From owner-freebsd-questions  Thu Feb  8 17:25:09 1996
Return-Path: owner-questions
Received: (from root@localhost)
          by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id RAA17811
          for questions-outgoing; Thu, 8 Feb 1996 17:25:09 -0800 (PST)
Received: from mail1.digital.com (mail1.digital.com [204.123.2.50])
          by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with SMTP id RAA17805
          for <questions@freebsd.org>; Thu, 8 Feb 1996 17:25:06 -0800 (PST)
Received: from phaeton.Artisoft.COM by mail1.digital.com (5.65 EXP 4/12/95 for V3.2/1.0/WV)
	id AA02300; Thu, 8 Feb 1996 17:16:55 -0800
Received: (from terry@localhost) by phaeton.artisoft.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) id SAA09074; Thu, 8 Feb 1996 18:13:17 -0700
From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
Message-Id: <199602090113.SAA09074@phaeton.artisoft.com>
Subject: Re: ISDN devices supported?
To: ulf@z-code.ncd.com (Ulf Zimmermann)
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 1996 18:13:17 -0700 (MST)
Cc: terry@lambert.org, ulf@z-code.ncd.com, gjennejohn@frt.dec.com,
        bertus%mikom.csir.co.za@inet-gw-1.pa.dec.com,
        questions%freebsd.org@inet-gw-1.pa.dec.com
In-Reply-To: <9602081233.ZM749@zolaris.z-code.com> from "Ulf Zimmermann" at Feb 8, 96 12:33:45 pm
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24]
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Sender: owner-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Precedence: bulk

> > The real answer is to disdain ISDN anyway: the reason for it is to
> > allow metering charges by the Telco's, and that should be discouraged.
> >-- End of excerpt from Terry Lambert
> 
> Disdain ? Sure. But Frame Relay 128K cost me $275 a month ;-(

Looks like you need another hat.  8-).

Is this because of charges at the ISP/NSP or charges by the Telco?

If the Telco, I can't recommend anything other than going to the
public hearings and making yourself heard.

If the ISP/NSP, I can suggest you compete with him.

In my area, there is little difference: ~$80/month for frame relay
from your location to a designated cloud, and ~$220/month for Internet
Direct (or $300/month for US West, plus you need your own router with
US West while I.D. provides a really dumb one for you -- how can you
enter a market at $80/month higher than your competition and expect to
not get your shorts eaten?).

So you are winning by $25 to $105 a month over me.

ISDN is a little cheaper, but goes up drastically for Telco charges
for anything useful (ie: more than 8 days of connect a month -- means
no Web services, etc.).  Plus ISDN is only available in some locations.
The ISP costs are nearly the same, even though the equipment costs for
FR are near nothing, comparatively (an ISP needs an ISDN connect in
per ISDN user -- ISDN is switched virtual circuit, just like a phone
call).

For reasonable connectivity (ie: online all the time, but not necessarily
pounding out the packets all the time), ISDN is simply unusable.


It's all a plot to make us buy our phone services from our Cable TV
companies (I will buy my phone and net services from the same company
when I can, and it will be whichever charges me less.  TCI is charging
~$28/month for 6Mbit/S fiber optic net connection to 100,000 homes in
Southern California... with phone service thrown in).


					Terry Lambert
					terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.