I don't know about laws limiting line speeds, and certainly back in 1940's that would surprise me. There is one thing for POTS that limits speed. The bandwidth that was defined to transport human voice in a way that would make 95% of the voices recognisable was established between 300 and 3400 Hz. From this definition the connections were optimised. Pupin coils were added in the lines to give a flat response in this bandwidth, but making it worse outside of that. On these analogue lines the 56k is about the theoretical maximum speed achievable. This speed is not available since a very long time, in 1995 speeds of 28k8 where the max, and 56k was only developed later, so I fail to understand what this has to do with limits from the 1940's.
My experience with the USA versus the Netherlands versus the UK as far as speed goes: the highest speeds I have obtained was in the Netherlands, and I lived very close to the switch (central office) in the Netherlands. 53k is what I have achieved if I remember correct. In the UK I live further away, and I don't get anything faster then 28k. In the USA on the two locations where I lived the speed was below what I achieved in the Netherlands, using the same modem. The equipment of the telephone company has not much to do with the speed, the switch in the Netherlands is even build by an American company, it is the line quality that matters most. The lines I had to deal with in the USA are typically far longer, and above the surface of the earth, therefor more susceptible for outside influences like thunderstorms and other forms of radiation. Obviously my observations have been limited to just a few places and are not statistically significant. ISDN is more popular in Europe then the USA. This advantage might prove a disadvantage in deploying the next generation of technology, like ADSL. If there is a lot of ISDN installed, there will be less interest for ISDN. ISDN is typically not much faster then 56k (64k) unless you combine two channels to get 128k. Connection however is a lot faster with ISDN, and the speed is more stable. Your cable company might offer you fast internet over the coax TV cable, check with your cable company. Another development is high speed data-connection over the power lines into your house, with the added advantage of flexibility. You can put your computer anywhere in the house where you want, and don't need a separate connection for the data. The speeds achievable with this technology are even higher compared to internet over the coax cable or ADSL. Check with your electricity company. And then there is of course the 3G in mobile communication: UMTS and CDMA2000, which will give you a fixed connection as well. I think it will take quite a while before this is an attractive option for home use, this technology will take off with mobile users first I think. This is also quite new and not available yet. Frits W�thrich > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of John Glover > Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 4:58 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: OT:I Need More Speed > > > I think the original speed restriction on the telephone lines > were set into law many years ago, maybe as far back as the > 1940's. So, at that time, 53K data transmission speeds seemed > impossible....and we have just never seen fit to review and > revise the law. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Leon Altoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 4:49 AM > Subject: Re: OT:I Need More Speed > > > So the US is full of sub-standard equipment? Or is it a ploy to sell > > more ISDN lines? If you or any other technical person knows the reason > > please let me know why 56k modems are limited by law to 53k in the US. > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
