Aloha, I just set-up a business account with RR and we are getting ~3.7Mb down ~1Mb up. The installer said the system was capped at 4Mb. That costs $199 per month and comes with 5 static IPs and we can have servers.
An OC-12 is 622Mb per sec. An OC-3 is 155Mb/sec. When I was at Level3 Communications they were testing OC-192s working with Cisco to get OC-768. An OC-1 would be 53Mb, but we start at OC-3. The bandwidth is out there. I have heard rumors about RR and other cable companies shutting down users, but have not experienced it myself. I did have some friends in San Diego kicked off @home for running servers. And other friends who lost incomming port 80 from @home when NIMDA was big. I don't want to gamble with having my mail server down so I use DSL and a provider who doesn't care. I do miss the speed I gave up in the switch though. Dusty > I dunno what you guys are capped at out there, but I hear it's even > higher than what I'm at here. > > Here I get 2.5/.5 for $45/m. That amount of bandwidth probably costs > them (even at the rate they buy it) about $1000/m. They gamble that > you won't use it all most of the time. When you run a server, you > mess that up. If you want to run a server, they offer "commercial > contracts" where you can do whatever you want as long as it's not > illegal (same thing you get with like a T1). These contracts cost a > LOT more (usually around $200-$700/m), but still less than buying a > "real line" from the phone company. The reason they cost more is that > you're using more. > > Unfortunately, the equipment to run at these insanely high speeds is > expensive. An OC-12 for example runs 155Mbit full-duplex over a single > pair of fiber at insane distances. That laser has to switch > 155,000,000 times per second. Any volunteers to build it cheap? The > telcos inflate their prices a LOT, which is why they're so rich...if > you guys have competitive phone service your prices are probably lower > than my > examples as that's what it is in Indiana where we have a baby bell, but > they still have to make money, pay their workers, and buy equipment. > Hawaii is also a little more bandwidth rich than Indiana (it's a hub > between west coast, Japan, and .au), but it's still expensive. > > RR isn't being mean; they're being realistic. Normal residental use is > VERY bursty. Small business usage is less, but still so. They count > on this to give you the kind of connection you get at decent prices. > Try to get your connection from the phone company; it won't be cheap. > If RR let you do whatever you wanted on their $50/m residential > contracts, they'd be out of business in less than an hour probably. > > Also, remember that cable modems are a shared bandwidth medium. Think > of them as a huge coax ethernet segment. In fact, they even run a LLC > protcol similar to ethernet! When one person uses a disproportionate > amount of bandwidht, it slows the others down. This can cause > nightmares for the cable co as they have to go splitting subnets. > > Here's an idea though, and this might actually be possible since you > guys are on small islands and seem to be fairly well organized. Use > various devices to set up a big public access network. Start off with > T1s and upgrade as you go. Eventually you'll become so big, that the > telco might be willing to PEER with you. This ain't buying bandwidht > folks, this means you ARE another telco (expect them to fight it at > first though; telcos HATE competition). Telephone companies have no > choice but to peer with others, otherwise they're of no use. Ideas for > links: > > *RONJA: http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~clock/twibright/ronja/ > *Directional Microwave, 802.11b/g, or possibly 802.11a > *If two people live next to each other or close enough where buying a > right of way is feasable, go all out and run fiber! > > Unfortunately the startup costs are EXTREMELY high (and you need some > dedicated individuals to maintain it), but it's amazing what you can do > when you have a community owned network. You can run native IPv6 on > it and offer VoIP services. Every telephone can have it's own phone > number, or be tied to a central one for the house. Built in voicemail, > caller ID, etc. The possibilities are endless. > > Extreme idea. You bet, I probably wouldn't even bother trying. But > that gives you a good idea of what roadrunner and others are trying to > do. It's not easy to provide high speed internet at reasonable prices. > > --MonMotha > > _______________________________________________ > LUAU mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://videl.ics.hawaii.edu/mailman/listinfo/luau
