Slashdot Mirror

In our small business, we have both business Cable broadband and a T1 line. We use the Cisco 1825 Router which has dual WAN interfaces and very robust load-balancing capabilities. Setting up an old box to load-balance two ISPs will be a huge pain in the ass, so you might be better off with a preconfigured off-the-shelf solution.

Also, where are you finding ADSL providers that don't offer declining per-megabit rates? http://www.covad.com/web/services/broadband/business_dsl.html
Covad DSL charges more for dual 3mbps connections than a single 15mbps connection. You might check your math again to make sure getting two slow ADSL connections isn't a lot less speed per dollar than a single fast connection.

That's for dedicated line. You're comparing apples & oranges. The prices for dedicated lines on Speakeasy are higher, too. The shared line prices are here. The 5 static IPs is a $10 add-on on top of those prices.

Looks like it is $109.95 now, and it's $10/mo extra for the five IPs.

A very large number of speakeasy's customers are provisioned on covad's backbone, and covad is primarily responsible for the quality of service speakeasy has provided. So we can just cut out the middleman and sub to the source.

http://www.covad.com/services_dsl_chooser.shtml

SpeakEasy offers a number of "no phone service required" options. It is, naturally, more expensive than the cheapest DSL service your phone company offers coupled with their cheapest phone service, but then your phone company's DSL is, in all probability, crippled anyway.

T-1 is 1.5M down/1.5M up, on a dedicated connection. Comcast's standard offering is currently 3M down/256K up on a shared connection, which is more or less typical for cable modem. Remember that a basic T-1 package will almost invariably have a SLA guaranteeing that you won't have more than N minutes of downtime per month, at least 5 static IP addresses, and a noticable absence of draconian/asinine AUP terms. Of course it's going to cost roughly 10X as much as a cable modem connection, but it's well worth it if you really need those extra features. Of course there's SDSL if you're close enough to your CO, which can give you the same features as a T-1 for about 1/2 the cost. The Covad web site has rates posted, if you want to see real numbers.

(Does "packet switching" count? The document with the new rules [fcc.gov] says

Packet Switching - Incumbent LECs are not required to unbundle packet switching, including routers and DSLAMs, as a stand-alone network element. The order eliminates the current limited requirement for unbundling of packet switching.

but I don't know whether that's what's used by competitive ISPs.)

Line Sharing - The high frequency portion of the loop (HFPL) is not an unbundled network element. Although the Order finds general impairment in providing broadband services without access to local loops, access to the entire stand-alone copper loop is sufficient to overcome impairment.

• A Note to Current SBC Pacific Bell DSL Internet Access Service Customers:

  Keep an eye on your inbox and mailbox this winter for information about your SBC Yahoo! DSL upgrade software.

  Upgrading is easy and improves your service without interfering with four important aspects of your membership. Your email address, your price, your billing method, and the speed of your DSL Internet connection all stay the same as they are now while you get all the great benefits of SBC Yahoo! DSL.

Many parts of the areas up here in Washington are left dangling by Verizon. So the only high speed dsl type service is IDSL.

I would love more bandwidth at a cheaper price, but Verizon would rather sell DSL in high income markets. I even saw an article about a lawsuit, ATT broadband being sued for not putting cable in low income urban areas. I hope the lawsuits spreads to Telcos and dsl. I found out when the equipment arrives, Redmond is winning out over other areas. Pisses me off, Verizon says they will have the equipment in for the last 2 years for DSL. My phone line qualifies, but they are at capacity at my central office. And no cable modems in my area due to a mom and pop cable company moved in and made everyone agree to long term contracts. (screwed again...)

But, back to the IDSL, its only 144/144K, but its connect 24/7 (not like isdn), Covad even has an Sys-Admin package that lets you have 2 IPs, and allows you to run servers. Great thing about it, its the lowest ping ive seen around, 30ms to game servers in Seattle via SpeakEasy. Covad and Speakeasy has been pretty good, other than the price for idsl. (-;

I thought they just filed for bankruptcy...

It seems like they're still taking orders...

To be honest, I'm not sure how corporate bankruptcy works, but I would think that investors would try to milk Covad before liquidating it's assets (colocated DSL equipment).

It's really not fair to "report" months-old news without checking for updates:

Check out:

Here

and

here.

