Ken Hopkins and Milt Hull give a packed house the low down on high speed connections.
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Although the fastest modems boast download speeds of 56 KBPS, current regulations actually do not permit this top speed yet. Speeds of 40-44 KBPS are more common for downloads, while upload speeds of 33.6 KBPS are the fastest possible. 56K modems can get you a better download speed because they skip two D2A conversions, which gives you a boost in one direction.

Modem hardware ranges in price from $30 to $200, but there is no monthly cost associated with this connector. Remember that if you get a really cheap modem for $39, you really get what you pay for. A quality modem, like one you would get from 3Com, probably goes for about $130. A good rule of thumb to follow in choosing a modem is to call your ISP and ask which modems it really thinks works best.

Beside cost, the advantages of the modem are its stabilized standards, the fact that all ISPs support it, many manufacturers make it, and it can work almost anywhere there is a phone line. Milt noted that if you are in a building that uses a digital phone system, you can't just unplug the digital line and plug in your modem. Instead, you must connect to a data port and use your modem from there. Modem manufacturers also make a number of versatile devices, including one modem that hooks up to your cell phone so you can work, quite literally, from the road.

Disadvantages of using a modem are not so niggling, however, and include difficulty making connections and variable performance. You are generally at the mercy of the phone lines you have so you may have problems getting a strong, steady or moderately fast connection. The farther you are from your telephone company's central switching office, the slower your connection. To reach higher speeds, you've got to be practically next door to the central office. Even so, modem speeds are pretty much at their peak; 56K is just about the maximum you're ever going to get. A final disadvantage is that you must have a dedicated line or you will tie up your phone line while you surf.

Compared to the modem turtle the ISDN hare zips along at 64-128 KBPS for both downloads and uploads. It gives you another phone line as well, but you need either a special device to connect to an analog line or an ISDN phone. (This cannot be your only phone line either because you cannot access 911 on it if there is a power outage). You pay a bit more for these advantages: ISDN service ranges from $30 to $150 per month and an adapter will set you back $100 to $500. A normal card runs from $250 to $500. The installation cost is fairly high too-about $200-but the company (PacBell) will prorate that over a two-year period. If you keep it more than two years, you don't pay any money.

It is important to note that your monthly costs do not normally include the price of the ISP, which will charge you more to support your ISDN line than it would for a regular link. Also, during regular business hours, you face fees of 2 cents to connect and 2 cents per minute of use. These fees are waived for evening use.

Another inconvenience is that you must be located within 19,000 "wire feet" (not air distance) from your central telephone switching office. Additionally, an external ISDN interface will limit your speed to 115 KBPS.

Cable can give you download speeds of up to 10 MBPS-but 1 to 3 MBPS is more common-and can upload at 200 KBPS to 2 MBPS. Some cable companies say they can get you 36MBPS for downloads, but Ken feels that is unrealistic. As he put it, "That may be true if only one person is on there, but you are going to see 10 Megs. In the research I have done, the upload speeds are in the 200K to 2 Meg range; they're not at the full 10. I think the reason they did that is that they don't want you to be surfing Web pages and they are going to throttle you down."

If cable comes to Sacramento (as planned), the cost for cable subscribers will be $29.95 per month after paying approximately $150-$300 for installation (depending on how much internal work the cable company has to do) and a modem. Your cable company installs both the hardware and the software, which can be a disadvantage since it is not an ISP that knows pretty much what it's doing. For example, if you are running a LAN (local area network), it probably won't work after installation. You will have to tweak it to make it work again.

Advantages to cable are its ability to give you high speed at reasonable cost and the fact that your connection is always on (as long as your computer is on). The cable company will also install a splitter that allows the kids to watch TV while you surf (or vice versa). Even better, you can share the connection on your own LAN so you can all surf at the same time.

Its downside is that your "always on" connection can be a potential security risk, unless you are careful to turn off file sharing for the interface or, as Milt suggested, you get NT. Milt also suggesting using a sniffer. Additionally, you must subscribe to a cable provider that serves as your ISP. Cable's biggest disadvantage, however, is because you are part of a large LAN, it could slow down if there are lots of users online since its speed decreases as more people use it. (Ken suggested that if we get the service, we protect our interests by telling all our neighbors the service is lousy and they certainly wouldn't want it!) It will also give you slower access during the wet weather of winter.

