Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 12:20:40 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Dillon <michael@memra.com> To: freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG Cc: freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: 56K vs X2? Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.3.93.970122120752.23412A-100000@sidhe.memra.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.91.970122092110.22483C-100000@earth.infinetconsulting.com>
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On Wed, 22 Jan 1997, Leonard Chua wrote:
> I was also wondering if perhaps USR may be sheer power of brand-name
> identity and loyalty, end up over the long run as the winner?
The problem here is that this power of the USR brand is almost totally
within the consumer market but the USR modems will not work unless the ISP
market buys USR TotalControl servers. So far, large parts of the ISP
market are quite happy with Livingston, Ascend, Cisco and Bay/Xyplex
terminal servers and all those companies are going with the
Lucent/Rockwell standard.
Since the consumer generally phones their ISP to ask when X2 compatibility
will be available the ISP has an opprtunity to erode USR's branding power
by telling the customer one or more of the following:
1. No, we will not support USR X2.
2. We will support the Lucent/Rockwell K56plus standard.
3. USR X2 modems won't work with our service but if you buy one of
this long list of brands then 56K will work.
4. If you buy USR X2 modems then you will be locked in to your ISP
because you won't be able to switch to another non-USR ISP without
buying a new 56K modem.
5. In real world tests, 56K modems rarely work that fast.
6. We will/may be charging more for 56K modem users. This is because we
have to buy special terminal servers in order to support 56K.
7. Many people's phone lines will not support 56K. If you cannot get
a 33.6k connect today, likely it won't work.
8. If ISDN is not available in your area then it is unlikely that your
phone lines will support 56K.
9. 56K technology is a new technology and there will likely be bugs.
It is wiser to wait until this shakes out before buying 56K technology
and that is what we are going to do.
10. It is likely that eventually the two incompatible standards will be
merged but that will also cause some upheaval and possibly upgrade
costs. We prefer to wait until there is a single unified standard
before buying new terminal servers.
A number of ISP's have prepared web pages and handout sheets to explain
to their customers why they should not buy USR X2 modems. You might want
to do the same thing.
Michael Dillon - Internet & ISP Consulting
Memra Software Inc. - Fax: +1-250-546-3049
http://www.memra.com - E-mail: michael@memra.com
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