ADSL: when 56K just isn't enough

Product: ADSL service
From: Telus and other regional ISPs (www.telus.net/highspeed)
Prices: starting at $21.95/month

Service Options available: Business service: Static IP addresses suitable for configuring web servers or email systems. Telus provides dial-up and (5) email accounts.

Home service: Self-installed or Telus-installed "consumer" packages. Web space for web pages. Two IP addresses and slower throughput. Prices vary according to installation options selected, but start at $21.95/month.

Pros:In our evening tests of the business service, we were able to download a one megabyte file in 5720 milliseconds -- a total throughput of 1.3986014 Mbps. (We achieved 1.7Mbps with the more expensive business-class service.) During the daytime, speed was even better (not too surprising, considering Multimedia Gateway is billed as a residential service only), with a throughput of 2.7972028 Mbps. BC Tel claims a maximum downstream speed of 2.5 Mbps, and an upstream speed of 640Kbps with the "professional" service; the consumer service promises download/upload speeds of up to 1.5Mbps and 512Kbps respectively.

Cons: No static IP address with the residential service. Currently no option to change user name. Monthly downloads in excess of 5GB may be subject to a surcharge, although as of Dec. 2002, this had not yet been implemented.

Summary: ADSL, or asymmetric digital subscriber line, is an enhancement (available in certain areas only) to your existing telephone line that allows your computer(s) to be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without tying up your telephone.

Although Telus claims that its Multimedia Gateway ADSL service allow you to "download from the Multimedia Gateway or Internet at speeds up to 4 megabits per second and upload data from your computer at up to 640 kilobits per second, eliminating the bottleneck of a dial-up modem...." our tests suggest that the words "up to" are the operative part of that statement. Because of the way ADSL works, the closer you are to the office that contains the switching equipment, the faster your connection can work. Our location was exactly 0.7 miles from this central switch and, although Telus suggested we should see little or no difference from an optimum connection, we achieved a little over half the claimed maximum performance of "50 to 150 times faster than a 28.8 dial up modem" in a late-night test. But, at more than 1.3 Megabits per second, who's complaining?

In an afternoon session using the "Pro" version of the service, we achieved a maximum throughput of 2.79 Megabits per second. Unlike cable modems, says the company, ADSL does not require you to share bandwidth with other users in your neighborhood. However, performance slowed as the evening drew on -- although the service never dipped below Telus' claimed minimum rating.  And, hey, even 50 times the performance of a 28.8 modem's Internet connection for $64.95 a month is nothing to sneeze at -- especially considering that this is about double the speed we have typically seen from comparably priced cable modem services such as "Wave" or "@Home."

lthough the service is currently restricted to residential use only, Multimedia Gateway provides the ability for its users to put up their own web pages. The service assigns you what is known as a static host name -- essentially, your user ID followed by your ISP name and bconnected.net. Although every computer on the Internet has an IP address, the way Multimedia Gateway is set up, these IP addresses change every time you shut down your computer. In other words, Multimedia Gateway does not provide a static IP address -- an issue that can be worked around, incidentally, via third party tools such as the shareware Dynamic DNS Client for Windows 4.0.3.

Another nice feature is the ability to have more than one computer at your home connected to a hub (which, like the Ethernet cards, you must supply), each sharing the ADSL line. Each additional computer you wish to connect to Multimedia Gateway requires an additional user ID, available for a one-time charge of $4.95. (You might try hooking up a hub and standard Ethernet cables before paying.)

It's also worth mentioning that it is apparently not convenient to have two ADSL ports in two different rooms in your house. In my efforts to expand outside my cramped home-office, I requested a second jack in the family room. The Telus installer explained that it would likely cause interference on the voice phone line. However, he kindly showed me how to switch it over, if I wanted to move the connection to the other room in the future.

How it works (info from Telus)

The Telus MultiMedia Gateway harnesses ADSL technology to bring you high speed Internet, and much more. ADSL technology divides a single telephone line into 3 "channels," allowing you to use the telephone at the same time as you are using the Internet, without affecting voice or data transmission or quality. One Telus residential telephone line allows you to have:

• continuous, uninterrupted telephone service,
• a 1-4 Mbps downstream data channel to your house, and
• 160-640 Kbps upstream data channel to the MultiMedia Gateway and Internet.

