.
So I'm stuck here, it's either dial-up at 26.4kbps or satellite with horrendous ping times and download caps. Too far out for DSL, T-lines are way out of my budget, and I didn't even think about ISDN (well, my thought was who even uses it?).
Been using satellite for a few years now, and it definitely has it's advantages over dial-up, but overall just doesn't cut it for broadband service.
On a whim I gave a call up to AT&T today. After about 3 hours I finally got the right department with people who actually understood I wanted ISDN (it ranged from not knowing what ISDN was, to wanting to sell me a fractional T1). I gave them my current phone number w/ AT&T and my address... They qualified me. Cool.
Gave me the run down of pricing. $158.74 for the install and a choice of either flat or measured rate. I asked them if that included jack work, nope. I asked if they were required to do jack work (because I can do that myself), nope. Measured rate is $26.28/mo for 200 hours, 4 cents for the first minute and 1 cent per minute/per call after that. Flat rate is gonna run $74.95 a month. Tack on another $9.95 for LocalNet (who does have a local access number here).
So I guess the big question is... Is it worth it? With HughesNet I'm getting about 120kb/s down, ISDN is gonna cut that down to around 16kb/s. I can't download on HughesNet unless it's between 12 and 3 (unlimited download time) in the morning and the ping sucks. ISDN is gonna be slow as molasses comparitively but I can download 24/7 and the ping time is actually decent.
Ping time is the big swaying point for me. I was spoiled by a 10meg Time Warner connection at my last place and actually being able to play games online.
On satellite, with 120kb/s for 3 hours I can get about 1265mb downloaded a night. ISDN at 13kb/s to be realistic I can get about 1096mb downloaded in 24 hours.
Guess I gotta mull it over. ISDN may win this round just for the ping times. Anyone have any suggestions or comments? | |
aeblank
join:2004-09-07
Cadillac, MI
| Worth it is something only you can answer.
I see 14.5 downloads 24x7.
Like you already know, its good for web browsing, great for pinging, crappy for video or huge pictures.
The big selling point for me is that its stone cold reliable. I set up ISDN for me, my parents, and my uncle. All stay connected for weeks at a time and I only have to deal with it when lightning takes something out. At worst, every couple months the router might need a reboot cause the second channel isn't connecting like it should. | |
Anony_mouse
@direcpc.com
| reply to siigna
Hi Siigna. I've also considered jumping from Satellite (Hughes) to ISDN, and decided against for the time being. A big part of that was Hughes extending the no-FAP window by two hours; you can now bump your heavy downloading down to 11 PM and keep it going until 4 AM. I just thought I'd let you know about that, because at least in my case it did make satellite a little more bearable.
Also, thanks for listing AT&T's pricing. That gives me some idea what to expect, if I ever reconsider ISDN. I too spent several hours on the phone, bouncing between departments, but I didn't have the patience to keep drilling them and by the time I'd gotten the same individual twice, I just gave up. :P
Good luck, either way. Neither option is all that appealing after you've been corrupted by proper broadband. | |
keason
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Ann Arbor, MI
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
1 edit | reply to siigna
Re: Have you tried cellular?
If you have line of sight to a cellular tower, (even at 10 mi away), you could use a high gain directional antenna (think 14-24 Db) plus an repeater (Wilson electronics makes some decent products) with either a data card or a hybrid device (like a Telular SX7T). Sprint has EVDO coverage, also check ATT, Verizon and »www.millenicom.com/ (prepaid)
The Telular device (www.telular.com) doesn't require a repeater, it has fairly strong output (1-2W) which somewhat makes up for its high cost. They have an ATT and Sprint version.
I average about 800x300 with 150ms latency on sprint with a good signal. The limitation is on my slow tower.
Another option is to share a T1 with your neighbors via wifi.
If you go ISDN be prepared for clueless installers, equipment issues, and CO misconfigurations as ATT has retired or fired most of their ISDN knowledgeable techs. Look at package "U" or "V" so you can use ISDN as a home phone if needed. (Voice quality is superb). ISDN uses standard phone wiring. | |
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