The promises of the digital world came a step closer to my own world at the beginning of May when I had an ADSL link installed on my phone line. The result: a continuous, relatively high-speed LAN connection to the Internet that drastically changes my relationship to the online world.
    My local telephone company, GTE, only recently began offering asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service in my town. I quickly decided I was ready to make the jump, even though the service is still a bit expensive. There are actually many varieties of digital subscriber line service, so you'll generally hear it called simply DSL. If you use a modem to connect to the Internet, you will quickly understand the benefits of a DSL connection. Once you've used one, you'll find it next to impossible to go back to a modem.

Always On
The most important benefit of DSL is that it gives me a LAN connection to the Internet that is always open and instantaneous; there is no dialing involved. This one small feature makes the Internet vastly more useful and intertwines it more closely into my daily life. For example, when I want to look up a word in my Webster's dictionary, instead of reaching for the dictionary on my desk, it's now actually faster just to go to the www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm page and look up the word there. The Internet truly becomes a resource when I can access it whenever I need it.
    With a permanent connection, I no longer have to worry about my ISP disconnecting me after five or ten minutes of inactivity (no data transfers). It's now okay for me to dawdle while reading an article online, or take my time responding to an e-mail message. The Internet connection is always there.

Relatively Fast Throughput
Of almost equal importance is the throughput of the DSL connection, which is many times faster than today's 56 Kbps modem (or more accurately, 40 Kbps modems). I'm paying for the slowest DSL service that GTE offers here: 256 Kbps download and 64 Kbps upload (the difference in download and upload speeds is why it's called asymmetric). I could have ordered a faster connection for more money (the next step up was 384 Kbps download and upload), but considering that no data is being transferred for much of the time I spend connected to the Internet, the slowest rate seemed fine.
    I can pay to increase the rate later if I want. Today's DSL rates can reach about 8 Mbps download and about 1 Mbps upload. Here in eastern Washington, GTE has chosen to market the bandwidth over several levels of throughput; your local phone company's plans could very well be different.
    Because so many sites on the Web are designed for modem users, I'm at a great advantage when I can download those sites at over six times the speed of a modem. Downloading a 15 MB file takes fewer than 10 minutes instead of an hour. For comparison, the throughput rate that is displayed when I download a file in my browser or FTP program is about 28,000 bytes per second with DSL, versus about 4,500 bytes with my 56 Kbps modem.

No Loss of Dial Tone
A third factor that makes DSL a hit is that it doesn't require a dial tone like a modem does. The phone company installs a splitter that separates the high frequency DSL signal from the low frequency voice signal allowing both to use the line at the same time. This means I can send data back and forth to the Internet over the DSL connection while I talk, fax, or even use a regular modem on that phone line. For many people, this obviates the need for an extra telephone line for their Internet connection, a fact that you can include in the cost-benefit equation.

A New Online Routine
The combination of these factors--always on, high speed, and no need for a dial tone--truly revolutionizes the Internet. Now it's possible to have my e-mail program automatically check for mail several times an hour, and it will do so quickly and, especially, quietly, without my even realizing it. The day just seems to run differently when I no longer check for e-mail but simply notice that there's already mail waiting for me in my inbox.
    When I wake up in the morning, I can sit on the couch in the living room with a cup of coffee, a cat, and my laptop computer, and open any (online) newspaper in the world almost instantaneously. I can leave the computer on the couch while I go about my morning routine, and return to it when I want to. It's just there.
    My desktop computer in my basement office (great in summer, a little too Siberian in winter) has the same connection, which allows me to look up words in the online dictionary at the touch of a button, or quickly access and download work-related documents and articles.
    The scrolling stock ticker or news headlines marquee that are really just silly Web tricks with a dial-up modem connection become convenient, no-fuss tools when the Internet is part of your LAN. The same is true for Internet radio. With a continuous, high-speed Internet connection, I can leave the radio playing in the background while I work, send e-mail, or browse Web sites. Suddenly, I have a world band radio at my fingertips, and sun spots won't affect the quality. (Yeah, I know, there are probably two dozen other factors that will affect it. In fact, sun spots might have a very big effect on Internet radio.)
    One small benefit is that I no longer need a phone cord connected to my portable computer's PC Card (PCMCIA) modem. The dongle that connected the phone line to the modem was always on the verge of loosening up and disconnecting me from my ISP. Once I was online, I didn't want to move. With only an Ethernet cable connected to the computer's PC Card network card, the portable's easier to move around, and even if the cable does fall out, I can plug it back in and continue where I left off. There's no signal to lose and cause a disconnect.
    Of course, running a stock ticker or leaving my e-mail program open all day takes a whack out of my computer's RAM and processor capacity, which I'd rather not give up. I've been living happily with 48 MB of RAM for three years, and generally that's been just the right amount. Now I can see that it may soon not be enough. It's about time, though, that the Internet started to impinge on my computer's hardware. After all, there's got to be something that drives me to buy a new computer.