Covad's gonna be OK. Really.

--NBVB

It's really not fair to "report" months-old news without checking for updates:

Check out:

Here

and

here.

Covad's gonna be OK. Really.

--NBVB

And even if their competition is DSL then their competitors are going out of business as well (whatever happened to Covad?)

Actually, Covad's alive and kicking. (www.covad.com)

Very true. Or might I suggest an alternative for the those needlers? Set up your own mail server. Doamin names are cheap to get now, and any type of broadband connection is relatively cheap now as well. I've also found that most DSL providers at least use a static address on the line, including Covad and DirecTV at least they did when I asked about it). So, setup your own server on your own domain and it won't matter anymore.

You can check hotfiles and Download.com and Shareware.com for free software (it does exist). Just look for 'SMTP server' and/or 'POP server'.

He's right.. there does seem to be a large market for DSL equipment on Ebay. I'm wondering how many folks got a Covad rebate and are making money.

This is not as bad as it seems. Covad is deleting about 200 central offices for financial reasons; many of them have NO customers, and others only have a few, not even enough to pay for the expensive data line back to the Covad data center and certainly not enough to be profitable. (Cost of their service = [CO cage lease + DSLAM (DSL hub) amortization + maintenance staff] / subs per CO + loop lease + [customer service / subs nationally].)

For some reason, the number of COs has been increased in the press from about 200 to the 260 you see here - the cutback you're seeing is the same one, probably being inflated for Wall Street's eyes by including COs planned but not yet implemented. AFAIK there are not additional COs being cut, and if there were I'd know! (Customers, ya know...)

So DON'T PANIC: service should be there for the foreseeable future.

The thing that worries me more is that trading was halted Friday on Covad shares, due to (negative) restating of earnings. Details are in a separate AC post. I do think that this, if not resolved positively, could be bad for customers -- but my sense is that they guys will survive (or get bought out, probably by one of my larger competitors!) so customers will be okay.

He doesn't, which was the point of his "Ask Slashdot." There are many apartment owners in the North Texas area who sign deals with CLECs giving them exclusive access to their buildings for telecom services, for a suitable fee (of course). In these instances, you cannot get DSL from your localtelco unless your CLEC wants to permit it and you can get the localtelco bureaucracy to move in that direction. Also, DSL from another CLEC is virtually out, since they don't want the hassle.

Simply put, if you're going to move, make sure your apartment has the features you want: location, price, amenities and the right phone company.

---

...I was promised that Bell-Atlantic (now Verizon) would make the necessary connections last Friday. It's Tuesday and nary a Verizon truck in site with my line... we both have been screwed by the local telco.

There's a logical reason for this - not a good one, mind, but a logical one.

Following the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the big telephone companies - called ILECs (Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers like what was then Bell Atlantic) - were required to essentially open up their facilities to their competitors. The competitors, or CLECs (Replace "Incumbent" with "Competitive"), were thus enabled to offer services like DSL over pre-existing telco infrastructure. In other words, Covad and Rhythms owe their existence to the passage of that law.

Here's where it gets hairy. Without going into too much detail, ILECs (like Verizon) are required to provide CLECs (like Covad) with wholesale discounts to colocation services. And since they own all the phone lines anyway, a good portion of the actual premise work (like loop testing) has to be done by the ILEC anyway. If there's a problem, the ILEC needs to deal with it. Translation: the big entrenched telcos have to provide technical support to their competitors.

Of course, it's a little more complicated than that. The CLECs do have to pay a (nominal) fee to the ILECs to do business in the first place. But ask anyone who does tech support or line work for Verizon which work requests get done first - the ones that pertain to Covad DSL customers, or ones that pertain to Verizon DSL customers. I have friends of friends in that line of business, and they all agree that the ILEC customers get the love first. CLEC clients get sloppy seconds.

One more note: I'm currently waiting for Verizon to fix a loop test problem so that I can have my Covad DSL line installed, so this issue is something of a sore point with me.

