Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
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From: emv@ox.com (Ed Vielmetti)
Subject: Re: Access to the electronic frontier: ISDN
In-Reply-To: cliff@garnet.berkeley.edu's message of 18 Mar 91 23:56:12 GMT
Message-ID: <EMV.91Mar18204457@poe.aa.ox.com>
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References: <9508@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> <1991Mar12.065735.11507@vpnet.chi.il.us>
	<9928@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> <1991Mar18.235612.16233@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 18 Mar 91 20:44:57

In article <1991Mar18.235612.16233@agate.berkeley.edu> cliff@garnet.berkeley.edu (Cliff Frost) writes:

   But I don't think six times faster is really true now, what with V.32bis/
   V.42bis modems hitting the market for less than $400 each.  Suppose
   you can get 38.4Kb/s with a $300 modem over voice grade lines, would you
   still be so anxious for ISDN (with its $200 install and $1,500 Terminal
   Adaptor)?

can you keep that v.32 line nailed up the whole day to someone who
will give you a reasonably priced internet connection?  figuring that
you're going to be paying someone else $100-$300/mo for the right to
pass packets across the internet, the ISDN $200 install doesn't look
too bad.  the $1500 terminal adapter, on the other hand, ugh, esp if
the concentrator on the regional network's end is similarly expensive.

   I'm used to working in a large network, so I don't really know what your
   concerns are, but I'd guess that the major problem facing small business
   folks is network management rather than throughput.

speaking (sorta kinda) from a small business standpoint, the major
problem is finding someone who you can get connected to without making
a huge up-front investment in equipment and administrivia.  network
management is tertiary; at the beginning, it doesn't matter if it's
slow or even slightly unreliable, as long as it's there.  if the links
can be shown to be worth it, the extra money can be found to pay for
reliability, but people are willing to go through some non-trivial
amount of personal hassle to get it off the ground.

-- 
 Msen	Edward Vielmetti
/|---	moderator, comp.archives
	emv@msen.com
