Subj : Off-topic a bit
To   : Sean Dennis
From : Peter Knapper
Date : Sun May 15 2005 04:29 pm

Hi Sean,

 SD> This isn't specifically about OS/2, but I know that 
 SD> this message will be read by people in the know. ;)

Are you SURE about that?.........;-)

 SD> It looks like that I'll be using Charter Cable 
 SD> (broadband) up in Tennessee when I move-is anyone else 
 SD> here using Charter and if so, do they block ports or 
 SD> anything?

Well I live nowhere near North America, but DSL Reports usually has something 
useful on the subject. They cover both DSL and Cable too. Have look here -
  http://www.dslreports.com/
For details go to the Good, Bad & Ugly -
  http://www.dslreports.com/gbu
The "Charter Pipeline" reviews -
  http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/1581

One other thing that I noticed with USA Cable/DSL provisioning, the "speeds" 
that are quoted may be why the end user is not always happy, it seems (to me) 
that the end user is often quoted the ACTUAL line speed, which is NEVER 
attainable by the end user. 

EG: Here in NZ a DSL service advertised as 256Kb really has 256Kb of payload 
available to the end user. As DSL actually uses ATM technology and that uses 53 
byte Cells with a 48 Byte payload (with 5 Byte Management overhead), the 
circuit clocking rate is actually around 288Kb, but the overhead of ATM and the 
PPP part brings the end useable speed down to around 256Kb. I understand that 
most USA providers specify the actuall CLOCK rate, so the management overhead 
needs to be taken off the service to get the real speed as seen by the end 
user. For DSL thats around 14% I think, not sure what it is for Cable but its 
probaby around 8-10% at least.

Lastly, dont take any speed test site as genuine, they are so far off the 
planet with reality their only value is for bragging.......;-)

However if you use a decent broadband Router you will find that OS/2 will be 
quite happy with whatever you get. There, I kept it on topic..........;-)

Cheers................pk.


--- Maximus/2 3.01
 * Origin: Another Good Point About OS/2 (3:772/1.10)

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