What You'll Need
There is just one glaring problem with my DSL service, which I'll mention in a minute. Otherwise, the installation was almost painless for me. Realize that every phone company may have a somewhat different routine for ordering and installing the service, and their rates may be structured differently, too.
    First, I sent an e-mail to the GTE address that handles DSL service. They quickly responded and said that they were now offering DSL in Richland and that it was available for my phone number. (The GTE Web site said my phone number was not eligible for DSL; we're not in the Modern Age quite yet). However, they had to verify that my phone line could actually handle the service. The telephone line from my house to the phone company's switching equipment (as the crow walks on the telephone line) must be less than about three miles, otherwise the DSL signal just won't make it. In my case, my phone was close enough, and I could have ordered any level of service (throughput).
    The DSL link requires an Ethernet network connection to the computer. I already had a network running between my desktop in the basement and my portable on the first floor, so I was all set in that department. Otherwise, I would have had to purchase and install an Ethernet card in my computer, which is a relatively cheap purchase these days (sub $30 in many cases). I would then plug the DSL modem into the card using a cross-over Ethernet cable that came with the modem.
    Once GTE had verified my phone line's DSL worthiness, I sent a message to my ISP asking to upgrade my service to DSL. This is a local company that was eager to get into the DSL business. They quickly responded with several codes and identifiers that I then gave to GTE. It's my understanding that the phone company creates a completely digital connection between their office and the ISP, so the hardware and settings for both had to match.
    Then I had to wait about 10 days for the installation. The day arrived, and the job went perfectly, almost. The phone guy first installed the splitter on the phone company's termination box outside the house. Evidently this device is passive, so that the phone line will still function even if the power goes out.
    He then added a separate jack for the DSL connection in my office. The new jack is nothing more than an RJ-45 Ethernet jack, the same as in a network card and hub. While he was doing that, I unpacked the DSL modem he had brought (an external Fujitsu Speedport), briefly looked over the owner's manual, and then plugged in the modem: into the wall for power, into my network hub using a standard Ethernet cable, and into the new jack using a cable that came with the modem. It was all perfectly simple, and took perhaps 15 minutes. But once hooked up, the modem lights were not glowing as they should; it wasn't working.

    The phone guy tinkered for a few minutes, thinking at first that it was a bad modem. But then he checked a bit further and realized that everything was fine at our end of the line. The problem was that GTE did not have their DSL hardware hooked up at their end of things. After 15 or 20 phone calls (this is all pretty new stuff at GTE), he finally learned that the DSL hardware had been connected to someone else's phone line in another city. I have no idea how this could happen, because a phone number is one of the few unique identifiers we have in this world.
    To make what was almost a very long story short, the installer packed up his tools from my office and left word with the crew at GTE to get me connected. He was sure it would happen by that evening. Of course, that meant I had to check the modem lights every half hour or so to see if it was online.
    Around 8:30 that evening, I got a call from my friend Richard (the Katz). While I was telling him the whole glorious story (he's had DSL in San Francisco for a couple months now), I noticed that the modem lights were all gleaming as they should--I was connected! So I spent the next half hour yacking with glee on the phone as I figured out what I had to do to get my browser, e-mail, and FTP programs to use the new connection. Turns out there wasn't much to do at all.
    In fact, there may not have been anything to do, because any of those programs would most likely find the active Internet connection and be ready to go. But I did turn off the dial-out option in Internet Explorer so that it would never dial out to establish a connection. The next time I started the program, it found the DSL connection and was off and running. E-mail and FTP were equally successful.

