The importance to individuals and small office users lies in the competitive nature of the pricing for the services as this kind of connection speed remained in the preview of large business who could afford the traditional bandwidth such as T-1. Two surveys I read indicated that at the end of 1998, there were approximately 425,000 two-way cable modem installations and 25,000 DSL installations in service. The second survey for the same period indicated that 513,000 cable connections and 39,000 DSL connections were in service. 

Broadband Technology Review

 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) connections are made over the existing twisted pair copper wiring which may already installed in the users premises. As the name implies, the data stream is digital all the way from the sender to the receiver connection. The ADSL downstream bandwidth is also extemely fast from 384 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps and the upstream bandwidth is up to 800 Kbps. 

 Both connections are direct as opposed to dial-up, ie., the connections are always open to the outside. This is both a benefit and hindrance. The direct connection implies a new personal security consideration, which has not been a concern of individual and small office users. Direct line brings the secure connection capability of Virtual Private Network (VPN) to individuals and small business. The direct connection makes it much easier to setup and use a VPN from a remote location into the home or office computer. Continuous e-mail checks are possible with direct connections, no dial-up is necessary. 

 Both connections, being direct, place additional security requirements on users in that, in the case of direct cable modes, the shared network connection may make a user’s personal files from the connected computer available to outsiders if certain precautions are not taken. Share must be turned off in computers that are connected to the direct cable modem link, or the computer must have a secure firewall type operating system installed, such as Windows NT. The same requirement for security exists in the ADSL direct connection, but, in a little different form, in that ADSL is not a shared network. It is just an open direct connection to the ISP. Any open direct connection is an intruder event waiting to happen. Secure operating systems with firewall capability are probably the order of the day for ADSL as well. 

 Both connections require additional equipment in the form of specialized terminal adapters and network interface cards (NIC) for the interface to the user’s computer. The cable connection requires a specialized “cable modem” which performs similar tasks to an analog modem. The ADSL terminal adapter is, again, a specialized modem. Both devices connect to the computer via a 10BaseT Ethernet network cable, which requires a NIC in the computer. Both San Antonio connection providers are providing this additional equipment as part of the installation cost. 

 Both technologies are attempting to provide infrastructure digital high speed connections for the last two miles from the digital switch to the user over existing medium, ie., the cable TV network or the existing copper POTS twisted pair lines from the telco central office (CO) to phone users. 

 Both technologies offer the potential of far greater resolution in faster downloads from the Internet, which means high quality graphics, sound, and video, not really available in the existing analog and ISDN connection, not to mention fast software downloads. The Internet Explorer Version 5.0 would take seconds to download with either technology, instead of the two hours using a 56 Kbps analog modem. Transmission speeds are greatly increased, bringing really high speed up and down-load graphics within the reach of individuals. Graphics resolution limitations would reside in the quality of an individual’s graphics application software instead of the communication connection. Real-time sound in the form of downloaded music CDs are really possible with these connections. On-line Internet purchase of music and other types of CDs can be downloaded in a fraction of the time of current analog and ISDN connections as well. 

 Finally, real-time video is possible with these high bandwidth technologies. Real-time video has up to now been the exclusive preview of companies with a real business need to adsorb the high monthly cost of T-1 ($1,500 to $2,500 per month line charges) capability, for example. Real-time video is a real bandwidth hog as I have commented on before. Videoconferencing, should come into its own with the advent of these technologies, with enough bandwidth to send all the video data without stops and jerks. Videoconferencing has up to now been limited to the work-around of getting the available bandwidth, usually analog or ISDN, to send the video data without glitches or other anomalies. 

The cable modem subscription will require that subscribers move all of their Internet connections to the cable modem service provider. This includes e-mail, WEB site, and all the Internet related services. Moving the e- mail could be a problem for users who have built extensive communication relationships. ADSL may be a little friendlier in that existing ISPs will be able to offer the service. This means that long established e-mail may not be interrupted. SW Bell is in negotiation with the independent ISPs to provide the service. I do not know the outcome of any of these negotiations. 

 Other traditional services such as newsgroup servers may not be available. There is no mention of news service on the SW Bell Internet Services WEB site and I have sent an e-mail request to both service providers for clarification. Also, the SW Bell ADSL connection may not be shareable in a LAN. This is another question for SW Bell. 

The Players in San Antonio

 Paragon is the closest service available, in that, Paragon is installing the cable connections for early subscribers at this time. It has now selected a cable modem from Toshiba. The actual service roll-out announcement remains fluid to within the next month or so. The Paragon Road Runner service will contain full Internet access, local and national information and services from Time Warner, mailboxes for up to five users and five megabytes of WEB space for a personal home WEB page. The Road Runner monthly subscriber price has changed from my previous article from $39.95 to $44.95 per month for current TV subscribers and $57.95 per month for non-TV subscribers. The Toshiba cable modem is included in the installation charge of $109.95. The Paragon WEB site is www.paragon-sa.com/rr/. 

 SW Bell’s ADSL service is not yet ready for San Antonio. SW Bell has rolled out the service in Houston and Dallas in addition to Austin. To date, only SW Bell Internet Services has deployed the service in Austin. SW Bell has selected the Alcatel 1000 ADSL modem, along with an Alcatel POTS splitter, plus a Kingston KNE40T NIC as it’s hardware. This hardware is included in the $198.00 installation cost for Basic DSL Internet Access. The SW Bell Telephone Company DSL feature is turned on your existing POTS phone line as a service for $39.00 per month, with a one year signed service contract. For $10.00 more per month, SW Bell will become your ISP. The SW Bell offering has three classes of service if SW Bell is the ISP. Basic DSL Service, which looks to be a basic connection with little services, Enhanced DSL Service, which sweetens the service a bit, and Business DSL Service, which provides the usual services such as news groups, etc. The SW Bell ADSL WEB site is: public.swbell.net/dedicated/dsl_basic.htm. 

What Others Are Saying

 The March PC Magazine was conducted in Atlanta and ADSL by BellSouth won hands down in the transfer tests. In the April PC Magazine test, their choice was cable modems. As a result of the April test, PC Magazine concluded that each of these technologies will not push the other aside, but will settle into niches in business and residential users, with ADSL going to the business side and cable going to the residential side. 

 Both tests concluded that location may the determining factor in the service. Many businesses do not have cable installations for use and residential users have cable TV already. The residential users may be more flexible in changing ISP services than business users, tending to give cable modems the edge at home. Business users are more comfortable with the telco and want to keep their present ISP relationships, tending to ADSL. 

Conclusion

 There is one other broad bandwidth technology which is not covered here. That is satellite connections. Satellite service is being offered by Hughes DirecPC and consists of a satellite dish receiver and the necessary hardware to connect to the computer. It provides downstream speeds of up to 400 Mbps. Uploads require an analog line and standard analog modem. 

John Woody is a networking communications consultant specializing in small office, home office networks, training setup, and internet connectivity.