All this is done through an ADSL modem in your house, an ADSL modem at the other end of your phone line in Telus' local central office, and some specialized equipment to allow your computer and telephone to work at the same time.

The system we tested had a connector box that attaches to your analog phone line, and a router-like unit that sits on or under your desk that has a pair of jacks on it: one goes to the wall and the other goes to a small box with an Ethernet jack on it. Your hub or direct cable connects to it.

Usage Cap Coming?

In Oct. 1999, sources close to Telus informed us that Telus' Advanced Comm group was in the process of installing new equipment from Newbridge, ostensibly to "improve reliability." However, this new equipment will also enable usage levels to be tracked. If your account is with Sympatico you (and the company) will have the ability to monitor your usage levels. If your account is with one of the Telus Partners, check with them to determine if they will be providing this service. Telus Marketing reportedly feels that 5GB is enough that it won't affect most subscribers. However, Telus also admits it is not enforcing it at this time. The company says it is not yet sure when this will take effect but all subscribers will be notified. Those in the know say the usage cap will most likely come onstream sometime  in 2000. Already, tech support from Telus' Multimedia Gateway advises there is a cap of 5 gigs per month and 7.5 gigs for "corporate" ADSL plans, although customer service reps say they are not aware of any cap. (Bell Canada has implemented a cap for some customers in Eastern Canada.) Our advice: email your local ADSL supplier and tell them you won't sign up if there is a usage cap.

PPPoE

Also, beware of DSL providers requiring the use of "PPPoE" (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet). This is a way of using a dialup protocol over a packet switched network, so phone companies can use phone company-like billing. If the DSL provider in your area requires PPPoE, cable is probably a better bet for your high-speed Internet needs.

ADSL on the Macintosh

ADSL can be used without too much difficulty on a Macintosh. Says Douglas Alder, former publisher of The Computer Paper, "It is pretty basic, really. The [Windows-specific] software they give you turns out to just be a web site that you register at their secure web site. Why they couldn't just give you a URL escapes me. Beyond that, you need an Ethernet card and bingo you are online. Having a cross-over cable is important if you want to look more than one computer up.

If one is just plugging in a single computer, it is done with a special cable they supply known as a cross-over cable. Telus is giving you the Amati ADSL modem (editor's note: I received a 3Com model), which operates like another computer and so they give you this cross-over cable. however, to connect a small network to ADSL (say you had a firewall in the loop and a printer in the loop) you just use a [hub and a] normal Ethernet cable, instead of the cross-over cable.

Network Speeds

When the technician  came in, he plugged in his tester laptop and ran some benchmarks. He claimed it was operating at 2.2 Mbps from the CO. (Central Office). When I asked him about upload speeds, he could not tell me. He was a telephone guy, not a computer kind of guy. In my own tests, I downloaded a 28 megabyte file and it took about 7 minutes, so that would be 4 megabytes a minute. The equivalent would be 224 megabits (8 x 28 megabytes) in 7 minutes, or 32 megabits/minute or 53k/second. Not the great speed I had been promised, theoretically, 2.2 megabits/second, but, hey, it seemed a bit faster.

What's Ahead

In July 2003, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruled that big Telcos like Bell and Telus must offer ADSL service even when local phone service is provided by another company. Effectively this ruling splits local phone and net services, opening both up for competition and lower prices. Press release here. See Slashdot for more on this story....)

In Dec. 2002, the first public details on ADSL2 (also known as G.bis) emerged in the form of a news article at broadbandreports.com. Among the details revealed: a doubling of the frequency used resulting in a doubling of the downstream bandwidth. Improvements to speed and usable range appear to be modest, however. The article mentions a data rate increase of 50 kbps (woo hoo!). This data rate, says the article, increase also produces an increase in reach of about 600 feet over ADSL's maximum distance (usually about 16,500 feet from the service provider's switching office), which translates to an increase in coverage area of about six percent, or 2.5 square miles. The good news? It's expected to be backwards-compatible with existing hardware, and is said to provide dramatically improved diagnostics capabilities.