Cost
Both the phone company and my ISP had their own charges for the DSL service. GTE had a special offer for installation: $99 covered everything including the purchase of the DSL modem. That was the only installation cost (and a bargain, too), as my ISP was waiving its $25 setup fee.
    The monthly fee for the 256/64 Kbps throughput is about $35 from GTE and another $38 from my ISP for a total of about $73 a month. However, subtract from that the $17 a month I had been paying my ISP, and the total drops to $56. Even though I no longer need a dial tone for an Internet connection, I still need to keep my second phone line (that cost savings would have been appreciated).
    In the Sacramento area, you can see what Pacific Bell has to offer at www.pacbell.com; there's a FasTrak DSL link on their home page. Remember, you'll need an ISP that supports DSL, although I believe Pacific Bell offers Internet service, too, if you don't mind getting a new e-mail address.

The Downside
I'm facing one potential and one real problem with my DSL service. The potential problem- -throughput--was revealed in the small print on my ISP's Web site, which states that GTE guarantees a minimum throughput of only 10 Kbps. That's right, slower than a 14.4 Kbps modem. If this ever actually happens, I'm going to feel pretty stupid, especially since I signed a one-year contract to get the cheap installation and a slightly better monthly rate. Who knows, in a few months when they've signed up lots of subscribers, the GTE network hardware might start to get bogged down, and I'll be cursing every time I need to access the Internet. I doubt it, however; and I'd love to have the conversation with GTE about their promised 10 Kbps rate.
    It's also important to keep in mind that no matter how fast the pipeline might be from my computers to my ISP, the actual throughput is still dependent on the speed of the server I'm accessing, the speed of the Internet, the speed of my local ISP's server, and the speed of the telephone company's DSL hardware. The 256 Kbps throughput I'm paying for might be quite moot when everyone else in the world, or even just in Richland, is online at the same time.
    One inconvenience to the DSL setup is that I can only use it from the computers on my network. Otherwise, when I travel I can still dial in to my ISP with a modem in the usual way.
    The immediate problem with my DSL connection is a severe one: security. The extent of the problem is, I think, somewhat dependent on the manner in which an ISP sets up their equipment. I knew that having a constant Internet connection opens up potential security problems on any computer.
    The first security issue is that with a permanent Internet connection, my computer is now always available for any hacker in the world. The slightly good news, in terms of security, is that my ISP doesn't assign my computer a static (permanent) IP address (the address that identifies a computer on the Internet). Instead, they assign my computer a temporary IP address that may be different each time I access the Internet. Having a variable IP address makes it more difficult for an outside hacker to access my computer.
    The worse news, and I'm still not sure why things work this way, is that my local network now seems to be part of a wider network of several other DSL users at my ISP. Here's how severe this problem really is: I can open Network Neighborhood in Windows (I'm using 98) and literally browse the hard disks of some of those other computers! That's right, if I were so inclined, I could open the C drives on those computers that have file sharing enabled (as many computers do when they are on a network), browse through the subdirectories, and look at the files. Shoot, I could create my own directory on their disk and use it for extra storage.
    Now, I've not done that, of course, but it's absolutely possible; and the corollary is that those other users could be doing the same to my computers. For those of you who can't quite visualize this, imagine buying a new house that had a front doorway but no door. As you're eating dinner, a neighbor wanders in and grabs a beer from your refrigerator, a cookie from the cookie jar, and then sits down to read the paper. It's that creepy.
    Fortunately, I had turned on password protection for file sharing under Windows, which should stymie any attempts to access my shared drives (I noticed that several other computers in my neck of the Network Neighborhood also have passwords enabled). At this point in the story, I chuckle nervously and ask, "Um, the Windows file-sharing password is pretty darn secure, isn't it?"
    I've suggested to my ISP that they send an e-mail to all new and existing DSL users and remind them of the very real security problems. But I still don't know if DSL users at other ISPs would experience the same situation. One point to keep in mind is that I am not using a proxy server to access the Internet. Once I plugged the DSL modem into my network hub, the Internet was immediately available to the computers on my LAN. The proxy server software can act as a one-way filter to the Internet (a firewall), and will, I suppose, be my next step if I have any doubts about only using the file-sharing password.

The Bottom Line
As with all things computer, there are still a few mysteries surrounding my new DSL service. But from the start, I've been quite impressed with its speed, simplicity, and convenience. I'm using my Internet connection more than before, and accessing sizeable work-related information that I would have skipped with at 56 Kbps connection. The service isn't cheap, but on the other hand it's a lot cheaper than, say, buying a car, being a clothes horse, or having a cigarette habit.
    When I think back on the computer equipment I've purchased over the years, I understand all too well that in a few years I'll be laughing at how dazzled I was with my new DSL connection in 1999, and how I happily paid so much for such piddling performance.

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