More DSL Service Options Available

[Miguel Ruiz]

yeah Kilborne where are you with this one?

Anyway I used to work at Voyager until recently.  Since I no longer work
there I can longer speak on thier behalf (did I ever?)  Let me just say
that before I left DSL was up in the air and from what I know don't
really plan on it from them soon.  We were testing it for a little bit
(some lucent router/bridges) but then the project was dropped even
though the equipment is sitting in the NOC.  If Dan K or Eric are
reading this maybe they can give us some better news.

IF your looking for T speeds out of DSL then you have about 18,000 ft.
to work with.  I believe the maximum distance for any sort of service at
all will be around 24,000 ft. of cable.

Right now Voyager pairs with Covad in the Detroit area.  I can tell you
from personal experience that if they go with Covad in the Lansing area
don't bother.  Covad is one big sucking hole (pardon' my French)

Also keep in mind that with DSL your going through the PSTN (Public
Switched Telephone Network) and if you have ever had to work with
Ameritech on line issues then you know how horrible it is (or can be)


Miguel


===============

We had voyager representatives in a couple of months ago to discuss
possibly
switching the district from the internet arrangement we now have to
something that
would perform better (don't think we ever heard back either - where are
you Dan
Bloomquist?).  What we were told at the time is that you only get the
bandwidth
usually associated with DSL if you were within 3-5 miles of the
originating exchange
or a repeater was installed in the line between you and that exchange. 
Beyond that,
bandwidth drops off precipitously.  I think they said that communication
was
accomplished on a pair of twisted copper wires similar to ethernet which
is the
reason for the distance limitations (at least to have throughput greater
than that
of a normal modem).


That's about all I remember (and I haven't read up on it either).  I
know we have at
least one Voyager tech that watches the list.  Maybe Dan (not
Bloomquist) can shed
some light on the subject.


Mike Rambo
Lansing School District