ISP Information:
A serial connection technology that is almost universally available in current PCs. Version 1.x allowed for 12Mbps transfer rates, and this was boosted to 480Mbps for USB 2.0. USB 2.0 competes with FireWire for transmission speed. Even though USB is so ubiquitous, the PS/2 port is still used for keyboard and mouse connection on many new PCs.
ISP Glossary:
USB - William Warren wrote in messagenews:telecom22.633.12@telecom-digest.org: Ryan wrote in message news:telecom22.632.10@telecom-digest.org: A quick question for the telecom pros. I'm wanting to do my own DSL between two buildings in the same city and I need a little help. I've acquired a couple of Telmax SDSL modems and I know that I'll need a dry pair (or "alarm circuit") from the local telco to do it. What I don't know is if there is anything else I need to make sure of when ordering the circuit. You have to understand that I know almost nothing about telecom equipment. I got the whole idea from a Bob Cringely article. So I'm wondering if I need to ask that the line be set up in a particular way. Are there any questions I should ask about "coils" or "conditioning" or anything else? Or is simply ordering an "alarm circuit" enough? Cringely's pulpit has a direct, high speed line to the center-for-useless-information-about-theoretical-possibilities-that- sound-good-but-never-work. I'm sorry to say that you'd do best to try and get your money back: Cringely just has to *write* about doing this, but you are now on the sharp edge of trying to actually *DO* it. Cringely should have cautioned his readers to get the pair before spending more money, but even he admits that it's hard to do and that the circuits aren't offered in many places. True to form, however, he quickly wanders back to neverland: "All this dry pair stuff means that anyone who already has dry pairs -- LOTS of dry pairs -- suddenly has an asset they never knew had value. Quick like a bunny, buy-up that stodgy old burglar alarm company that's been limping along in your town for 50 years. They have a dry pair (often more than one) going to every building. Switch the dry pairs to digital, make the alarm service digital, too, then use the old alarm panel and all that excess bandwidth to offer both wired and wireless Internet access to the whole town. With the lowest circuit cost and more circuits than a regular ISP could ever afford, you'll soon be a broadband tycoon. " Real "Alarm" circuits have been using data transponders and central-office audio bridges for years: it's a lot cheaper, more accurate, gives the alarm companies better control, and is a LOT harder to bypass. Forget about dry pair "alarm" circuits: even if they're still tariffed, they are always offered for data rates less than 30 baud, and you don't get to complain if there are coils in the line, bridge taps, or multiple gauges. Unless you're in possesion of a Morse Code Sounder and key, or some equivalent piece of antique telegraph equipment, they're useless for what you want. As *regulated* monopolies, the telcos have a unique advantage over other companies: they get to specify the things you can use their pairs for. We could debate endlessly about whether this is "right", but it's a fact. Run data over a dry pair (even if by some miracle one was available) and the telco would be entitled to rip it out. However, for the sake of argument, assume they don't care. Here's the rub: they're also entitled to change the layout of your line at any time they want - for example, if you have the only pair that's qualified for S/A/IDSL, and Covad wants it, they get to take it away from you and switch you to a mixed guage, multi-bridge-tap, 24B44 loaded pair which will top out at about the speed of a Model 33 Teletype. In other words, not only are we talking about spending an enormous amount of time *getting* a dry pair, it would be nearly impossible to * keep * it once you'd invested all that money in modems that could be rendered useless by the first "box change" of your circuit. These old McCulloch (Gamewell) loops over dry-pairs are now used only by municipalities with the wherewithal to run their own wires, sovereign access to the needed rights-of-way, and large investments in telegraph equipment that justifies doing so. Just look up the next time you see a Fire Alarm box: it's probably co
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