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Re: [PLUG] DSL: Questions to ask?
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On Wed, Aug 08, 2001 at 11:16:03PM +0000, Arthur Alexion wrote:
> Page rendering is generally the bottleneck with complex nested table
> formatting taking a while to render. Most times, the pages download
> almost instantly, but the cpu struggles with the rendering.
Um. If web browsing is your only Internet usage, then a cable modem
is probably fine. The vast majority of my traffic never touches
anyone's port 80. I have sshed over other people's cable modems.
Latency sucked. Latency has been a problem approximately twice on my
DSL.
My point here is that bandwidth is only one of *many* considerations
in connection speed. And, for anyone whose usage is similar to mine,
it's a pretty irrelevant one. My biggest bandwidth usage is
communication with remote CVS repositories. Flat text transfers
pretty damn quickly even at 56k, and I'd still be using a modem
contentedly if it were not impossible to have a latency-free
connection over one.
> I've had no experience with DSL, and my experience is limited to hearing
> complaints about Verizon.
Verizon is really the least important part of the deal, presuming
you know enough not to use them as your provider (except for those
poor, poor few who have no other choice... those people should
investigate fixed wireless or satellite uplink ;^>). Sure, they take
their good old time about the install and link testing, but after
that they stay the hell out of the way pretty well. (Though I always
keep a close eye on what the folks who pile out of a Verizon truck
are doing to the punchdown block where my line lives, it's never
been a problem. Verizon engineers are quite well trained and
intelligent. Too bad their management is apparently a lower form of
life.)
> I thought that there were Linux specific issues that made you choose DSL.
Was that directed at me, or generally?
There are no Linux specific issues for me, as I actually use NetBSD
on the majority of the computers in my apartment (excepting the
NeXT, the mac laptop, and, potentially, the SGI I'm considering
buying). (Why, you may ask, do I partake in a LUG mailing list?
Well, there aren't so many BSD user groups, I definitely use Linux
from time to time, and it's not like my interests are exactly
orthogonal.)
It so happens that the ISP I have chosen (Speakeasy) is very
competent at handling users who run Unix-like operating systems (one
of my major reasons for having chosen them). But this is not, as
a rule, true of DSL providers (or DSL-cognizant ISPs), and, though
I have no experience with any, I expect there exist cable modem
providers who are equally good at dealing with non-Microsoft
operating systems. RCN, who seems to be offering a pretty good deal
(on clean, fresh cable they're installing for their exclusive use,
btw) in the Philly area, presuming you want to get a cable modem,
cable TV, and phone service all from them, may well be one. I
haven't investigated them at all, but I get the impression they're
worth a look.
Anyway, if you know what you're doing with the networking protocols
in question (HIGHLY recommended for any kind of broadband
connection) there's no problem you can't get around. (We're not yet
living in the frightening age coming all too soon when Microsoft
embraces and extends TCP. Think I'm paranoid? Consider carefully why
raw sockets in WinXP is scary. Not the obvious reason.)
--
~ g r @ eclipsed.net
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