How much do you pay for ISDN? Is this a rip-off

[krusty the klown]

Well, I checked out the UK prices for ISDN and they seem extortionate!

Is this what everybody else pays, or just another example of 'rip-off Britain'?
http://www.bt.com/isdn/pricesum/2epriceo.htm

[Wilan Wong]

ISDN IS a rip off...

[desmocat]

I don't know about other areas of the U.S, but this is what I was told from southwestern bell in texas. Installation=$350, "circut design fee"=$75,(thats alot of cash for somebody to type on a keyboard for a couple of minutes..)
$53/month service for dual channel(2B+D,or 128K)access,and $21.95/month from an ISP on top of that. All adds up to about $500 bucks U.S to get started. ISDN is a ripoff because they are crowing about DSL for about $50/month for alot higher speed. You would think that with DSL being available,ISDN would be alot cheaper..GRRR
P.S I have a nice USRobotics 128k ISDN paperweight,I mean"modem".. on my desk now if anybody wants one CHEAP! (new in box)

[jad1097]

If I were you I would look into a cable modem if it is available in your area.

[Dputiger]

ISDN isn't a 'rip-off' persay, but if ADSL or cable is available in your area I'd go with them.

ISDN, first of all, is a digital line, where ADSL runs over analog. Furthmore, ISDN can be used to run a VPN (Virtual Private Network) which is something that can't be done off an ADSL line. ISDN lines also support static IP's--again something an ADSL line can't do. (at least from our telco).

Actually, that isn't 'quite' correct. ADSL lines CAN be set up to do some of the above, but the cost is extremely high. T1 lines and ISDN lines provide some of the same features, but ISDN is much cheaper than T1--and is also faster than standard modem. If your looking for some of these specialized features and don't want to pay T1 cost, ISDN may be a good bet for you.

If, on the other hand, what you want is to play games quickly, dump ISDN like the plague.

[desmocat]

Jad, I checked into a cable modem,and AT&T and the other provider won't be in my neck of the woods for about another year.

One good thing on the horizon is I have a buddy that works for SBC and he told me they are now trying to expand DSL by putting"mini CO's" (in a nutshell, a bunch of DSLAMS connected by fiber to the main CO)at the edge of the coverage areas to allow another 2-3 miles coverage.

Southwestern Bell is gettin hammered with complaints about the way they marketed DSL and then having all the problems getting installed/on-line in the D-Fw area. One of the local T.V stations did a story and said they had something like 30-40 complaints with the public utilities commission against them.

They are getting their head above water now and I think the service is getting better,so maybe by the end of the year it will be available where I am at. Hopefully, since I am at 18100 ft from the main CO now,one of the little CO's will be close and I can Get really good bit rates... Mp

[nvksmt]

I have to agree about stupid ADSL installers, and cable modem installers. I have had ADSL installed twice (by Bellsouth, who i hate as a company more than any other.. **** monopoly!) and 1 cable modem installed by @Home. The first ADSL installation was done by someone who knew what he was talking about, then the 2nd was done by 2 people who didnt know sh*t from aluminum. They were absolute morons, and when they were trying to set my NIC up for DHCP, which I had set up for a static IP for my LAN, they sat there in winipcfg clicking renew (which was greyed out btw) on a static IP trying to make bellsouths IP 'magically appear' or something. I had to tell them how to do it.

Then, i dump DSL for cable. Get that installed, the installation guy doesnt know how to do ANYTHING in windows 2000. He asked ME how to set up DHCP in windows 2000 so he could not come off looking like a dumbass in the future. I did get $50 off installation though. ;-)

[Colonel Casio]

I have a cable modem from my local cable firm. It is connected to two computers networked together with a Linksys swithed hub. Installation was $39.99 & $49.99/month for the two computers. The speed is wonderful & I would never willing go back to a 56k modem again.

[bkehoe]

Here the horrid phone company rebadged ISDN as Eircom HiSpeed, and is IR£40 per month, and IR£95 install.

Krusty, does BT not do HomeHighway any more. From what I read it is much cheaper.

Brendan

[jl123]

Quick questions. Are static ip addresses the permanent ones? Are the dynamic ip addresses the ones that vary between logins?

Please enlighten me!

Yeah i do think that ISDN is a rip off. The price is more than i thought.

~Joel(jl123)

[This message has been edited by jl123 (edited 07-02-2000).]

[desmocat]

Joel, correct on both descriptions.
To see if you have one or the other, connect to your isp and then from run command, type winipcfg and note the addy.
If you have a dynamic it should change every time you log on. If you get off and then right back on, it might be the same depending on how long the "lease time" is set by your isp is for the addresses. I think most have it set for a new one every time you log on. Cheers Mp

[jl123]

Ok I thought i had it right. Thanks a lot. Yeah i do have a static ip. I have adsl 728k down/128 up. My ip address has been the same from the very beginning.

~Joel(jl123)

[Dputiger]

When I worked for Bell South a year ago they were beginning to implement the DSLAM fix that you're talking about. As far as I know, they are ahead of the other telco's and Bell's around us (Ameritech has no ADSL as of yet, I don't know what Bell Atlantic has).

The problem with ADSL installations are that 1) The technicians are often NOT employed by the telco, but are licensed out by bureacrats.

2) The people actually ordering and talking about the service don't know much about it.

THe problem is, even when someone that knows about ADSL is doing tech support for it (which is what I did) we still can't do a thing about a stupid tech. Ohh, I could write a book about stupid installers of ADSL--I got phone calls from angry customers on a regular basis about them.

[krusty the klown]

Cheers for the replys!

I think I'll forget the ISDN idea (after all, It Still Does Nothing) - seems to be a rip-off.

I checked whether I can get ADSL on my fone line - I can, but it's £40/month, so I reckon I'll wait 'till it comes down in price a bit. I'm fairly sure I checked out home highway once, but I think they wanted about £140 to install it. I did find an ISP that, for an initial payment of £50, then £30/year, will provide a free service and free calls 24/7, which seemed to be a good deal!

Hmmmm... must check out cable, too!

[Dputiger]

I don't know how many US dollars 40 pounds is, but it seems to be about 80. For some types of ADSL that's worth it--for others, its not.

What you need to check is the download/upload speed. Last year, for instance, Bell South was offering ADSL with a 1.5 megabit download and a 256 kilobit upload for 60 dollars a month. Right down the road therew as another telco offering what's called SDSL for 400 bucks a month--1.5 megabit download and upload. So it all depends on what speed their offering. I know Bell South is working on being able to offer a 15 megabit ADSL connection--right now the fastest they could offer is nine.