There are also high-speed DSL connections that make ISDN and cable look more like the turtles in this race. This faster DSL transport has a download speed of 1.5+MBPS, with the ability to get a line rate as high as 6 MBPS, and an upload speed of 384 KBPS. With SDSL, there is no distinction between upload and download speeds, so you could get 1.5+ for both.

Low-speed DSL connections will run you $39 per month, while the high-speed connections will set you back a considerable $129 per month-not including ISP costs. If you agree to a term commitment, installation is free. Currently PacBell includes an Alcatel 1000 DSL modem with installation because the technology still uses the existing phone line. The company will install a POTS splitter and multiplex the signal at a higher frequency so you can continue to talk on the phone and use your DSL line at the same time. Roseville Telephone is also investigating if it can offer SDSL.

DSL connections give you data transmission speeds up to 200 times faster than a 28.8K modem at a reasonable cost. Similar to cable, you have "always-on" Internet, albeit with the same potential security risk, and can share the connection over your own LAN. You also have a line dedicated solely to data. Milt believes DSL is a great option for network connections. He has hooked up companies using a proxy server, Microsoft's small business server, which connects up to 20-25 people directly to the Internet.

DSL shares a similar disadvantage to ISDN, however, in that you must be within about 19,000 wire feet of your central telephone switching office. And currently, not all ISPs support this service. Those that do have it are reluctant to push it because as Milt says, they aren't going to make any money off of it.

	Clark Abramsen of XSspeed! and Rich Davis, member and retired PacBell employee, answer the audience's questions about getting wired for speed.
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XSspeed!, the provider for the Sacramento area, connects its system to your computer through a NIC interface. The system can also connect to a serial port similar to your modem, but a standard modem is also required. Expect the next generation to abandon the modem.

Microwave costs are fairly reasonable. A low-speed connection costs $39.95 per month, while a medium-speed connection is $49.95 per month and a high-speed connections is $109.95 per month.

The pluses of this technology are easy set-up and availability throughout most of the Sacramento area. Minuses: it requires a phone connection in addition to the microwave equipment link, you have to look at that funky outside antenna and your connections could slow down if there are lots of users online. Ken noted that the service is currently in a state of flux since Sprint recently bought XSspeed! and we don't know what changes that will bring. We do know that Sprint would like to turn to wireless connections so users do not have to rely on a modem.

The most common satellite-based Net-access provider is Hughes Network System's DirecPC. It connects to your serial port, but you still require a modem. Expect the next generation to use two-way and NIC interfaces, though. You also need a telephone line. You can connect at 400KBPS, 10 times faster than what you are running now. Upload speeds are limited by the modem, so you can only get 33.6 KBPS, just as you do on an ordinary modem. Other services, such as Cyberstar, claim speeds of 27 megs to 45 megs, depending on which level you want to pay for, while Teledesic runs at 64 MB-fast stuff, but these are not available yet.

As far as cost is concerned, DirectPC, charges $29.95 a month, but that price only gives you 25 hours of access. The dish (slightly bigger than the Direct TV dish) and the hardware are expensive at $300 to $800. But the dish is fairly easy to install and you can set up your connection anyloading. The Teledesic Satellite Network, another company using 228 low earth orbit satellites in polar orbits under 1,400 kilometers, plans to be up and running by 2002. Teledesic is a project of heavy hitters headed by Craig McCaw, one of the pioneers of cell phones. Investors include Bill Gates (not Microsoft, but Bill Gates), Motorola, Boeing and a Saudi prince. They expect worldwide coverage with 99.9 % availability. Other emerging companies include Skybridge, which is positioning 80 satellites about 900 miles above the earth; Celestri, another big spender; and Hughes, which is working on its Spaceway, another high speed system based upon 8 higher geosynchronous orbit satellites.

If speed were the only consideration, Ken and Milt conclude that given the choice, they would select DSL, although Ken said that if cable came first, he would rather sign up with that service. DSL is a little more expensive than cable, but it gives you a fast, guaranteed access speed. On the other hand, when Ken did a speed comparison, he felt cable was definitely faster, despite problems that can slow it down.

Adding in cost as another consideration keeps cable in the running, anyway. ISDN is really expensive and even DSL and microwave can add up; however, Ken and Milt felt the other options were roughly comparable in cost.