...are because of ILEC's. I work in the broadband business for a major ISP. I support ADSL customers. Don't get me started on the hassles that ILEC's give DSL providers like Covad/Genuity/Rhythms/NorthPoint. Even with a federal mandate saying "You have to play fair with competitors" (basically), the Bells like to keep their customers to themselves. Most of what turns into months is the phone company not delivering the data line on time, because they just don't give a damn. Verizon is the worst, closely followed by USWest/Qwest and Ameritech. PacBell and BellSouth are pretty decent, but still don't play nice sometimes. If you can get it, I'd at least check out Bazillion. $198 Install, $198 rebate, and if you don't want a year agreement, it's just $50 more for an install (no rebate on that, so $50 for total install). You can get a static IP from them for $1.95/month. They use Covad as a DSL provider, and Covad's pretty decent about keeping things working and fixing them as soon as possible, granted the telco doesn't have to get involved. I haven't been installed yet, but the guys seem to know their stuff. Slightly OT, but does anyone have any information about the Speedstream 5271 IDSL Router?

You can get DSL service from the Incumbent LEC (Local Exchange Carrier), USWest... erm, Qwest, as well as from Competitive LEC's such as Covad NorthPoint, or Rhythms.

Separately, you have a choice of ISP. IMO, there are only two choices. VISI has really good deals on multiple static IP's, but can't compete with Onvoy performance wise, because the former uses expensive Qwest (got it right that time) DSL, while the latter uses Covad.

Of course, there are dozens of different ISP options. Some are overpriced, some offer better speed, some offer better features... it's truly a competitive market out there.

--

It's clear the author has no idea how DSL is sold or how Covad fits into this picture.

The short form of how DSL is sold is that you get service in two pieces. First, you get a physical connection to your phone companies local central office (CO). From there you are connected to your ISP via an Ethernet bridge running over ATM. You ISP then provides you the second half of DSL service, some sort of network connection (I'll refer to it as an internet connection since that's normal, but it could just as well be a private network that only runs IPX.) In general the physical connection is provided by your local phone company. You internet connection could be provided by you phone company or another appropriatly equiped ISP.

Where Covad fits into this picture is that they provide the physical connection. That is, they act as a replacement for the local phone company. They lease copper pairs and rack space from the local phone company and then provide their own signal over those lines. An intresting feature of Covad's service is that they provide dedicated access all the way from your end of the pipe to the ISP of your choice if you're willing to pay for it (most DSL service uses a somewhat oversubscribed link from the CO to the ISP.) They also provice Service Level Agreements just like if you were buying a traditional T1 or leased line. This is an excelent feature if you're job depends on having working internet access as mine does (I telecommute from Seattle to Los Angeles) since it gives them some significant economic incentive to keep your lines up.

Personaly, I think Coved is a great thing for consumers as they provide competition at the phone company. I was impressed by the Covad installer, unlike all the idiots from USWEST I've delt with, he knew what he was doing. He basicaly ripped out and reinstalled all the work the USWEST installer did because he though it was sub-par. (It was, they installed a low-mositure, indoor punchdown block outside my apartment so the cheap steel contacts could corrode and kill my signal. ;-[)

I hate to break it to you, but Pac*Bell is the best of the RBOC's (the baby bells), nationwide, according to my friends who run national ISPs. Be glad you don't live in NYNEX or GTE territory.

The real problem is that legacy telephone companies are so invested in voice telephony and circuit switching that packet switching is a mystery to them. They Don't "Get It." They can generally be trusted to run wires or give you a point-to-point bit-pipe (i.e. a dedicated leased line), but never ask them for a switched data service (e.g. frame relay, ATM, SMDS) because they'll always fuck it up. ISDN is a borderline case, because it looks and smells like voice to them, but it has never been tariffed (priced) correctly: ISDN calls should have the same price as voice calls.

There was an article in Wired a while ago called, The NetHeads versus The BellHeads which described some of this cluelessness, and how Internet companies are eating the RBOCs and other LECs alive.

If you're looking for xDSL service, best to go with one of the Competitive LECs, e.g. Covad, or NorthPoint, because it's a lead-pipe cinch that your RBOC will hose up the Internet part of xDSL, even if they get the basic bit-pipe right.

The City of Stockholm, Sweden got it right - they laid down dark fibre all over the city, and then set up a city-owned corporation to lease it out to all comers. This makes it easy to get really high speed data service at low prices. Right on the edge of the Silicon Valley, the City of Palo Alto, California has the same opportunity (i.e. they've laid down the dark fibre) but they're hesitating to actually use it! (idiots)